Wealthy White Residents Win Court battle to Split from Poorer Neighborhoods
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Just forget about the moral aspect of starving already poor areas of resources but just from a selfish standpoint (which I know will come easy for many people), if poorer areas are made even poorer by cutting them off from resources, and there's a rich area next door, this could go badly for the wealthy area. If schools and other human services that at least have some stabilizing effect on the kids who are forced to live there through no fault of their own (kids do not choose being born into poverty or unstable family situations), what makes someone think that the ill effects of this, such as even more crime, are just going to stay in the city limits of that now poorer city?
If resources are starved from schools, guess what? You will be spending a lot more tax dollars on prisons and have much less productive people out on the streets between prison stints. The only people who benefit from this are the private companies who make a lot of money off of various contracts and slave labor from prisoners. Taxpayers will be doling out more for less positive results.
This is Louisiana. Louisiana has one of the largest prison populations in America. Louisiana also ranks low in terms of education. 15% of Louisiana's K-12 students are in private schools, the 2nd highest percentage in the country. Only Hawaii has a higher percentage. Baton Rouge and New Orleans have some of the highest private school enrollments in America. Many parents just put their kids in private schools rather than dealing with the public schools. Those who can afford it anyway.
The thing about it, I think Louisiana finds it more convenient to spend money on prisons than schools. The crime rates are already high. They have been high for a long time. It's easier to lock people up than educate. It's also more politically expedient.
I think about this. Louisiana has a high crime rate. Not only that, Louisiana is 30% Black. Baton Rouge is 54% Black. A majority of the violent crimes in Louisiana are from Black Americans. Given this, some people find it too easy to justify spending money on prisons. Spending more on tax dollars on schools could be seen by some as "Why waste our tax dollars on them? They're more likely to commit crimes than become doctors and lawyers".
Some people look at the ghettos and think "that's just the way it is. The best you can do is keep your kids from it". I've learned that for some people, fear is stronger than compassion, even for those who tend to be compassionate.
This is Louisiana. Louisiana has one of the largest prison populations in America. Louisiana also ranks low in terms of education. 15% of Louisiana's K-12 students are in private schools, the 2nd highest percentage in the country. Only Hawaii has a higher percentage. Baton Rouge and New Orleans have some of the highest private school enrollments in America. Many parents just put their kids in private schools rather than dealing with the public schools. Those who can afford it anyway.
The thing about it, I think Louisiana finds it more convenient to spend money on prisons than schools. The crime rates are already high. They have been high for a long time. It's easier to lock people up than educate. It's also more politically expedient.
I think about this. Louisiana has a high crime rate. Not only that, Louisiana is 30% Black. Baton Rouge is 54% Black. A majority of the violent crimes in Louisiana are from Black Americans. Given this, some people find it too easy to justify spending money on prisons. Spending more on tax dollars on schools could be seen by some as "Why waste our tax dollars on them? They're more likely to commit crimes than become doctors and lawyers".
Some people look at the ghettos and think "that's just the way it is. The best you can do is keep your kids from it". I've learned that for some people, fear is stronger than compassion, even for those who tend to be compassionate.
I wouldn't say "that's the way it is. I'd suggest "change must come from within" which in this case is the community.
And if a community isn't working towards positive change there is little you or I can do except... stay away.
Well, if they want to do this and they’re within the bounds of the law, then go right ahead. To everyone in here scoffing at Black people, the Black community etc.. Guess what, they’re affluent, they probably don’t want to live next you either lol.
Thank you for the answer - always informative to see why people believe certain things. I read through the entire paper you linked to. Of course it is 60 years old, but it at least indicates that even 60 years ago the failure of Stable Black Families was a growing concern.
The Great Migration of course began in 1914 when WWI started and the industrial cities needed workers.
Millions of Blacks moved to those Northern Cities for job opportunities and of course to escape the bigotry of the Deep South. I’m sure everyone is aware that Jim Crow Laws were Nationwide and not just in the South.
It was not just blacks that migrated north after WWII. Many southern soldiers returning home needed jobs and there were few to be had in the south at that time.
American cities were safe, for White people. Black neighborhoods are often the most dangerous neighborhoods in pretty much every major city. Black neighborhoods were where alot of the vice districts were located. And it was mainly Black people who bore the brunt of the crime. As much as I prefer not to quote Malcolm X, I'm afraid I have to at this point. According to X, Black neighborhoods were frequently the most policed, and yet, Black neighborhoods often had the highest crime rates. He said this in the pre-1965 times.
Black murder rates were quite high in the time period between 1949 and 1963. It ranged between 25 and 29 murders per 100,000. What was driving the high murder rates and high crimes rates within the Black population BEFORE the 1960s?
