Cleveland Parkers Refusing to Open Doors to Well-Dressed African-American Men
Magazine sellers and Bible studiers---especially those who are well-dressed and African-American---beware. The people of Cleveland Park are onto you. For months they've been posting suspicious interactions with you and your efforts this week? They are well-documented on the all-knowing Listserv.
To wit:
* Joe on Ross Place: "I had a well dressed black male stop by my house yesterday at around 10am and say he was with a bible study group and wanted to know if I wanted to pray with him. I declined. He came back at around 6pm and asked if I'd like to buy magazines from him."
* Val on Norton Place: "About 5 p.m. Monday, a well-dressed black male knocked on my door. I was at home sick and did not answer, but he had stepped back far enough from the door for me to see him through the window"
* Sally on Quebec Street: "I was out walking and passed this man on mid to upper Porter Street Monday afternoon at approximately 3:30 pm. He was going door to door and was clean-shaven, wearing slacks, a white shirt, and tie." No mention of his race, but it's implied, don't you think?
* Ralph on 30th Street: "A similar young man came by our house yesterday. He said he was 'selling magazines and newspapers,' but he had no paperwork with him and looked like he made it up. When he left, I saw him to the next house and knock on the door."
* The infamous George Idelson: "I observed two African-American men engaged in conversation on my doorstep this morning. They ignored me, jotted something into a clipboard, finished their conversation and retreated down the steps. As they did I noticed the younger man was carrying a magazine labeled 'The Advocate.'"
* Ann With the Older French Husband: Last week, in the evening around 7:00, a not-so-young well dressed african american man (white shirt, crisply ironed trousers) came to our door. I spoke to him through our storm door. He asked to come in for a moment to speak to me. I thought it was a religious or charity call. I asked the reason for his call. He smiled and tried to joke about he was wondering when dinner was. I asked again and he said he was a salesman. I told him that we were not interested in being approached door to door to be sold anything, and added that usually people who are selling say what it is up front and present a vendors license or organization identification. He looked very annoyed and went back down the steps, looking back angrily as I closed the door. Our son, who is visiting, saw him continue down Idaho towards Macomb St. I again told my older French husband once again to never, ever open the door to strangers. Sigh."
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Linked From: July 27th, 2009Filling the Hole: Loose Lips Daily - City Desk - Washington City Paper
11:51 am[...] wearing a postal, FedEx or UPS uniform, they see thief, burglar or worse.’ (You could have read about the messages first at City [...]
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Linked From: August 3rd, 2009VIDEO: Is Cleveland Park Dead? - City Desk - Washington City Paper
3:19 pm[...] a column on the racial paranoia bubbling up on Cleveland Park’s listserv. He followed up our own blog post on the subject. Whether residents there are racist or not we can not say. Those stories only prove [...]
1:22 pm
And you point is?! Do you want to open your doors to some religious zealot trying to convert you or worse yet, sell you something? This is dumb and your insinuation of some sort of racial angle is even dumber. If you're saying these people are somehow racist for not letting strange salesmen into their house, just say it instead of implying it without evidence.
2:07 pm
Its dumbass stories like this that make me wonder how much longer the City Paper can possibly last as a viable business.
Perhaps Jule could also copy and paste the listserve postings about the increased break-ins occurring in that same area?
Nah.
Then it would lead to the conclusion that the "salesmen" with nothing to sell might possibly be casing houses to burglarize. And then the smug, implied racism angle sorta dissipates.
The City Paper's writing is a sad shell of what it used to be.
2:19 pm
Jule, I had a lot of respect for you up until this article. I agree with RT here. A non-story of door-to-door solicitation is titled as a "Race-baiting Neighborhood Fear" story. So you are saying that well dressed clean shaven African-American men are a threat? What if the man came to the same doors wearing his pants down (showing his boxers) and tattoos, hawking The Advocate (a GLBT magazine BTW).
Basically Jule, you are playing on Cleveland Park's potential for racial intolerance...and in a strange sort of way exposing the descriptive nature of race in this community. Race is indeed a factor, especially when one solicits at your door. I don't know who's the blame here, nosy Cleveland Park neighbors on the listserv or you Jule for reminding us that folks don't know what to do about race.
