Stunning article about rash of violence in St. Louis

[Proprioceptive]

I dated a girl in college who was working on a masters thesis about educational opportunities for kids. She wanted to point the finger at some systemic problem or a lack of funding. She did some pretty awesome research. The problem is her research kept leading her to conclusions that were not going to be received well. She kept changing her approach, but kept disliking where it as going. She eventually changed her topic to avoid ruffling any feathers. I truly believe talented and passionate people like her could really fix some issues, were they not encumbered with the near certain career suicide once they crossed the PC line.

While I was in college, Columbia MO was going through a rough patch of crime and many people were getting upset that blacks were being pinpointed unfairly and surveilled unjustly. Some of the kids in the GIS program decided to do some studies on the subject, came up with some pretty interesting results and were ultimately shot down by the chief of police. Their findings just were not in accordance with the PC arguments of the time. Even the ACLU came in town to make sure that the police were covering areas equally and not racially profiling. Ultimately, parts of the studies showed that blacks in the community were not being charged with more crimes because they were black, but because most of the reported violence (much of it called in to 911 by those of the same color) was happening in these communities. What happens would violence is concentrated in certain areas? It gets covered more. One of the most interesting findings from a study I helped on was over time after this was becoming big news, we found a lot of "emigrated" crime. Blacks would travel to affluent white areas and commit crimes against each other... very strange. We also found that Section 8 housing was DIRECTLY correlated with an increase of crime. A lot of the Section 8 housing was also set up for Hurricane Katrina victims (83% were black), and these areas would quickly go down hill. Property values plummeted, and now when you visit these areas, they're all slums. It's a culture that destroys everything around it. It's not because they're black. It's because there is a social stigma associated with the culture and it permeates throughout.

 

[JEDI]

They are all cities with a disproportionate number of poor people. This is because many of the industries which grew, and caused the cities to grow with them abandoned the US and relocated off shore due to cost savings.

The end result is huge unemployed populations who feel as though their economic situation is hopeless and they turn to crime initially to survive and then make a lifestyle of it.

It is very sad.

Detroit, Chicago, and St Louis at least, were all huge manufacturing centers for durable and consumer goods. Now, most of the consumer goods manufacturing is gone, and that what remains doesn't pay as well as in the 50s and 60s when these cities were growing to accommodate the industries.

forced birth control of the poor FTW?

 

[Train]

Is her work published?

Seriously I wanna see it.

No, she completely threw the whole thing away. Picked an entirely unrelated topic and started working on that. Had to get at least two year long extensions to her thesis deadline.

 

[Baked]

Ain't nothing gonna change when you keep reelecting the same corrupted officials to office. Compton just reelected the same corrupted motherfucker for another term last week. He's been in office for the past 12 years. People are so ignorant, they rather get shot daily than make a change. Just nuke the city.

 

[shortylickens]

nailed it!

consider yourself lucky you wont have to deal with white hate on a daily basis in europe

I dont even know what its like in Europe. America has so many different philosophies and cultures all around the country that I mostly focus on that stuff.
It will take my whole life to figure it all out. No room in my brain for Europe.

 

[Proprioceptive]

I dont even know what its like in Europe. America has so many different philosophies and cultures all around the country that I mostly focus on that stuff.
It will take my whole life to figure it all out. No room in my brain for Europe.

I have family in Europe... France in particular. You think racial hatred is bad here? You ain't seen nothing.

 

[shortylickens]

forced birth control of the poor FTW?

I would seriously like to see it for welfare people. At least a short limit on payments for children. No more than one, max.

 

[JimmiG]

That's the spirit. heaven forbid we point out a problem and come across as bigoted. Just throw a few million $ at the problem and pretend it went away for a while.

You should do what we do in Sweden. Provide them with everything - social security, free world-class education, free leisure activities, free health care, free high-quality housing etc. That will solve all problems.. Or not..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDvLd-z5Bos

 

[Doppel]

Growing up in St. Louis, I have plenty of things to say about the "circumstances" surrounding these incidents. I even went to a high school which bussed in a lot of inner city kids for better education opportunities. Like I said, the "circumstances" surrounding most of the violence in this town are well... yeah. Anyone who didn't grow up around this or witness the areas first hand really has no clue. Certain "communities" and/or "groups" really have no one to blame but themselves.

So, basically poor minorities.

 

[MrPickins]

Seems like a nice place to me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwBoa-NbNL8

 

[bunnyfubbles]

I was thinking someone should get a group together, uh with guns, to sweep out those ghettos

http://www.hulu.com/watch/281936

 

[Miramonti]

Normally a outburst of sh!t like this is gang and/or cartel related, which all big cities have both influences, but they like to avoid telling the public the truth.

 

[lxskllr]

You should do what we do in Sweden. Provide them with everything - social security, free world-class education, free leisure activities, free health care, free high-quality housing etc. That will solve all problems.. Or not..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDvLd-z5Bos

Everyone wants to feel good about themselves; how open and accepting they are, and they put their own culture to the side to do it. People are different, and pretending otherwise is disingenuous, and dangerous.

If you don't need immigrants for some reason(work or population boost), don't let them in. Discriminate on who you let in. The word "discrimination" has a negative context, but it should be treated as neutral. You don't indiscriminately let people into your house, without regard to culture, or how well you get along with them, so why should your country be any different?

