Name: Laurice Trotter
Occupation: Government Employee
Hometown: Chicago
What are your thoughts on the gang violence in Chicago?
I have multiple feelings about the Chicago gang violence. I’m not really sure it’s “gang” violence. I look at it more as urban violence, really. Being a little older and remembering the gang violence in the 90’s things seemed a bit worst then. Now, we live in what’s called “Chiraq” and I know the violence is bad. It’s really in selected areas. I live on the south side and take public transportation everywhere in the city. I don’t fear the city, but I’m also not just walking around willy nilly in areas where things happen. I don’t think Chicago is Chiraq by any means. That name is something that the misguided wear as a badge of honor. They like going to other cities and seeing the fear in people’s eyes when they say they’re from Chicago. This is also why I believe that the ChiRaq movie taking a satire approach to tell a story about gun violence in urban communities is a good way to do it. I don’t believe the city needs to see a dark urban documentary with guys with dreds shaking up gang handshakes and showing mothers crying and funerals. I believe that would add more negative and the lost will look at it like a sense of pride again.
Is it Chi-Town or Chiraq? Why?
Chicago is NOT Chiraq. I think the people in the city secretly romanticize the term and the rep that comes with it. It’s kinda a talking point to say “how bad it is” when anyone that lives here know it’s not as bad as it seems. There are people in other cities that really believe you can’t walk outside to the store on the south side of Chicago. The terrible thing about that is some Chicago people believe that, too.
