On Sept. 22, a close friend of mine was walking back from class. He passed through a crowd of people gathered in front of his house between 40th and 41st streets on Walnut Street, multiple of whom then proceeded to unprovokedly strike and punch him in the back and side of the head, in broad daylight. He suffered a concussion that left him bedridden with light and sound sensitivities for several days. He has still not fully recovered from his head injuries. Two weeks later, The Daily Pennsylvanian published an article contending that students were largely unconcerned with their safety, notably leaving his voice out.
On Nov. 9, a “crowd of several hundred ‘juveniles’” gathered near 40th, Market, and Walnut streets, getting into physical altercations and “causing disturbances to businesses in the area.” Police arrived to separate the fights and disperse the unlawful gathering. As they moved to detain an individual and deploy pepper spray, “an unknown male intervened,” sending three police officers to the hospital. Ultimately, three people were arrested that night.
On Nov. 11, an individual was shot at 40th and Walnut streets. His assailant has not yet been detained.
When these incidents occur, we write them off as isolated events. We make excuses and argue that there are more important issues to discuss than these one-off happenings. We discuss these as abstract occurrences that have no bearing on our personal lives. We think, “Violence is something that happens elsewhere. Statistically, it could never happen to us.”
When my friend was attacked outside of his home, I heard others write it off as kids getting a little out of hand. After the fights on Homecoming weekend were broken up, I heard my peers express relief that there weren’t any guns involved. Now what? Is it time for us to be concerned now? When do we say that enough is enough?
There is a time and place for our University to grapple with its complicated legacy of displacement in West Philadelphia. There is a time and place for us to discuss community building and outreach. There is a time and place for us to discuss systemic, nationwide issues with complicated causes that require complicated solutions.
But now is not that time. We do not have time to moralize and get bogged down in discursive quagmires. The crisis we face is specific, it is urgent, and it has come to where we live, work, and study. We cannot continue to make excuses; we cannot continue to close our eyes to the disorder before us; we cannot continue to pretend that we are not at risk. Penn must secure the physical safety of its students, faculty, and staff. Penn must act now.
Penn Police must commit to stationing officers along the entire length of Walnut Street for as long as it takes to quell the violence. Penn Police must be proactive in preventing disorder before it breaks out, instead of waiting to shut it down after it grows out of hand. Penn Police must take any action necessary to protect the peace.
SEE MORE FROM TED KWEE-BINTORO:
The potential to experience violence is no longer hypothetical. It is no longer a thought experiment. It is no longer the subject of a public policy white paper. It is here and it is now. What if that crowd was on the other side of the street as you walked home from Acme with groceries in hand, like any other day? What if that pepper spray had been deployed as you stepped out of McDonald’s after a long day of Homecoming celebrations? What if that bullet had gone astray right as you walked into Cinemark to enjoy a night with your friends? Are you willing to accept this possibility as the price of attending Penn?
TED KWEE-BINTORO is a College senior studying mathematical economics. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief of Under the Button on the 141st Board of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. His email is tedkb@sas.upenn.edu.
