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He then says if these were ”white kids squeegeeing we be having a different conversation and our reponse would be different.” wel you know what bro- these arent white kids squeegeeing. Its kids the city of Baltimore has failed and continues to allow them to believe Squeegeeing (breaking the law) is an acceptable form of earning a living and that shooting people is an acceptable response to being attacked with a baseball bat on the street (when you outnumber the attacker too). You run away, he was a fat 50-year-old white man- you dont shoot someone one to defend your corner (which isnt your corner) like your part of the Barksdale Crew. At no point should A Baltimore City Councilor especially from the West Side, be condoning any sort of gun violence. Period.
The standards for criminal behavior and general execution of change and reform are unacceptable. He talk about making kids' lives better and he's 100% right but you know how you do that by changing the culture in which they grow up- one that actually hold people accountable for their actions. And you also have to give a damn to clean up their neighborhoods and really educate these kids- that means getting the air conditioning, and making sure their buses show up on time. It hurts my spirit seeing my people live like this, how they do on South Calverton or South Cathrine or Wilkens Avenue or Gay Street or North Gilmor where I was just at a community event. Only a step up from a sharecropper in terms of adequate living. Baltimore is barrelling toward yet another record homicide rate and one blinks an eye. What I don't see are a bunch of new black businesses or social groups. I dont see that.
This brings me to the second article from journalist at the Boston Globe, Renee Graham.
On July 4, President Biden posted this tweet: “The Fourth of July is a sacred day in our country — it’s a time to celebrate the goodness of our nation, the only nation on Earth founded based on an idea: that all people are created equal. Make no mistake, our best days still lie ahead.”
“Best days” for whom? Less than two weeks earlier, the Supreme Court’s extremist conservatives overturned Roe v. Wade, a sacred constitutional right, deepened this nation’s inequalities, and sent millions pinwheeling into fear, anger, and uncertainty. It was a very Biden statement, but in these impossible times its optimism felt misplaced, if not downright insulting.
Being president means becoming the nation’s cheerleader-in-chief. But it’s also about having the vision to read the moment and guide America through unprecedented waters. And Biden isn’t showing that he is capable of meeting the most existential crises in modern American history.
Replace president with Mayor, Biden with Scott, and nation with Baltimore- and you've got my feelings on the state of Baltimore's mayor and city council.
Like Baltimore, the US shows some signs of promise and economic ascension but the reality on the ground feels very different for the vast majority. There's an inappropriate and irresponsible sense of urgency and planning a path forward out of relentless population law, business closures, and gun violence.
Wait....
So this man goes after the boys with a baseball bat and gets shot and you are asking why he got shot? If this were Texas and both people were White, it would be self-defense. The man had a baseball bat. Let me ask you this, what if the boy didn't have a gun and the man wasn't hit with a rock. What if the man hit the boy in the head with the bat and killed him? In what world is it ok to go after a boy with a baseball bat? I need details for what happened there because I don't understand why the man felt inclined to go after the boy with a baseball bat. What did the boy do? Wipe his car window without permission? I'm a Black man and I'm not pulling out a baseball bat on anyone without knowing what they might have. That has been the rule my entire life. Aren't you the same way? These kids will kill you in any city. Atlanta, Baltimore, DC, LA, Boston, Miami, Houston, NYC, Dallas etc.
I do think the police should stop the squeegee boys from hanging on the streets. The issue seems to be a lack of city government money to create the investment needed in their communities and the programs and resources needed to connect these youth with jobs. Baltimore City needs another decade of gentrification, home appreciation property tax, and middle-class income tax growth to help the general fund so these programs can be created. I have always found it funny how ignorant people are to what gentrification allows in cities. Where do people think money comes from? Whose tax dollars?
Last edited by MDAllstar; 07-13-2022 at 08:30 AM..
So this man goes after the boys with a baseball bat and gets shot and you are asking why he got shot? If this were Texas and both people were White, it would be self-defense. The man had a baseball bat. Let me ask you this, what if the boy didn't have a gun and the man hit the boy in the head with the bat and killed him? In what world is it ok to go after a boy with a baseball bat? I need details for what happened there because I don't understand why the man felt inclined to go after the boy with a baseball bat. What did the boy do? Wipe his car window without permission?
I do think the police should stop the squeegee boys from hanging on the streets. The issue seems to be a lack of city government money to create the investment needed in their communities and the programs and resources needed to connect these youth with jobs. Baltimore City needs another decade of gentrification and home appreciation and middle-class income growth to help the general fund so these programs can be created. I have always found it funny how ignorant people are to what gentrification allows in cities. Where do people think money comes from? Whose tax dollars?
