Jackson Free Press

Perennially, some Jackson residents show up to the Jackson City Council and ask for the right to gate their communities. The argument is that people from outside the desired gate drive too fast through them—as happens on every street—and that they want to keep the criminal element out. But if neighborhoods wish to limit traffic on their streets, then they should also forfeit their street maintenance and other city-derived benefits that taxpayers fund for public thoroughfares.

Jackson is an all-in game. Crime, poverty, crumbling infrastructure, budget constraints, job growth, school performance, water quality—these issues don't selectively affect one part of the city, one stratum of society or one economic class. The burden of the problems the city faces is ours to solve together, especially crime. The answer is not pushing it off certain streets, leaving unsightly gates that can block emergency personnel from entering the area.

A gate lets people telegraph that they fear what's on the other side—your neighbors, your city. It is a statement of resistance, denial and rejection of the responsibility inherent in the greater social contract that we agree to as fellow citizens.

Crime does not appear from nowhere. It has clear, identifiable, historic roots in the socioeconomic conditions of the people who commit the offense, whether it is burglary or homicide (see jfp.ms/preventingviolence). Once we accept the assumption that crime has preventable root causes, separation through gating seems overly simplistic and indicative of a mindset that has given up on not just Jackson but on fellow citizens.

If some people want to build gates and separate themselves, that is their right. But, if they get to separate themselves and not face the consequences of living in the city with the rest of us, then they should not reap the benefits of such a shared relationship. Build your gates, then maintain your roads, fix your sewage pipes and hire your own police force. Construct a court and elect a judge. Tax your neighbors and choose who should join your collective gatherings. Liberate yourselves of the burden of social communion.

If you can't live within a community with us at our worst, then you don't deserve us at our best, or the benefits of our shared tax dollars. Of course, gates aren't the only options. There are many ways to fight crime that might actually get to the source of the problems, but that would mean admitting that we are all in this together. Consider the summation of independent L.A.-based research group BOTEC Analysis in its Jackson crime report, which the state Legislature funded:

"Our assessment shows that Jackson is trapped in a vicious cycle. Many city residents are desperately poor and victimized by violent crime. Government fails to protect them, leading to bitterness and a perception that law enforcement is incompetent or indifferent. Children grow with little opportunity and turn to crime."

Crime will not go away if we build gates or walls. It will only fester on the other side until we all start doing our part to actually prevent it.