I spent last week in Baltimore. There are areas there where I was the only non black person around. That city has a lot of rough areas. I was uneasy at times, and I hang in PG county and all over DC all the time, so I don't think it's a racism thing or a wuss thing. Maye it's the aura. Then I go to the bars across from Camden after an O's game and it's full of white people.
I only watched the wire this last season, and from what I gathered, the feel is pretty damn accurate. I think they shot it on location. I should have taken pictures: -people outside all night (I'm a night owl) -abandon row houses mixed in with lived in row houses as far as the eye can see -Police video cameras all over the streets with flashing blue lights (it's supposed to be a deterrent) -drunk people in front of the metro -crazy people sneakin into the hotel (I'm guessing this doesn't happen at the fancy hotels) There are pockets of really touristy areas like the inner harbor, but I was all over the place and when I use the word "rough", it really doesn't do it justice. I used to think parts of DC were rough, but nothing really beats the rough parts of Baltimore.
I've spent a lot of time in Baltimore, including some very undesirable parts of town, and usually don't feel safe there.
The bigtexxx I know doesn't shy away from danger, nay, he seeks it. Of course, you now drive a tiny Japanese car and have gone metrosexual on me, so I don't know you anymore...
While a lot of Mexicans in Houston are second-, third-, fourth-, etc. generation Mexican-Americans, it seems like a large majority of Mexicans here in Chicago arrived in the US relatively recently.
hm.. i currently live in Baltimore.. university area to be exact.. haven't had any of these unsafe feelings of dread.. you all that have commented on Baltimore have experienced.. but then I stay away from the undesirable areas and pay them very little thought.. as I don't live there nor have any reason or desire to visit..
Vidor? Controversy Despite African-Americans comprising one-fourth of the population of the Beaumont-Port Arthur metropolitan area, as of the 2000 Census, Vidor had only eight African-American residents. Vidor was considered a sundown town in the 1950s. Despite improvements since that era, racism remains a problem. [4] Vidor was the subject of many national news stories throughout the 1990s during the attempts of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to desegregate the local housing project. The federal government had found the state of Texas to have 32 counties with segregated housing projects and had issued an order to be begin desegregating them. Vidor was chosen to be one of the first to be desegregated, despite the very low black population in the city. Not exactly a City, but an interesting fact of recent history germane to the subject. A sundown town is a community in the United States where non-whites — especially African Americans — were systematically excluded from living in or passing through after the sun went down. This allowed maids and workmen to provide unskilled labor during the day. They came into existence in the late 19th century during what sociologists have described as the nadir of American race relations. Sundown towns existed throughout the nation, but more often were located in the northern states that were not pre-Civil War slave states. There have not been any de jure sundown towns in the country since the legislation in the 1960s inspired by the American Civil Rights Movement, though de facto sundown towns existed at least into the 1970s. Their continued existence is the subject of some debate.
Funny, One thing that always catches my eye when I watch "a christmas story" is that there are black kids in ralph's class. you tend to forget that there was not segregation in the north in those years. anyway i believe the setting for that movie is milwaukee
It wasn't. It was somewhere in Indiana. When I was growing up in Milwaukee in the 70's and early 80's there were practically no black people living south of I-94.
I was in the John Hopkins Hospital area where the Northeast Market is. I didn't go to the university area. from Wiki: http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?city=Baltimore&state=MD
I wouldn't doubt it. I grew up in a small town outside of Beaumont, much like that of Vidor. My brother's wife is from Vidor. I've seen some messed up stuff in my days there.
I guess nobody ever stopped at Vidor Texas.. Damn it felt like I was transported back to the 1940's-50's
What about Austin? I-35 divides rich vs. poor - the poor being minorities. I know it's probably not the most segregated but I've never lived in city where the distinction was so noticeable.
I've lived in and around Baltimore for more than 10 years now. A few observations- 1. When I first moved to Baltimore around 1996 it certainly struck me as the most racially polarized city I had ever lived in. I think one of the reasons for this was that the population was really just black and white, there wasn't any other significant racial group. With this racial make up, it seemed like the two groups really keyed off on each other. I think when there's more than just two racial groups in an area it diffuses some of the tension. To my mind Houston's race relations have benefitted from have three long standing racial populations, black, white, and latino. 2. I think the racial situation in Baltimore has gotten better since I've lived here. There's a significantly larger latino and asian population in area and economic conditions are better. 3. There are definitely still large areas of the city that are very blighted and rough and you're not just being paranoid if they make you feel uneasy. That said, I've worked in schools in some of the worst neighborhoods on the west side of Baltimore, walked through the projects looking for awol students, and been in these students' really crappy and depressing homes and never been harmed or threatened. 4. For the first time in a very long time the homicide rate in Baltimore is declining significantly. There's been a near 40% drop in homicides this quarter. This seems to be due to Baltimore adopting someting like the "Boston model" that focuses law enforcement resources on arresting and convicting with long prison sentences, the relatively small percentage of the criminal population that commits violent crimes with guns. When Boston took this approach, I believe they dropped their homicide rate to around 100 per year, while Baltimore has remained in the high 200s for as long as I can remember. And Boston is a bigger city than Baltimore.
