After school
posted by Tim Nafziger on 10/14/07 at 02:56 PMThis is a guest post by my wife Charletta Erb.
Once again, there are eight cop cars outside as soon as school is out. On the opening day of the new school year, there were 20 in sight. There's a huge group of students (mostly African-American) crossing the street, disregarding the traffic. Babysitter cops are poised with batons to disperse the crowd when an afternoon fight brews. It's the same old solution to gang violence.
I debate whether I should go outside. Would it made any difference? Should I talk with the kids on the corner, asking what's going on? Could you educate this white country girl?
The scene in Rogers Park has challenged me to think about what it means to love my neighbors, yet I often feel at a loss since I haven't begun to understand life in the city for these kids, and I haven't a clue about gangs, except for what I've learned from church friends who are more seasoned by the city. I'm a white gal watching white police harass black kids, cussing at them through the bull horn, detaining them without provocation, and I don't know where to begin to respond. At least I am here, concerned, angry, and seeking to know how to be a peacemaker in this setting.
Our church, Living Water Community Church, chose its location because of a shooting on our corner, at the intersection between gang territories. Like me, few are certain how best to interact with this setting, but we are asking questions and seeking resources and groups to partner with.
Thursday morning, I attended a city-wide restorative justice meeting. There were more than 50 individuals representing about as many organizations working to advance balanced and restorative justice solutions in Chicago. Instead of just putting kids in jail (punitive justice), these programs work with the police, the schools, and after school programs to build opportunities for youth to set things right, and get help toward building a future (restorative justice). One program, Juvenile Intervention Support Center (JISC) works to address juvenile justice issues through mentoring, employment opportunities and applying restorative justice principles. Sadly, there is no equivalent program in our neighborhood of Rogers Park.
Wednesday afternoon, during the after school program at our church, a seventh grade student, said that the only extra-curricular programs at her school are sports related. She wants to be a singer or do fashion when she is older.
I have to ask myself, what would happen if our educational resources were not distributed through property tax, and instead, they were equalized? What would happen if there was funding for after school programs and extra-curricular activities? What about advancing intervention programs like JISC? Instead, society hires eight cop cars of police to threaten students who haven't gone home yet.
Charletta Erb is a freelance trainer for churches and organizations seeking to better understand conflict. She also plays the fiddle.
Tim Nafziger is a activist, writer, organizer and web developer. He lives in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago with his wife Charletta where he attends Living Water Community Church. Recently, he helped to start the Young Anabaptist Radicals blog. For more about his life, read his first blog post.
Mark Yantzi started restorative justice for young offenders in Waterloo County< Ontario, many years ago. It is still an uphill challenge. The entire county has a population of half a million. My mind balks at impossibilities you will have to overcome in a city the size of Chicago. God love you. Do let us hear more of your efforts.
Interesting point about property tax. I wonder how many people would feel about having their taxes go to pay for 'African-American' educational projects. I think that's exactly the right sort of idea but perhaps most of the tax payers would kick up a fuss cos basically they don't care enough? Probably, I don't know. 'African-American' - yet have any of them been to Africa? We all come from Africa apparently. I don't know what a better phrase would be. Black lower-class? Presumably you get similar white gangs, and I reckon 'class' analysis comes closest to describing the cultural group.