September 20, 1995

A tragedy happened last weekend in the northeast part of Los Angeles . A tragedy like those that frequently torment this part of the city. But this time it grabbed the headlines. This time, as opposed to the usual fare of 14-year old gang kids caught at the wrong end of a gun battle, the victim was a 3-year old child. Her crime? Being in a car which made a wrong turn, into a war zone created by poverty, hopelessness, and despair.

At times like this, things seem black and white. Those who committed the crime are "animals" who shouldn't be allowed to live anymore. The solution to the problem is to bring the LAPD into that neighborhood and crack some heads. The only way to stop the epidemic of violence, exemplified by this horrific act, is to get more cops on the street and to build more prisons. Let the gang members kill each other off behind bars, at least that would keep them away from the good, law-abiding citizens, right? At least that would have kept little Stephanie Kuhen alive. Yet I would suggest that the solution is not as black and white as it seems on first account.

Yes, there are one or more people who are murderers and therefore should be held accountable. They should spend the rest of their lives behind bars. The non-responsibility craze that seems to have taken hold of our society should not excuse these killers. Although they may have come from dysfunctional families and may have never seen a positive role model, those factors do not excuse them. Remember that in even the most gang-populated communities, less than 5 percent of the kids are actually in gangs. Greater than 95 percent are managing to stay clear of the madness despite living under the same conditions as those responsible in this tragedy.

And yet to classify those in the Avenidas gang as "animals" removes responsibility from ourselves. It seems that if somehow we can only classify these folks as non-human, then suddenly we can have a clear conscience in the whole ordeal. When we dehumanize those who perform these acts, we are able to deny that society has had anything to do with the fact that these kids have grown up to be killers. That poverty, oppression, and a general lack of caring on the part of the enfranchised in our society have created conditions under which the war zones of our inner cities could develop.

One thing that I would challenge everyone reading this message to do is to begin to think of the folks in this gang, and in gangs in general, as kids. They are kids like any other, with hopes, fears, and dreams. They are kids capable of tremendous good. Kids who laugh, cry, hurt, and bleed like the rest of us. Kids who have been hardened into killers because of a lack of love in their life. As the saying goes, "if someone had wanted them earlier in life, they wouldn't be wanted now" (to paraphrase).

An example of the power of love in the lives of kids like these is a ministry I was able to be involved with over the course of the past two years. This ministry is in the community of Lincoln Heights, only a mile or two from where the shooting this past weekend occurred. For the past decade, one man has decided to love the children of Workman Street. He has set up an after school tutorial program which now reaches approximately 50 children every term, and has involved the at-risk teenagers in youth group activities. But most of all, he has simply cared for the children and youth in this neighborhood,

And what of the results? The gang which once ruled the block has disbanded. Kids who once had to arm themselves merely to survive a walk down the block can now play freely up and down the street. The crack houses which once ruled the block have moved on. And children are succeeding in school, going to college, and beginning to follow Jesus. Love is indeed a powerful tool.

What makes Isabel Drive, where last weekend's shooting occurred, and Workman Street so different? I would say that it is merely the love of Jesus which has come to transform the lives of the children. And I am confident that if there had been someone to share God's love with the children and youth of Isabel Drive, then the events of this past weekend never would have happened.

This is a call to love. It is a call to see beyond what these children have become, killers, and look to what they can become. It is a call to give ourselves in love. The heart of Jesus sees the fear that the people who live on Isabel Drive face on a daily basis and desires to see it removed. The heart of Jesus sees the fact that most of the gang members do not expect to live past their 20th birthday and wants to give them hope. The heart of Jesus seeks to make sure that there are no more Stephanie Kuhens. But also that there are no more Tony Gutierrezes, a 13-year old gang kid shot by police only a month back. That there are no grieving families of any sort.

But this is also a call to responsibility. It is a call for us all to recognize the role that we have played in the death of Stephanie Kuhen. While it is true that some gang kid (or kids) pulled the trigger, it is each of us that armed him. It is our lack of concern for the poor among us which has contributed to these tragic events. And while only those who committed the crime are responsible for the murder, we are all responsible for the conditions which contributed to that murder. And as such, it is our obligation to work for the removal of those conditions.

If we, as Christians, fail to have the heart of Jesus, and fail to take the responsibility that entails, then we can never hope for the problems highlighted by last weekend's shooting to be removed.

Anyway, that's how I see it.