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NEWS
Letters to the editor: 5/26/05
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Unfortunately, now murder comes in pairs
Everyone loves good things that come in pairs -- twins, double pay, double fun! But in Pittsburgh we have another double that has not been a pleasure at all: murders are now coming in twos.
What a horrific experience the first time I saw a mother bury her two children at the same time, Rasheeda and Jaleel Bell. And then two half-brothers involved in a dispute with a stripper, Chaoe Davis and T.C. Preston Lyerly. Now the Taylor brothers, Malcolm and Randolph, gunned down with a 6-year-old child in the same dwelling -- those who had played together as children will be sadly buried together today ("Suspect Charged in Double Slaying on the North Side," May 22). Murder now has been turned up a notch wherein one is not enough. Our streets have become breeding grounds for slaughter.
We tend to see the root causes as severe poverty and social deprivation, coupled with lost morality and conscience. But negative role models, proliferation of weapons, a culture of survival, violence and anti-values are the real causes. It is twice as hard to rectify, modify or correct this behavior when it is existing on a higher level with those who are providing the monetary resources for services to these broken communities.
We have politicians -- who should be outraged with the tragedy of hundreds of young lives being lost in this county in the last 14 years -- attempting to pit agencies against each other and utilizing federal and state monies for political treats instead of changing and stabilizing lives and communities. We can understand better why this cycle of violence has a boomerang effect.
Real aberrant behaviors must first be corrected from the top, and then maybe we can emulate real peacemakers and promote widespread hope and healing. After 14 years of mayhem escalating out of control, we need to truly blanket these needy neighborhoods and families with all the services and hope we can provide. If we want to make a real difference, we must double our efforts and that will take a unified front from all arenas.
ADRIENNE YOUNG
Executive Director
Tree of Hope
Uptown