Racial/Ethnic layout of Louisiana cities. (Baton Rouge, Jefferson: truck rental, rent, condos)

[CookieSkoon]

Originally Posted by WestbankNOLA

CookieSkoon, if feel where you're coming from; but remember you already have a set opinion about South Louisianians in general that's not too good. So are any of us portraying that stereotypical South Louisianan that you don't care for? I could have stereotyped you from our first conversation, do you feel that it would have been warranted (unless you like to be stereotyped)?

Well no. And I already admitted that I was wrong about that. However this, in the specific case of Baton Rouge, I know all too well to be correct.

Honestly this was a lot more in my face. In fact, in my house. While I was in bed. Stealing my stuff.

I'm not kidding when I say that. I might have been wrong about the overall culture, but when it comes to the blacks in BR and crime... well the evidence is very stacked.

I know what you're getting at. But this was undeniable. Believe me, I can't even describe some of the things I witnessed or went through there. I still can't even get close to BR without getting paranoid.

My incorrect perception of the overall culture was mostly jaded by my time in Baton Rouge.

I'm hoping I make sense here.

[WestbankNOLA]

Originally Posted by CookieSkoon

Well no. And I already admitted that I was wrong about that. However this, in the specific case of Baton Rouge, I know all too well to be correct.

Honestly this was a lot more in my face. In fact, in my house. While I was in bed. Stealing my stuff.

I'm not kidding when I say that. I might have been wrong about the overall culture, but when it comes to the blacks in BR and crime... well the evidence is very stacked.

I know what you're getting at. But this was undeniable. Believe me, I can't even describe some of the things I witnessed or went through there. I still can't even get close to BR without getting paranoid.

My incorrect perception of the overall culture was mostly jaded by my time in Baton Rouge.

I'm hoping I make sense here.

I understand what you're saying.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by CookieSkoon

I have to agree. I moved away from Baton Rouge because after a large number of blacks moved in around me, suddenly our apartment was broken into every other week, our car was vandalized, and the police kept knocking on our door looking for neighbors. When the complex was majority white and a few Mexicans, there was hardly any crime, if any.

Am I racist? No. Them's just the facts.

I have personally never lived in a predominantly white area where the crime was really bad. I KNOW they exist. Whites are not innocent by any measure. But I have been conditioned in my time to feel safer around whites. Too many blacks have done me wrong.

I have to clarify that I DO NOT hate black folks. I am cautious of them. Trust me, I didn't start out that way.

If people don't like to be stereotyped, why do they keep acting like the stereotypes they hate?

It is people like me, who don't steal and do stupid things that will bear the brunt of those stereotypes. That is one part of the equation you are missing. I don't live near the persons in your old apartment complex. I can't help the fact that many of them have done things like that. Fact is, how does it help ME to get stereotyped for someone else's crap. I worry about both factions of the persons, but for different reasons. I worry about the persons who don't steal because they can get lumped in with the persons who do. I am Black and I DON'T do those stupid things. I have also been the victim of crimes, by both Blacks and Whites. I have known many White people to do me wrong, alot of them, as well as Black people. And in different ways. I would give you the details but I have class in less than 10 minutes. I will explain later. You can send a PM if needed. What have I learned? Anyone can be a criminal, so I try not to stereotype anyone. Why? Many times the wrong persons bears the brunt of it.

[CookieSkoon]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

It is people like me, who don't steal and do stupid things that will bear the brunt of those stereotypes. That is one part of the equation you are missing. I don't live near the persons in your old apartment complex. I can't help the fact that many of them have done things like that. Fact is, how does it help ME to get stereotyped for someone else's crap. I worry about both factions of the persons, but for different reasons. I worry about the persons who don't steal because they can get lumped in with the persons who do. I am Black and I DON'T do those stupid things. I have also been the victim of crimes, by both Blacks and Whites. I have known many White people to do me wrong, alot of them, as well as Black people. And in different ways. I would give you the details but I have class in less than 10 minutes. I will explain later. You can send a PM if needed. What have I learned? Anyone can be a criminal, so I try not to stereotype anyone. Why? Many times the wrong persons bears the brunt of it.

Actually I agree with you. I didn't mean to come off as if I was lumping everybody in. I just mean that after the experiences I had, I've become uncontrollably unsure of blacks.

Trust me it's not something I do intentionally. Honestly I wish I wasn't so effected by it.

My question of stereotypes was in reference to those who do act that way.

I do get you. I'll apply the same issue to another stereotype. Fat people. I'm pretty big, but I'm clean, relatively smart, and I don't sit around all day. But I suffer the stereotype of the fat lazy slob.

The sad fact is, the stereotype exists because there are so many fat lazy slobs.

I know there are blacks in BR who are good people. I met a few here and there. But for every nice person I met, five wished me harm. Or so it seemed. Maybe, once again, I just encountered every wrong person. It has all left me terribly confused and conflicted.

