Another letter to the editor
I submitted this letter to the Star-Trib. on 4/5/06:
Let me get this straight. When 30-40 people (mostly African-American) are killed in north Minneapolis each year, hardly anyone raises an eyebrow. But when two people (both white) die in richer parts of the city, suddenly it’s a public safety crisis? It’s a sad reflection on our city when the attention a crime receives is based on skin color and zip code.
More police throughout the city would be great. But that just treats the symptom. Let’s have the more important conversation about the disease itself: the economic and ethnic segregation that has created communities where such violence is seen as acceptable.