Well, I'm thinkin' that you have to realize something before you get down to knowing it.
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Another Racism Thread
- Thread starter burk48237
- Start date
Well, I'm thinkin' that you have to realize something before you get down to knowing it.
It's definitely more about class than race. Decent people want decent neighbors; it's that simple. I'm convinced that some low-class folks act an even bigger fool if they feel safe from drive-bys. Also, a lot of homeowners look the other way as long as they get paid. It's a good idea to call them on it.
Stay out of Boston then.
I can't remember the last time I obeyed a cross walk sign or crosswalks for that matter. I had a friend who bet another friend to get a j-walking ticket. He did it several times in front of a cop and then finally asked the cop for a j-walking ticket. The cop refused and said all his cop friends would laugh at him if he did.
Same here. I don't even have much regard for the "walk" and "don't walk" lights. I race cars across Tremont st. every day. I almost get nailed pretty often but never have.
Dude, that has always gotten to me. I'll never understand it; why, just because your family is broke, does that mean you have to leave your house in a mess? Have bad, dirty kids? Be loud, disruptive and disrespectful of your neighbors? I just don't get it, man...I don't see a correlation between having money and acting like you have some sense.
And in case I come off any differently, I'm the son of a single bus driver with five kids. Yeah, we were broke, too. And had sense. Shoot, I'm still broke and don't behave as a bane on society
IMO, the biggest problem is the attitude of the landlords. From what I can see, when a neighborhood begins to "change" many realtors and landlords simply take the attitude that a "black is a black is a black." Efforts to screen prospective tenants for how they fit in to a community seem to be non-existant. This laissez-faire attitude simply accelerates any tendency for the neighborhood to decline. I also think that neighbors find it easier to move than to organize and really put pressure and landlords, and to confront their new neighbors to lay down the law.
In short, the new people are probably trying to do better, but no one automatically knows how to act in a particular setting. People sometimes need to be taught how to behave. As a teacher, I see this often with students who bring habits to college that need to be confronted for their own good. I'm sure there are those who are no good, those folks need to have all pressure put on them via landlords or the police until they shape up or are run out of the community.
In short, the new people are probably trying to do better, but no one automatically knows how to act in a particular setting. People sometimes need to be taught how to behave. As a teacher, I see this often with students who bring habits to college that need to be confronted for their own good. I'm sure there are those who are no good, those folks need to have all pressure put on them via landlords or the police until they shape up or are run out of the community.
Do you really feel the onus is on the people already there to 'educate' the new members of the community?
I placed the onus on landlords to take a good look at who they allow to be tenants. I also think that intervention in a community that has experienced change is worth the effort, especially with the problem of underwater mortgages and debt that can make it harder for many "good" neighbors to move.
I believe it was in the 50's in Boston when the blacks moved into Dorchester & Roxbury (an area of Boston). At that time Dorchester/Roxbury was a heavily populated Jewish community (and wealthy). What happened was the banks got together and decided to give a bunch of "affordable" home loans to poor black families in the Roxbury/Dorchester area. The Jews saw the blacks moving in, got the hell out of the area & bought houses in Brookline (these loans in Brookline were also financed by the same banks). It turns out the loans given to the black families weren't affordable and the bank foreclosed on these houses. But the loans given to the Jews were affordable because the Jews could afford them. In the end the Dorchester/Roxbury area was decimated (several abandoned homes that were set on fire & empty lots), the poor remained poor, Brookline became VERY expensive to live in & the bankers made a lot of money.
We did this recently. When my wife and I had the chance to move to New England, we were faced with the prospect of renting our home for one year.
A property management company did an appraisal and let us know what it would rent for considering the current state of the economy. The price we were quoted would have allowed the upper end white trash to afford our home, which is not what we wanted. So we declined the positions and stayed here.
It was a hard decision to make as we were half packed and ready to move. I just felt like it would have been a disservice to my neighbors and our hood to let some trashy white fools roll up in here.
-Mike
That sounds like classic redlining and an earlier version of the 2008 collapse of variable intrest home loans. The bottom line is that neighborhood change is not random, and their are people who can profit from creating slums. That does not remove the blame from bad neighbors, my point is that society constantly tells people how to act, demanding certain behavior in a neighborhood is no more than telling people how to act anywhere else.
So that's how it works. Huh. Reminds me of a song by my favorite group of angry black guys
So that's how it works. Huh. Reminds me of a song by my favorite group of angry black guys
MT, your story reminded me right away of this song. Check out the intro, about 20 seconds in.
^ HAHAHA! eerie Although it was my mom, not my dad. Still eerie, though. I think my brother has that album, too
Although it was my mom, not my dad. Still eerie, though. I think my brother has that album, too
While you may be right, but the landlords in Southfield are probably the banks, they own most of the vacant property in this area. And Southfield is a decidedly middle class burb with some very upper class areas. Many of the houses are 2500 sq. ft. plus. It borders two of the more exclusive suburbs in the Detroit area (Franklin and Lathrup Village. But it also borders Detroit. And the south end of the burb much like Oak Park (where I live) is a bit more Detroit like (industrial-some lower quality housing- and some multi family units).
Southfield is also the fifth or sixth largest city in the State (larger than Flint) in population. Has good police and fire and decent city services, although it's schools are questionable. I think a better question is why do people act that way anywhere including Detroit?
I do think there is one racism element. The comments made would have been immediately been called racist had long time white residents made them. Is it possible that much of what we identify as racism is actually classism?
This works in theory. However, the minute a WHITE landlord disciminates against a potential tenant because of their behavior / income / etc. who happens to be BLACK, the race card gets pulled. The local news picks up on it, the feel-gooders get enraged, and it is blown way out of proportion. What was the owner watching out for the perceived value of the neighborhood becomes the WHITES discriminating against the BLACKS. How long would something like that last? That has racial disaster written all over it (With all due respect, you would post a thread here on TBOT yourself!)
I completely agree with you by the way - if the person is not employed, cannot come up with the money, and is not of strong moral character, they do not get the rental. If they happen to be black, tough ****. If they are white, also tough ****.
I can see the headlines now... "
I didn't get the apartment (mortgage) because I'm black. "
This works in theory. However, the minute a WHITE landlord disciminates against a potential tenant because of their behavior / income / etc. who happens to be BLACK, the race card gets pulled. The local news picks up on it, the feel-gooders get enraged, and it is blown way out of proportion. What was the owner watching out for the perceived value of the neighborhood becomes the WHITES discriminating against the BLACKS. How long would something like that last? That has racial disaster written all over it (With all due respect, you would post a thread here on TBOT yourself!)
I completely agree with you by the way - if the person is not employed, cannot come up with the money, and is not of strong moral character, they do not get the rental. If they happen to be black, tough ****. If they are white, also tough ****.
I can see the headlines now... "
That's where strong neighborhood support comes into play. If there is an integrated homeowners association, they can make it clear that that they are trying to uphold character, and not racially dscriminate.
