The Modern Journalism Project
Kansas City Gun Violence Part 1.
Kansas City, Missouri is a city with a complicated history of race, segregation, and violence. As the town developed, new suburbs were built further away from downtown and into Kansas. The older neighborhoods east of Troost Avenue and near the Blue River were not invested in and struggled to maintain prosperity. Restrictive clauses in neighborhood rules prevented non-white people from moving into the newly developed suburbs for many decades. This segregation has created lasting effects on the people and geography of Kansas City. There is still massive inequality in educational and economic opportunities afforded to people purely based on where they grow up in the city. The disparate conditions lead to much greater concentrations of poverty, homelessness, and gun violence in the areas east of Troost Avenue in Jackson County.
Jackson County is the county in Kansas City, MO, with the largest population. It has 34.6 gun-related deaths per 100,000 people (Brianna Lanham Fox 4), more than two and a half times the US average of 13.6 deaths per 100,000 people. This marks the third-highest gun-related death rate in mid-sized United States counties. The statistics seem to be getting far worse in recent years. In 2021, KC had 182 homicides, the city’s highest in history. In 2022, there have already been 170 homicides as of August 14th.
The homicides in Kansas City have a distinct geographical concentration. The following map shows where the homicides occurred in Kansas City, Missouri. There is a precise concentration of homicides east of downtown and on the east side of Troost Avenue, a street that is often considered a dividing line in Kansas City.
Kansas City Gun Violence Is As High As Ever. Are New Police Strategies Imminent? | KCUR 89.3
This concentration of violence and murder in certain parts of Kansas City is part of a larger story in US history relating to race, slavery, and discrimination. African Americans were considered property of white people for nearly 250 years. African Americans suffered abuse, lynchings, torture, and trauma for many generations in this country. The following timeline helps to see how the laws have moved society towards equality and institutionalized discrimination and inequality.
1619 — This is often considered a starting for the institution of Slavery in the US.
1863 — Emancipation Proclamation frees enslaved people.
1870’s — Jim Crow Laws institutionalized different treatment and discriminatory practices.
1896 — Plessy v. Ferguson, Supreme Court lays out the “separate but equal” doctrine.
1909 — NAACP is founded, and members sustain public protests against Jim Crow and the “separate but equal” doctrine.
1916–1970- The Great Migration is one of the most significant movements of people in United States history. About six million Black people moved from the American south to other parts of the country.
1944 — GI Bill — Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (GI Bill) was racially discriminatory and designed to accommodate Jim Crow laws, helping white people much more than Black people.
1954 — Brown v. Board of Education declared state-sponsored segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
The 1960s — Most of the final Jim Crow laws were overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The 1970s and ’80s — In many US cities, industrial jobs decreased dramatically, leaving fewer higher-paying jobs for people in the cities.
In response to mass migrations of African Americans moving to the Northern States, some white men felt threatened by being replaced by their black counterparts. They passed sweeping legislation that reduced the black citizen to second-class status with inferior or nonexistent community centers and resources. Homeowners and tycoons like JC Nichols designed housing districts to cater to white families. This can be seen in Kansas City in areas like the Plaza, Ward Parkway, and other suburbs that would not allow Black people to live in them until recent decades. The GI Bill helped white veterans return home from war, invest in property, and build wealth. Black people returning from service at war did not receive similar help and often faced worse treatment than they had experienced abroad. Black people were forced into areas of cities that were “redlined” and not given resources, loans, or land rights. Many historic black neighborhoods have been demolished to build highways and neglected without investment.
In effect, “Two Americas” have been created in nearly every US city. There are areas of inequality and areas of vast wealth. Johnson County suburbs have excellent schools, prospering real estate, diverse businesses, and higher life expectancy. The conditions are very different in the historically redlined areas, often east of Troost. Healthy food options are difficult to find. Growing up in these areas often experiences significantly more trauma and fewer life opportunities. The quality of schools available in each neighborhood varies widely. Many parents in the poorer communities are forced to pay for private or religious schools if they want to invest in better educational opportunities for their kids.
The environments of these neighborhoods are very different as well, and a simple walk can feel this in each community. Unkept sidewalks for example, a symptom of underinvestment is expected in the areas east of Troost Avenue near the Blue River. There are fewer parks and less tree cover, leading to hotter summer temperatures. The lack of investment has also led to run-down buildings and many places in need of repair that people cannot afford. Buildings are condemned and boarded up frequently. The immediate environmental inequalities are apparent, but the long-term hazards may be even more significant.
A watershed is all the areas of land that drain into a particular river. The areas near the edges of the watershed are on hills and are unlikely to flood. The areas near the creeks and rivers are the most likely to attack, especially downstream, as more and more small streams join the main river. All of the wealthy suburbs that were built to the south and west have a small flood risk. These affluent suburbs exert significant control over the flooding downstream and dramatically increase flooding as they replace native ecosystems with parking lots and other developments. The areas east of Troost near the Blue river are the most likely to flood. This is not by accident. The city was developed to concentrate on the environmental hazards, economic inequality, and lack of opportunity in certain parts of the city. This leads to much higher rates of desperation and gun violence.
Unfortunately, gun violence and inequality affect all of us. We must first recognize the inequity and disparities if we are to fix them in our lifetime and not pass them on to future generations. We must ask why our cities are designed like they are, how this affects us, and how we can contribute to solutions. We can all learn more about these issues and do our part in building better communities and neighborhoods for everyone.
A Positive Pledge
New American Journalism Project is an investigative newsroom based in Kansas City, Missouri, dedicated in 2023 to bringing unique stories to form.
(Credit to Co-Writer Matt DeCapo)
