Is it safe for African Americans to visit the area of Tunica?? Please Respond... (Jackson: 2009, apartments)

[brickpatio]

According to the bureau of justice website data, in 2007 there were zero murders recorded in Tunica, MS. Neighboring DeSoto County, MS recorded only 1 murder. By comparison across the line in Memphis, TN 128 murders were listed. That should give some indication of what is safe and what isn't.

[glass_of_merlot]

Originally Posted by southernnaturelover

Tunica County is over 70% black, I don't know why on earth a black person would feel unsafe there.

Most people feel unsafe there

[maxjake10]

Originally Posted by Dd714

Crime is indeed a problem with Memphis, but I think Tunica is far enough away from Memphis not to be effected.
One factor (race) should not be a correlating factor with the other (crime), as you suggest. Memphis has problems inherent to Memphis (bad local government, inadequate schooling, drugs, etc). The problems of Memphis are not the problems of Tunica, in fact I find nothing similiar when comparing the hard urban landscape of Memphis to the rural small town Delta feel of Tunica. They could very well be on different planets.

No, it should not, but fact is it does matter. Look at the prison population and the race statistics. Oh yea, look at most of the cities with black majority populations and check out their crime statistics. High crime, decaying inner cities, corrupt goverments. Memphis has(d) a worthless mayor like Detroit had, New Orleans has, Atlanta had, Washington DC had (Marion Barry elected councilman after being convicted of a felony and serving prison time after resigning as Mayor)and the list goes on.

Sorry, look at the proven facts and leave the politically correct answers to the naive. It doesn't work for me.

[Senor Boogie Woogie]

Like mentioned before, Tunica is over 70% black, so especially as a member of the same race, you should not have any problems. Tunica is a small town, and I would think that it is well patrolled, since the local government is making a lot of money with the casinos. I have never heard any horror stories from the town itself, but it is a poor place, and somewhat ghetto like in some areas. As long as you aren't down there looking for any trouble, (like buying drugs or driving drunk etc.) trouble wont find you. This is a tourist area who wants to keep a good reputation.

Concerning the casinos, they are about 20 miles north of Tunica proper, right under the Desoto County line. Nothing but cotton fields and tall buildings. I worked there in the 1990s. I was fully expecting by now that a small city would sprout out there by now, but it never came to pass. Casinos are extremely safe places.

[dal2aus]

Originally Posted by maxjake10

No, it should not, but fact is it does matter. Look at the prison population and the race statistics. Oh yea, look at most of the cities with black majority populations and check out their crime statistics. High crime, decaying inner cities, corrupt goverments. Memphis has(d) a worthless mayor like Detroit had, New Orleans has, Atlanta had, Washington DC had (Marion Barry elected councilman after being convicted of a felony and serving prison time after resigning as Mayor)and the list goes on.

Sorry, look at the proven facts and leave the politically correct answers to the naive. It doesn't work for me.

Naivete comes in the examples you present. The reason the cities you mention are blighted are due to impoverished tax bases. The truth is that racism and misperceptions about Black crime, lead to urban blight. Everyone knows that when the Blacks move in, the Whites move out. Then the shops close and jobs move out. What you're left with are reduced property values and no available job opportunities. With lower home values and no major employers to pay taxes, education, police, libraries, parks, museums and other quality of life needs go down the drain. When people see nothing positive in their lives, substance abuse runs rampant, and that leads to crime.

As for the prison population, every public & private research institution has found that Blacks are given harsher sentences for crime. Whites actually commit more crime, but are likely to receive lighter non-confinement sentences for misdemeanors and lesser felonies such as small quantity drug possession and petty larceny. Blacks on the other hand, are more likely to be incarcerated for the same crimes, such as possessing a small amount of marijuana.

Black or White, if you're poor, you're more likely to be caught up in crime. But if you're Black, you're more likely to get jail time.

[poptones]

"Everyone knows that when the Blacks move in, the Whites move out. Then the shops close and jobs move out...."


Like Atlanta, huh?

I think you are confusing racial matters with economic ones. Middle class blacks no more drag down a neighborhood than middle class whites. Every are goes through peaks and troughs, it's more a matter of keeping up land values and tax bases. But then people start complaining about how it's all based on "race" and how unfair it is these people cannot afford to pay their taxes to live where they live.

There's truth in what you say, but it ain't just that simple.

[2HHI]

What a RIDICULOUS post and I find it hard to believe its even for real. YES...YOU WILL BE HANGED IN A TREE BY A BUNCH OF WHITE MEN WEARING WHITE HOODS. PLEASE STAY AWAY! STAY PUT IN YOUR "enlightened VA" of all places??!!

[Tama]

Originally Posted by dal2aus

As for the prison population, every public & private research institution has found that Blacks are given harsher sentences for crime. Whites actually commit more crime, but are likely to receive lighter non-confinement sentences for misdemeanors and lesser felonies such as small quantity drug possession and petty larceny. Blacks on the other hand, are more likely to be incarcerated for the same crimes, such as possessing a small amount of marijuana.

Black or White, if you're poor, you're more likely to be caught up in crime. But if you're Black, you're more likely to get jail time.

The disparate sentences are complicated---including convuluted drug laws and which types of crimes tend to get more time. Lady justice may not be totally color-blind and socio-economic status correlates with future outcomes for young people.

So what to do about it? Wait until the courts, the laws, the world become fair? Or do the communities, the leaders, the parents, and the churches start taking charge and pulling klds up straight?

Life would get better if individuals would stay in school, plan a life, and stop having kids before they are settled and in a good paying job. Oh--and having two parents might help also.

I agree that things suck for a little one born into a drug-addicted impoverished uneducated household. But the answer isn't in waiting for society "to get the message", so I suggest self-evaluation, a change in cultural mores, and a bottom-up solution (not top-down) will be the only way to success.

[Ga mountain girl]

QUOTE:
"What a RIDICULOUS post and I find it hard to believe its even for real. YES...YOU WILL BE HANGED IN A TREE BY A BUNCH OF WHITE MEN WEARING WHITE HOODS. PLEASE STAY AWAY! STAY PUT IN YOUR "enlightened VA" of all places??!!"

OMG!!!! ROFLMAO !!!!!!

[Dd714]

Originally Posted by Ga mountain girl

QUOTE:
"What a RIDICULOUS post and I find it hard to believe its even for real. YES...YOU WILL BE HANGED IN A TREE BY A BUNCH OF WHITE MEN WEARING WHITE HOODS. PLEASE STAY AWAY! STAY PUT IN YOUR "enlightened VA" of all places??!!"

OMG!!!! ROFLMAO !!!!!!

Hey I've been in these forums for 3 years. Sadly, these type of posts appear about every couple of months. Some one from Virginia should know better. Usually it's "will a yankee like me be welcome in the south?"

Whatya gonna do? They've grown up on Dukes of Hazard and that's their sole basis of knowledge on the southern United States. I always want to answer "No, that toothless extra from Deliverence hangs out there and takes all yankee names and follows them around". Actually I did once or twice, but the mods deleted it.