It's obvious why he got shot. I'm not asking why he got shot I'm saying condoning shooting people is insane and not a good thing to do when the city experiences a murder a day.
You know WHY people get out of cars with baseball bats because his car had been vandalized by squeegee boys before (he tweeted about it twice) and this isn't the first incidence of serious violence relating to squeegee boys since Ive been here. They are stealing people's money, breaking windshields, and carrying guns on them while participating in illegal activities that affect hundreds of thousands of people each week.
Not only are you putting people in danger you are putting squeegee boys in danger of people who are crazy and have lost their patience. Under no circumstances can you attack someone with a bat for squeegeeing their car. People will lose their patience, its reality- you can look away from reality all you want but its still there. hundreds of feet away. I understand self-defense but this is simply not what you want or need at an intersection in broad daylight. A man is dead and the squeegee boy is going to prison for many years. All because the city has no leadership or backbone and has low standards for behavior in public spaces.
You did not have to shoot the man, you can literally run away- he came at them with the bat from hundreds of feet away. But when you are hardened and in the street, you might decide to shoot it up. (There's a 99% chance) he's carrying an unregistered firearm while performing unsolicited tasks in the middle of one of the busiest intersections in Maryland...that is not okay.
Don't put people in positions where they have to encounter squeegee boys who are literally on video MULTIPLE times harassing people, arguing with police officers about harassing people, kicking people's cars, and stealing their money. This is crazy and absolutely unnecessary. They just showed a video of a black cop arguing with squeegee boys telling them not to harass people. But that's not actually enough. Enforce the laws that exist. If he doesn't respect you the police officer and is willing to get 6 inches from his face despite him being larger, older, and armed with a pistol, what makes you think he's gonna respect a female motorist who doesn't want to be harassed? Its lunacy.
Baltimore City continually has a budget surplus money is there. Its just not allocated properly. Lst year there was a $9M budget surplus, this year it projects to be $34M. The police had a $2M budget surplus last year..
When I worked in city hall I got OIG reports. The graft and ghost purchases are egregious. The amount that isnt covered in the media greatly outnumbers what is covered in the media.
I'll be honest and put it on front street, again, I have literally seen squeegee workers yell at, harass and argue with people on President Street and Dundalk Ave. Maybe they dont do it to us (black people) i cant speak for everyone-but they will absolutely do it to non-blacks.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 07-13-2022 at 09:01 AM..
I'm referring to the new Class A buildings being delivered East of the River and in PG County. Whether someone thinks they are luxury could be subjective, but by industry standard, they are new Class A buildings.
I wouldn't consider the DC ones to be "luxury" at all. They are in terrible locations and the finishes are just okay. Though you could say the same thing about the finishes in some other "luxury" buildings that are located in posher neighborhoods.
So how do you explain the lack of examples in Atlanta and Houston where these new luxury buildings are built and the neighborhood remains 90% - 100% Black still including the new buildings? We have been talking about these neighborhoods in cities around the country asking one question which is as these neighborhoods begin to redevelop, why aren’t they remaining Black? Why aren’t Black people the ones moving into these neighborhoods versus other races.
Other posters from Atlanta have used theories saying in their experience, Black people coming to Atlanta would prefer more affordable apartments. Other posters have said Black people prefer the suburbs. I’m sure both of those notions are true and the largest factor impacting their choice is a lack of new options where Black people live. The reality is new Class A luxury buildings aren’t built in most Black areas except in areas experiencing gentrification from other races from what I can see. Maybe that impacts it? Do you know of any examples where these buildings are built without being connected to a wave of redevelopment from a gentrified area of other races?
There's not a bulk of Class A luxury buildings being built in those zip codes you posted. The zip codes you posted consist of mostly "traditional or historical black neighborhoods/districts". Those neighborhoods started to decline in the late 80's/early 90s. No different than D.C. It's literally the same reason D.C. Black population dropped from 59 percent to 41 percent as of 2020. Oh but D.C. Black hit different my bad.
Quote:
No longer. As D.C. has skyrocketed in population over the past 20 years, buoyed by a renaissance in urban life, it has also seen a sharp outflow of Black residents. As a result, between the 2000 and 2020 U.S. Census, the city’s Black population dropped from 59 to 41 percent. Today, D.C. has one of the highest rates of displacement in the country. The city that once proudly dubbed itself “Chocolate City” is no longer majority Black.
And this is according to this site which btw, Houston seems to be the only city out of the 10 largest cities with the most Black residents to gain Black people not lose them.
Ward 7 and 8 seem to be the only wards left that could withstand gentrification probably due to the natural barriers but let's not act as if the rest of D.C.'s black population wasn't impacted no different than most Black neighborhoods in major cities all across America.
