The Criminals We Deserve

A man was attacked by at least two thugs on Morse Avenue in Rogers Park this evening at approximately 6:15 p.m. The attack happened in the 1400 block of Morse, in front of My Quiet Place restaurant and adjacent to the CTA bus stop. I counted six marked CPD squad cars and about the same number of officers on bicycles at the scene. The alleged victim, a black man of approximately 38-45 years and wearing a plain gray tee shirt, was said by witnesses to have been punched and slapped. I saw no visible signs of injury and his clothing was not ripped. One man, a delivery driver for JB Alberto's Pizza across the street, claimed to have seen the incident. As I was questioning drivers at JB Alberto's, the man pointed across the street. "That's them," he said, "those are the guys who attacked that man." "Why don't you tell the police?" I asked him. He shrugged his shoulders. I crossed the street to a squad car. "There's a witness over there who says the attackers just walked into Golden Mini Mart." "Sir, the vicitim doesn't want to press charges," the cop said. I couldn't help thinking that maybe it's "The Black Man's Law," which holds unofficially that blacks don't testify against blacks, even if they just got robbed and beaten. I gave ten bucks to black guy last winter who'd just been beaten bloody, his wallet stolen, just before I encountered him. I told him to go to the police. "Shit, black folk don't go to the police," he said. "But there's a witness who says he can identify them," I said, and I motioned to the man to come over. He did. "Tell them what you saw," I said to him. He approached the cops. They grimaced. He changed his mind. "I don't wanna get involved," he said. They say we get the government we deserve. We also get the thugs and criminals we deserve.