How DC's Gun Violence Affects Me

Commentary by Nataleigh Jackson. Photo from NCCJ.

MAR. 12, 2020: When people (who aren’t from DC) think of DC, the first thing that probably comes to mind is most likely the White House, the Capitol, or the Washington Monument. People don’t think of all the gun violence that is happening in the rest of DC. Washington, DC is made up of eight wards. Wards 7 and 8 are the poorest wards and ironically that’s where most of the killings are happening. Why? When poor people with few resources try to make money illegally, many deaths come into play. People, usually young black men, are battling to make money. Their way of making money is selling drugs. When a lot of dealers are competing to sell drugs there’s a lot of tension which causes them to want to take out the “competition”. It shouldn’t be like that because nobody should have to sell drugs in the first place.

 Too many children under the age of 16 have died. An article from the “DCist” states, “A teenage boy was shot and killed Sunday night in Southeast, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. He is the 13th juvenile homicide victim in the District of Columbia this year, an MPD spokesperson said.” All 13 homicides were caused by gunshots.

I have seen many things while living in Ward 8 that have made me question my cultural identity. I would never do the things that I see people do in my community—like how young men kill and rob each other. Or why grown men shoot young children. FOR WHAT? There is no valid reason as to why children are dying from gun violence. I just feel as if there are a million better ways to resolve problems that don’t result in death. Is death really the answer? 

Nataleigh Jackson is an 11th grade scholar at Friendship Tech Prep Academy.