So when you say why aren't Black people moving to those specific communities in Class A luxury buildings? That's because they're moving to other areas within the metro that have a significant cluster of Black professionals and middle class Black folks. And most are choosing to move to these areas because they prefer to be around other Black people. Even if they have to share those spaces with other groups of people.
With Houston and especially Atlanta, Black people have a choice to live in suburban neighborhoods where Black people are the majority. They get a chance to take their children to good schools where Black students and staff will be the majority.
Ward 7 and 8 seem to be outliers even within D.C. since those Black neighborhoods west of the River were heavily displaced due to gentrification and rising cost of living. The D.C. you talk about and the one the article talks about are 2 different cities.
Btw, I knew this thread was simply made to eventually talk about D.C. It never fails LOL
DMV..infatuated with the “professionalism” what other people think, and appearances of grandeur. That’s literally why I left. It’s way way too bougie for me. (And the police/military/federal vibe in general, and traffic) I don’t know what a ‘class a building’ really is but it appears Atlanta or Charlotte could compare. I guess modern Class A buildings in the hood means something hits different all to materialistic and just immature sounding to me. I know what hits different low crime rates and safety, real cohesive neighborhoods, walkability, cultural diversity.
Your values are not necessarily my values. I’ve never looked into a class a building nor do I have an iota of desire too.
*tangent*
I think you are highlighting a greater problem within the Black community in America that stems from the last 400 years of oppression we have experienced as Black people in America. Why is position, class, success, and wealth in the Black community looked upon as a negative thing? Do we not deserve nice things? Should we apologize for success? Shouldn't we be trying to uplift other Black households into this class versus framing it as a negative thing?
You represent the ideal they're discussing in this video below saying things like "It’s way way too bougie for me" which is honestly a symptom of the Black experience in America:
Oh really? DC is the only city where Black people overwhelmingly prefer to live around other Black people no matter if it's in the city or burbs huh? .
That statement was surprising even to me. Isn't that everywhere?
It's obvious why he got shot. I'm not asking why he got shot I'm saying condoning shooting people is insane and not a good thing to do when the city experiences a murder a day.
You know WHY people get out of cars with baseball bats because his car had been vandalized by squeegee boys before (he tweeted about it twice) and this isn't the first incidence of serious violence relating to squeegee boys since Ive been here. They are stealing people's money, breaking windshields, and carrying guns on them while participating in illegal activities that affect hundreds of thousands of people each week.
Not only are you putting people in danger you are putting squeegee boys in danger of people who are crazy and have lost their patience. Under no circumstances can you attack someone with a bat for squeegeeing their car. People will lose their patience, its reality- you can look away from reality all you want but its still there. hundreds of feet away. I understand self-defense but this is simply not what you want or need at an intersection in broad daylight. A man is dead and the squeegee boy is going to prison for many years. All because the city has no leadership or backbone and has low standards for behavior in public spaces.
You did not have to shoot the man, you can literally run away- he came at them with the bat from hundreds of feet away. But when you are hardened and in the street, you might decide to shoot it up. (There's a 99% chance) he's carrying an unregistered firearm while performing unsolicited tasks in the middle of one of the busiest intersections in Maryland...that is not okay.
Don't put people in positions where they have to encounter squeegee boys who are literally on video MULTIPLE times harassing people, arguing with police officers about harassing people, kicking people's cars, and stealing their money. This is crazy and absolutely unnecessary. They just showed a video of a black cop arguing with squeegee boys telling them not to harass people. But that's not actually enough. Enforce the laws that exist. If he doesn't respect you the police officer and is willing to get 6 inches from his face despite him being larger, older, and armed with a pistol, what makes you think he's gonna respect a female motorist who doesn't want to be harassed? Its lunacy.
Baltimore City continually has a budget surplus money is there. Its just not allocated properly. Lst year there was a $9M budget surplus, this year it projects to be $34M. The police had a $2M budget surplus last year..
When I worked in city hall I got OIG reports. The graft and ghost purchases are egregious. The amount that isnt covered in the media greatly outnumbers what is covered in the media.
I'll be honest and put it on front street, again, I have literally seen squeegee workers yell at, harass and argue with people on President Street and Dundalk Ave. Maybe they dont do it to us (black people) i cant speak for everyone-but they will absolutely do it to non-blacks.
So where should the money be spent? Remember, you're talking about a city that is struggling with insane property taxes already. The city really needs to drop the property taxes, but then you would be blowing a hole in the general fund. Municipal finance is complicated and impacted by so many variables. Honestly, the residents of Baltimore City will have to wait till the city is gentrified for a few more years which will provide the excess funding to make radical change.
