Since a gunman killed seven people during the July 4 parade in a Chicago suburb, more than 160 people have died of other gun murders across the country. Only in Chicago, at least 10 people were killed in multiple shots over the holiday weekend.
These mundane killings received far less attention than the parade mass murder. But they’re the standard for U.S. gun violence: More than 95 percent of gun homicides this year were shootings with one to three victims.
Today we want to help you understand where and why most everyday gun violence takes place. We’re going to focus on Chicago because it has one of the highest murder rates in the country and because a local group — the University of Chicago Crime Lab — keeps detailed records. But the trends in Chicago are present in many other places as well.
Crucially, violence is often highly concentrated: a small patch of blocks—just 4 percent in Chicago, for example—can be responsible for a majority of shootings in a city or county.
Many of the people in these blocks live in fear. The sound of gunshots is common, sometimes several times a day. Parents worry that their children could be next and young people fear for their own lives. As Jomarria Vaughn, a 24-year-old Chicagoan, told this newsletter: “I’m scared. I’m on my guard all day.”
This map of Chicago shootings shows concentration. Shootings are rare in much of the city, especially on the wealthier north side, but not the poorer west and south sides.
This concentration is not exclusive to Chicago. In the US, neighborhoods with only 1.5 percent of the population were responsible for 26 percent of firearms homicides, Found a 2017 analysis by The Guardian†
Here’s a look at four other cities, with data from Princeton University researchers Alisabeth Marsteller and Patrick Sharkey:
Poverty and violence
There are several factors behind the concentration of violence. An important one is poverty.
In Chicago, violence and poverty overlap closely, as these maps show:
Experts have long debated why violence and poverty are linked. Is it something specific to poverty, such as inadequate housing or jobs? Is it the environment that fosters poverty, in which people are stressed and desperate – and more likely to behave?
a theory, quoted by Sharkey, blames the collapse of “collective activity† That may sound academic, but the concept is simple: when society’s institutions are unraveled, people feel like they’re on their own. They will then be less likely to watch over each other or come together to promote common interests.
By reducing social trust, concentrated poverty impairs the ability of communities to set standards against violent behavior. And if people are not controlled and feel they have nothing to lose, they are more likely to take extreme measures, such as violence, to solve their problems.
The past few years may help you understand these dynamics, even if you’re not poor. Many Americans felt a blow to their own collective effectiveness because of the Covid pandemic, the murder of George Floyd and its aftermath, and the polarized political atmosphere. Sure enough, murders and other violent crimes increased during this period.
A downward spiral
It’s hard to talk about gun violence without talking about race because black Americans are the most likely to be victims of shootings. Poverty explains some of the inequality, as black people are more likely to be poor† But individual poverty is not the complete explanation.
Black Americans are also less likely to live in communities with strong institutional support. Only housing policies and discrimination have pushed black Americans into segregated neighborhoods. Both governments and the private sector neglected these neighborhoods, leaving people without good schools, banks, supermarkets and institutions.
This kind of economic neglect, called divestment by experts, promotes violence. These maps show the correlation in Chicago between shootings and a lack of banks:
The relationship also goes the other way, Roseanna Ander, executive director of the Crime Lab, told us: Violence can perpetuate divestments. Entrepreneurs do not want their shops, restaurants and warehouses in violent neighborhoods. People don’t want to live in places where there is daily shooting. And governments are moving resources away from places that officials see as lost. It’s a vicious circle.
A better understanding of this spiral in recent years has prompted activists and policymakers to address not only the violence itself, but also its root causes. The Chicago Mayor’s office told us it had taken a broader approach to combating violence, aimed at encouraging businesses, local clubs, mental health and other social support, in addition to traditional policing. As this newsletter has previously explained, most experts support a comprehensive crime strategy that involves: both the police and alternative approaches†
But this work is difficult and, even if it succeeds, it will take money and time – years or decades to rebuild long-neglected communities. Until then, people in these neighborhoods are likely to be the hardest hit by US gun violence.
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Yuval Sharon, 42, is a visionary opera director who has worked all over the world and won a “genius” grant from the MacArthur Foundation in 2017. His most daring venture to date may have been his decision to become Artistic Director of Detroit Opera, Mark Binelli writes in The Times Magazine: “Sharon has already radically elevated Detroit Opera’s stature in the larger cultural ecosystem.”
In April, Sharon directed “La Bohème” for Detroit Opera, and he was not interested in performing it in a traditional way. His version unfolded in reverse, starting with Act IV, in which Mimì dies, and ending with Act I, where she and her lover, Rodolfo, first meet.
“Detroit has died and been reborn so many times that Sharon’s reworking of the classic felt like a nod to the city,” writes Mark. It also shows what modern opera can be. “The future of American opera unfolding in Detroit was not a plot twist I saw coming,” writes Mark.