Camden, NJ (Newark: city hall, homes, gated community)

[sharri10]

Most of the messages on this forum have been enlightening. I agree with most people that Camden needs to be cleaned up and the attitudes of people have to change if they want Camden to improve. But, the attitude of people across the State of New Jersey is what needs to change. I believe that every employee working at City Hall in Camden needs to be fired because they have not done anything for the City of Camden except collect a paycheck. They are dead wood…and dead wood does nothing but rot away.

However, lets not get lost and blame all of the people in Camden for the devastation of Camden because is not entirely their fault. It is easy to point fingers at something when you do not or have not chosen to live in the City. I see many suburbanites from the likes of Cherry Hill and so forth driving through Camden looking for their drugs and prostitutes to secretly take back to their plush homes for a night of fun. In my opinion, these people are not helping Camden but only contribute to the problem, but yet they sit back and talk about Camden after lying down with the filth that they call Camden. And, then when they are caught by the police, they have the nerve to hide their faces from the cameras so that their suburbanite friends do not know what they have done.

There are many talented and smart minority children that do obey their parents and make good grades, but it is funny how the media only wants the world to see the bad side of Camden. I am wondering how many of you read about in the paper the few minority children from Woodrow Wilson beat out the rich majority children in a robotics competition. These children from Woodrow Wilson did not have the sponsorship that the rich majority had and they those kids still kicked butt.

Camden does not need a hand out from South California or another state. They do not need a band aid for the wounds. What they need is to learn self-sufficiency. A hand out never helps anyone but only hinders people from excelling to what they could be or become. All you of expressed your opinions about people volunteering, then maybe some of you need to step up to the plate and stopped complaining about what is wrong with Camden and volunteer your services to help Camden and its people. Give them the tools that need to be productive in society.

[Manhattan-ite]

Good, thoughtful post on Camden, sharri10. I would apply it to every bombed-out once-great city in America (Detroit, Newark, Gary and so on).

Self-sufficiency is indeed what they need. Means to get out of the vicious circle of poverty and destruction.

"We" need to do more, instead of just pointing at how bad the ghetto cities of America are.

Last but not least, if somebody in this country has no right to criticize the sorry state of cities like Camden is the hypocrite suburbanite in his or her gated community who fled the city but uses it for his or her convenience while saying "I'd never live there".