5:45 pm
There is no racism here. People would be just as concerned, rightly, if the religious nuts/salesmen were white.
10:04 pm
It sounds like you were hunting for material on the listserv to criticize the neighborhood for. Not what I consider good journalism. Hasn't Cleveland Park received enough undue criticism from people who know nothing about the neighborhood or its citizens in recent news about the Giant?
If you want to be involved, learn the facts. In this case, a pair of well dressed men were impersonating door to door salesmen around this time last year in order to scope out homes in a neighborhood that experienced a high number of break ins. The men were not credible and those who invited them into their homes felt unsafe. This means that this year neighbors are increasingly aware of the presence of door to door salesmen, white or black, and they report about it on the listserv for the safety of their neighbors. End of story. Wow, how exciting.
1:33 am
What kind if IDIOT would open their door to strange nigger? This how home invasions, rape and murder start out.
1:56 am
Why would I open my door to ANY nig? Almost on a daily basis you can find a story where nigs kill their own children (media ignores these stories, only focuses on white baby killers) What I would do is call the cops to try and protect my neighbors who might not be as leary!!
Surely you jest! wrap a fish in your news paper pls!
2:43 am
Speak for yourself, P. I certainly wouldn't be *as* concerned if the salesmen were white.
According to the FBI's crime statistics, blacks are around 39 times more likely to commit violent crime against a white person than vice versa, and 136 times more likely to commit robbery. Blacks commit more violent crime against whites than they do against other blacks, with black on white rape being 115 times more common than the reverse. 1 in 3 black males will end up in State or Federal Prison (compared with 1 in 20 whites).
In short blacks commit such an astounding proportion of rapes, robberies, and murder when compared with their percentage of the general population that having one show up unannounced on ones doorstep is cause for concern as to what it might be up to.
2:47 am
Black people may not realize this, so I will tell them.
White people do not like being raped, robbed, beaten or murdered. I'm not sure if blacks knew that or not, but I'm happy to help out with racial relations.
If there is a 0.01% chance that me or my family may be raped, robbed, beaten or murdered, I am not going to answer the door.
If not taking a chance on being raped, robbed, beaten or murdered is racism, then fine, I am a racist.
2:52 am
Given the niggershines that routinely occur in and around Cleveland, there is no way that I would ever let some strange kaffir in my home. I don't give a rat's you-know-what so far as "racism" is concerned. The graveyard is full of libtards that didn't want to appear "racist".
Around blacks, never relax.
3:42 am
Well I don't know what passes for security in Cleveland but here in rural Pennsylvania we don't tolerate monkeyshines. If a stinking nignog makes it to my front door alive then I need a new security system.
5:21 am
Who on earth would want to open their door to a filthy, stinking nigger anyway?
That's just common sense.
6:08 am
Just Say No To Niggers!
7:41 am
Blacks will certainly call it racists, but numbers do not lie; blacks commit far more crimes than all other races in America combined. All while blacks are only about 14% of the population. For this reason, along with their unchecked racism against whites and their aggression, how can anyone blame whites for not opening their front door for a black guy? It doesn't matter how he is dressed. A black in slacks, white shirt and tie can force his way in and rob, rape, and kill anyone in the home as easily as a black in traditional black "gangsta" street clothes. This is madness. Like I said, blacks will call me and what I have said "racist." Strange, but I tend to think the 60% of all criminals (which are black) in our jails and prisons are the real racists. Whites merely ask to be left alone by blacks so we can live in peace and survive.
8:32 am
I refuse to open up the 'doe' for a black. My safety is more important than their feelings. It is my civil right to defend myself while it isn't their civil right to come into my house.
8:49 am
Let's see...considering blacks are more likely to commit crime...anyone with common sense would react the same way.
I used to live in Detroit. Nuff said.
9:32 am
It's sad to see the drivel this once-interesting paper publishes. I'd be willing to bet the author lives in some lilywhite neighborhood in Woodbridge or Ashburn, because no one that lived in one of the few nice, safe neighborhoods in D.C. would try to make a story out of the Cleveland Park residents that didn't answer the door for a negro.
Would you have thought it newsworthy if the occupants of a section 8 rental in an Anacostia niggerhood refused to open the door to a well dressed white man? The entire premise of your story is RACIST and a product of a PC world gone wild with accusations of RACISM.
