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Old 09-17-2013, 10:24 PM
 
Location: South Austin near Wm Cannon and South First
164 posts, read 308,924 times
Reputation: 204

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Quote:
Originally Posted by SharpHawkeye View Post
There's a very interesting column by the Des Moines Register's Marc Hansen today. I'll spare you political correctness and be very blunt with its topic: are urban black transplants to our state bringing inner-city problems with them?

The column is a pretty quick read and a good, quick intro to this sensitive issue. I thought I would share it with you guys to get your thoughts and reaction.

Marc Hansen Thugs from Chicago in Iowa? Fact or fiction? Des Moines Register 7/16/2009
Just curious, did Iowa receive a large influx of Katrina refugees ? Seems nearly every town they went to in large numbers also experienced a large increase in criminal activity.
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Old 09-20-2013, 12:17 PM
 
78 posts, read 188,040 times
Reputation: 102
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dport7674 View Post
Seriously? You should have no problem posting some links to back up what you understand.
When someone says "It is my understanding that", it generally means that they are basing the following comments on what they have been told. In my case, it was from people in the area, relatives.

I never, at any time, stated, "I have it as solid proof the following!"

Hope that clears things up for you.
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Old 09-21-2013, 08:50 PM
 
72,817 posts, read 62,160,234 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago60614 View Post
Well a lot of it just revolves around the general situation which prompted all of this. Chicago went from housing 200,000 people in its housing projects to around 20,000 between 2000 and 2012. They didn't build new projects to house all those people, and instead you had tens of thousands (a few hundred thousand) of people who grew up in extreme poverty in quite violent areas with poor education who were now trying to find section 8 housing. The waits for housing in the Chicago area are FOREVER, so many people picked up and went to other cities, many sprinkled around the Midwest, to try and find a place. Iowa City has a lot of social services and options for help, and many people came from Chicago and got fairly nice and quick housing, mostly on the southeast side of town. Those families told other families and in many cases the word spread and other people followed. Unfortunately you can take a lot of people out of the Chicago ghetto, but you can't expect everyone to just wash clean their entire lives and not still behave the only way they know how.

The black population grew by around 100% from 2000 to 2010, and a fairly large majority of that growth was ages 0-19, and of course everyone knows teens in general can grab more attention and need more attention in general than if it was, say, the population ages 40-60 that saw all the growth. The school district went from almost all white back in the mid 1990's to over 1/3 minority. I'm not saying it's bad or trying to "prove something" or be racist, which unfortunately is how many people instantly react when you start talking about race on any level. I'm just putting general observations out there to explain what might be driving views from both the new residents and the old.

In a nutshell this was at least a part of what was going on in some eastern Iowa cities. It wasn't a "black" issue as much as it was a group of people on the bottom rung of society, most of whom happened to be black, who relocated to a city where the cultures were in extremes. Lots of people in Iowa City who talk about all this obviously will then refer to it as the "chicago problem" because they know that's what's driving the dynamics, not skin color. This isn't the 1950's.
In short, there were alot of people who were desperate for places to stay, as times became hard in Chicago. This is the thing though. There are those who will see a Black person and automatically assume said person is "trouble" based on what some other persons have done.
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Old 09-23-2013, 08:36 PM
 
17 posts, read 101,675 times
Reputation: 21
Quote:
Originally Posted by green_mariner View Post
In short, there were alot of people who were desperate for places to stay, as times became hard in Chicago. This is the thing though. There are those who will see a Black person and automatically assume said person is "trouble" based on what some other persons have done.
There is definitely a problem with just assuming anyone 'black' and young is a criminal and automatically profiling them as such. However, at the same time it is absolutely ignorant to ignore the fact that the majority of robberies and murders in the state of Iowa are extremely disproportionately committed by blacks. A simple google of "Iowa crime stats by race" will show these statistics. I highly doubt these were the same pre-2000. This has definitely left a bitter taste in the mouth of many long-term residents and I feel there is to some degree a "white flight" happening from certain neighborhoods across the state.

