What's wrong, Minnesota?

Posted at 7:37 AM on March 7, 2010 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice

It's hard to have a "half-full" attitude on a Sunday in which two stories dominate the news.

First, in Chisholm, a lone gunman in Jim's Bar, shot several people, killing one. The story is still developing.

Yesterday, in the North Side of Minneapolis, they tried to bury a 17-year old girl who was shot last week. They couldn't even do that without a fight breaking out between rival gang members, the Star Tribune reports.

It also reported on the words of Rev. Jerry McAfee, which probably fell on deaf ears:

"Some of you think y'all are the only ones, that this game is new, that it's gonna be different for you," the Rev. Jerry McAfee said from the pulpit, his voice rising with anger. "Well, I have had the displeasure of seeing too many young boys and girls dead. I have had the displeasure of seeing too many young boys and young girls in jail."

McAfee then ordered the young women in the sanctuary to stand. He recounted how he had visited Neeley's memorial site and seen a note that called her "My bitch."

"The more you define yourselves as 'that bitch, that ho,' you develop that psyche," McAfee said.

Then he ordered the young men to stand, telling them that when they harm one another, they deny their own identities. He left them with an admonishment: "I pray that you brothers don't disrespect this day. We're bigger than this, y'all. We're bigger than this.

"I don't care what street you're from. If you hurt your people, you deny who you are."

It could be a very long summer.

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Comments (6)

Way to tell 'em Jerry. Where are the parents?

Posted by Mnguy | March 7, 2010 9:56 AM

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I really hope that you're wrong Bob, and that Rev. McAffee's message doesn't fall wholly on deaf ears. He's fighting a long uphill battle, as he has for a long while, but I'm glad to see he's still got some fire in him.

It does seem that there is something wrong with MN of late, at least from my perspective as a news reader. Perhaps my memory is too short term and this level of violence around the state isn't higher than previous years, but it sure doesn't seem that way to me. I feel like every day I'm reading about a new killing somewhere, new strings of robberies, etc. I hope that this is just a bump in the road, and not the beginning of a new trend. Maybe the spring will awaken dormant good will in all of us, and we can turn this around.

Posted by CHS | March 7, 2010 12:01 PM

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I was just writing something about the North Side brawl because I live in north MPLS, and saw the peace march go by yesterday only to see the story this morning about the fight at the church. Sad times on the north side when we can't even bury our dead without incident. I hope we can get a handle on this violence, or it will be a very long summer.
p.s. my post on it (although I use some language not appropriate for workplaces) can be viewed here.

Posted by Kevin M | March 7, 2010 2:12 PM

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MNguy, the parents are working, the parents are crying, their words are falling on deaf ears. My parents knew where I was almost every minute of the day and I still pulled off a couple stupid things, especially in my late teens. Are you a parent? How old are your kids? How would you keep yours safe in NW Minneapolis?

Posted by Minnwhaler | March 7, 2010 4:42 PM

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It's a bit too easy to cling to a self-identity of Minnesota Nice in order to avoid having to think of things like this representing our fair state.

Posted by Elizabeth T | March 7, 2010 9:12 PM

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Minnesota Nice, by its original definition, is not something anyone would want to cling to. It was a phrase to describe the dishonest communication where people would APPEAR to be nice, but actually weren't.

In this case, I think what people cling to is the general notion of decency.

Posted by Bob Collins | March 8, 2010 6:31 AM

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