In fact there's no more racist group on the planet than negros. Even though white on black crime is exceedingly rare, it gets splashed across the headlines whether or not it's even true. Just the whisper of a white-on-black crime brings out Jessie Jackscoon, Louis Farrakoon and Al Sharpcoon hand wringing and calling for action. Yet black on white crime happens daily and newspapers aren't even allowed to list the race of the suspect or perp.
Others already listed reasons why no sane white person would let a coon they didn't know in their house. What I'd like to see is for you to interview some liberal fool who did let a black man in the house and report on the robbery, rape or attempted murder that followed. Now THAT would make a story.
FUMING IN FAUQUIER COUNTY...former D.C. resident who joined the WHITE FLIGHT of the late 1960s.
10:24 am
@RealistNotRacist
Tawana Brawley and the Duke (non)rape case come to mind over her....
10:43 am
The only Bla*k men I know that are dresses in a suit hear this, “Will the defendant please rise.”
11:25 am
The day of white apology has come and gone. Being kind to Af-Ams brings you grief nearly every time. Nobody gets in my house without invitation or gunshot wounds and I'm not about to change that policy for someone's hurt feelings.
11:42 am
@Reality Check
They don't even get spiffied up for court--they got that bling going on.
1:01 pm
I do not open my door to anyone I do not know well - except good-looking women [after I check to see there's no miscreant hiding behind them].
This story is similar to the one where the person tied his dog up in front of the Whole Foods on P Street & left - & the dog was stolen. That was stupid. & it would be stupid to open your door to anyone you don't know well.
1:05 pm
Obviously some real White Supremists read WCP. Thanks Jule for drawing them out. Not that I didn't realize their existence , especially after the 2008 Presidential election in some far off places as PA, WV, OH, etc.
Before you "dyed in the wool" White Supremist-Neo-Nazis spout off any more rhetoric consider these facts:
1) Africans wouldn't have been here involuntary in the first place "committing crimes" if it wasn't for European (your ancestry) Criminal activities of stealing and capturing slaves. When Arabs and others realized you were getting cheap labor for free, then you actually had to Pay for them and hence started the slave trade.
2) African Americans make up 13 pct of the U.S. population, but based on your inaccurate data, they make up the majority of those committing crimes and in prison. Ignorance perpetuated by narrow minded illiterate folks. There are more White and Other ethnic groups on welfare and in prison than African-Americans. However, since African-Americans are a smaller percentage, per capita it seems that the majority of the crimes are committed by them.
3) In the recent months, if seen more White men going door to door peddling or hustling Home Improvement scams and Security Alarm upgrades. That along with the Latter Day Saints Brothers should make someone more fearful and suspicious more than anything. Anyways, you racists need some Divine help...sorry but Jesus wasn't anglo either. So if He knocked on your door you'd be writing about a suspicipious person in the neighborhood too.
1:21 pm
Are they racists?.I think this is racism.We must have to take proper measures against racism.
1:40 pm
What, being a racist/realist is a crime now? Who made you Thought Police? I don't care if anyone is a racist, so long as they don't go around harassing or hurting people. They are entitled to their thoughts and opinions, same as anyone else. Don't like it, too bad.
I don't hate anyone. I'm what's known as a realist. Can you say "race realist"? Very good! BTW, it's spelled "supremacist," not "supremist."
Why don't you try checking out thugreport.com?
1:48 pm
Q,
Sorry about the facts. I, and a lot of others, are NOT self-loathing whites that bury the facts. 90% of all inter-racial crime is negro on humans. The Duke lacrosse fake-rape was headline, international news for a year while 99% of people have never heard of the Knoxville, kidnapping, rape and murder. Why? It was blacks who committed the crimes and the victims were white. You are a "foo"
2:23 pm
I think it's hilarious that most of the white supremacists commenting here think that the article is about the city Cleveland, when it is in fact about the Cleveland Park neighborhood in DC. It's almost as if they go around trolling for websites on which to post their drivel, without even reading the actual article first!
2:32 pm
Don't sweat their comments, Q, it's only natural for roaches to spread filth.
2:39 pm
I live near Cleveland and I know there's no such suburb.
