Chicago Shooting at Robert Taylor Homes Site Leaves One Dead

I never enjoy being glued to my phone after dark. That sounds like a terrible idea usually. But I serve as a pastor, so I keep that device right by my side no matter what happens. Several nights ago, it started buzzing with a flood of texts about a shooting at Washington Park. The location is less than a mile from our community center on Chicago's South Side. It was Saturday night, and families had gathered for a reunion of former Robert Taylor Homes residents. For those who don't know the history, the Robert Taylor Homes were housing projects that were eventually torn down, forcing many neighbors to find their own footing. On this specific night, they came back together with chairs, food, and their kids. It was supposed to be a fun evening in the park after a hot day.

Reports indicated the crowd stayed past the 11 p.m. closing time while nearby police helped clear everyone out. At 11:37 p.m., several masked men opened fire. Someone returned the shots. Amidst the chaos and screaming, 15 people were hit by bullets, and Rontonio Guterz, a father of three young girls, died. He had been shot six times. His family went straight from planning a party to organizing a funeral.

By the time the weekend ended, Chicago had seen more than 40 people shot and three killed. Gov. JB Pritzker posted on X that the Washington Park shooting "left Chicago mourning" and stated that "gun violence has no place here." Mayor Brandon Johnson released a statement on X highlighting the impact of gun violence. That was essentially all we got from our leaders. We see blood on the streets, but then we get clichés from officials.

What really upsets me is not just that the violence occurred. It is the tolerance surrounding it. I have watched communities elsewhere in America explode over one death and demand lasting change. On the South Side, 15 people are shot at a picnic, yet our leaders can't even muster a sincere thought. We have been trained into a kind of dystopian numbness, and this numbness is surrender.

The harder truth is that we know exactly what the problems are in our neighborhoods, but we refuse to solve them. What has bothered me over the years is our lack of care when the shooter is Black. If the shooter had been White, you can bet there would have been much more action from our leaders. But when the shooter is Black, the reaction becomes, "Let's bury this stink and move on." Why do we act this way?

When someone shoots in a park, nobody is really looking at the race of the shooter right then. People are screaming, "That's the shooter, that's the shooter!" Mothers grab their children. Men hit the ground, and no one wants to be in the path of that bullet. The shooters have not been caught. So we end up with 15 people shot and one person dead. There are no consequences. What I want to know is this: Why don't these lives matter? Gov. Pritzker said Black Lives Matter. Mayor Brandon Johnson brags about his administration being even more Black than others and demands diversity reports from city bidders. Yet where is he during a tragedy? Do these lives not matter? Why does "Black" matter only when it suits the narrative?

The evil here is that these are human beings. They are fathers, mothers, children, and neighbors. So many things before the label of race. I cannot verify whether these shooters are Black, but given the context and facts at hand, it is likely they are. But it matters nothing to me. They're not Black; they're criminals. See how much simpler life becomes when you go beyond race to truth? They're criminals, and they need to be brought to justice.

Accountability is not racial justice. It is just justice. We need to open our eyes wide to the problems in these streets. We must see reality for what it is. And we must have the courage to deal with reality.

Our leaders have picked politics over reality, so now ordinary citizens must step forward and declare that this ends today. We cannot settle for labels like racial justice or social justice when what we truly need is simple, unvarnished justice. The facts demand it, and the people will not stay silent while false choices divide us further.