It is going to take more than requiring universal background checks, banning military-style assault weapons and showcasing families hurt by gun violence to impact the urban areas where gun violence is at its worst. In the black community, that means serious efforts to change a culture that for too many say it is okay to carry and use a handgun.
The task is daunting — so much so that people from all levels have to do things differently, from friends to family to the most recognizable member of the black community, President Obama.
For starters, the president, who is to be in Chicago Friday to talk about gun violence, needs to take care to whom he gives his stamp of approval.
I thought it odd, for example, that as the president and his family made their way to his public swearing-in on Jan. 21 that not far behind the Obamas were singer Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z, the former Brooklyn drug dealer-turned-successful, legitimate businessman.