And sadly, most of BR's crime is committed by blacks. Well, for the sake of it I'll go ahead and say, most of BR's -reported- crimes.

[Innotech]

look, heres the facts.

1. the black population tends to be lower income
2. lower income areas have more crime
3. Put the two together and what do you get?

This is not saying black people are criminals, but it is saying areas where black people tend to live often have an increase in criminal activity. There are whites living in these neighbrhoods as well and guess what? Some of them commit crime. Its lower income areas in general that cause crime.

[CookieSkoon]

Originally Posted by Innotech

Its lower income areas in general that cause crime.

Not always true. Rural areas tend to be lower income but usually aren't as criminally active.

And the rich are usually guilty of more. How do you think they got rich? ;P

[mhounit]

Originally Posted by CookieSkoon

And the rich are usually guilty of more. How do you think they got rich? ;P

Yeah , I heard there was a huge crack and crsytal meth problem at the Country Club of Baton Rouge . Not safe to walk the streets even .

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Innotech

look, heres the facts.

1. the black population tends to be lower income
2. lower income areas have more crime
3. Put the two together and what do you get?

This is not saying black people are criminals, but it is saying areas where black people tend to live often have an increase in criminal activity. There are whites living in these neighbrhoods as well and guess what? Some of them commit crime. Its lower income areas in general that cause crime.

And where you have high concentrations of upper-income African-Americans, such as the Cascade Heights district in Atlanta, the crime rate will be lower. Lower income areas do tend to have higher crime rates.

I know two guys that I had an interesting conversation with(they are a friend of my roommate's). They were mentioning things about crime in the South. According to them, the hollows of eastern Kentucky can have as much violence as urban ghettos. From what they have mentioned, Kentucky's second largest cash crop is marijuana and that many people have been known to kill over it. One of them mentioned that they were scared of going into the backwoods areas of Kentucky. I didn't know what to think, but they also mentioned that much of the stuff doesn't get reported.

[WestbankNOLA]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

And where you have high concentrations of upper-income African-Americans, such as the Cascade Heights district in Atlanta, the crime rate will be lower. Lower income areas do tend to have higher crime rates.

I know two guys that I had an interesting conversation with(they are a friend of my roommate's). They were mentioning things about crime in the South. According to them, the hollows of eastern Kentucky can have as much violence as urban ghettos. From what they have mentioned, Kentucky's second largest cash crop is marijuana and that many people have been known to kill over it. One of them mentioned that they were scared of going into the backwoods areas of Kentucky. I didn't know what to think, but they also mentioned that much of the stuff doesn't get reported.

I lived on the Westbank in Jefferson Parish for a short time. The first 6-7 blocks adjacent to where I lived were predominantly lower class Whites, Hispanics, and Asians while the 5 blocks in the other direction were middle class blacks, whites, and asians. There were decent people in that area, I befriended a couple, but there were just as many drug and crime problems there as anywhere else. It wasn't uncommon to see White dealers peddling crack, marijuana, pills, heroin or whatever else to strung out Vietnamese and Hispanics at the local corner store or in boarded up homes. There were instances of women beaten in the middle of the street, people robbed and stole from one another (usually everyone knew who did what) and everything else imaginable except murder. Some of the homes had disgusting lots full of trash and rusted junk. On the other side of the expressway there was a predominately black lower class area which was nearly identical. I believe someone was killed back there once, but outside of that it's the same exact thing with an extra dose of melanin. For some reason the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office as well as Code Enforcement focused most of their energy on the area across the expressway. The people from the middle class area often complained, but JPSO would only send a car to ride through and maybe give someone a warning. Go across the expressway and you see flashing lights and people handcuffed on porches with their legs crossed. Marijuana plants found in a home across expressway gets an entire segment from WWL about crime and changing demographics in Jefferson Parish. A lady on our side of the expressway blew herself nearly in two taking a good chunk of the house with her trying to cook crack, meth or something and it barely got a 3 second spot on WGNO.

It is what it is.

[JimLFT]

Somehow, I think too much emphasis is placed on skin color when sizing someone up. Skin color is likely the first thing we see based on our learned perception (from actual statistics and/or experience), but our brain quickly assesses other factors such as body-language, attire and attitude.

So, lets forget statistics for a moment just for the sake of an exercise. You see a well-dressed middle aged black couple getting out of a Chevy Tahoe going into a Bonefish Grill somewhere at night where you are walking. Feel threatened?

Still think its all about skin color?

Whether we are conscious of it or not, we size up everyone we see every day based on numerous factors. Skin color being just one of them. Sure, the stats clearly show that blacks commit most of the crimes, but I'm confident that had you seen pirate_lafitte getting out of that Tahoe, you'd probably not give it another thought based solely on his attire and body-language.

Skin color is unfortunately the first thing we see. But once getting past that, you look at other characteristics of that person.