If the issue is being an EU member, get the hell out. Every country has the right to be sovereign, and having such a large geographical/cultural area centrally controlled is an abomination. We(the USA) lost a lot of people helping to prevent you from being centrally controlled, and this is how it turned out... :^S

 

[JulesMaximus]

This thread = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiqMdu2AZZ8

Hard to believe he is the voice of Fry on Futurama.

 

[zinfamous]

Am I wrong?

well, you're definitely not right, that's for sure (as far as the reasons for violence)

 

[MaxPayne63]

This country's been going to shit since the Strike Team was shut down.

edit:

Detroit, Chicago, and St Louis at least, were all huge manufacturing centers for durable and consumer goods. Now, most of the consumer goods manufacturing is gone, and that what remains doesn't pay as well as in the 50s and 60s when these cities were growing to accommodate the industries.

Yeah, I'm sure most violence is perpetrated by out of work UAW types. Please put more effort in to your propaganda. :thumbsdown:

 

[madoka]

I would seriously like to see it for welfare people. At least a short limit on payments for children. No more than one, max.

NSFW:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzspsovNvII

 

[QueBert]

Countless students would be bussed in to our high school for a better education and our faculty did a great job teaching them personal responsibility and taking pride in your accomplishments. They would be encouraged to bring this attitude home with them, but inevitably the rest of their community would look down on them. They would regularly come to school with stories of ridicule, hate, and we even had a few that were shot because of this. It's ridiculous and a self-inflicted way of life. It's sad, really.

The states could do something, like ohhh I don't know, work on make the inner city schools better? I went to an inner city high school, and while there were a good number who fit your description. There were plenty who disliked the ones who got bused to the good school because they wanted a chance too. When you can only bus a small percentage of the people in an area, how do you think the ones who want to be, but aren't in that lucky group feel? Mean while the ones who actually wanted the chance get to stay a school where education's an after thought. The Math I took in 12th grade mimicked what 10 year olds learn.

 

[Exterous]

The states could do something, like ohhh I don't know, work on make the inner city schools better?

The fix needs to come from more than just the states. In recent years it wasn't uncommon for Detroit Public to see days where attendance was around 50% district wide. The state could make it the best school in the nation but its not going to mean shit if the kids don't show up.

 

[lxskllr]

I posted this picture before...

Everyone wants to blame the teachers and schools, and think throwing money at the problem will fix it. Learning doesn't require the finest in teaching materials, or the best teachers. It helps, but it isn't essential. The issue is a culture of stupidity. Stupid kids have more stupid kids, and no value is put on education. Fix that, and you'll fix the crime problem. How do you fix that? Fuck if I know, but money isn't working.

 

[who?]

When my grandmother was in the retirement home in Webster Groves (west St. Louis suburb) she said some of the African-American staff seemed resentful.

Teach the blacks that crackers started the whole "blacks don't go to school" business. Explain to them that the racists don't want them to go to school.

 

[QueBert]

The fix needs to come from more than just the states. In recent years it wasn't uncommon for Detroit Public to see days where attendance was around 50% district wide. The state could make it the best school in the nation but its not going to mean shit if the kids don't show up.

I was learning fractions in 12th grade. Thank God I had skills to fall back on, because what I got from 9-12th grade would only be considered an education because technically was. I'm sure a majority of the kids who don't show up wouldn't regardless, but if you made the schools worth even half a damn, you'd see a rise in attendance. And even if only 50% showed up, that's 50% who could benefit from real teaching. But instead inner city schools get the bottom of the barrel teachers, so that 50%'s pretty much fucked.

Meanwhile they offer a very small number of students the opportunity to be bused to a much better "white" school. Which on the surface sounds promising, only they base it on the parents who jump the highest. And not on the students actual academic abilities. So basically it tends to end up being kids who could give 2 shits but have parents who force them. If cities really gave a shit they'd limit these spots to children who tested well and showed a desire to do better. But they just accept a small group of random kids and try to paint a picture like it's opportunity.

 

[Proprioceptive]

The states could do something, like ohhh I don't know, work on make the inner city schools better? I went to an inner city high school, and while there were a good number who fit your description. There were plenty who disliked the ones who got bused to the good school because they wanted a chance too. When you can only bus a small percentage of the people in an area, how do you think the ones who want to be, but aren't in that lucky group feel? Mean while the ones who actually wanted the chance get to stay a school where education's an after thought. The Math I took in 12th grade mimicked what 10 year olds learn.

While I agree with you on some principle, I know many teachers who taught in these schools and burned out. They would pour their heart and souls into teaching these kids only to be received with perpetual indignation. It's not the system's fault. The larger parts of the system, mainly the entitlement programs, perpetuate the problem. The blame lies in the individual and the parents.

 

[Colt45]

You could legalise drugs and stop a lot of the crime overnight.

 

[Pocatello]

America would prefer to fight wars in distant land and kill insurgents rather than dealing with its poor. In the past, we killed commies, now we kill muslim extremists. We would prefer to build schools and roads for people in foreign land and hope they would be more like us. In the end, America always pack up and leave. All our efforts and delusional dreams turn to dust, nightmare, and bad Hollywood action movies. Not much different than the we we deal the poor in this country. America is always full of great ideas and great promises, but never can finish the job, but then that's up to Hollywood, where history is really made.