Your youth is definitely an excuse. You talk to people with that attitude that nobody else knows anything and that's what a lot of people your age do. That in spite of the fact that, the person you are preaching to may has been around the block a hell of a lot more times than you have and been there and done a lot of shit that you have yet to do. Already been where you are so I know how it is and I doubt a whole lot of people above the age of 30 on this board will disagree with my statement.chrizow wrote: my youth is not an excuse for your generalizations. i too have spent time in "the hood" (i have family who lived around 24th and Brooklyn until about 3 years ago, as well as various spots around Blue Hills, Eastwood, and the east parts of Troostwood). further, many of my friends and acquaintances in the raytown school district came from bad areas of town, had tons of family/friends in the bad and good parts of the African-American 'hoods in KCMO, and/or were bona fide gangsters themselves. i would dare to say that i have a better grasp of the 18-30 y/o population than you do, 'hood or no hood.
that said, i doubt either one of us have particularly enviable ghetto credentials. the fact i am not a homeowner and have recently lived in a dorm is nothing more than a personal attack on your part. so thanks for that.
i agree that no one, black/white/whatever, should pour all their money into a vehicle instead of trying to build a better life for themselves and their family. i would also posit, however, that your singling out this phenomenon as quality evidence that people in the "hood" can frequently afford to get out is bogus. most people in poor communities do not drive Escalades. the ones that do drive "pimped" rides frequently put those rides together for about 1/4 what you think it should cost them. the young guys that actually drive $60,000 rides probably paid for them via illicit means, so their vehicle of choice is the least of our concerns about them.
i have no doubt that your tenure as a grizzly security guard exposed you to some dicey characters. i also have no doubt that there are plenty of complete moron losers in KCMO that have no respect for anyone and commit crimes. my lack of experience with a "crime scene" is completely irrelevant, since my complaint about KCPD behavior has little or nothing to do with responding to crimes. if you lived in those hoods or knew anyone that lived in those hoods, you would know that many of those people have either personally dealt with police harassment, accusations, and illegal detainment, or have a family member or friend that has. keep in mind that this mentality goes back to at least the 1950s. this attitude toward the police exists, whether you choose to think it is valid or not. i am 100% in favor of people taking responsibility for their own actions, criminal or otherwise. in poor communities, however, you'll find that people that have not engaged in criminal behavior also have run-ins with the police. racial profiling is a HUGE problem in every city in america, KC included. to believe otherwise is to deny mountains of empirical evidence, often compiled (as required by federal law) by the law enforcement authorities themselves. it has less to do with overt racism than entrenched, unspoken biases.
people in disadvantaged communities should cooperate with the police more. the "i won't be a snitch" mentality is absurd. but that isn't the whole story.
Therefore, you telling me that people owning all those high dollar toys doesn't mean a damn thing is what is really "bogus". I know how much that crap costs and I know what it costs to live outside the ghetto since I've been paying my own damn bills for 17 years now. You can rent a house in Gladstone for 600.00 a month and Oak Park is a damn fine school district to send your kids to so don't feed me that horseshit. You can rent for even less than that in Independence which isn't the best place in the world but if I had kids I'd sure rather send them to school at Chrisman, Fort Osage, or Truman than I would Northeast for both safety reasons and quality of education. I had an opportunity last year to buy a completely rehabbed house with 3 bedrooms in your hometown for 70,000 (about 500 a month with nothing down) so there's another option. The northland has older townhomes for sale that are large enough to house a family in places like Chapel Woods (Park Hill school district) for even less than that all the time. Single people have even less of an excuse since you can find an apartment in any burb for between 400 and 500 if you look around. I know because I live in one. Having said that, there are very damn few people living in downtrodden areas (other than maybe immigrants that can't speak a lick of English and have to accept minimum wage) who can't afford to get out if they really want to.
You can try to accuse me of a personal attack just because I pointed out the fact that you don't have any experience or obviously not much knowledge of the above facts if you like. I'm sure that any rational person can see that's not what it's about. It's based on the fact that you obviously don't have a clue as to what's out there. You're buying into one side of a story without having a clear picture of either.
I seriously doubt you would have a better grasp of what the 18 to 30 y/o population does since you're barely in your 20's and I've already been there and done it. Your generation didn't invent the shit believe it or not. I'm 35 so I've already been 18, 19, 20, 21 etc... Furthemore, I'm around people who are between 20 and 30 everyday at my job and while I'm milling about. This might surprise you but people in those age groups don't just live in Columbia or Raytown. That statement was completely absurd.
You can tell me all about your experience around "gangstas" and all of that but it doesn't really do anything for me since besides doing private security I was also simultaneously working as a correctional officer (which paid only about 10.50 an hour and I still wasn't forced to live in the ghetto) in a missouri state penetentiary which I did for 4 years. I've intermingled with thousands of "the hood's finest" both on the street and behind bars. I have no doubt that you have relatives in that area but there's a hell of a lot of difference between visiting relatives every now and then and working there on the midnight shift in a crime prevention related role.
"if you lived in those hoods or knew anyone that lived in those hoods, you would know that many of those people have either personally dealt with police harassment, accusations, and illegal detainment, or have a family member or friend that has."
This comment cracked me up. I'll guarantee you that I've spent far more time there in the past than you have. I know something about KCPD behavior and what they get treated like because I used to see it almost every damn time I clocked in. I can tell you that damn near everytime they run somebody down who has a mouth full of dope the person inevitably accuses them of being racists, harassment, or brutality. The fact that they had a couple hundred bucks worth of black tar heroin on them never has anything to do with it. I experienced the same damn thing daily while shaking down inmates at the prison. I know very well what it's like to have frivolous law suits against me for doing my job and I know what it's like to be called a "racist craka" for frisking somebody because I saw what appeared to be a shank protruding from some convict's waistband. You, on the other hand, don't know a damn thing about that. You know one side of a story that you did not personally see unfold. That's what you know so forgive me for rolling my eyes while you tell me "how it really is".
The funniest part was your implication that I don't know anyone from the "hood". Probably 40% of my friends that I work with currently are black and many of them grew up in those areas. Some of them still live there today. They're making damn good money and still live there by their own choice so spare me the bullshit.
