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I apologize if I'm reiterating a previous poster with this comment and this comment is also completely subjective. People probably shun PG County based on what has been aired on local news (you know local news isn't for feeble-minded and/or sensitive individuals especially with all the negativity that's aired). Every time you turn around it's more of "someone was shot in PG County" or "someone was shot in PG County" or "someone was shot in PG County". Most people know that the bulk of crimes in PG County happen in the cities inside the beltway. This is a result of gentrification efforts in DC which have pushed many low-income people into PG County and with that comes an element of crime. I know all low-income people aren't criminals and I know people live where they can afford, however, some people from the 'hood do what they have to or know how to in order to make it/defend their honor, etc. even if that means illegal activity.
I've been a bit leery to post in this thread, but here goes. I hope to deal with just the facts and no editorializing on my part.
I lived and worked in PG for most of the 80s. I first moved to Marlton with some friends. Nice neighborhood and for the most part pleasant neighbors. After a while I moved into an apartment with the woman who became my wife. She grew up in District Heights and we found a nice place on Marlboro Pike in DH. I was working in Forestville at the time (in security and operations) and so I saw quite a bit of the problems developing around the drug trade which had just started to boom (crack). It was a disheartening time for me; new relationship, stress on the job, and desire to try a different occupation.
During the mid 80s, I noticed more police presence in our apartmant complex (responding to calls I assume). I tried my hand at teaching at a local middle school for a year and found out I wasn't cut out for the daily challenges associated with the job - kids fighting, assaulting staff, what seemed like disrespect on the part of many (though not most) of the students. I got a job in Hyattsville in property management. My mood improved.
Near the end of the 80s, I'd married my wife. We had a child. Our neighborhood seemed to me to deteriorate even more (gunshots often heard at night, loud domestic disturbances in the parking lot, high speed police chases passing our complex entrance). We decided to move to Calvert county after a bullet came through our bedroom window.
Once we moved I was laid off, but eventually found a job in DC. I commuted through PG every day (and still do). For many years I frequented the same dry cleaners, gas station, carry-out, and barber in PG which I had used while living there (the barber is the only person left now, and he's 80). In the mid 90s my wife's mother moved in with us. She couldn't take the fear she had developed from the nightly gunfire, and nearby residential break-ins.
I know there's an effort going on to make the county a great place, and since my daughter is now graduated from school, that issue is not a problem(after my experience in the PG school system, I didn't feel comfortable with her going to school there), but I believe I will stay in Calvert. It's become home and I like the slower pace of the place.
Good luck to all you folks in PG, and I do hope the turn-around of the county's fortunes happens.
I lived in Greenbelt for 6 1/2 years from 2000 to 2007. We lived in a row house and 3 of our direct neighbors had their homes broken into. My car was keyed. My husband had his windshield bashed in. A friend of ours was attacked by a group of young men and beaten so bad, he ended up in the hospital (no drugs involved, just a random crime). A young woman was killed that worked as a cashier in the grocery store we shopped at. A man we know was beaten in a parking lot, again by a group of teenagers. The bank we used was robbed at least 3 times in the 6 1/2 years. The cafe I used to work for was broken into numerous times and robbed. Etc.
I did not feel safe or welcome in PG county. If you went into some stores, you were clearly treated different because you were white. PG County gave me the sense that it is ok for Blacks to be racist towards Whites. Being racist is wrong no matter what race you are, white, black, yellow, green or purple. I have never experienced this in other places, as I have there.
We left PG County last spring and don't miss if for one second, except for some friends we made there.
My brother and his 3 sons moved out of Pg county in December 2007 into Montgomery county. His 3 children while in Pg county attended High Point High school with no problem,never got in a fight as a matter of fact when they moved from High point High school to Montgomery county high school they were sad. Anyways my mother told my brother the school system in Montogmery county is better then Pg county so he moved out of Pg county.
On Friday I got a call saying a gang in my nephew school jumped him. This was after school on school ground while getting on the school bus. His brother was trying to get off the bus to help but the bus driver closed the door. It took about 5 minutes of beating until the school security guard finally came. The bus driver did nothing but look the door. Now his nose is broken. His face is is swallow up. The boys thought he was dead so they ran off because he was not moving. When he got to the hospital he had no idea where he was. His face is still swallen,his nosse is still broken. My brother is so upset that he moved his children into Montgoemry county school system. He is also upset with my mother as well for the misinformed information. The police is now involved. I am pretty sure this will be on the news pretty soon. I know lawyers will also get involved as well.
Regardless of where you move to you and your family can be a victim to violence.
Of course there can be crime where ever you go. But the crime index in Greenbelt was very high.
