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Once again, Illinois politicians believe they have the magic that will cure the crime plaguing our city of Chicago. I recently learned that our state Democratic lawmakers plan to introduce House Bill 4409 to amend the Illinois Crime Reduction Act of 2009 to rename “offenders” to “justice-impacted individuals.” That's right, with the magic of reframing, we won't have “criminals” or “criminals” anymore. Instead, we will have “justice-affected individuals” and the moral could not be clearer: instead of being seen as criminals who have sacrificed society, they will be seen as victims of the system.
I wish it was that simple.
If that were the case, I could stop my work as a pastor who has tried to reform criminals in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side for the past 20 years. I can stop construction on Project HOOD's massive community center, designed to take back the neighborhood from criminals. But you and I both know that this latest move by our state politicians is just left-wing idiocy.
Illinois politicians aim to change 'offender' to 'justice-affected individual'
It makes me stressed. I watch as these liberals have sprinkled this magic dust in my neighborhood over and over again – over the past seven decades. First, long before I arrived on the South Side to begin my ministry, they introduced welfare policies that took the father out of the home in exchange for government dependency.
Year after year, they fail to provide us with enough schools and teachers — and today, a nearby primary school produces children who can barely read or do math. And just a few months ago, less than a year ago, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced that he would magically achieve justice by closing some of the city's best public high schools because it wouldn't be fair to black children in underperforming schools.
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I wish I could laugh at this foolishness, but I can't. I am so tired of politicians who claim to care about us and then run away from the failures caused by their policies. Instead, they prefer to sprinkle the magic dust created by empty words, hoping to distract us. Unfortunately, it often works.
Every violator I encountered on the streets or in my church was breaking the law. They knew what the law was, and they crossed the line anyway. They harmed people, and even killed people. You cannot erase these consequences by turning the phrase around.
But what bothers me so much about the left is their continued refusal to see the people in my neighborhood as full human beings. That's why describing criminals in my neighborhood as “justice-affected individuals” is just not seeing them as full human beings.
By contrast, I see these fallen men and women for what they are: criminals. We have to focus on the truth of that. It may not be fair that many of them are born into extreme poverty and are burdened with deprivation, but this is no excuse for embarking on a criminal path.
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Every violator I encountered on the streets or in my church was breaking the law. They knew what the law was, and they crossed the line anyway. They harmed people, and even killed people. You cannot erase these consequences by turning the phrase around.
But what I believe in my heart is that you can reform a criminal into a law abiding citizen. The first step begins with finding the person hiding under that criminal armor. When you do this, you reconnect that individual to all the good things in life, and especially to who they are as a person.
It then begins to show potential new paths in life for that individual. I tell them over and over again that it is possible for them to change their lives for the better – to become good employees, to become good parents, to become good citizens.
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This work is not easy and not for the faint of heart. Not everyone succeeds, but I have seen many who have. It is beautiful to watch them spread their wings.
No amount of liberal magic can replace the real, humane work that so desperately needs to be done in my community.
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