What defines Memphis?

Is it chowing down on a juicy shoulder sandwich or that last meaty rib bone from your favorite barbecue joint? Is it the foot-stomping, organ-dominant music from the choir at any of the numerous churches that dot the Memphis map?

Perhaps it’s a leisurely stroll or a more intense jog through Shelby Farms or – my favorite – Audubon Park. Or maybe it’s the life-saving work at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the economic engine that is FedEx or the absolute bedlam from a sellout crowd at FedExForum after yet another Grizzlies home win. There were 30 of them this season.

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The point is, there are as many ways to define this city as there are people willing to take stab at doing so. And virtually all of them are glorious. Except one. Violent crime.

It’s the fly in our glass of milk, the muddy dog at our church wedding and the visible stain on our new Easter outfit. Whenever we are poised to feel good about ourselves, violent crime rears its ugly head to steal our joy.

If you’re like me, you’re sick of it. Mostly because we feel powerless to stop it. The best we can do is try to understand it or say to ourselves other cities have the same problem, as if that will make it less depressing. It never does.

Whenever deadly violence makes more headlines than usual in Memphis – and I am beside myself with disbelief at the latest outrageous act – I instinctively know whom to consult for context and perspective.

I call Buddy Chapman, a former Memphis Police Department director and current executive director of Crime Stoppers of Memphis and Shelby County. I have his number on speed dial – which therapeutically is good for me, not so much for him.

But I needed some Chapman-like perspective following the brazen shootout early Sunday morning on Beale Street, smack in the heart of this city’s most popular entertainment and tourist-friendly district.

Two groups of people, both sides armed with guns, started firing at each other around 2:30 a.m. outside The Green Room in the 300 block of Beale. And get this, they unloaded a barrage of bullets in front of police officers who were caught in the crossfire.

When the shooting was over, one person, later identified as Tacquan Smith, 26, was dead at the scene and two others were critically wounded. A police squad car was also hit by gunfire and the officer sitting inside miraculously escaped serious injury when his body-worn camera was grazed by a bullet, police said.

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You can’t help but ask yourself, where are we, Memphis or Tombstone? How deep into violent depravity have some in this city sunk when gunmen are bold enough to shoot it out in front of witnesses who happen to be wearing badges and have guns of their own?

I asked Chapman those questions. For once, he was at a lost for satisfactory answers. “It’s a combination of things,” he said, “where young people are coming up with no respect for anything, including themselves.”

A lack of discipline is also part of problem, Chapman said. And that includes the boldness to settle any and all disputes with guns, regardless of the consequences and regardless of bystanders.

I also took the questions to another former police director, Toney Armstrong, who saw his share of deadly violence as a homicide detective and later as the top official on the force. Armstrong’s initial thoughts were for the families of Smith and the other shooting victims. He then turned to the impact that an incident such as this one has on the image of Memphis in general and Beale Street in particular.

“Considering the number of tourists and citizens present, this could have been catastrophic,” he said. “I’m grateful that no officers or additional citizens were seriously injured.

“This is not a good look for our city nor a fair representation of all the hard work that goes into developing, promoting and keeping Beale Street safe.”

In other words, both Chapman and Armstrong agree. We cannot allow deadly gun violence to define what Memphis is. Yes, we are a city racked with poverty. A place where for many people, putting decent food on the table is a constant struggle.

Our schools are not where we need them to be academically and far too many families are dysfunctional or simply overwhelmed by a variety of ills.

But violent acts are not inherent. They are a choice. And the two groups involved in the Beale Street shootout made a conscious choice to put themselves and innocent bystanders, including police officers, in mortal danger.

“I’ve never seen an incident like what occurred the other night (on Beale Street),” said Major Karen Rudolph, a police department spokesperson. “It was a very brazen act.”

The investigation into what happened and who was involved is ongoing. But police are certain that none of the shots officers fired in self-defense and in response to the gun battle struck anyone. The officers were there to keep the peace. They were conversing with other bystanders when, all of sudden, they too became victims of the carnage.

So the question for the broader community is, what’s our response? Do we continue saying to ourselves this is Memphis, and accept gun violence as a way of life? Or do we speak out louder against lawlessness? Do we keep heaping criticism on our thoughtless state lawmakers for allowing people to legally carry guns in public places without a permit?

Do we say Memphis is about good food, good music, good transportation, good sports and good health care, and we have had it, once and for all, with deadly violence?

Gun violence a hot topic at town hall and on the streets

Better yet, will someone pick up the phone, call Chapman at Crime Stoppers and turn in the people involved in the Beale Street shooting? Let’s hope so.

“There are so many good people who want to see Memphis grow and thrive,” Rudolph told me. “We need people to turn in the bad ones.”

Appreciation for the good, and intolerance for the bad. That should be what defines Memphis.