Thugs in Atlanta? Bad parenting, bad politics, what? (Fayetteville, White: transplants, crimes)

[wmsmith0104]

To The Citizens of Atlanta, we're trying to create a society here, we must begin to believe in ourselves and resist being distracted by fear. We cannot give up and flee 30 miles outside the Perimeter, without a fight! The citizenry must drag these n'er-do-wells from the shadows and into the light of day. We must make our civil servants accountable. Confronting these thugs is not OUR jobs, this will do nothing, because they never Learn, they only understand desparate measures, and Atlantans, these are desparate times.
We are invincible, we can do anything. We must begin to use the same tactics and tenacity that our Grandparents used, bother everyone hired and elected to protect us from these predators,bother them daily. Tell, report everything, all the time. Insist that noise dB levels are enforced, public decency is enforced, littering, intimidation, every law is enforced. We don't need new laws, we have laws to protect us from this menace, make them (Officials) do their jobs, hold them accountable, or get rid of them, all. From the Fire Chief to the Police Chief, right down the line. We can prevent the decay of a once Magnicent city by holding the people at fault responsible. The elected officials and their hired decision-makers. The criminals have no moral aptitude for responsibility, and I no longer have the stomach for baggy pants, white Tee shirt, backwards cap wearing, gun-toting cowards. There's no way these bastards could have had Fathers and perform in public the way they do.
We pay taxes, we don't need excuses, we need to demand our right to work, go home to a safe neighborhood, play in the parks, it ain't a pipe dream, and together , we CAN run these depraved, unprincipled reprobates out of Atlanta, like they did in Charleston, West Virginia.

[4"L's"]

[quote=atlantagreg30127;1972333]To address a couple of these then, "being real"...

Just be glad you're not in Charleston, SC. If someone dares to panhandle in the historic district, the police put them in the back of a police car and drive them about 50 miles outside of the city and dump them along the highway. Yes, really. How many panhandlers have you seen there?

What is wrong with THAT? I don't want to be hassled by people who don't want to get a job... Although I live near Charleston and I have never seen that happen.

[KevK]

If Atlanta wants to rid itself of problems, it should recruit a bunch to tough no nonsense NYC cops.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by backfist

This may be extremely difficult to do, but is it at all possible to distinguish "thug" and "thuggishness" from what we used to know as lawlessness? Before the advent of the Atlanta "thug", and before we began to conflate color with crime, cities like Chicago and New York certainly had their share of lawlessness. Killings, robberies, assaults, graft, corruption, drugs, prostitution--all occured without the assistance or participation of the "ghetto" or its inhabitants. Again, I'm just talking lawlessness.

When Chicago was fairly homogenous, what did the citizenry do about the gang/thug problems of the 1930's? More importantly, why did they do anything about it? Same with New York.

Atlanta is plagued with the some of the same problems of lawlessness that has historically affected other cities. But to blame lawlessness on "... the mexicans and blacks ..." is not only self-serving, it demonstrates a serious inability to think critically, and it necessarily to serves to perpetuate the problem.

The Outfit (or Mafia if you prefer) at least had some degree of morality. There were things they would not do. They didn't kill elderly people for their Social Security checks nor did they shoot women and children. And they dressed decently and did not wear baggy pants down around their asses or stupid gold teeth. You cannot compare them with what we have now.

[SEAandATL]

Actually, it's the weather. Hot, humid summers and cold winters are what drives everyone into a homicidal rage. That's why there's no crime in San Diego. J/k!

About the rap music, today's rap is very mellow compared to the 80's/early 90's when N.W.A. and other gangsta rap artists were huge. I don't see how a song about "crankin' dat Soulja Boy and doin' the Superman" could relate to someone wanting to do a drive by. Even though the crunk styles of Lil' Jon can get people amped, it's still nothing compared to the violent lyrics of early 90's rappers. (Lil' Jon just shouts "Yeeeeah!" "Wwwwhat?" and "OKAY!" lol)

On a more serious note, I think the crime rate does have to do more with economics. When there is more poverty and people tend to think they have little or nothing to lose, that could tend to cause them to make bad choices versus someone who has a lot to lose would think about their consequences (that is more of the reason why San Diego has a lower crime rate, since it's a predominately wealthy city. Now if stuck-upedness is a crime, San Diego would have a HIGH rate of that, lol). Of course it's not always the case, but more so than not statistically speaking.

Other factors for it could also be the lack of police force, less programs for inner city youth, and a trend with teenagers, not just in Atlanta but a national trend. The late 00's are like the "new early 90's".

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by otoatlanta

Interesting about the punishments and laws thing. My understanding is that the US already has some of the most strict laws in the developed world...

