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Community initiatives can promote peace

By Barry Weisberg: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, April 20, 2013

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?[By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]

All of the measures now proposed in the U.S. to "stop" gun violence in the wake of recent incidents such as the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School are insufficient. Gun laws, more police, surveillance, greater social control in black communities, mentoring, more jobs, better parenting or after-school programs may help prevent future violence; but they will not reverse the pattern of domestic gun violence. They are partial, inadequate responses to systemic failures.

Gun violence is not a mere epidemic that can be interrupted. A street ceasefire does not remove the firepower. Guns are one thread of a fabric of economic, social, political and cultural factors which are central to the culture of violence in the U.S. Of all the delusions about gun violence, few are more ill conceived than the call to "stop the violence." Violence is socially rooted in human development and cannot be stopped. It is the bread and butter of the United States. But it can be reduced and prevented. The alternative, peace, is not merely less war or killing, or even a negative non-violence, but in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a "beloved community."

This begins in what Eleanor Roosevelt, talking about human rights, identified as the "small places." National or state gun debate and regulation is secondary. This is obvious at Harper High School, visited by U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, where eight students were killed and 24 wounded in five months. In the most violent communities, it simply is not enough for parents and students to "stay focused," as preached by Michelle Obama. The conditions which allowed the First Lady, among the "fortunate few," to attend Princeton and Harvard no longer exist in many urban black communities. Unfortunately we know far more about waging war than building peace. In Chicago, at least three initiatives are essential.

Reject outmoded policies

The Mayor must reconsider his ill-conceived and outdated corporatist crime control and Violence Containment policies and link growth to community development and human wellbeing initiatives.

His administration, as did those of Mayor Daley and Maggie Daley before him, must join the community-based Build the Peace efforts in Chicago. The budgets of neighborhoods, communities and cities must reject the ill-conceived Violence Containment strategies which are so counter-productive. The alternative is to mainstream a culture of peace which ensures individual, family and community wellbeing. This kind of leadership is essential in all cities afflicted by extreme violence.

Prioritize human wellbeing

Second, Community Development and Investment Banks (CDIB) are needed in the most violent communities. These banks would, however, be unlike either the World Bank, or the US$50 million Public Safety Action Committee which Mayor Emanuel and the First Lady are funding in Chicago. By contrast, Millennium Park in Chicago cost $457 million! However, the primary goal should not be downtown "safety" but human development and wellbeing. Community wellbeing indicators must be established and are important to address the most violence-ridden neighborhoods.

A CDIB, controlled by communities and local business, not municipal government or "global city" corporations, would work with every family, school, and neighborhood in select communities suffering from extreme violence and dispossession. This is a complex social, economic, political and cultural challenge, not merely an individual choice.

Whole neighborhoods and communities must be transformed, breaking the inter-generational transmission of violence. This is not accomplished by only creating more choices for some individuals. It includes working with every individual, family, school, health care provider and other basic institutions in violent communities.

Promote peace education

The Chicago public schools should promote a K-12 Build the Peace Curriculum. In the words of Maria Montessori, "to reach peace we must teach peace." It is not enough to reduce and prevent the violence; we must promote the values, attitudes and behaviors of peace. The content and form would be integrated into the existing physical, natural and social sciences and the humanities, then applied to everyday family, school and community activity. This should be linked to the pioneering 35-year-old Chicago Build the Peace Committee, in conjunction with the United Nations Annual Day of Peace on June 21.

Gun control could only be effective within the context of human wellbeing, community development, violence prevention and peace building. Gun violence is only one poisonous fruit from a poisonous tree.

Barry Weisberg is a Chicago based commentator. He is working on a book, Global Peace, global violence (2014), which discusses the global transition from the Culture of Violence to a culture of peace. Email: barryweisberg@att.net. Web page: barryweisberg.info.