Abstract Versus Real: St. Louis Initiative to Reduce Violence
By Rich McEwen, TVG Senior Associate
I grew up never having to be in fear for my life or wonder if a friend or family member was going to be a victim of violence. I always felt pretty safe.
Even when I saw on the news what was happening in nearby communities, such as in Ferguson or Jennings, it was still abstract to me. I knew it was going on and I knew there were real people in the middle of a very bad situation, but I had distance, both physically and mentally, from it all.
Then about four months ago, I started working on a video project for the St. Louis Initiative to Reduce Violence (SIRV). Early on, I was interviewing people on the front line. I talked with mothers who had sons killed by gun violence (one over a parking space). I talked with police officers, educational leaders and a pastor who was tired of preaching at the funeral services for young people. They talked about how dire the situation was in some communities, and that all of us, even in our “safe” communities, were affected by this violence. It affects our entire area economically, because some businesses may be less likely to invest here, or people are too afraid to move or travel here. And all of us, wherever we live, feel a little less comfortable in our homes.
I talked with a couple of young men from a community in North County. One called his neighborhood “a war zone.” I could see by how they answered questions that this was very real to them. They’re losing friends and family daily to gun violence. I found out that in some neighborhoods, people are afraid to simply sit on their porch at night or take a stroll.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m far away from real. I haven’t been a victim of any violence, or had a family member or a friend that was injured or killed due to gun violence. I can’t know the fear, the pain, the anger, the heartache, the feeling of helplessness that comes with being consistently afraid of being shot, or to be a victim or to know a victim. So it’s still abstract.
But when you listen to people who have been affected by violence, who may have to face violent people as part of their job, or preach at the funeral of a teenager, it becomes a little less abstract and a little more real. You realize something needs to be done. It should offend our sense of decency that we allow such a situation to continue. Like the pastor said in his interview, “We can do more than just bury them and move on. We can try to prevent them.”
To see the video and donate to SIRV, please click here.