now now, no sense dragging logic into this...
Posted on 01/08/2017 5:28:57 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Congressman Danny Davis is a Democrat representing Illinois's 7th District, which includes some Chicago neighborhoods hardest hit by gun violence. His own grandson was shot and killed last November.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We hear now from Congressman Danny Davis. He's represented the 7th Congressional District since 1996, but gun violence is not just an abstract concept to him. His 15-year-old grandson Javon was killed in a dispute over borrowed clothing last November, and Congressman Davis delivered the eulogy. He was kind enough to host us in his offices on Capitol Hill. Congressman, thank you so much for speaking with us about this difficult topic. And if you don't mind, if I may say, I'm so sorry for your loss.
DANNY DAVIS: Well, thank you very much. As a matter of fact, a good part of getting over it has been the reaction of people all over the country and in many other places throughout the world.
MARTIN: One of the things that came out, though, when your grandson was killed is that you noted that you've delivered eulogies for some two dozen young Chicagoans who've been killed. So the question is why? Why is this happening?
DAVIS: I mean, the over-arching, over-reaching issue is poverty. Black unemployment in Chicago is off the chart. I mean, there are communities where literally 40 to 50 percent, especially of the youth male population, is unemployed. I've been around low-income people all of my life. I mean, growing up, low income, the community where I've chosen to live, low-income. But there's never been a time, to my knowledge, I would say, where the lack of positive thinking - I mean, everybody that I knew growing up practically had little in the way of resource, but we all have the hope and the possibility that as soon as we finished high school and went to college or went to the Army that we were going to have access to employment. We were going have a chance.
Many of the young people living in inner-city America don't see themselves - I mean, they even talk about things like death and dying. And there's a tremendous loss of hope. And of all the things to lose, I think nothing is worse or more difficult to overcome than the loss of hope.
MARTIN: The terrible incident that took your grandson's life, they were fighting over borrowed clothing. Like, one kid had borrowed something from another...
DAVIS: Well, they had a little...
MARTIN: But the question I have is they were all 15 and 16 years old, why did a fight over borrowed clothing, like, you know, somebody borrowed somebody's pants and they wanted their pants back result in somebody shooting somebody?
DAVIS: Because it's more than that. They had a swapping group where you swap me your jacket for a week, and I swap you my gym shoes. Part of the group decided that, hey, I want my item back right now without returning your item. And then the overall frustration was such and they had such a sense of protectiveness and a sense of machoism that, as a result of the discussion, somebody feels that, hey, I can come invade your space and take back whatever the item is that we had been dealing with.
MARTIN: Congressman, do you remember when you got the phone call? I don't know where you were when you found out about your grandson. Can you take us back to that? What...
DAVIS: I do remember. As a matter of fact, one of my staff persons and I had just come back to the office and one of the police commanders was on the phone and he said, I have some bad news to tell you. And I said, bad news, well, I'm pretty accustomed to bad news (laughter). He says, but not this kind. He says, I want you to just brace yourself. I understand that your grandson may have been shot.
And I say, well, where where was it? What's the address, so I can get over there? And he said - he gave me the address, which was their home address. And I said, how is it? He say, it's pretty bad. He said, it's pretty bad. I think you may want to come right away. I couldn't, for the moment, think. And by then, my son called, and I said, oh yeah, I heard that Javon - he says, daddy, he's gone. That's how it felt. That's how it felt.
And so, you know, I've kind of pledged to myself that I will spend more time, more energy if there's any way that I can to try and influence some diminution of guns in our society. One thing I always say when I discuss guns with people - if a gun is not present, it's generally more difficult to do irreparable harm.
MARTIN: If there hadn't been a gun there, they might have had a fistfight and then it would have been over, you know.
DAVIS: That is correct.
MARTIN: Do you see any sign that people agree with you that something about this country's use of guns and the role that guns play in this culture has to change?