And the fact that is seems to be accepted for Blacks to be racist to Whites made it an unacceptable place to live. I don't want to live in ANY place where such blatant racism towards ANYONE is ok. Stores where people would ignore you and not help you, where people are rude and don't hold a door open, or say thanks if you hold the door for them. Where you don't get a hi or thank you in a store, when you pay... where teenagers and young people congregate and intimidate older people calling them racist names.
Now I am not saying that this happened everywhere and all the time. But I have never even experienced this at all anywhere else. I expect to be treated as I treat others, and I am courteous and friendly to others, regardless of sex, race, age or nationality.
My brother and his 3 sons moved out of Pg county in December 2007 into Montgomery county. His 3 children while in Pg county attended High Point High school with no problem,never got in a fight as a matter of fact when they moved from High point High school to Montgomery county high school they were sad. Anyways my mother told my brother the school system in Montogmery county is better then Pg county so he moved out of Pg county.
On Friday I got a call saying a gang in my nephew school jumped him. This was after school on school ground while getting on the school bus. His brother was trying to get off the bus to help but the bus driver closed the door. It took about 5 minutes of beating until the school security guard finally came. The bus driver did nothing but look the door. Now his nose is broken. His face is is swallow up. The boys thought he was dead so they ran off because he was not moving. When he got to the hospital he had no idea where he was. His face is still swallen,his nosse is still broken. My brother is so upset that he moved his children into Montgoemry county school system. He is also upset with my mother as well for the misinformed information. The police is now involved. I am pretty sure this will be on the news pretty soon. I know lawyers will also get involved as well.
Regardless of where you move to you and your family can be a victim to violence.
I am so sorry this happened to your nephew. I hope he has a speedy recovery and that the catch those who did this to him and hold them responsible!
He is doing Ok but he is scared to return back to school after he is heal. I do know that he have to visit the doctor alot to restructure his nose and face because his face hit the pavement. The school did catch the incident on school camera so they do know all who were involved and I do believe they are all trouble makers. My nephew maintain a good GPA. They could have all killed him and what surprises me is something this disgusting did not get any attention by the media. It do seems the school is trying to hide the information from going public.
I wouldn't want to return to that school after what happened, if I were your nephew. I am surprised that this case hasn't gotten media attention! Hope he feels better soon...
I wonder what will happen to those that did this?
[quote=katzenfreund;2802663] Stores where people would ignore you and not help you, where people are rude and don't hold a door open, or say thanks if you hold the door for them. Where you don't get a hi or thank you in a store, when you pay... where teenagers and young people congregate and intimidate older people calling them racist names.
quote]
Katzenfreund, now you know what it is like to be a black person in the US. Try dealing with this sort of behavior from others your entire life and in almost every town you move to.
I have lived all over this wonderful country and have yet to find a perfect utopia where I do not experience some level of bigotry. Also, i currently live in one of those lilly white affluent areas, that claims to be extremely "progressive." However, I cannot tell you how many large houses I pass on my day to work with Obama signs, but yet what you described above still happens to me on a fairly regular basis. At some points I think hey perhaps i'm just a "jerk" or "ass%ole," but then i think i'm one of the nicest people I know, so why are others treating me with such disdain and holding me in contempt.
I agree with what you said it is definitely (thank god) not the vast majority of people, but no matter where you go if you're a minority you'll always deal with this sort of behavior. Just be lucky that you (as a white person) have 50 states to move to, that have relatively no minority populations whatsoever. I sometimes wonder if I overlook a lot of this crap or attempt to brush it off with other excuses, but a lot of my friends are white, so they are good reinforcements, that not all whites are racist and innately bad. Sometimes good friends of other races are exactly all you need to believe in the greater good of society.
PS in my experience for every bad member of one race i've usually met 2-3 that were the nicest people in the world, so in my experience nice people rule and the bad apples are in the minority, but when there is 220 million of one group and 20% of them are bad apples you tend to run into a lot of bad apples when you're only part of a group that has 35 million people.
As I said, I don't treat anyone that way, so I don't want to live somewhere were I am treated that way.
And furthermore if white people treat blacks that way, they are called racists. Yet the same behaviours seems pefectly acceptable if a non white person does it. To me it is being a racist, no matter what you skin color.
I have lived in a lot of other places and while racism exists to a degree everywhere, it isn't as blatant as I experienced it there. I don't know when it will ever stop and we will just look at each other as human beings, rather than belonging to a certain race. It's sad that you feel that people look at you different because you are not "white". It really is all so silly to me, we are all just people, trying to get through life the best we can. If we were more kind to each other instead of judging people without even knowing them, this would be a much better place.
Last edited by katzenfreund; 02-12-2008 at 02:29 PM..
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