Friends mourn Heaven Sutton, a 7-year-old victim of gun violence (Ashlee Rezin)

YOU MIGHT be forgiven if you thought that interpersonal violence (particularly homicides) among youth in Chicago was at an all-time high, rather than at one of its lowest levels in 20 years. The headlines blare that Chicago is a “war zone.” We are told that we are living in “Chiraq,” “Chiganistan,” “Terror city”–take your pick. Our frame is all war, all of the time.

In fact, a friend posted a photo of a poster that he saw in the South Loop (a fully gentrified community) just a few days ago advertising an art exhibition sponsored by Home Depot titled “Finding the Lost Childhoods of Chiraq”, where the organizers label…