The Sunday Times - UK (2022-02-06)

16

WORLD NEWS

Girls are being

taught in secret

in Kabul as the

Taliban oversee

a country starved

of food and

medical supplies

The girls

are not

scared of

being caught

and up his back,” his mother

Kerri said. “I still can’t get the

blood off my hands.” A 22-

year-old has been arrested.

The two deaths, on

January 16 and January 24,

illustrate the crisis facing

Atlanta, a Deep South

metropolis touted until not

long ago as one of America’s

biggest recent urban success

stories but now gripped by

spiralling gun violence.

According to the city

council’s figures, the number

of aggravated assaults rose

from 699 in 2020, to 2,

last year. Killings rose from 44

to 149.

The death of Grayson was

the 12th killing this year,

which is already up on 2021’s

figures.

The pattern is evident in

many other big cities, and on

Thursday President Biden

went to New York, where two

police officers were shot dead

last month as they responded

to an emergency call, to

emphasise that the White

House is tackling the

problem.

But in Atlanta faith in any

kind of solution has worn

thin. Many people have lost

patience with the police and

no longer trust elected

officials to solve the crisis.

In a bar that caters for

those going to the Fox theatre

in Atlanta’s Midtown district,

Rachael, a member of staff,

said she was about to move

from a flat near her work to

the outskirts of the city.

“There have been four

shootings in four months at a

tapas restaurant around the

corner,” she said. “That’s why

I’m moving out of the city.

There was a police shooting

in my building last month. It’s

definitely got a lot worse.

“At the moment I live only

two blocks away from here,

and now I’ll have to pay for

transport — but it’s worth it.

I’m a single woman, walking

home late at night, often

carrying cash. It’s just not

safe.”

“You must be here for the

crime,” said a middle-aged

customer who had joined the

conversation on learning that

the British accent belonged to

a reporter. “I’ve lived here all

my life and it’s the worst it’s

ever been.”

In Buckhead, perhaps the

most aspirational area of the

city, with grand mansions,

expensive hotels and lavish

restaurants, residents are

taking matters into their own

hands. The murder rate is up

by almost two thirds in two

years, violent assaults are

part of everyday life and

some claim the police do

nothing to crack down on

even serious illegal

behaviour.

That is why Bill White, a

businessman, is

spearheading a campaign for

a referendum on turning

Buckhead into a city in its

own right.

The main benefit of

breaking away, he said,

would be to seize control of

the $205 million that local

taxpayers hand to Atlanta city

council each year and spend

it on policing Buckhead. That

sum could take the number of

officers working the local

beat from 20 to 250.

“In Buckhead shootings

and murders are up hugely,

and if you’re a criminal, if you

want valuables and you want

to steal shit, Buckhead’s not a

bad place to go,” said White.

“These criminals are coming

here because they can’t steal

Range Rovers in other parts

of Atlanta. And if people

think they can get away with

one thing, then they think

they can get away with it all.”

The Atlanta police

department declined to

comment.

The birthplace of Martin

Luther King, Atlanta is a city

that has long been on the

front line of the civil rights

movement. Opponents of

Buckhead’s attempt to secede

argue that parts of the city

with bigger black populations

would have their resources

drained even further.

“To me it’s just a bunch of

entitled people that think

they can do that because

they’re entitled,” Glenda

Mack told ABC News. Her

12-year-old grandson was

found dead in a ditch round

the corner from her home

last year. He had been shot

nine times. The crime

remains unsolved. “I realise

the city of Atlanta depends on

all your money [but] I pay

taxes too,” she added.

Race is at the heart of the

argument. Atlanta as a whole

is about 50 per cent African-

American. Buckhead is more

than three quarters white.

But White, who does not

hide his ambition to become

the first mayor of Buckhead,

insisted that the secession

plan had nothing to do with

race: “It doesn’t factor in any

of our conversations.”

Many of the victims of

crime in Buckhead are black,

he pointed out at a campaign

event for the referendum.

“There is a grassroots

movement here in Buckhead,

so that when it becomes its

own city, we can include

visibility and inclusivity,” said

Shanna Gikonyo-Waweru, a

resident, who is black.

“There’s a lot of pride here.

People want to feel protected

wherever they live; they want

to be able to raise their kids.

Crime is colourless and has to

be tackled as such. If that

means we have to create our

own police force, then that is

what needs to happen.”

For most people in Atlanta

the politics is a distant

consideration compared with

the urgent priority of putting

an end to the daily parade of

tragedy on their streets. After

the death of her six-month-

old son, Kerri Gray said of his

killer: “I’m almost positive

that that guy — whatever has

happened, whatever was

going on his mind — has no

idea what wake he left

behind.” She addressed him

directly: “Not only have you

taken my son away from me,

but you have caused fear for

the people who live in this

neighbourhood.”