Still, the fact remains: blacks are more likely to commit crime. It's just a simple fact.
Truth is hate to those who hate truth.
3:05 pm
Alexandra, are you responding to my post? If so, please read it again, real close this time. (And if not, sorry for the snark.) This article's got nothing to do with Cleveland or its suburbs.
3:14 pm
Also, I agree with Ashley. I didn't see the listserv posts as racist; rather, I saw them as people looking out for their neighbors by describing people acting suspicious in the neighborhood.
3:30 pm
Facts and statistics are racist.
Eliminate them.
3:50 pm
CP Resident
I KNOW this has nothing to do with Cleveland or its suburbs. I was simply stating that I know it has nothing to do with Cleveland BECAUSE I know there's no such suburb here as Cleveland Park!
I was pointing out that it's irrelevant anyway, as blacks act the same in Cleveland as they do in DC as they do in Detroit.
New Orleans gave a prime example after Katrina. You didn't hear about any riots when the plains flooded.
8:09 pm
Alexandra, your stereotyping is getting ridiculous. First of all, with the one drop rule and all the miscegenation you'd just assume all criminals are black to prove your point.
Secondly, Blacks are "only the same" to ignorant racists and white supremacists. If I assumed all Whites were the same they'd be just as ignorant as you, which is definitely not the case. Most of the African-American men who are taking care of their households, contributing to society, and being positive rolemodels, you won't see on the Evening News, in Music Videos, in Prison (unless being arrested for Civil Disobedience), committing crimes, on the athletic fields, etc. You will find them behind the scenes working hard trying to undo your race reality.
Perhaps you don't know any better. Perhaps you'd like to blame Affirmative Action on the 2008 Presidential Election. For that Alexandra, let me offer my sympathy. Sympathy for a heart frozen in segregation and Jim Crow that hasn't healed. That same frozen heart that would cause a bitter old white man to "knock" on the Holocaust Museum Doors and kill a hospitable African-American Security Guard. Surely he was only looking out for Blacks to cause trouble right?
If you want to find out where the positive black men are, use that same search engine you used to find the crime statistics and look up: Concerned Black Men, 100 Black Men, and Washington Urban League to start.
Once again, as for Cleveland Park, they aren't racists for their listserve...however the descriptive nature could be presumed as such when ignorant people interpret their comments as bias.
8:12 pm
Alexandra, your stereotyping is getting ridiculous. First of all, with the one drop rule and all the miscegenation you'd just assume all criminals are black to prove your point.
Secondly, Blacks only "act all the same" to ignorant racists and white supremacists. If I assumed all Whites were the same they'd be just as ignorant as you, which is definitely not the case. Most of the African-American men who are taking care of their households, contributing to society, and being positive rolemodels, you won't see on the Evening News, in Music Videos, in Prison (unless being arrested for Civil Disobedience), committing crimes, on the athletic fields, etc. You will find them behind the scenes working hard trying to undo your race reality.
Perhaps you don't know any better. Perhaps you'd like to blame Affirmative Action on the 2008 Presidential Election. For that Alexandra, let me offer my sympathy. Sympathy for a heart frozen in segregation and Jim Crow that hasn't healed. That same frozen heart that would cause a bitter old white man to "knock" on the Holocaust Museum Doors and kill a hospitable African-American Security Guard. Surely he was only looking out for Blacks to cause trouble right?
If you want to find out where the positive black men are, use that same search engine you used to find the crime statistics and look up: Concerned Black Men, 100 Black Men, and Washington Urban League to start.
Once again, as for Cleveland Park, they aren't racists for their listserve...however the descriptive nature could be presumed as such when ignorant people interpret their comments as bias.
11:11 pm
@ Q
Time for you to get your facts straight,since you're calling everyone who wouldn't let a strange nigra buck into their house a racist.
I'm a D.C. native and I for one am sick of everyone vilifying the white male. Don't you dare suggest I'm inbred or uneducated because it offends your little liberal pantywaist sensibilities that I choose to call a spade a spade.
Q wrote: Africans wouldn’t have been here involuntary in the first place “committing crimes” if it wasn’t for European .... stealing and capturing slaves.
Let us not forget that NIGGERS captured and sold other niggers for slaves. And Arabs still to this day keep slaves, as do Africoons.
