CME Group CEO Terry Duffy: We Have a Moral Responsibility to Help Chicago and Other Struggling Cities

Fatal violence continues to plague Chicago, an economic hub and home to big corporations like McDonald (NYSE:MCD) and Boeing (NYSE:BA). But one south side native says it’s up to more than just law enforcement officials to usher in peace.

“My comments around business being a part of the solution I just think it’s morally incumbent upon all of us to participate in our communities that we live,” CME Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy told FOX Business Network’s Liz Claman. “I just think we all need to do our part.”

Duffy, who grew up in Chicago and now heads the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), says the American dream will be lost for today’s youth unless the underlying problems in violence-ridden cities across the U.S. are directly addressed.

“These are problems that have occurred over a period of time and you are not going to fix them overnight, but if we don’t start addressing them, they will eventually get to a point where they are unfixable,” he said.

On Wednesday, President Trump said the situation in Chicago is “out of control” after recent data recorded by the Chicago Police Department revealed 51 murders and 299 shootings during the month of January alone.

“If they’re not going to solve the problem – and what you’re doing is the right thing - then we’re going to solve the problem for them, because we’re going to have to do something about Chicago, because what’s happening in Chicago should not be happening in this country,” Trump said during a meeting with African-American leaders.

Duffy calls the killings and non-fatal shootings a global problem and said the CME is doing its part to help through the Chicago public school system.

“One of the things I think needs to happen Liz is you have to give safe passage,” Duffy said. If you give children safe passage to and from school then they will be able to learn and move forward in society.”