Enforcing the law by getting the squeegee boys off the streets could be a near-term improvement, but we also live in a heightened awareness era of racial and social change so the optics will be bad.
I think you are highlighting a greater problem within the Black community in America that stems from the last 400 years of oppression we have experienced as Black people in America. Why is position, class, success, and wealth in the Black community looked upon as a negative thing? Do we not deserve nice things? Should we apologize for success? Shouldn't we be trying to uplift other Black households into this class versus framing it as a negative thing?
It's not a negative thing but it's not the only thing that matters or makes someone middle class. Living in a Class A "luxury" building isn't the end all be all of you as a person or what defines you or differentiates you a middle-class individual/family.
In my experience in DC that gets lost in the sauce tremendously. Generally, it's much less the case in some other places I've been to. I understand my background as a Yankee means im generally frugal and relatively unshowy- but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.
I like to get fresh and go out and look sharp but I'm not gonna sit here and rank myself against other people of similar incomes and backgrounds dependent upon what my apartment looks like and say my sh-t hits different. That's a very materialistic viewpoint which I get comes out of a desire to differentiate and distance yourself from Boston more here but I suspect you believe that matters a lot anyway.
As Bajan said I dont find these buildings in 7 or 8 very fancy... and I really don't want to live in a large apartment building at all-for matters of privacy, other people's rules, and simply not wanting to move back into a (glorified) dorm. I could've moved into an apartment building when I came to Baltimore and actually saved money, I chose a rowhome because I like the look, the square footage, the character, having a front door, a backyard, and more privacy, I like the walkability too. I don't think any of that is a result of internalized slavery.
You gave me a video of the black bourgeoise...that just reinforces my original point about boujieness. I know what cotillions are, i was cool with the Newton Chapter of JnJ my family as never invited but I was friends with some of those kids. One of whom was originally from Cheltenham..
I remember working at my job in NW DC and I responded to a black security officer with "what?" when i didnt hear her clearly - she then proceeded to scold me as if i was her child talking bout "you're educated whats all this "what?" about"
I just rolled my eyes. She met what she perceived as disrespect with what i found disrespectful, condescending, mannerism BS I simply don't appreciate. I didn't here what you said so I said what, my feeling even if it wasn't polite it wasn't personal and you just got me confused with one of these kids in this school. You're not my mama, dont get it twisted.
I ran into these types of attitudes from the hotel front desk when friends visited for homecoming, police officers, dude who worked at the Greyhound at Union Station (i dead almost fought that man, like, it was .2 second from happening on that upper platform), a woman at the ticket terminal again at Union Station. Basically I really really didn't get along with the people. It was like if you don't act or think the way they do they think you're a miscreant or uncouth AND think they should comment on it. And its rude.
I just couldn't stand being judged on my lack of a Navy Federal Credit Union card, or Divine 9 affiliation ( I dubbed the Alphas push for me to rush primarily because I couldn't afford the dues in college and didn't have a car to travel to Central Connecticut State from Hartford freshman at my college couldn't have cars, and i didn't have one anyway) so i left my lease early. I have never been as frustrated with individual attitudes as I was in DC in Baltimore, Hartford, or Boston
There's not a bulk of Class A luxury buildings being built in those zip codes you posted. The zip codes you posted consist of mostly "traditional or historical black neighborhoods/districts". Those neighborhoods started to decline in the late 80's/early 90s. No different than D.C. It's literally the same reason D.C. Black population dropped from 59 percent to 41 percent as of 2020. Oh but D.C. Black hit different my bad.
He's way overstating his case here. Skyland was an old, dilapidated shopping center that was razed to make way for new housing. The surrounding neighborhood, especially that part of Good Hope, is mostly car-centric, and there's even an apartment complex down the street that is gated and would not look out of place in suburban Charlotte or Atlanta. I would describe it as more middle class or "workforce" housing rather than luxury housing, which is admirable BTW. That area is not going to attract many non-whites because it's simply not in a desirable area. And I would bet that if you offered every Skyland resident an apartment off of U or 14th Street at the rate they're currently paying, the building would be empty by tomorrow.
That statement was surprising even to me. Isn't that everywhere?
From what I have seen no. If that is what they wanted, wouldn't they "only" choose to live overwhelmingly in areas where they are the majority? When I say majority, I mean 80%-100% Black. Wouldn't they choose to live in Black areas regardless of the crime and schools because they hold the fact that the community is Black higher than everything else? That is whether they are rich, poor, or in-between? I already posted census data for Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta and middle-class Black households were clearly not moving to the Black areas of those cities like they were in DC. You even highlighted the crime and schools East of the River, and yet, the Black middle-class is flocking to those neighborhoods.
That was the only point I was making, and it was based on census data, not my opinion.
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