Families in Yazoo City are under attack.
Crime and violence within a community spill over into the city as a whole. Regardless of race or economic status, when criminals have taken the upper hand in a city, the results and tragedies can be seen and felt across any line, any race.
What is shocking is that many of the residents have said it has been an ongoing problem. But recently, the violence has arrived within their own homes and properties.
I spent an entire day knocking on the doors of neighborhoods that have recently been terrorized with violence over the last several weeks. These were predominantly black neighborhoods; many I have never stepped foot in during my time here in Yazoo City.
“Can I say something without offending you,” one black resident asked me. “You are the first white person who has ever sat on my porch before.”
But every single one of these black families welcomed me into their homes, their backyards, their porches, their lives to write down their stories. Yes, I have chosen to protect them by not identifying them by name. But I applaud them for welcoming me into their homes and trusting me to share their concerns and stories.
These were citizens who did not have any affiliation with gangs or other criminal activities. Most of them were elderly retired citizens who have worked their entire lives to have peace. But peace has been replaced with terror.
Three days later, members of white families contacted me about random shootings that occurred in their neighborhoods. Homes and vehicles were left littered with bullet holes.
The violence that has consumed Yazoo City has crossed racial and economic lines. It is a problem ravishing the entire community, not a set group of citizens.
I lost count of the number of bullet holes I counted during my investigative journalism. The entire side of homes were littered with bullets. Vehicles remain in driveways with windows shot out. Some bullet holes were found above bed headposts and even along the walls of a child’s bedroom.
And as I walked inside their homes, I looked around at the lives they had built inside of them. One house was filled with antique furniture and fine China cabinets. Photographs of families adorned the walls…right next to bullet holes.
Looking at those families’ photographs I saw graduation photos, family reunions, military ceremonies, church gatherings. I could have been looking at my own family. This house could be mine. This neighborhood could be mine. It could be any of ours.
The recent rash of violence within Yazoo City should concern us all. Regardless of what color of skin you have or how much money you make in a year, we are all people. We are all Yazooans. And not one single person should live in fear of being shot in their own home. Not one child should be scared to go to sleep in the same bedroom they play in. Not one backyard should be bare for fear of getting hit by a stray bullet.
Not one person deserves to live like this. And it needs to stop. One should not be accustomed to bullets flying through the walls of your home with your family inside. It should not be accepted or tolerated.
And along with prayer, we need the leadership in place to eradicate this problem from our streets, our city.
The violence that has ravished these neighborhoods recently needs to be addressed immediately. For far too long, some have held the notion that “that’s not my neighborhood. That’s not my side of town.”
Hard working families are defined as that…hard working families; not hard working white families or hard working black families. And hard working families do not deserve to live in such conditions.
I intend to cover this matter for as long as it takes to see results. I owe it to the accommodating families who welcomed me into their homes. I owe it to my profession. I owe it to my own family. I owe it to my town.
We have all worked too hard to watch Yazoo fall into the hands of criminals. It might be a long fight, a dangerous fight. But it is worth the risk. The spirit of the Good Fight is worth getting into the ring.