And immigrants that came here as recently as 25 years ago don't call themselves "European Americans" so why do nigras persist in calling themselves African Americans? They are either Americoons or Africoons, can't have it both ways. And while we're at it, let's remember that slavery was the best thing that happened to most nigras of African descent. The ones that stayed there still live in dung huts, crap in their drinking water, have no electricity or running water and cannot read or write. Yep, that's a real evolved society.
Q wrote: African Americans make up 13 pct of the U.S. population, but based on your inaccurate data, they make up the majority of those committing crimes and in prison. Actually Q; this is correct: 13 percent of the population (including babies and the elderly) is responsible for SIXTY PERCENT of the violent crime in this country. Your narrow mind is the one that wants to sugar coat the facts.
Q wrote: more White and Other ethnic groups on welfare and in prison than African-Americans. However, since African-Americans are a smaller percentage, per capita it seems that the majority of the crimes are committed by them.
Well you did get this right: per capita they DO commit a greater percentage of the crimes, any way you slice it. 13 percent commit 60 percent of the violent crimes. Per capita more niggers are on the dole, too. One in six vs. one in 20. So while overall there's more whites and other races (combined) on the dole, percentage wise there are six times as many nigras being paid to hatch out babies.
Q wrote: ... more White men going door to door peddling or hustling Home Improvement scams and Security Alarm upgrades. That along with the Latter Day Saints Brothers should make someone more fearful and suspicious more than anything.
Well DUHHH...the same people dumb enough to fall for scammers can count their blessings they learned a lesson and will call the cops or get a gun when the nigger comes to their door to rob, rape or kill them.
Yes there are some decent hardworking negros in D.C. but they don't come up to knock on the doors of houses in Cleveland Park belonging to people they don't know.
11:25 pm
"Cleveland Park. A northwest Washington D.C. neighborhood located along Connecticut Avenue at metro's red line Cleveland Park stop, two blocks north of the National Zoo, and along Wisconsin Avenue, two blocks north of the National Cathedral. "
http://www.clevelandpark.com, for all those slimy nigger apologists who are attepting to lie in support ofthe nigger criminal.
12:12 am
Can I help it if at least 80% of a certain group conforms to their associated stereotypes? It's a little difficult not to "pre-judge" when you have a 4 out of 5 chance of being right!
Race realism is borne out of experience, not ignorance! For those screaming "racism," try living in the ghetto sometime. I have lived in inner-city Detroit. In fact, there is an empty lot now where my parents' apartment house used to be! It looks like a war zone!
12:19 am
What kind of idiot would ever open their door to ANY nigger? Whenever a stupid nigger knocks on my door, I look at him through the panel window and wave my .45 Ruger so that he can see it. That usually sends the niggers running.
Remember, any nigger who is pretending to sell something, is actually scoping out your home for a robbery at a later time. Either that, or checking out your wife for a muh-dikk rape session later on.
12:23 am
Q: You're an idiot.
"Christopher Newsom, 23 and Channon Christian, 21 were on a date in Christian's Toyota 4-Runner on the evening of January 6, 2007. At some point along their route, they were approached by four black men demanding possession of their vehicle."
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/223708/the_worst_crime_youve_never_heard_of.html
I'd be willing to bet the mortgage money that Christian and Newsome did what you suggest. When they saw these groids approaching their vehicle; they failed to roll up the windows and lock the doors because they didn't want to appear "racist". Just two sacrifices on the altar of political correctness. Grave yards are full of white-guilt-addled humans who didn't want to hurt the po widdle feewings of some criminigger.
I see some shitskin approaching my car, the windows go up and the doors get locked and I get ready to get out of there. I refuse to ride an elevator alone with any nigger. They get on, I get off even if it's not my floor. I will never open the door to any moon crickets.
I will not sacrifice myself to some misguided politically correct nonsense.
12:24 am
B. Kansas--
How about that white woman who was raped by a black guy? She didn't avoid him because she didn't want to appear racist.
Forget that! I'd rather be branded a racist than let someone put their paws on me uninvited! I don't care if people think I'm a racist. That's their ignorance showing.
12:29 am
@Q Get you facts right.
