Black lives matter*

Just in case you were wondering whether or not violent crime in Minneapolis has subsided over the past year.....it hasn't.

The grandmother of a Minneapolis boy shot in the head late last month gave an impassioned plea to the community Monday, asking why there wasn’t more outrage about shootings involving children in the city.

"I’m just trying to figure out why this community is not angry," said the grandmother of 10-year-old Ladavionne Garret, Jr., who is currently hospitalized at North Memorial Hospital after being shot in a vehicle with his parents.

According to data from the Minneapolis Police Department, 19 children have been injured by gunfire so far in 2021, far outpacing the seven that occurred during the same time period in 2020. The most recent case came over the weekend when an 8-year-old girl was shot while playing in her yard.

Ladavionne's grandmother, who identified herself as Sharrie Jennings, of north Minneapolis, asked, "Why is this community not angry?"

"We only march when it’s against the police, huh?" she asked. "We don’t march when it’s two kids, though."

Within hours after Ms. Jennings' impassioned speech, a 6-year old girl was shot in the head while in a car with her family, making her the 20th child injured by gunfire in Minneapolis this year. Sadly, she died Wednesday morning. 

Of course, Ms. Jennings hit on the key issue. Why isn't the community gathering in large numbers as they do when the gunshot victim is hit by a police officer's bullet? Do black lives only matter when there is an opportunity to stoke division between cops (especially white cops) and the public? 

A common retort to someone proclaiming "all lives matter" is "All lives don't matter until black lives matter." However, those who are the most vocal over black lives mattering certainly aren't giving an overwhelming impression that all black lives matter. 

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