Crime & Safety

Mary Mitchell on Mt. Hope: 'Back Door is Still the Back Door'

The Sun-Times columnist weighs in on gang funerals at Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Residents who live around Mt. Hope Cemetery on 115th Street have long faced an endless string of funeral processions driving in and out of the busy burial grounds. 

In recent years, an increase in funeral processions of known gang members has created public safety issues. Local elected officials have been working with the cemetery's owners on what they see as a need for a second entrance on 119th Street to alleviate the traffic congestion.

Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell voiced her concerns about the plan in her Sunday column. She noted the idea of a "back gate" entrance could be seen as disrespectful to funeral processions forced to use it. 

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She writes:

"Black families shouldn’t be treated like second-class citizens because unGodly people don’t know how to behave at a funeral anymore than they know how to behave on the streets.

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The back door is still the back door."

Mitchell did qualify her position and wrote that if funeral processions become unruly cars should be pulled over by police. 

Ald. Matt O'Shea has longed proposed that the second entrance is an important step in dealing with an issue that has been a major point of concern for area residents. 

Read Mitchell's full column and let us know what you think about the Mt. Hope situation. 


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