'Killing' as a Solution to Chicago's Violence?

In Chicago, the murder rate is so high that the city made national news this summer, including reports of drive-by shootings. In response to the increasing violence, local CBS Chicago reporter Walter Jacobson sat down with about a dozen young black men, who he says are gang members, to hear their thoughts on the crime wave.

"There's no solution to the violence,” one gang member tells him. "Killing, killing is the solution."

Jacobson asked the young man if he would kill personally, if he had to.

"I've never killed before, but if I had a gun in my possession," he said.

Jacobson says he has been walking the blocks for many years, but the state of despair never changes – poverty, sticks and stains.

The gang members do not like the state of affairs any more than anyone else.

"We've got to eat. We want to. We want money. We want to get fresh, we want fresh eggs almost every day. We want all that," another young man said.

But where do they get the money they need? The young man answered bluntly.

"Rob, steal and kill. That's the only way. We didn't grow up in Beverly Hills. We don't get it handed to us," he said.

Read more at CBS Chicago.

Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. 

 

Tweet