1.Whites did not steal or capture slaves, they bought them from Arabs and other Niggers who did the “capturing and stealing”.
2.The Arab/Muslim world has a long history of enslaving and trafficking niggers. Only ignorant niggers who have no clue of the history of the slave trade would join nation of islam.
For the record, I am Asian and therefore immune to the white guilt being forced down white Americas throat.
3:28 am
Alexandra - Excellent! Never let your guard down around niggers. That's what they want you to do. They use many White's guilt as a way to attack, rob or rape them.
NathBoy - Good point about slavery. I also want you to know that I am in no way a White Supremist. Asians are smart people who have contributed a lot to America. All of my fellow nigger-haters feel the same. Idiot liberals try to downgrade us and dismiss us as ignorant, uneducated, etc. It's all a lie. Smart, educated people all hate niggers!
I have nothing against any human - Asian, Hispanic, Indian, etc. It's only the nigger apes that I hate.
We must ALL stand up against the niggers. The nigger is the cause of nearly all of America's problems.
5:54 am
Like the name states. Q = Epic Fail.
Game over, Would you like to:
Continue Failing
Hide under fail
Have some fail for breakfast?
12:45 pm
The gratuitous use of the n*word and the ignorance that prevails in this post is simply tragic. It is amazing, that on the day in which ALL should be celebrating the Diversity of America, I get to read this racist drivel. Jule, you really know how to bring out the crazies with your articles. Since some of you would rather verbally assault me instead of looking at the real issue of inherent racism, propagated by fear and crime, let me make one last post.
Rather than go toe-to-toe with some of you mentioning all the crimes against humanity perpetuated by your European ancestry since the 14th Century, let me begin by saying Yes, crime is a problem in the Black, White, Latino, and Asian communities in urban areas. I am not deceived by the concentration of suspects committing these crimes, nor am I unaware of how the media portrays these suspects. Yes, it surely seems that African-Americans (a term chosen, not a forced label like N*gger, Negro, Colored, Black, etc.) have cornered the market on crime. But, in spite of a small percentage of African-Americans in the USA (13%), the majority is not involved in crime. In fact only a small percentage of the US population is part of the Criminal Justice system. However, proportionally speaking, a small percentage gets inflated when the subgroup is a small percentage in the first place. That still doesn't change the overall small percentage, but it makes the subgroup more susceptible to crime, which is a skewed way of looking at statistics. Are all Italians pasta eating members of the mafia? Are all Irish belligerent drunks? Do all Chinese eat Chop Suey and know Karate? Do all Latinos eat tacos and carry knives? Are all Iraqis, Afghans, Arabs, terrorists? No, No, No, No and No. To have that expectation of an ethnic group would be racist, ignorant, and just plain wrong. No matter how many Godfather Movies, Notre Dame games, Martial Arts movies, Puerto Ricans, George W. Bush propaganda, you encounter, these stereotypes may come to mind, but one would hope that rational thought would overcome such ignorance.
Likewise, not all Black males excel at basketball, rapping, dancing, or commit crimes. Basically, by making that assumption perpetuates ignorant, close-minded thought. As a District Resident of almost 40 years, I've seen crimes perpetuated by ALL ethnic groups over all parts of the city. With as much Black-on-Black crime that is being committed, there surely isn't a dearth of robberies and other hate crimes committed by other ethnic groups. I am no more fearful of a Black man coming to my door than a White man. I am not fearful of ANY man. Much like some Cleveland Park residents, I can simply say "Not Interested" and move on without a notion of fear. I don't need a .45 Ruger to make me feel brave or macho.
Finally, it is fitting to mention and remind some on Independence Day 2009, that African-Americans helped build (and are still building) this country. Most of these contributions were done in the faces of some of the most abject racism (like on this post). Crispus Attucks and other unnamed African-Americans fought for this country's independence (even in slavery). The War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War, WW I, WW II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond...African American men and women didn't cower in fear and still fought on the same sides as you racists.
RealistNotRacist --- I'm not vilifying the White Male. You are by your lack of understanding and 1950's era understanding of Race Relations. To even call an African-American male a Negro, N*gger, or other derogatory term, proves why YOU should be vilified. Based on your statements alone, several racial epithets come to mind, but instead, I will let you prove yourself to be those things than to call you one.
