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The map speaks volumes. I hope Chicago gets it act together. NYC did thanks to Giuliani and Bloomberg.
Under Koch and Dinkins, NYC ha 240% Chicago population, but 2,000 plus murders a year. Now <400.
It takes work, but can happen. Until then, Chicago is a war zone.
Corrupt Chicago politicians and police are the biggest part of problem. This isn't going away any time soon.
Not to mention El Chapo and his thugs have been another part of the equation. There have been articles on it, such as this one:
BLM Founder: Black communities are not more violent than other communities
This is also about perspective. A black person walking around their own poor black neighborhood is less likely to be or feel threatened than an outsider to that neighborhood. A person who has spent their entire life in a poor black neighborhood is going to know who the good people are and who to avoid. But someone who is just passing through, who doesn't know anyone there, or who doesn't fit in due to their skin colour, how they talk or are dressed will more likely get hassled or robbed by the local thugs.
Otherwise, from the news stories that I read, things like drive-by shootings only happen in the poor black neighborhoods. Anyway, my opinion of "Murderpan" outside of Boston is based on my black co-workers stories and opinions plus news stories.
One of my friends from Croatia had a summer job as a university student in a popular US beach town, working as a lifeguard. It was also his job to manage the benches on the shoreline that were offered for rental. There were labels on every bench with the daily rental rates written on them. He told me that he had a hard time because black people frequently tore off these labels and occupied the benches. Each time he questioned them, they claimed that there were no label on their benches. In the whole summer, each week went down like that. He said that there was never such a problem with other groups, only blacks. This was a simple young Croatian guy who tried to do his summer job and this was his honest experience.
What could be the explanation that a foreign student guy had such experiences?
I don't know the explanation. And as someone who belongs to a group that has always been looked down on, I'll give my honest view of this. I would have been quite annoyed if he was to ask me about this. I would have no idea if it was genuine curiosity or said person looking down on Blacks and using me as "the safe Black guy to vent to".
The truth is, I can't come up with any explanation. I tend to frequent alot of places by myself. The only persons who could truly understand what that is about would be people who live around that element. I don't. I never grew up in it. I can't be expected to answer for things I never grew up with.
Again, millions of people live in Chicago all their lives and are never victims of crime. Most of them know better than to go to certain areas.
As for the bolded above - who doesn't? And if you haven't tried Portillo's - make a run next time you're in.
That will be on the to do list. LOL
Listen I mean no disrespect to your city. Cities are not for everyone. I like to visit them on occasion. I was just to NYC 2 weeks ago. The Asian markets kick the hell out of anything near us. That is the advantage of cities over the sticks. Cities have it all.
Chicago for those who live there might be fine. As you said you know the places to avoid. My position is the occasional visitor or first time visitor. In a perfect world you should be safe anywhere you go. I travel a lot. I feel perfectly safe in every part of Singapore. Cleanest city I have ever been to. Also the most policed. I wouldn't want to live there either. I loved London, Paris, Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I still wouldn't live in them. They are cities. I like fresh clean air. I don't like traffic or the stench of sewers and garbage. I also like living on a few acres of land. I do like to visit those places though.
That will be on the to do list. LOL
Listen I mean no disrespect to your city. Cities are not for everyone. I like to visit them on occasion. I was just to NYC 2 weeks ago. The Asian markets kick the hell out of anything near us. That is the advantage of cities over the sticks. Cities have it all.
Chicago for those who live there might be fine. As you said you know the places to avoid. My position is the occasional visitor or first time visitor. In a perfect world you should be safe anywhere you go. I travel a lot. I feel perfectly safe in every part of Singapore. Cleanest city I have ever been to. Also the most policed. I wouldn't want to live there either. I loved London, Paris, Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I still wouldn't live in them. They are cities. I like fresh clean air. I don't like traffic or the stench of sewers and garbage. I also like living on a few acres of land. I do like to visit those places though.
I get it, trust me. I love NY but wouldn't want to live there. Same with a lot of other places.
My only beef (Portillo's!) is when people talk about the city in blanket terms saying things like it's unsafe or they're afraid to visit and wouldn't live there because of the high crime. Chicago has a higher rate of crime, but like I said - most people don't experience it and feel safe walking around their neighborhoods.
I grew up in Chicago, but live in the suburbs now, so I'm with you about wanting cleaner air, bigger property lots and a small town feel.
When I drive to the city, the potholes alone are enough to drive me crazy. But as far as theater, the food, and the large number of events and festivals to attend - it can't be beat.
