Chicago and the nation are in a pressing need for answers to halt the relentless gun violence that plagues our communities.
If citizens of Chicago were expecting a novel approach to reduce the violence that marred the July 4th holiday, their hope quickly waned as they witnessed Mayor Brandon Johnson and Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department Larry Snelling unveil traditional police strategies during last week’s press conference.
None of the strategies the mayor and superintendent presented to curtail future violence were new. We heard similar strategies from former mayors and their appointed police superintendents.
- They called for more state and federal support to fight the war on guns and get criminals off the streets.
- They enlisted additional police officers to protect popular tourist, shopping, and entertainment spots; they dispatched more officers to hot zones for violence and murder and increased their presence in neighborhoods where residents once felt safe.
- They challenged neighborhood organizations and citizens to step up and report the violence and help authorities identify the perpetrators.
- They promised to address the underlying problems leading to the violence.
What Chicago and this nation urgently require is a collective and significant public service campaign.
We must change the culture of violence by promoting nonviolent alternatives, fostering empathy and understanding and challenging the normalization of violence in our society.
Our young people and children have been bombarded with the glamorization of violence. It is everywhere. Violence is found in music, television programs, movies, video games and social media platforms consumed by children and all citizens.
We must counter the violence with nonviolence. `
This campaign must be the most critical service campaign ever launched in this nation, surpassing what we have invested in educating our citizens about COVID-19, the adverse effects of smoking, driving while drinking, and HIV/AIDS.
Smart Asset said the $2 trillion Cares Act was the most extensive rescue package in U.S. history. During the past four years, 1.2 million deaths were attributed to COVID-19. By the end of 2024, medical experts predict COVID-19-related deaths could reach about 73,000, but it is no longer the leading cause of death in the U.S.
According to the National Institute of Health Care Management, nearly 43,000 Americans were killed by guns in 2023. While gun deaths were on the decline early in 2024, the summer is upon us, and that number could increase. It grew 43% between 2010 and 2020, and it has become a leading cause of premature death. The cost of gun violence is estimated to be $557 million in the average year.
Although gun violence ranks as a leading cause of death of children and teens, gun violence receives $46 per death, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.
That is a minimum investment to attack the violent culture. The hip-hop music industry, which has been targeted as one of the sources of promoting violence, is a $15 billion-a-year industry. But that number is far less than what Hollywood makes by producing violent movies. Violence did not begin with hip-hop; it was the talk around the 1915 Civil War epic “The Birth of a Nation,” the story of a Ku Klux Klan organization battling for the freedom of a Confederate colonel captured in battle by abolitionist northerners. Government agencies created censorship boards to block the film, but America’s appetite for violence prevailed. According to industry reports, 90% of Hollywood movies include violence, even the most successful films of all time, such as Avatar, which grossed $2.9 billion worldwide.
The Democratic and Republican conventions will be held in Chicago and Milwaukee this summer. We cannot keep ushering our elected officials and police superintendents before the microphones to deliver reports and strategies they know have no chance of success unless we change the culture.
We must collectively demand that Congress and our state governments put the money where they admit there is a problem. In April, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a $78 million federal grant funding for community group anti-violence programs in Chicago.
It is high time for our city and nation to take gun violence seriously. To reverse this trend, we must change the culture. It must start now by making a serious financial investment to combat all the negative images and information about violence that is consumed by our children.
Tio Hardiman is the founder and executive director of the Chicago-based Violence Interrupters Inc.
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