DAVIS: There are millions and millions of people who think about guns the same way that I do. You know, one of my favorite songs, something by a guy named Sam Cooke used to sing - oh, it is so profound. It may be a long time coming, but I know some change is going to come. That's the way I feel about this issue.
MARTIN: That's Congressman Danny Davis. He's an Illinois Democrat. He represents the 7th Congressional District in Chicago. Congressman Davis, thank you so much for speaking with us. And once again, I just want to say I'm very sorry for the loss of your grandson.
DAVIS: Thank you very much. And I do believe the change will come.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A CHANGE IS GONNA COME")
SAM COOKE: (Singing) It's been long, a long time coming but I know a change gonna come. Oh, yes it will.
“Chicano” drug peeps too.
So the black youth unemployment rate is at about 50%.
What is the “undocumented immigrant” employment rate in the same area? Think there might be a correlation?
And how many of these unemployed youths have an active father figure in their lives?
And what percentage of these youths actually graduated from high school, or even went back to get a GED?
And how many of these unemployed youths were arrested for some crime while in possession of a gun, and were not prosecuted for a minimum 5 years?
By all means, blame the availability of guns ... and then go to your opium den and dream on ...
Chiraq needs to institute a Civil Society instead of their ‘Rat Urban Utopia.
It’s a better life to not be a cornered ‘rat.
I figure anytime the govt wants to shut down their little riots all they have to do is turn off the cell towers, disrupt their little command and control operation and round them up. But they don’t. So, my question is, since the authorities are not controlling South and West Chicago, who is?
I don’t even think you can say that. I think they are worse because there is no core in the middle in those areas who still know right from wrong. There used to be a poor but stable middle black class and those that went bad knew they were wrong.
OK, from what I’m seeing these days, it seems that if there hadn’t been white community involvement (read: KKK), the blacks would not have behaved with some semblance of order even back then. I would love to be corrected on this, but it seems like since the klan was neutered, everything they warned against has come to pass.
Odd, my dad grew up in dire poverty in West Philly during the Depression, living in condemned houses and eating out of the garbage. My mom grew up picking cotton in Alabama, living in a house with no electricity or indoor plumbing. Of the 13 kids on both sides, only one was not successful. Guns were everywhere down there, yet gun violence was unheard of. My dad said when he was a kid, crime in Philly was very low. If poverty is a factor,why wasn’t gun violence off the charts during the worst economic times of our nation’s history?
And which party is responsible for putting a good many people on the south side of the Windy City into never ending poverty Danny? I can tell you it’s not those people with a R by their name. The Democrats made Chicago a mess and they own it!
Yo Danny! If “poverty” is such a big problem, why do you lousy bastards on the left continue to import it into America?
Please explain the difference between the murder rates in Chicago and, say, Appalachia.
Poor white people aren’t shooting each other over a perceived insult/
So Danny, who wants to keep your relatives locked up on the plantation called Chicago?
DAVIS: Because it's more than that. They had overall frustration and a sense of machoism that required a helpless White kid to be available for torture, and none was.
MARTIN: That's Congressman Danny Davis. He's an Illinois Democrat. He represents the 7th Congressional District in Chicago.
The 'Rats are NEVER right.
now now, no sense dragging logic into this...
I grew up knowing many fine individuals who were poor but they were upstanding, honest, good people. What is ailing the inner city isn’t poverty, it is the culture of victimhood, dependency, despair, and lack of conscience that the Democrat party has been pushing since before World War I. Mark my words, poverty and violence are the symptoms of the disease spread by socialism and the Democrat Party in all areas that they have controlled for generations.
will there be Obama-phones after Obama leaves?
Great questions.
Praying a Trump admin puts the kibosh on this FreePhone/organizer tool nonsense.
Lots of poor all over America and none of the other poor kill like Obama’s son’s tend to IMO.
Is it poverty that is the root cause? No. It is broken homes and lack of taking personal responsibility. I feel that the loss of the central role of religion in most inner cities is also a big part of the decay.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.