Fenrir --- See Above, especially for the elevator conduct. May your avoidance of the elevator with African-Americans cause you to take the stairs and get your racist self in shape. Maybe that will help free your mind of all the toxins that have settled in it.
B. Kansas and NathBoy --- You proved your ignorance by your lack of understanding of civilization. There would BE no market for Transatlantic Slavery if the Europeans didn't solicit and exploit it. Clearly all the other Africans in the "mud huts" and Arabs were trying to colonize "The New World" too. All the technology you think your folks had was STOLEN and exploited for violent conquests. Gunpowder for your weapons and spices --- Chinese. Maritime navigation, agriculture, and medicinal herbs --- Africans! More agriculture, architecture --- Native Americans. Please read YOUR history first before you come at denying or negating the contributions of other cultures. NathBoy, you especially should understand stereotyping and division. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Burmese, Taiwanese, Mongolian, etc. ALL have their incorrect stereotypes about each other. That's not even including India's caste systems, etc.
Alexandra --- My Prayers for Cleveland, OH and its suburbs. Y'all got some real problems. I thought that type of racial ignorance only pervaded itself in Cincinnati and Southern Ohio. Boy was I wrong.
1:22 pm
Q, you're the one suffering from racial ignorance, which is the direct opposite of race realism.
You try living in the ghetto sometime. Seriously. Try living around these black people you love so much. Really immerse yourself. Hey--go live in East St. Louis, Illinois, where it's 97% black. Oh, and it has a really high crime rate, too!
I don't hate blacks, BTW--I am simply fed up with their sense of entitlement. No matter what you do for them or how much you give them, it's not enough. It's give and take--you give, they take.
1:26 pm
Hey, Q. I'm still not answering my door for a nigger.
2:48 pm
Realism, I hope that if your family needs emergency medical attention, that you don't have that attitude if an African-American EMT comes to your door. I also hope that should something like that happen, that the EMT is able to ignore your apparent mental illness (racial preference and bigotry) and tend to your medical problem. Heck, I surely hope you never need hospitalization...unless you go to a White's Only Hospital.
Alexandra, if Realism's comments above is what you consider "race realism", consider my beliefs "race fantasy". Perception is reality, and based upon my experiences living in DC for 37 years, I don't subscribe to your "reality". I have lived in what you call "the ghetto" (a misnomer, but I'll save that discussion for another day). I've lived in or near economically depressed urban environments. In these NE, SE, and NW neighborhoods, the majority of my neighbors were/are African-American. I've known crack dealers, users, and others who indulge in criminal behavior. Likewise, within the same neighborhoods, the vast majority of neighbors were upstanding citizens. Even with that mix of a minority of crime, I never have been afraid. I've even been a victim of petty crimes (possibly committed by other younger African-Americans, though MPDC never caught the perpertrators), but that hasn't changed my view.
If lawlessness and crime is a barometer for the African-American community, be advised that it will only be a matter of time before other ethnic groups experience it within their own. Lawlessness is not some genetically identifiable trait in an ethnicity. Desperation and opportunity intersect quite frequently in "the ghetto" and grow where morality is absent. Crime is born out of this, and a disproportional amount of African-American males have subscribed to it. Does this make it right, absolutely not. Is it excusable, absolutely not. Criminals in all societies need to receive their punishment...whether petty-ante or white-collar ones. No one should have to live in fear, but the fear and stereotyping is exactly what is perpetuating more fear. As long as I'm afraid of you, I will not confront you, I will avoid you, and hence I will allow you to tormenting me. You, knowing I fear you will exploit this and keep this vicious cycle going.
When citizens, Black, White, Brown, etc. stop living in fear, then the criminals will ultimately lose.
I agree that some African-Americans use/abuse/languish in the sense of entitlement to cover-up past racism. It is wrong to do so. Likewise, the other extreme --- totally ignoring past injustices, doesn't sit well either. African-Americans don't need to be coddled or treated with kid gloves. Just treated simply with respect. Those whom feel respected will return the respect.
4:25 pm
"Jule, you really know how to bring out the crazies with your articles."
