On average, the homicide rate in NOLA is usually 7-12 times higher than the national average. That is physically sickening being that in 1960, New Orleans had one of the lowest murder rates in the country.
I learned in the documentary that since 2005, more people have lost their lives to gun violence than when the levees broke in Hurricane Katrina. Normally, a natural disaster unites an area, such as the current situations in Oklahoma and New Jersey. However, in NOLA it seems that things have gotten worse.
There was one quote from the documentary that really stuck out in my mind: "Someone had that much power that they woke up that day and decided another human being would not walk the earth another day." It's amazing how cowardly people can be--just last week someone was killed in northern Louisiana over a dispute in a video game. A video game. Someone will never live again BECAUSE OF A VIDEO GAME.
2/3 of assaults reported to the NOPD involve a gun. That means simple muggings on the street are getting worse. People in the documentary stated that in order to protect yourself now, you need a gun: "Fists aren't going to protect you because you can't punch a bullet." What's even more depressing than that is that one man stated that guns are easier to obtain than a textbook. The power of knowledge is getting lost in translation because more and more people are concerned about their power on the street rather than their power in the classroom. New Orleans is leading the nation in incarcerations, however it is next to last in education.
Now, I am someone who firmly believes that owning a gun should be allowed for self protection. However, people are abusing this power. Self protection does not mean killing someone over a video game. It also doesn't mean shooting innocent children--this past weekend a 14-year-old boy was found shot dead in Central City, New Orleans.
After the documentary, a panel was available to answer questions we had. One of the panelists was a monk from India. His words really struck me: "In India we think the USA is like Heaven; everyone wants to come here. I feel different. In India we have a lot of poor people, but not so much violence. We have more spirituality, more thinking inside instead of outside. America needs more thinking inside. A small fire sparks and can burn your whole house. After it starts to burn it's hard to control, but if you can catch it at it's spark, you can stop it. We are born here to be happy, not to suffer. We are already suffering--we are sick and we grow old and we die. We don't have to make each other suffer more."
The problem is, people answer violence with violence. When someone shoots someone, the victim's family wants revenge. And the cycle continues. I was inspired by one of the panelists, her name was Cynthia. She lost her child at age 14 to gun violence. She stated that she could have easily gotten revenge, but she knew that if she lived the right way and took the right path, she would get to see her son again. At the time of her son's murder, she had 20 people outside ready to go after who killed her son, but she told them to go away.
I'm just astonished by some of the stories. A lot of them seem like they should be saved for the movies, but instead they are acted out in real life. This city and the people in it have so much potential, but I think there needs to be more direction. People need role models at a young age, and a lot of them aren't getting the role models they need. I hope some day soon the city wakes up, but I know it won't happen this year. The homicide rate is going to continue to rise, and it's going to continue to break my heart.
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