The Life They Lead

This is a gripping article about life in my new hometown, Wilmington, DE. Drug dealers and abusers have scared residents of certain neighborhoods into their homes in cities across the country. Wilmington is no different. There cannot be a more selfish brand of human being than the drug dealer. He destroys not only the neighborhoods in which he peddles his illegal doses, but the lives of his own clients, just to make a few illicit bucks. With no sense of honor, duty, or shame, the dealer obliterates whole communities. The hyperlinked article explains how citizens are humiliated and afraid to protect their own neighborhoods. Chilling stuff.

[R]esidents of the tough neighborhoods in which 97 shootings occurred last year say they're plagued with the gnawing fear of stray bullets - or that someone peddling heroin or crack cocaine will intentionally aim a gun at them. It's changed their daily lives:

• They strictly limit the time their children can play outside.

• On stifling summer days, they sit inside rather than catch a breeze on their porches or front stoops.

• They literally jump off their chairs and hit the floor when a car backfires - or when actual shots are fired.

• And some who played important roles in holding neighborhoods together have moved away, vowing never to return.

Nobody should be forced to live this way.