The mass shooting, which took place at Club Q nightclub in Colorado Springs, is the latest instance of what is called “targeted violence.” This kind of violence can be defined as “intentional physical violence against a pre-identified target based on their perceived identity or affiliation, whereby the act is intended to intimidate or coerce or generate publicity about the perpetrator’s grievances.” There is no single profile for perpetrators of targeted violence. What’s more, incidents of targeted violence have been on a sharp uptick in the last several years. What can be done about this?
That is a question that Urban Rural Action seeks to answer. This non-profit organization, founded in 2018, focuses on conflict resolution through constructive dialogue, active listening, and actual strategies geared specifically to localized issues. Urban Rural Action (UR Action) has existed in central Pennsylvania in the form of the Uniting to Prevent Targeted Violence initiative (UPTV) involving Adams, Dauphin, Franklin, and York counties. UPTV is a non-partisan, grassroots initiative that aims to prevent targeted violence at the local level. I am proud to be a part of this initiative, and I am happy to announce that we are taking recruits.
All talk, all action
Bill Maher, on his long-running HBO show Real Time, famously argued that Americans simply cannot seem to get things done. “China sees a problem, and they fix it; they build a dam,” he said. “We debate what to rename it.” UR Action, in general, and UPTV, in particular, aim to go beyond performative and symbolic gesturing. It seeks to remedy the inertia plaguing efforts to better our society by embracing concrete change that will actually benefit the lives of our citizens. The key to real improvement is found in the concept of “superordinate goals” and local action, which, as you will see, can provide other communal benefits.
A superordinate goal is a goal shared by different groups of people who, quite often, never interact otherwise. What’s more, a superordinate goal is understood to necessitate group cooperation; the task is too large for one group, alone. An added benefit is that repeated interaction between disparate groups can reduce any existing conflicts between groups; the necessary cooperation and shared concern for societal wellbeing humanizes people and sheds light on similarities that may have gone unnoticed.
Those at UPTV believe that ending targeted violence is a superordinate goal, and have designed its initiative with that in mind. UPTV is a conglomerate of four local organizations: Contact Helpline, Just for Today Recovery and Veteran’s Support Services, Mediation Services of Adams County, and Suicide Prevention of York, all with the shared goal to inform people of targeted violence and intervene to prevent it. These organizations and the people they serve are demographically diverse; every race, class, age, political affiliation, and sex is represented. However, despite apparent differences, these organizations share a goal a 3-point goal:
- Build relationships across ideological, racial, and generational divides;
- Implement projects that reduce risks of targeted violence;
- Raise our communities’ awareness of targeted violence.
Superordinate goals put the task in question above differences. The task is the thing; all else is subordinate to it. Thus, the building of bridges across our differences may be a probable outcome of the UPTV initiative.
Lastly, UPTV’s focus on the local is imperative. If one has the goal of improving one’s neighborhood, who is more likely to share that goal than one’s neighbors? Focusing on the local, or “taking care of one’s own backyard,” helps us zero in on problems and, because of familiarity with the local environment, devised location-specific strategies for solving problems. We need no advice from outsiders unfamiliar with the history and dynamics of our home towns. We can localize strategies, that is, customize them for our particular environmental make-up. In short, we have more knowledge and control of our local environment, so we would do well to start right there.
To address targeted violence, UPTV is narrowing its purview to four counties with at least one coordinator each. We can see, through our own knowledge of our own towns, how radicalization and mobilization of violence can arise, recognize risk factors, and better discern how to end targeted violence our way, by building and fortifying relationships, planning for action, taking action, and maintaining that action until our goals are met.
One may wonder why UPTV focuses on targeted violence; isn’t the eradication of other forms of violence a superordinate goal best handled at the local level? Yes, and those affiliated with UPTV condemn all forms of violence. However, we believe targeted violence is different in that it makes entire groups feel unsafe because of their respective identities. What’s more, targeted violence, unlike other forms, is consistently on the rise. Lastly, we do not believe forms of violence are mutually exclusive, which one can see by the different organizations involved in this initiative and the fact that some forms of violence can be seen as risk factors that could escalate into targeted violence, e.g., the Club Q shooter’s threat of violence to his own mother preceding his targeted violence. In addressing the reasons and consequences of targeted violence thoroughly, we may find ourselves addressing domestic violence, self-harm, emotional abuse, and other things that can cause or be caused by targeted violence.
I am UPTV’s project coordinator for York County and will work closely with Suicide Prevention of York to address targeted violence as it may manifest here. If you are interested in being a part of this initiative, you can contact me or apply by December 16, 2022, through a two-step process on theUR Action website. The UPTV initiative can be a great benefit to us all; the more involved, the better.
Erec Smith is an associate professor of rhetoric atYork College of Pennsylvania.
