The Village: Chicago vs. Newtown Redux

How the death of white kids in Newtown compares to the death of 260 blacks kids in Chicago; gun control measures are compelled by the former, while gun purchases are compelled by the latter

Ever seen The Village? It's a movie about a group of white families who decide the world is too violent to raise their children in, so they use their considerable wealth to create an elaborate ruse; pretend the modern world doesn't exist and live as white pioneers did in the 1700s, with a supernatural threat in the woods to keep the children afraid of ever leaving. 

There is no crime, only peace, harmony, and prosperity. However, a mentally disturbed individual is part of the community and (spoiler alert), he stabs a male rival over jealously; this action threatens to destabilize the ruse, because only modern medicine can keep alive the individual that was stabbed. 

Why bring up this M. Night Shyamalan film? Well, because it is our compassion for those who lack full  mental acumen that leaves us most vulnerable to their acts of insanity (just think of the Newtown Tragedy, with information continuing to come forth about Adam Lanza mental instability); in the case of the movie The Village, a peaceful white community was almost destroyed because of compassion toward an individual who should have been excommunicated from their settlement. 

Noah Percy (played by Adrien Brody) was the character in The Village with development problems who almost brought down the settlement, which served as the only incubator against 21st violence available to the white families in the film. 

We already know that a full-court press by Disingenuous White Liberals (DWL) to curb gun rights is underway; it wasn't the routine black violence in cities like Birmingham, Memphis, Baltimore, Atlanta, or Chicago that provided the necessary ammunition to galvanize the nation into action; no, it took the the shooting deaths of primarily white children (just look at the angelic faces of those killed by the mentally challenged Lanza at Sandy Hook Elementary School) to provide the moral ammunition necessary to disarm white America. 

Strange -- why didn't the news of 260 Chicago Public School (CPS) students killed over a three year period (most victims of gun violence) galvanize the nation as did the events of Sandy Hook? Recall, out of 400,000 students, only 8 percent of the CPS students are white. [Rahm Emanuel Mourns 260 Chicago Children Killed By Violence, Huffington Post, 11-2-11]:

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was among the attendees at a Monday memorial honoring some 260 Chicago Public School students killed by violence during the last three school years. 

The vigil at St. Sabina's Catholic Parish in the city's Auburn Gresham neighborhood was the first of five memorials scheduled throughout the city during the next week by Urban Dolorosa (or the "Sorrowing City"), an organization that for the last three years has memorialized Chicago victims of youth violence with an outpouring of poetry, music and other performances in their honor. 

The Rev. Susan Johnson pastor of Hyde Park Union Church and founder of Urban Dolorosa, described the vigils' mission to the Chicago Tribune. 

"When we talk about gun-wielding teenagers and we ask ourselves as clergy: 'What can I do?' I think people don't feel they have much to offer," Johnson said. "We can't live thinking the blood is on our hands. I'm just trying to make these children less invisible." 

Addressing the packed church assembled for the event, Emanuel said, "I want you to know your city is with you, you are not alone." The mayor is known for personally calling the family of each young victim of gun violence, most recently a 10-year-old boy shot in the leg on his way home from trick-or-treating on the city's Northwest Side on Monday night. 

"I've seen the promise of Chicago, this is a strong city, a loving city and a caring city," the mayor said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "I want everybody to know in this city, if there is gun violence, it is not over there. It is not down there. If it happens in our city, it is part of your community regardless of where of you live."Among the many community members assembled to grieve and mourn the loss of loved ones was Anjanette Albert, the mother of Fenger High School student Derrion Albert, who was violently beaten to death during a gang fight outside his school in the fall of 2009. She told NBC Chicago that she was comforted by the vigil.

Why weren't DWLs able to triangulate a massive push for gun control over this story? Well, because it served as a reminder of, A. Why White people don't live around black people or send their kids to primarily black schools, and, B. Why White people need guns.

The only monster, the only threat in The Village was the developmentally challenged character Adrien Brody played

I've been reading "There Goes the Neighborhood: Racial, Ethnic, and Class Tensions in Four Chicago Neighborhoods and Their Meaning for America" by William Julius Wilson, and it tells the story of Groveland, what is described as a 'stable African American community'; in 1960, the community of 12,710 residents had only six black people (the rest were white people); a decade later, blacks accounted for 83 percent of the Groveland's population and by 1990, the neighborhood was 98 percent black (p. 128).

Hilariously, in 2000, one-third of those employed in this 'stable African American community' worked for the city, state, or federal government (p.133).

However, the kicker is found on p.156-157:

Gradual in-migration of families from nearby low-income neighborhoods had already made Groveland slightly more economically diverse... longstanding residents were well aware that the rising number of lower income residents could herald a sustained decline in the neighborhood's socioeconomic profile. 

Residents did not discuss these changes in terms of poverty statistics. Rather, they talked about the increase in gang membership, growing numbers of out-of-wedlock pregnancies, drug houses, renters (including families receiving federal Section 8 housing subsidies), and residents who failed to maintain their homes and lawns. 

During our research, a major South Side gang was using the park's field house as its headquarters. Residents sensed the fragility of their neighborhood, and block-club members talked constantly about problems arising from the neighborhood's proximity to high-crime areas, and who to address them.  

The visible presence of firearms in the neighborhood raised sobering concerns about crime, and apprehension about violent crime became prevasive. An older man in a church choir walked women to and from their cars before and after rehearsals because of these concerns. And, as noted previously, those planning a high school class reunion were concerned for the safety of white alumni as they walked from the parking lot to the reunion or stepped outside the event to smoke.  

Aware of burglaries and other crimes associated with drug dealing, Groveland residents worked hard to keep crime under control. In fact, they believed their community did quite well in preventing crime, and did not have a serious problem compared with other black neighborhoods. 

Yes, fearing that white alumni might not be safe walking from their cars to a school building is hallmark of a strong community. A 98 percent black community, where 1/3 of those employed work in government jobs, and white alumni from decades before coming to a reunion... aren't safe?

Now do you understand why The Village is a movie that makes so much sense. White people try to recreate them in the suburbs of every major city that goes majority black; but even in a charming, 95 percent white city like Newtown, Connecticut, evil is found.

Funny -- Lanza obviously had mental problems, which - were we a real nation - would have been sufficient evidence to lock him away from society; what do we blame black dysfunction on, especially in a place like Groveland that is 98 percent black?