I am shocked, shocked! (which is to say I am not shocked at all, nor the least bit surprised) that gunfire broke out as Wednesday’s Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City and rally was just winding down. Although, as of now, there has been no definitive word about the perpetrators or their motivation, there have been rumors that the incident began with an argument between persons attending the event. If so, it’s a byproduct of the actions, policies, and attitudes of the city’s “leaders.”

The climate of crime and murder in Kansas City, Missouri, has been fostered by the city’s so-called leaders, who for years have pandered to and even celebrated the “gangsta rap” mentality that violence and gunplay are viable ways of dealing with conflict.

Nothing points this out better than how the city has fêted a particular gangsta rapper, “KC’s own” Tech N9ne. This so-called “artist,” whom I wrote about in 2013, named himself after the submachinegun-style handgun that “gangstas” think is just too cool (even if they can obtain only the semi-automatic version). In that article, I took then-mayor Sly James to task for presenting Tech N9ne as a role model for the city’s youth; my article included some of the vile lyrics that have made Tech N9ne rich and famous. I’ll repeat them here in only slightly expurgated fashion:

Image: Tech N9ne lights the Christmas tree in 2023. YouTube screen grab.

“Gunz Will Bust”

[Verse 1]
I know you know this is Kansas City
Where n*gga life don’t mean sh*t
So step to and immediately get yo dome split
I pack heat for days run street wit K’s and hollow’s
On a concrete crusade you made the pill now swallow
You never thought tomorrow
You see me beam up all strapped down wit a pump
Searchin’ for the n*ggas on a hunt
Jerkin’ on the trigga when I dump
It’s not a game dude my killaz will mangle
Anything in my range fool
When hatin’ get framed moved
We play the same rules...

[Chorus]
Rough n*ggas in the street will bust 4 the bread
And meat deuce 57th Street and 7 deuce be packin’ heat punks
Get the f*ck away from we, for we buckin’ these mutha f*ckin’ G.U.N.Z.

Since then, Tech N9ne has been honored to be called on to light the Mayor’s Christmas Tree and, under current mayor Quinton Lucas, threw the switch to turn on the Christmas lights on KC’s Country Club Plaza, the Thanksgiving night event that, outside of Super Bowl parades and rallies, is the city’s largest pedestrian gathering.

(“The Plaza” is a privately owned, planned shopping and dining district built in 1923 by developer J.C. Nichols, with architecture evoking that of Seville, Spain. For years, it was KC’s “jewel,” drawing international tourists, and was known to some as “Rodeo Drive Midwest.” More recently, it has become plagued with crime and has seen many of its high-end shops closed.)

The rapper was also a featured “celebrity guest” at the Super Bowl victory parade and rally, which means that, despite the sheer repugnance of his lyrics and the violent lifestyle he encourages, he had the imprimatur of the Chiefs organization.

So, when the author and performer of lyrics like those quoted above is celebrated, is it any wonder that some of those who live their lives to the incessant thump of gangsta rap will act out in the manner seen Wednesday? You reap what you sow.

Mayor Lucas, in a statement made within hours of the shootings, said that the day’s events were “something no one in KC ever expected to see.” I beg to differ, Mr. Mayor. It was not only unsurprising but something that KC sees roughly every night, just not on quite so grand a scale.

I also won’t be the least bit surprised to hear Mayor Lucas use this event to cynically and predictably reiterate his claim that violence such as Wednesday’s tragic event is, like KC’s everyday record-setting crime and murder statistics, the result of “the availability and proliferation of guns.” I won’t even be surprised if he uses the number of people shot Wednesday (as this was written, the toll was one dead and 21 wounded) to rail against “high-capacity magazines,” rather than condemn the so-called “culture” that permeates “inner city” life and glorifies, glamorizes and encourages such behavior.

Author’s Note: Stu Tarlowe is a raconteur, pundit and social critic who lives in the Kansas City area and, since 2010, has contributed over 150 articles to American Thinker. His own pantheon of heroes and role models includes Barry Farber, Jean Shepherd, Long John Nebel, Rush Limbaugh, Aristide Bruant, Yaphet Kotto, Col. Jeff Cooper, Rabbi Meir Kahane, Col. Allen West and G. Gordon Liddy. His Substack newsletter is currently still dormant, but may be viewed at Stu’s Stack o’ Stuff.