I grew up as a black kid in a smaller white town and can tell you plenty of stories of entitled little white kids who got away with stuff like this all the time. I mean just look at the popular "mischief night" where white kids around the country and throw toilet paper and eggs on people's property. You know dang well that, for the most part, only white kids are bold enough to trespass and vandalize people's property because of a stupid yearly tradition. That is something they have the luxury of doing.
I agree with the BLM person. I think all people have the capacity for violence and that all people across the globe have pockets of high rates of violence and it doesn't matter what color their skin is. Violence is associated with economic condition, environmental condition reared/lived in, and healthcare related issues (such as mental issues or stress). All people can be susceptible to the above.
One of my friends from Croatia had a summer job as a university student in a popular US beach town, working as a lifeguard. It was also his job to manage the benches on the shoreline that were offered for rental. There were labels on every bench with the daily rental rates written on them. He told me that he had a hard time because black people frequently tore off these labels and occupied the benches. Each time he questioned them, they claimed that there were no label on their benches. In the whole summer, each week went down like that. He said that there was never such a problem with other groups, only blacks. This was a simple young Croatian guy who tried to do his summer job and this was his honest experience.
What could be the explanation that a foreign student guy had such experiences?
On this, I'll note that oftentimes it is easy to single out a particular population of people in a particular environment of having the same or similar behavior patterns.
I've shared on the forum that I am a black American. I do a lot of genealogical research, which included, when I was younger, interviewing all my then living great grandparents. My maternal great grandmother who I recorded in the 1990s told me how she literally "hated" white people because they were dirty, gangster, hoodlums, and lacked in morals. She grew up in a very poor, very "white" neighborhood (white in quotations because she lived in an ethnic ghetto. Blacks back then were only 1.5% of the entire cities population, she mostly grew up around Jewish, German and Irish immigrants and later some Italian immigrants moved to that neighborhood). She maintained a poor view of whites her entire life - especially in regards to morals. We had many conversations about her life and her experiences dealing with being black in our city as a young girl and woman. She always felt that "white people" lacked morals and that they overlooked the suffering of other people and felt they were superior to others. Due to that she felt they were inferior to black people. We discussed how that was a racist POV but she said she got that POV "honestly" and was old so wasn't going to change her mind lol.
In my own personal life, I've shared I was forced to do some HR administration at a job I worked about 8 years ago. Part of my duties was hiring and doing pre-employment screening. Due to my experience conducting these and calling applicants regarding the results, I noticed that very few black people would apply to a job and be a drug addict, expecting to actually get a job. The blacks who did this were usually lower level employee positions like janitors or housekeeping and I never had a black person who applied for an administrative, management, or executive position ever fail a drug screen. Whites failed drug screens more than any other group of people. They also were less likely to apply for lower level jobs. Most white applicants were for management and executive positions (not even just general office/administrative). A huge amount of them failed their drug screens usually for cocaine or methamphetamine use. It made me think that middle class to wealthy white people do a LOT of drugs. I admit I thought this and still kind of think this after that experience. As a middle class and above black person and who hangs around mostly middle class black people, we've spoken about this and how we, as middle class black people find it outrageous that a white drug addict would actually apply to an executive position! Again, none of our middle class black applicants ever failed a drug screen. Most black people I know, who are middle class, would never dream they could ever do drugs and it not compromise their career goals (those who don't work in some sort of entertainment field).
So I could see your European friend associating all blacks with un-labeling chairs. I'd think it odd if he thought all black people would do that though. Just like I don't think all middle to upper income white people (or whites in general) do drugs.
No. It's not just the crime statistics. But poor people, black and Hispanic people are much quicker to throw adult tantrums that result in "peaceful protests" turning quickly into physical actions that result in riots of fisticuffs, rock throwing and damage to innocent people's cars and storefronts. It's not just a few criminals amongst them taking advantage of these situations and using them as cover for looting and pillaging. Basically, the poor feel that they have nothing, so it's okay to break someone else's possession. And it's why poor neighborhoods look so broken and rundown and with trash everywhere on the streets. They just don't care.
And it's why it's a bad idea to try to integrate poor families into richer ones with Section 8 programs. The chronically poor people's low values and morals just bring everyone around them down into the gutter with them.
I disagree. The difference is between people that OWN their stuff versus people that RENT their stuff.
Denial and delusion. And now they have 40 chapters across the globe.
It's going to get worse before it gets better folks.
Where I live now, I can walk to the store at 9:30pm without any problems an estimated 99% of the time. (There's always a chance, always be alert even in some tiny town.) I'm going to bet good money that I would not have those same odds in Chicago, Philly, Detroit, or Baltimore.
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