Bottom line, you need to be careful anywhere, and recognize suspicious activity regardless of race, gender, age, etc.. And while Iowa is currently listed as one of the "Top 10" safest states, this is changing and within two years I highly doubt this is going to stay the case.
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Old 09-29-2013, 10:11 AM
 
72,817 posts, read 62,160,234 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by seyz View Post
There is definitely a problem with just assuming anyone 'black' and young is a criminal and automatically profiling them as such. However, at the same time it is absolutely ignorant to ignore the fact that the majority of robberies and murders in the state of Iowa are extremely disproportionately committed by blacks. A simple google of "Iowa crime stats by race" will show these statistics. I highly doubt these were the same pre-2000. This has definitely left a bitter taste in the mouth of many long-term residents and I feel there is to some degree a "white flight" happening from certain neighborhoods across the state.

Bottom line, you need to be careful anywhere, and recognize suspicious activity regardless of race, gender, age, etc.. And while Iowa is currently listed as one of the "Top 10" safest states, this is changing and within two years I highly doubt this is going to stay the case.
It isn't about the statistics. The statistics are just statistics. It is about how people will react to someone like me based on those statistics.
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Old 09-29-2013, 02:53 PM
FBF
 
601 posts, read 926,977 times
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Only about 3% of Iowans are black and yet make up nearly a quarter of the percentages in Iowan jails.....

You could say it is because of their race or because Iowa is considered the state with the worst reputation for profiling:

https://www.aclu.org/criminal-law-re...ijuana-arrests

I can bet most of those prisoners are only their for very minor issues which most whites in Iowan are let go scott free or with very little punishment.

Last edited by FBF; 09-29-2013 at 03:06 PM..
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Old 09-30-2013, 06:26 PM
 
Location: around the way
659 posts, read 1,097,660 times
Reputation: 440
Quote:
Originally Posted by FBF View Post
Only about 3% of Iowans are black and yet make up nearly a quarter of the percentages in Iowan jails.....

You could say it is because of their race or because Iowa is considered the state with the worst reputation for profiling:

https://www.aclu.org/criminal-law-re...ijuana-arrests

I can bet most of those prisoners are only their for very minor issues which most whites in Iowan are let go scott free or with very little punishment.
My prediction is that in another 30-40 years (i.e. by the time I'm too old to really enjoy it much), legalized marijuana will be the law of the land and our kids and grandkids will be asking us why we made such a big deal out of it all? Especially given that legalizing pot provides tax revenue and frees up space in prison for the actual violent offenders that need to be there.

The private prison industry that gets paid to keep warm bodies in jails and lease them out for cheap labor isn't going to be happy about it, though...
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Old 09-30-2013, 07:17 PM
 
72,817 posts, read 62,160,234 times
Reputation: 21772
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stavemaster View Post
My prediction is that in another 30-40 years (i.e. by the time I'm too old to really enjoy it much), legalized marijuana will be the law of the land and our kids and grandkids will be asking us why we made such a big deal out of it all? Especially given that legalizing pot provides tax revenue and frees up space in prison for the actual violent offenders that need to be there.

The private prison industry that gets paid to keep warm bodies in jails and lease them out for cheap labor isn't going to be happy about it, though...
That is something to consider. The industrial base in the economy has decline, right around the same time drug laws keep getting stricter and stricter. More and more people in prison these days. I am a firm believer that if you are addicted to drugs, you do not need to be in prison, you need to be in rehab. Of course, more is spent on putting people in prison. Why? Prisons make money. And there is more and more of a thirst for cheap labor.
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Old 09-30-2013, 07:22 PM
 
72,817 posts, read 62,160,234 times
Reputation: 21772
Quote:
Just curious, did Iowa receive a large influx of Katrina refugees ? Seems nearly every town they went to in large numbers also experienced a large increase in criminal activity.
Actually, most went to Texas and to other Deep South states like Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. Some went to Missouri and Illinois. A few might have gone to Iowa. I don't know. I have heard of some going to Utah.
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Old 10-13-2013, 07:02 PM
 
17 posts, read 101,675 times
Reputation: 21
Quote:
Originally Posted by green_mariner View Post
It isn't about the statistics. The statistics are just statistics. It is about how people will react to someone like me based on those statistics.
Statistics are everything. You can look to statistics to see why people react the way they do to "someone like you".

Quote:
Only about 3% of Iowans are black and yet make up nearly a quarter of the percentages in Iowan jails.....
The major disparity is in robberies and burglaries. Blacks commit 50% of such crimes, though as you said about 3% of the state is black. If you want to have an honest discussion about race you can't leave out this statistics. Until then you are just lying to yourself.
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