To the editors:
It always seems convenient to have a scapegoat for society’s ills. The letter of the 17-year resident of Rogers Park (“What Orr Did to Us,” July 23) blames former 49th Ward Alderman David Orr for the ills which our ward now shares with much of the rest of the city. Somehow she seems to feel that local people with problems should be NIMBY but removed to, or stay segregated in, other parts of the city, not in beautiful Rogers Park.
I’m not sure to what neighborhood she refers when she states that it has begun to fight back against crime and win now that Orr is gone. During the almost six years since I moved from the south side to the 49th Ward, I have been one of a number of volunteers for both Alderman Orr and Alderman Moore and for Neighbors in Action, a grass-roots community organization, to help better the community. Perhaps the writer is indicating that her community has begun to take more responsibility for conditions, and that is certainly a healthy sign.
Until some of the basic causes of crime are addressed, however, such as lack of jobs, housing, health care, and food, by the majority of concerned citizens of the USA, some crime will continue.
Elizabeth I. Benson
N. Rogers