Don't Forget Derrion Albert, or the Chicago Streets That Claimed Him

2 years ago

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Mary C. Curtis

National Correspondent

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Now the federal officials are heading to Chicago. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder plan a Wednesday visit to the city where 16-year-old honor student Derrion Albert was beaten to death two weeks ago.

President Obama has spoken out on the issue of youth violence, particularly the problems in his adopted hometown, where, it is reported, at least 47 school-age children have been killed since the beginning of the year. His representatives join city officials as they try to halt the deadly trend.

A video that recorded every kick, every smash to the head with splintered wooden railroad ties raised Derrion's death above mere statistic to a horror that anyone could witness. His family members couldn't watch, but appreciated that the images have helped police arrest four people so far.

Mayor Richard Daley, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, said he would ask the Washington visitors for federal funds specifically to hire more police officers "either dedicated to schools or generally." The mayor also wants to "better align" Justice Department resources in Chicago with local "efforts to break up gangs, fight guns and address youth violence."

Even before the beating, Ron Huberman, who replaced Duncan as chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools, announced a $30 million school violence program targeting at-risk students for special attention, including jobs, mentoring and social services.

In the meantime, this laser focus on a problem that's getting worse won't help Derrion Albert, a sophomore at Christian Fenger Academy High School. The only hope is that the attention will prevent the next senseless death.

Derrion had reportedly done his part, avoiding the gangs that drew him into their fight. He was as poor as the gang members he rejected, his family as fractured in its own way. Yet he didn't let his circumstances stop him from having dreams and excelling in school. It's a message to parents and children touted by everyone from Bill Cosby to President Obama to every minister in any black church.

Derrion Albert's very existence repudiated the choices his attackers made. One of his friends, quoted just after his murder, told an interviewer: "He was in the wrong place at the wrong time." The idea that somehow walking down a city street to a bus makes you a target -- collateral damage in a senseless domestic war -- shows that making society value these children is just part of the battle. They first have to value themselves.

Filed Under: Crime, Education, Woman Up

Tagged: school violence, SchoolViolence

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