Some 80% of violent crimes are committed by blacks. Also, 51.5% of the homicides.
This in 13% of the population.
A kid was killed yesterday - a gang killing. He had already lost 4 brothers.
So, complaining at so many blacks in prison isn't particularly worthwhile.
Also, it's understandable why the police - including black police - are likely to profile.
And it's the reason why it's not easy to get teachers to teach in the black areas - the job usually goes to new teachers who don't have much refusal power. Two young white ladies were in this position in an all-black high school with which I was involved. They were wonderfully liberal and wanted to empathize with the kids - treat the seniors as friends, and all the rest.
That the kids were uncontrollable was an understatement. The more educated ones would take out paper-backs and read them taking no notice of the teacher. Those, no doubt unable to read spent the time causing trouble. Both teachers, bless them.really tried to treat them as human.
I was in the room when one teacher finally broke. She stopped being nice. She let go at them at the top of her lungs - and the class went quiet. No doubt attracted by the noise, the social studies chairman came to the open door. She went over to him. He said, "I'm glad you've finally become a teacher."
I think she stayed on teaching. The other one fled - apparently, went up to Oregon and less threatening classrooms.
I hope Brian has a segment on "how to survive" for his teacher-students.
What can be done?
Harry
====================================================
Lawrence wrote:
Hi, Brian, The article, I assume, is correct on the number of murders, so I guess the rate may have increased last year. The US, generally, has a high murder rate (too many guns out there) and Washington does not have the highest murder rate in the US, I don't think.Crime IS one of the areas that breaks down along racial lines: murders are overwhelmingly black on black and related to drugs(as I suggested, a consequence of the prevalence of drug addiction among the black community). Callously, a prevalent attitude in DC is that druggies killing druggies over deals gone bad and drug turf wars is 'ok.' Occasionally, an innocent bystander is gunned down, and the city rises in indignation, but as long as it is internal to the world of drugs, people tend to turn a blind eye, IMO. If one excluded drug-related killings from the murder numbers, the crime rate would be, I would guess, pretty low. Drug-related murders are largely confined to small areas of the city. People generally know where these areas are, and avoid them, except for the unlucky inhabitants of those areas. Subjectively, I think the areas have been getting smaller, though I could be wrong; it may be that they are just shifting from area to area, and to the poorest areas. Drug users from outside those areas drive to them to purchase their drugs, but the shootings, between drug dealers, take place in those areas. I was here also during the sniper attacks. It held the area hypnotized for many days. One of the highlights was the outpouring of sympathy for the victims and their families, the lack of racial speculation over the identity of the perpetrators, and the immense outpouring of support for and indeed deep admiration for our lead police officer, Moose, a black. Racial consciousness was essentially absent during this ordeal, and IMO, this is what true 'tolerance' is all about. The notion of race becomes irrelevant, and consciousness of it as a factor in human affairs fades. So, back to your question: yes, DC has a high crime rate, by international standards, but not unusually high by US standards. The social impact of crime in DC is mitigated (for better or worse) by its localization among drug dealers and in the locales they operate out of. I hope your dean was not too freaked out by what she was told, and had a chance to enjoy a city that has many extraordinary offerings for the visitor. Cheers, Lawry > -----Original Message----- > From: Brian McAndrews [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 12:02 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [Futurework] The District of Colour Bar > > > Hi Lawry, > My dean was at a conference in DC recently (during the sniper scare) > and she was told that DC has a very high violent crime rate. Any > truth to that? > > Take care, > Brian > > > >Greetings, everyone, > > > >This is one of those articles written by someone who knows just > enough to be > >profoundly wrong -- or worse, to miss the point entirely. > > > >To point to some of the more egregious areas: > >1. Washington is as segregated as Johannesburg. Fact: any person > of any race > >can be in any part of Washington (or its suburbs), any of its > institutions, > >any of its public accommodations, without being insulted, > relegated to the > >back of the line, or sent away. Fact: At any restaurant, at any time, you > >will see a mix of races taking their meals. Same for: parties, classes at > >any of the District's five universities, public transportation, museums, > >theaters, etc.. Fact: Washington's neighborhoods do break down into > >well-segregated ones (e.g. Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, Gold Coast, > >Cleveland Park, etc.) and those that are predominantly one race > or another > >(e.g. Anacostia, Upper Northeast, Spring Valley, etc.) But (a > vital point > >the writer only dismisses in passing) the reason is financial, and not > >racial segregation. Yes, there are big gaps in income in Washington, and > >generally whites and Asians earn more than blacks and Hispanics, > especially > >recently immigrated Hispanics. This has a lot to do with the way the > >District was constituted (lots of blacks found refuge in the > District during > >and following the civil war, and then, more recently, the Marion Barry > >administration made the District into the employer of last resort for > >blacks, attracting many to relatively low-paying clerical and manual city > >jobs. > > > >2. Some brief history: The District was created as a Federal government > >enclave. It was designed for Federal workers, and the idea was that these > >should be impartial when it came to state-level politics. Voting, as the > >writer correctly suggests, and representation have now become big issues. > >The District has non-voting representatives in the Senate and in > the House, > >who are remarkably effective, as they attend all functions except actual > >voting, and effective due to their personal qualities. Ellen > Holmes Norton > >is outstanding, but this is idiosyncratic, and the issue will > continue to be > >pursued. > > > >3. One of the major though usually unspoken aspects of the representation > >issue is the matter of the state of the black community. Under Barry (a > >convicted cocaine user), the black community developed a set of profound > >problems: a. drugs and the consequent breakdown of the black family (as > >measured by out-of-wedlock marriages, single-parent families, teenage > >pregnancies, school truancy, dependency on welfare, children > born to secure > >additional welfare payments); b. a sense of entitlement to City > jobs (which > >led to the creation of massive bureaucracies, a lack of > performance-goals, > >fundamental breakdowns in city services [schools, transportation, welfare > >administration, sanitation, parks and recreation, etc.],and massive > >corruption at senior levels of the bureaucracies. These > breakdowns brought > >to a halt the progress toward representation that had been achieved under > >Mayor Washington (Barry's predecessor and first elected mayor of the > >District). Mayor Williams, our current mayor, has begun to turn this > >situation around, but it has been slow slogging due to the > pervasiveness of > >these problems and their de facto acceptance by many black leaders, > >including church ministers, neighborhood leaders, etc. The courts had to > >move in and place in receivership several of the District's more critical > >and woeful bureaucracies (schools, medical, judiciary, etc), some have > >emerged and some are still in receivership. Mayor Williams has broad > >support from all parts of the city (and all races) and is doing, > IMO a very > >good job. This has not yet arrested the flight of people of all > races from > >the District, but here and there within the District, you can > see some areas > >reviving (e.g. Shaw, U-street corridor, 15th & R, etc.) with > participation > >by all races. > > > >4. The author of the article makes a bizarre statement about > Democrats and > >Republicans, and their relationship to race. I would say that almost > >universally, Democrats are viewed as the party favoring racial > justice and > >opportunity (reinforced even more by Republican behavior over > the last 2-3 > >years). Not surprisingly, Washington DC is overwhelmingly > Democratic, a bias > >of all races in the District. > > > >5. I'm not sure what meaning the author was imputing to his (accurate) > >description of Washington's grid street numbering system. It > makes it very > >easy even for strangers to find one's way around the city. Washington was > >laid out from scratch by architect Pierre L'Enfant, and he created an > >orderly, elegant and simple design which has been much admired ever since > >the city was built. The author is quite wrong to describe whites as > >inhabiting a 'sliver' of the city: whites live and work in all the > >quadrants. > > > >I hope this corrects some of the elements of the rather odd > portrayal of the > >District offered in the article. But where would a journalist be left if > >his instant and superficial sensationalisms were taken away? > > > >Best regards, > >Lawry > > > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of > Karen Watters > >> Cole > >> Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 8:52 AM > >> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> Cc: Tanya Campbell > >> Subject: RE: [Futurework] The District of Colour Bar > >> > >> > >> Yes, Tanya this was a good read, part humor part dirty facts. If > >> it weren't > >> for the fact that the seat of government takes up so much of it's real > >> estate, Washington DC would be just another urban renewal > project in some > >> ways. But hey, they've got great real estate and the > Smithsonian, too. > >> > >> Guess it should be noted that the lost margin keeps getting smaller on > >> legislation to give DC residents their own reps in Congress. > As soon as > >> there is a change in majorityship, this effort might just succeed > >> after many > >> attempts, another example of dogged democracy, if not fluid democracy. > >> > >> I would at least hope that DC gets official recognition > before we annex > >> Canada and incorporate Israel. > >> > >> Karen Watters Cole > >> East of Portland, West of Mt Hood > >> Outgoing mail scanned by NAV 2002 > >> > >> A great piece in the Guardian this morning on Washington DC's > racism and > >> contradictions/hipocracy surrounding it as the center of democracy. > >> > >> It also touches on something that is often missed when talking > >> about the US > >> and that is the state capitals, centres of where democracy is to be > >> practiced are not often much more than manmade suburbs at their > >> best (DC is > >> an extreme example of this). And from this structure, the vocal > >> minority in those capitals and surrounding often have more > >> ability to drown > >> out the voice of those in cities. > >> > >> (I humbly await pro-suburb criticism.) > >> > >> Regards, > >> Tanya Campbell
****************************** Harry Pollard Henry George School of LA Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (818) 352-4141 Fax: (818) 353-2242 *******************************
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