Waukesha Tragedy: How Senseless Violence Can Bring Us Together
People leave mementos and flower as a tribute to victims of the Waukesha parade tragedy. Photo from KFIZ.
Maya Bell
On November 21, 2021, the Waukesha Christmas parade was going as planned. This parade was the first parade that happened in Waukesha since Covid-19. Suddenly, at 4:39 pm, a red SUV plowed through the Christmas parade, injuring forty people and killing six. Among the injured are members from the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies, a priest, children, and so many more. In seconds, a moment of celebration turned into a sight of tragedy. The youngest of the deceased victims was an eight-year-old named Jackson Sparks. Jackson Sparks’ funeral was on Thursday, November 28; at the funeral, Jackson's mother asked people to wear baseball jerseys because of his love of baseball. This one line gave someone an idea.
On November 29, a Texas EMT who used to live in Greendale, Wisconsin, created a Facebook post to wear baseball jerseys to school to honor Jackson. This Facebook post was shared over 11,000 times and schools across the state and the country wore jerseys in support. This includes baseball teams such as the Brewers, off duty police officers, and even the mayor of Milwaukee joined in solidarity of Jackson's family. Hamilton High School participated as well with students wearing jerseys to support. According to the Hamilton High School Principal, Rebecca Newcomer, 39 out of the 60 fourth block teachers sent pictures of students participating in Jerseys for Jackson. "The support we saw at Hamilton was really positive, because so many people wore jerseys of every kind to support them," Josh Beverung, a senior in Hamilton High School says.
Hamilton students participate in Jerseys for Jackson. Photo submitted by various Hamilton staff.
Hamilton High School and places all over Wisconsin have been showing their support for the victims of the parade attack and everyone in Wakeshua, with Jerseys for Jackson being one of the more famous examples. While the state has been mourning, Wisconsin has also shown a great sense of community as well. For example, there are 31 GoFundMe pages for the victims of the attack, with over 66% of the GoFundMe pages raising over $20,000. The attack has shown a community in healing. Still with all of the support, the community of Waukesha is still reeling from the tragedy. According to Mr. Bigus, a teacher at Hamilton and a resident of Waukesha, states, "Everybody is thinking about it (the Wakeshua Parade attack). It's been a topic of conversation and everybody has pretty much the same horrific feeling about it. Where a lot of things tend to go away in our world when the next event happens; this is still a fresh reminder for everybody."
When things like this happen, it's normal for people to want to find a reason. Why would someone do this? In the aftermath of these events there is always a sense of community or compassion. Vigils and memorials are made directly after to show a sense of humanity, "Those events allow people to grieve together and celebrate life together. The human connection is so important in times of tragedy," says Mrs. Newcomer on the subject.
Since these events have happened so often in our lifetimes with the bad news and death, people have found ways to cope with it all, including ways to address it with children. "One of the things I have to do as a parent is I have to actually deal with them in terms of talking with my kids about what's going on. I've always found that being honest about it is the best thing," said Communication Arts teacher Mr. Nysse.
It is during these moments where the best in people really shows. "I think they(vigils/memorials) help remind us that we're in communities, they help remind us that there are people who care about issues and we're not the only ones maybe not feeling this way,” adds Mr. Nysse.
Every time something like this happens, there are so many emotions that rise throughout the aftermath: Anger, sadness, and confusion. It is during this time that all of us need to come together is the most important. While the pain won't go away, helping one another through the pain makes it a little easier. Life is just so precious and we can't let evil take away that there are also really good people in the world. Events like this don't make sense and it is okay to feel anger and sadness. We also need to support our fellow human beings in honoring their loss. It is all heartbreaking and we need to turn to each other for help in healing. This year has been hard for everyone, Covid-19, the tornado in Kentucky, and so much more. These events have shown us the strength of human spirit. So this holiday season, maybe help someone out and remember that we're all in this together.
If you would like to help/donate, click below to access the GoFundMe page:
