Chicago does not deserve to host the 2016 Olympic Games
The murder of Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew will be the talk of the town and the Internet for some time to come. What happened to the Hudson family is difficult to make sense of.
As the Chicago Police work to piece together what happened, some people are asking why anyone would date, much less marry William Balfour, who is accused of killing 57 year-old Darnell Donerson, 29 year-old Jason Hudson and Julian King, who was 7.
Balfour, who has served time in prison for attempted murder, is antithesis of the model citizen his family and friends have portrayed him to be. According to the Chicago Tribune:
Balfour’s criminal rap sheet dates back at least a decade. Court records show that Balfour was arrested in 1998 after police spotted him driving a stolen vehicle. They tried to pull him over near the 6900 block of South Yale Avenue—about a block from the Hudson family home—but Balfour stopped the car and fled, according to court records.
Balfour was out on bail when a man saw Balfour breaking into his new Chevrolet Suburban on Nov. 29, 1998, and ran outside to stop him, court records show. Balfour, then 17, drove off with the man hanging from the roof rack.
As police followed, Balfour drove through alleys, front yards, through a police barricade and onto the Dan Ryan Expressway—all with the victim clinging to the vehicle, records indicate. He eventually crashed into a telephone pole and fled.
Balfour’s mother, Michelle Davis Balfour, gave a different take on her son’s exploits to Nancy Grace: “He was only 16 years old. William had stolen a car in 1996. He pled guilty. He served nine years in Canton, Illinois. That`s where me, his sister and his godmother went and picked him up on May the 5th, 2006, OK? William was 16 at the time. No, he has never had a gun. No, he has never done bodily harm to no one. He has never been the type of kid that you could say was a violent type.”
Mrs. Balfour seems to have trouble identifying people with violent tendencies. Her husband, William’s father, is currently in prison serving a 30-year sentence for, of all things, murder.
But to discuss Julia Hudson’s taste in men, at this time, is insensitive. No one deserves to experience what she’s going through now.
It’s Chicago’s mayor, Richard Daley, and his hand-picked police superintendent, Jody Weis, who have some explaining to do. Chicago has achieved the dubious distinction of being the new murder capital of America. Neither Daley nor Weis deserve even a half-hour of sleep until they figure out how to reduce homicides and keep the citizens of Chicago safe.
Mayor Daley, whose default setting is Cover My Ass, described the murders of Donerson, Hudson and King were tragic, but said they couldn’t have been prevented. That’s like an auto maker saying that it can’t prevent tyre blowouts.
No one expects the police to prevent all murders, but what people do expect –and pay for through their tax dollars– is that the police will serve and protect them.
So, Mayor Daley, what happened when Donerson’s neighbours called the police to report that shots had been fired? The police were MIA because shooting is a way of life in Donerson’s Englewood neighbourhood. Someone let off a few? Eh, what else is new?
What’s gotten old is the wink and nod policy of protecting communities that are home to the well-heeled –Beverly Hills, Lincoln Park or the Gold Coast, for example– and ignoring economically blighted neighbourhoods such as Englewood, Roseland and West Pullman.
Why does a city in which gun shots in any of its communities are nothing new deserve to host the Olympic Games?
And why does a mayor who has traveled the globe in an effort to persuade Olympic organisers to bring the Games to his city, while ignoring his city’s skyrocketing homicide rate, deserve to be mayor?
If it seems that I have a bone to pick with Mayor Daley and Superintendent Weis, who recently sounded more annoyed than concerned about the fact that there are 75,000 gang members in Chicago, I do.
By all appearances, Mayor Daley has revitalised Chicago and transformed it into a truly world class city, one that is culturally on par with any in the world. But it isn’t safe here, especially if you happen to be black or poor. If you’re black and poor, even sitting in your living room may not be enough to keep you safe from flying bullets. That is not hysteria or exaggeration. That is the truth, as Darnell Donerson, Jason Hudson, Julian King, their family, friends and neighbours have learnt the hard way.
Think about what it must be like to live in a place where gun shots aren’t news, a place where there’s a good chance that you or someone you know could be murdered. If you lived in such a place, if you do live in such a place, how would you feel if the Olympics came to your city?
It isn’t time for Games, Mayor Daley. It’s time for you to do your job, which includes hiring a police superintendent who can do his job effectively. But you, nor Superintendent Weis, are up to the task. Citizens are being murdered day and night at a record rate, parking tickets and fines are being issued day and night at a record rate and taxes have never been higher. You need to step down. This afternoon. And you need to take Superintendent Weis, his deputies, commanders, lieutenants and sergeants with you when you go.
I have the luxury of wanting just an apology, but the people who live in areas where the police don’t think to go deserve more than that. They deserve a chance to lead something resembling a normal life. Sadly, what should be unthinkable and unacceptable has become their lives.
Meanwhile, you’re busy globetrotting in an effort to persuade Olympic organisers to bring the Games to Chicago.
Chicago deserves better, but it absolutely does not deserve to host the 2016 Olympic Games.