Blacks are less poor today than they were in 1960. The difference between 1960 and today is this. Black people who have made it into the middle class can live wherever they want. They aren't bound to stay specifically in Black neighborhoods. My father's old neighborhood, the Black middle class left in the late 1960s, and never returned. With the Black middle class leaving for other places, and the rising Black middle class to never to live in such neighborhoods, guess who got left behind? Alot of those neighborhoods are worse now.
Here is the thing. More and more Black Americans have entered the middle class, gotten college educations, moved into the professional ranks. And yet, alot of Black neighborhoods are worse off now. Perhaps it needs to be considered that the professional classes, the Black middle/upper classes don't live in those neighborhoods anymore. With the freedom to live wherever one wants, that is what the Black middle/upper classes are doing.
The media doesn't have to paint any evil picture. I can talk to Black people who lived back then. The evils of segregation and Jim Crow make living in the 1950s not worth it at all. At least in the post-Civil Rights era, Black people have as much freedom and rights as anyone else. If you're trying to paint this picture of "the 1950s/Jim Crow era wasn't all bad", the answer is NO. Things were not better for Black Americans back then. Considering that I have today in 2024, vs what I would have been limited to in 1954, forget it. We're not going back to the 1950s.
The only thing I see is "We know what's best for Blacks better than Blacks do for themselves", and that is just smugness and arrogance.
It was not white people going into black neighborhoods committing crimes in the 60's nor is it so today.
As you said more and more blacks have moved not only into the middle class but they have gained true wealth and political power so what is the black community doing to fight black crime, black poverty, black single-parent households?
You make statements that white people think they know what is best for blacks and I'm sure many do think that but why do they? What are black people doing to better the situation?
I cant say, but all I seem to hear and see is black people still blaming everyone and everything else for their situation: history, whitey, segregation, jim crow, and slavery. While that is the easy way out, today and for awhile, equal opportunities (and then some) exist for minorities and women. The fact that minorities and women have become affluent and influential and succeeded educationally, financially, and politically proves that what transpired 200 years ago does not hold us back in the present.
But instead of taking on real issues in the black community it seems to me current black leaders and organizations are busy trying to keep the past alive convincing others that monster did not die, but has been resurrected and is the enemy to slay again instead of facing the real battle, the enemy within.
Just forget about the moral aspect of starving already poor areas of resources but just from a selfish standpoint (which I know will come easy for many people), if poorer areas are made even poorer by cutting them off from resources, and there's a rich area next door, this could go badly for the wealthy area.
No one is cutting off anything from poor areas. US taxpayers are still stuck with the bill.
The rich areas are simply funding their own schools, police force, security, etc. because the wokeness in America has forced them to do so.
Even in Atlanta, many rich blacks reside in their own towns/cities away from poorer blacks. Do you think Lebron James and Barack Obama live next to Joe the Plumber?
Keep in mind that for decades BR elected leaders have been majority Democratic Party and the current government is majority black politicians. Had these Democratic Party politicians followed through with their promises then BR would not be in the state it is in now. Part of the problem is the rules and regulations of more than a century hamper quick and effective action and the graft and corruption has become an institution of an accepted part of doing business within the city’s government. Politicians don’t run for office to do what’s good for the community, they do so to enrich themselves and their friends and family. As long as there’s no major blowback directly against themselves then they don’t want to change how the government is run. This community wanted l, initially, to form their own separate school district. When that failed they decided to fight to form their own city and won. The BR elected leaders realized the amount of money they will lose with the loss of this community as well as the significant drop in average scores in public schools and they’re panicking. Already BR schools are lower than even New Orleans schools. Some of these schools are practically an open juvenile detention center.
It was not white people going into black neighborhoods committing crimes in the 60's nor is it so today.
As you said more and more blacks have moved not only into the middle class but they have gained true wealth and political power so what is the black community doing to fight black crime, black poverty, black single-parent households?
You make statements that white people think they know what is best for blacks and I'm sure many do think that but why do they? What are black people doing to better the situation?
I cant say, but all I seem to hear and see is black people still blaming everyone and everything else for their situation: history, whitey, segregation, jim crow, and slavery. While that is the easy way out, today and for awhile, equal opportunities (and then some) exist for minorities and women. The fact that minorities and women have become affluent and influential and succeeded educationally, financially, and politically proves that what transpired 200 years ago does not hold us back in the present.
But instead of taking on real issues in the black community it seems to me current black leaders and organizations are busy trying to keep the past alive convincing others that monster did not die, but has been resurrected and is the enemy to slay again instead of facing the real battle, the enemy within.
"You make statements that white people think they know what is best for blacks and I'm sure many do think that but why do they? What are black people doing to better the situation?"
I cant say, but all I seem to hear and see is black people still blaming everyone and everything else for their situation:
as far as I know....every welfare program in this country was designed around blacks
housing, education, employment, medical, etc
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