Andreatta: Outrage over gun violence in wrong places

[lostinblue 1,989]

Where’s the outrage?

That’s what Edward Watson wanted to know when he disrupted Mayor Lovely Warren during a morning news conference Thursday at the scene of the Boys & Girls Club of Rochester mass shooting that left three people dead and four wounded.

Last week, a man was shot to death in broad daylight outside a community center, and between then and the mass shooting, six other people were shot on city streets in low-profile incidents that have become so routine they hardly make news anymore.

Where’s the outrage? Where are the demonstrations? Where are the politicians screaming from the steps of City Hall?

“If this was a white police officer gunning down three blacks and injuring four, Wilson High School would be on fire and every black leader, every community leader would be up here,” Watson yelled. “Blacks are murdering blacks every 32 hours since June!”

Watson, a 56-year-old black, lifelong resident of Rochester, was referring to statistics cited in this column on Sunday, which noted that shootings have escalated to the point that someone has been shot on average every 32 hours this summer.

The column noted that most of the shootings stem from disputes between victims and perpetrators with criminal histories, but didn’t reference the ethnicity of the combatants because the Rochester Police Department could not immediately provide hard data in that area.

The department did confirm, however, what’s obvious to anyone who follows local crime — including Watson — that shooting victims and suspects are typically young, black men.

“Because it‘s black-on-black crime, it is socially acceptable for blacks to not talk to the police, and it’s appalling!” yelled Watson, who demanded that City Hall “do a better job.”

In response, Warren noted that she was at the scene and reiterated earlier remarks that, “The outrage is there.”

Most people, including the news media, often only see local leaders address street violence in times of collective tragedy.

But Warren said her commitment is round-the-clock. She said she visits families touched by gun violence all the time and addresses the topic at community and church meetings that reporters don’t cover.

Hours before the mass shooting, Warren said, she attended a gathering in a northeast Rochester park to pray for an end to the street violence. On Thursday, she said, she consoled a City Hall intern whose relative was hurt at the Boys & Girls Club.

Later in the day, she delivered an impassioned speech at the Rochester Police Department in which she used words like “angry” and “outraged” and “devastated” to describe her own feelings, and challenged city residents to take a morality check.

“Unfortunately, we can’t legislate morality,” she said. “The violence needs to stop here and now.

“I assure you,” she continued, “that I will not let this moment pass. You should not let this moment pass. We must turn this moment into the moment when Rochester said, ‘We deserve better.’ ”

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/08/20/andreatta-outrage-over-gun-violence--wrong-places/32064847/

[lostinblue 1,989]

https://www.facebook.com/13WHAM/videos/10153613207952502/?permPage=1

This man says a lot in 30 seconds.

Folks on here everyday say my guns are the problem .

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

There have been grass roots attempts to tackle gun and gang violence in inner cities - there was a big campaign going in Newark when I lived near there.

The problem is that in many of these places, there are a whole host of social problems and some of these communities lack leadership, money or access to local authority support.

Its the reason why a white man getting gunned down outside a Starbucks will get more coverage than half a dozen black youths getting shot to pieces in a gang shooting. There's an assumption that this is a state of normal in some parts of the country - and other people (forum posters for exanple) look at it 'outside in' - which is why attempts to have a reasonable dialogue always get mired in racism.

[Jacque67 7,328]

https://www.facebook.com/13WHAM/videos/10153613207952502/?permPage=1

This man says a lot in 30 seconds.

Folks on here everyday say my guns are the problem .

You have guns? How many? What kind?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

https://www.facebook.com/13WHAM/videos/10153613207952502/?permPage=1

This man says a lot in 30 seconds.

Folks on here everyday say my guns are the problem .

So in the other thread... should the homeless man have had a gun? What about the perps?

[Jacque67 7,328]

Crickets....