Well, having some of the most strict laws, and having some of the most strict ENFORCEMENT of those laws are two different things.

Yes, we have tons of laws here. Technically driving 5mph over the speed limit means you're breaking a law. But look at many other countries - in some places if you're convicted of stealing from a store they will either lock you up for a year or more, or, cut off one of your hands. Here you most likely won't do any jail time at all, and just pay a small fine and spend a day in a courtroom waiting to pay it. Murder someone in some countries? Hung from a rope. Here? Spend decades (if it was really violent) in a tax-paid prison with cable TV, rec rooms, and gyms. If it wasn't really violent, you can get out in some cases in as little as ten years or so. In my own area, you know what they do with these teen thug guys when they break into a home? Turn them over to their parents and make them pay a fine. MAYBE a few days in a juvenile detention center. That's it. It's a joke.

Prison is actually a *better* environment for some of these folks than their own homes. What kind of motivation do some of these folks have to not break the law? Personally I'd be happy to pay more taxes to build more prisons, but only if upon going to prison you have no access to televisions, phones, pool tables, and your exercise would consist of walking in a circle in a cage for one hour a day. I think after a few years of that people might not be so crazy about going back to hotel no-thrills and might try to control themselves. As it is now, some prisons are better than many Motel 6s and definately better than the projects, so why NOT take the chance of going there if that's where you live? It's easier to live off of tax payer dollars than to actually work and pull yourself out of a bad environment.

So yeah - we have lots of laws here. Just no real punishment at all unless you break the most severe of them.

[kayrob]

Originally Posted by KevK

The Outfit (or Mafia if you prefer) at least had some degree of morality. There were things they would not do. They didn't kill elderly people for their Social Security checks nor did they shoot women and children. And they dressed decently and did not wear baggy pants down around their asses or stupid gold teeth. You cannot compare them with what we have now.

What the hell does it matter if a murdering thug wears timberland boots and blue jeans or a armani suit and tie like Tony Soprano. Like judge my client should not be treated as harshly as your common street thug with gold teeth and dreads. He may have shot two people in the back of the head and stuffed them in a trunk, but at least he was dressed nicely when he did it.

[lukeache]

I am going to tell you what the problem is and I am not going to BS anybody. The problem is with this African American culture that not only accepts ignorance but celebrates ignorance. I am not a racist but everytime I try to watch BET(like tonight), I can get over how stupid these shows are and how negative these black movies are. I was watching parts of a movie today on BET and sure enough, I was just waiting for the part where someone pulls a gun and kills somebody else, TOO MUCH NEGATIVITY!!. Then, you have kids growing up with no fathers and very bad mothers, their minds are being polluted 24/7 with all this garbage, next thing you see a kid holding up a gas station or murdering people over a pair of shoes because he saw some idiotic rapper on TV talking about how many diamonds he has or how much money he makes. Where are the black people like Barrack Obama? Seriously, I want to see more people like him, people that are smart, intelligent and articulate. There is this idiotic show on BET called Hell Date where black people go out on a date, then something happens and one of the people get mad and start throwing food at the other person. I mean, do these people really think acting ghetto and having no class is FUNNY? Ignorance is the problem!

[kayrob]

Originally Posted by lukeache

I am going to tell you what the problem is and I am not going to BS anybody. The problem is with this African American culture that not only accepts ignorance but celebrates ignorance. I am not a racist but everytime I try to watch BET(like tonight), I can get over how stupid these shows are and how negative these black movies are. I was watching parts of a movie today on BET and sure enough, I was just waiting for the part where someone pulls a gun and kills somebody else, TOO MUCH NEGATIVITY!!. Then, you have kids growing up with no fathers and very bad mothers, their minds are being polluted 24/7 with all this garbage, next thing you see a kid holding up a gas station or murdering people over a pair of shoes because he saw some idiotic rapper on TV talking about how many diamonds he has or how much money he makes. Where are the black people like Barrack Obama? Seriously, I want to see more people like him, people that are smart, intelligent and articulate. There is this idiotic show on BET called Hell Date where black people go out on a date, then something happens and one of the people get mad and start throwing food at the other person. I mean, do these people really think acting ghetto and having no class is FUNNY? Ignorance is the problem!

That sow is nothing more than a ripoff of shows on non-BET like Blind Date and others with a little Jerry Springer mixed in.

[NorthmeetsSouth]

Chances are that Rudy Guiliani isn't going to become our next president, so after the election why don't we try to get him to come down here and become Mayor of Atlanta. He did and amazing job of cleaning up NY when he was the District Attorney and later the Mayor. He cared more about getting results than winning popularity thru political correctness.