@AlistairDawber

Baby boy joins British

scientist in spiralling

tragedy of US gun crime

The stray bullet that killed
Matthew Willson was
fired at about 2am on a
Sunday last month.
It began its journey
towards the oblivious British
astrophysicist by passing
between trees in a wooded
area behind the flat of
Katherine Shepard, his
American girlfriend, in
Brookhaven, an upmarket
area of Atlanta.
Then it tore through the
flimsy exterior wall of the
building, where the couple
had been awoken moments
earlier by the sound of
gunshots, and entered the
headboard of the bed that
Willson was in. After
travelling almost 100m in
total, it struck him in the
head. He was 31.
Eight days later and 13
miles away in a much poorer
part of the city a rogue bullet
took the life of a six-month-
old boy. Grayson Fleming-
Gray was sitting in the back of
his mother’s car when he was
caught in the crossfire of a
suspected gang shooting in
Dixie Hills.
“When I went and opened
up the back door he was
slumped forward, and I
thought he was asleep. And
the bullet had gone through
the trunk and through his eye

Alistair Dawber Atlanta

Atlanta police are

dealing with a

sharp rise in

killings. Above

left, Grayson

Fleming-Gray

with his mother

Kerri, and above,

Matthew Willson

with girlfriend

Katherine

Shepard

AT L AN TA

January 16, 2am,

Brookhaven

Dr Matthew Willson,

31, is shot dead

by a stray bullet

January 24, 2.30pm

Anderson Avenue Northwest

During the gunfight, a stray bullet hits

6-month-old Grayson Fleming-Gray

2 miles as he and his family pass the Food Mart

Behind a yellow door in an alley blan-
keted by snow, 25 girls sit on the floor,
huddled in coats and headscarves, in
front of a white board. “What are you
doing?” the teacher asks in English.
“I am a student!” they chant in unison.
Their plastic shoes that are piled out-
side the door are a symbol of extra-
ordinary courage: six months after the
Taliban seized power in Kabul, crushing
the dreams of women and girls by
banning them from secondary educa-
tion, some are fighting back.

WORLD NEWS

Huddled in secret schools, Afghan

girls refuse to give up on education

They are going to secret classes in clan-

destine schools.

“I want to be an educated person,”

says Yalda, 11, eyes shining under a scarlet

scarf. “I want to be an engineer and build

beautiful schools and homes in my

country.”

Kamila, 16, had heard stories from her

mother about secret schools under the

previous Taliban regime in the 1990s but

never imagined she might end up in one.

“I thought the world is too developed.

But here we are.” She dreams of a

brighter future: “I want to go to univer-

sity to be an investigative lawyer, particu-

larly helping those who can’t pay.”

When the girls heard about a secret

school in their area, they were overjoyed.

They bravely insisted that they are not

scared of being caught. “Learning is not a

crime,” Fatima, 12, said.

After the Taliban takeover and with-

drawal of foreign troops, the best-known

female activists, MPs, journalists and

judges fled the country in their thou-

sands, receiving plaudits worldwide for

their bravery. “Learn their names, learn

their stories,” urged the actress and activ-

ist Angelina Jolie in an impassioned

speech on Friday.

Now it is the women and girls left

behind who are showing the real cour-

age.

Some are trying to work within the sys-

tem to provide services, including medi-

cal care, for women; or to keep the world

informed about their plight by working as

journalists. The bravest of all are going on

the streets in protest. Others are setting

up clandestine schools for girls.

The one I visited, comprising two

rented rooms in southwest Kabul, is the

creation of a 24-year-old woman called

Parasto, a former adviser in the adminis-

Stoic in the face of the collapse of civic life and Taliban edicts on schools, young women will not let their hard-won rights be stolen

tration of the president, who fled as

the Taliban entered the city. “Most of

my friends left too,” she said. “But I

didn’t think that was the right thing to

do.”

She and a teacher friend came up with

the idea of holding secret classes in

schools that had been shut down. The

Taliban got wind of it, however: “They

said to us, ‘Don’t you know girls’ schools

are banned?’”

Parasto then began raising money to

rent premises that could be used as class-

rooms. She has recruited teachers, too,

and now has three clandestine schools in

rented rooms in Kabul and one in Bami-

yan. “If they ban one, we will build ten,”

she said. “If they ban ten we will build

one hundred. We will not let them take

back what women have gained.”

The Taliban’s claims that girls will be

allowed back to school after winter holi-

days have provoked widespread scepti-

cism. Abdul Balkhi, a foreign ministry

spokesman, insisted it was a suspension

not a ban and the result of “technical

problems”, including a “lack of station-

ery”.

“I don’t see any sign the Taliban have

changed, said Rahallah, 35, one of the

teachers. “Their ideology is the same.

They have just become wilier in their

dealings with the outside world. The

more time passes the more restrictions

we see. This country is like a prison for

women and girls.”

Another of the teachers had been

stopped that day at a Taliban checkpoint.

She was asked: “Why are your nails so

long?” Rahallah said: “The scary thing is

they are the judges. If they want to kill

you they will.”

No one knows that better than Sahra,

22, who should be in her last year of

CHRISTINA

LAMB

Kabul

CHRISTINA LAMB; SAYED KHODAIBERDI SADAT/ANADOLU AGENCY/ GETTY IMAGES; PETROS GIANNAKOURIS /AP

ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP GETTY IMAGES