This video is almost a week old but I didn’t see it until today. Prompted by the spike in homicides in Chicago, the BBC sent a reporter to talk to people living in gang and drug infested neighborhoods. Their guide was a young rapper called Duwop who is an Iraq war vet. Duwop drives through town with a loaded gun in his lap. The BBC doesn’t comment. For the most part it’s just there to witness what is happening.
There is definitely a focus in this report on the ubiquity of guns in Chicago but there’s really no way to tell the story of how 500 people end up dead in 8 months time without talking about them. What the video suggests is that everyone in these neighborhoods lives in a constant state of fear. Riding through town without a gun is considered crazy because of the constant danger. No one wants to become the next victim.
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