Of Olympic Dreams and Urban Nightmares

Like most Chicagoans, I had hoped that our city's bid to host the Olympic and Para-Olympic Games would have been successful. Certainly, Chicago's civic leaders put forth a remarkable effort, pulling out all stops, including appearances by President Barack and Michelle Obama.

But in the end, as we all know, the Games went to Rio. Perhaps that was the way it was destined to go. Still, I cannot help but wonder whether the tragic murder of 16-year-old Fenger High School student Derrion Albert, which was captured on video, may have influenced the site selection committee to pass over Chicago.

The confluence of these two events, one so hopeful, the other so hopeless, was unmistakable. The contrast could not have been more dramatic. At the same time that Mayor Daley and our city's delegation was expressing both civic pride and confidence that we could host the Olympics, an amateur video of young Derrion Alpert's lethal beating exposed the darker side of Chicago not only to us, but to the entire nation and the world at large. That image is deeply disturbing. It has now become the focus of numerous news stories, and has gained the attention of the U.S. Attorney General and the Secretary of Education, both of whom came to Chicago a few weeks ago.

Those who read the daily newspapers should be painfully aware that there is nothing new in this tragic story. Hundreds of young people, mostly of Chicago's impoverished areas, are wounded or killed every year. Hardly a day goes by without yet another act of violence. Often the victims, almost always young, have been innocent of wrongdoing; they had the great misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The truth is that this kind of violence occurs continually, and we have become so desensitized that such crimes barely rate mention in the newspapers. On the other hand, when a violent crime occurs in Lincoln Park or on the Near North Side, that's front page news.

Community leaders have been quick to offer their assessment of the problem, blaming such factors as the failure of the inner city schools, a shortage of police, the ruthlessness of the gangs, the proliferation of illegal drugs. Each of these, and many others, has contributed to this tragic situation. But if we are really honest with ourselves, we need to admit that the larger cause is this city's continuing woeful neglect of the massive poverty and the utter hopelessness of the lives of so many thousands, mostly African Americans, who seem to have almost no chance of a better life. The Pirke Avot expresses this very clearly: "The sword [i.e. violence] comes into the world because of justice delayed and justice denied." Very obviously, there is an absence of the will necessary to deal with the core problems of our society. Customarily, when tragedies such as these occur, platitudes and righteous indignation are the order of the day for a few days or a few weeks, but interest soon subsides, and things continue exactly as they have been.

I could not help but notice the willingness of so many individuals and institutions of Chicago to expend tremendous effort and invest significant resources to bring the Olympics here. That they were unsuccessful was not for lack of will. Chicago is blessed with amazing civic pride, with dedicated leadership, and with extraordinary vision. Just think of all the strides forward of the past few decades: Millennium Park, the expansion of our museums, the addition of several world-class medical facilities, the rebuilding of Soldier Field, to name only a few, plus a wide array of festivals and special events that have enhanced our community greatly. All of these are proof positive of Chicago's greatness. This city of the broad shoulders knows how to get things done, when the will exists.

It is time for the leadership and the ordinary citizens of our great city to find the will, at long last, to address the core causes of this tragic situation. For until we do, nothing will change; it will only get worse. Perhaps, just perhaps, the horrifying videotaped killing of Derrion Alpert could be our much-needed call to action.