Yes, she does. She brought you out, didn't she? You have been given facts and figures. All you can do is spout off invective about "waht ray cissis" and unsubstantiated "Kumbahya" nonsense, because you have nothing else. "I don't subscribe to your 'reality'".
The moon bat cry of surrender: "I reject reality and substitute my own". Epic fail.
7:23 pm
Q--You EARN respect.
And I have no respect for mooches of ANY race. It's just that blacks generally make a career out of freeloading!
You can easily look up this information on government websites, or you can open up your eyes and WATCH.
Spend some time on Detroit's east side. That's the worst part of town. Don't forget bars on your windows and a good security system for your car.
7:59 pm
There are a lot of ignorant racists posting here. Stay under your rocks in Detroit, Alex, & Cleveland, the rest of you, & leave us alone in the District. We have enough problems without importing ignorant racists from the rest of the country.
8:07 pm
& I'm glad there's no "Glover Ohio" or these same ignorant racist hicks would be posting on our neighborhood blog. Here's a proposal for City Paper = how about we call Cleveland Park Grover Park" - & that was it won't trigger whatever term brought these ignorant racist hicks / white trash pieces of feces to this website.
8:13 pm
Race realism is the product of experience, not of ignorance.
The reality is, blacks are more prone to committing crime, so it's no wonder people don't trust them.
Funny how in the Appalachian range you see a lot of poverty but not a lot of crime. I wonder why that is...?
8:23 pm
Ahh, how I love society.
Racists are much, much worse than the rapists, murderers, and thieves they bitch about.
Only in America.
8:32 pm
How are racists/race realists worse, realism?
I don't go around hating people. I just acknowledge that there are differences between the races. I'm hardly KKK material.
Maybe blacks should stop blaming whitey and blame their ancestor Ham. Go read about it in Genesis. Their problems don't come from (perceived) oppression!
9:53 pm
Q, You're just a typical white liberal. Maybe someday a dose of TNB will change your mind.
10:13 pm
Alexandra, I was being sarcastic.
According to Q here, racism is an order of magnitude worse than dealing crack, stealing and general mischief.
10:34 pm
Sorry about that, Realism. :) Sometimes it's hard to detect sarcasm on a computer. LOL
Yes, to some people, racism/realism is a prime example of thoughtcrime. They appoint themselves Thought Police.
7:49 am
@Q
What person in his right mind would open a door to a young black man?
I doubt even you would.
You mention all these stats, but you are forgetting one key aspect. It's YOUNG black males that are responsible for most of the crime and mayhem. So of course, if you factor in all the old black men and women, and black women in general, the percentages of black crime, although high enough, are skewed downward.
If you focus ONLY on black males, isn't it like 1 out of 3 of them are or have been in jail/prison? So that' a 33% chance that the young black man on your doorstep is or will become a criminal - maybe getting his first taste of crime with you as the victim. Add in the reality that urban areas like CP have yet even higher crime than suburbs and rural areas, and that 33% could easily become 50% or more.
It's not so much that it is a black person at the doorstep, but a young black male. Were they elderly black men or young black women, the entire scenario changes.
2:16 pm
Cato, solicitation being what it is, are you saying that Black males don't stand a chance being Census Enumerators, EMTs, Police Officers, Meter Readers, Newspaper Deliverers or any her profession that requires them to approach a home and knock on the door?
At least for this example in Cleveland Park, there was no mention that the man was young. Then again, young is relative these days. To get to the crux of the matter, let's define young as 15-30. Yes, it's a wide swath, and criminals do exist outside of this range, but go with me on this. Outside of the racist and race-realist rhetoric (of which David Duke and other neo-Nazi/white supremacists subscribe to), your comments comprise the crux of it all --- People respond to what they see, not necessarily by what is rational. Okay, I get that. The "uncomfortable" sight of an African-American male along with incomplete statistics would make anyone fearful. A young Black man's own mother wouldn't even open the door for him based on that. However, it is far too easy to generalize than to look at things on an individual basis.
Not everyone has good discernment, but to make it reasonably fair and answer your question of doubt, I just assume not answer the door to anyone - White, Black, Brown, Purple, etc. than to isolate one ethnicity based solely on appearance. No, I don't usually open my doors for strangers. Gone are the days when Ed McMahon would come by with a Publisher's Clearing House Check. However, for the times that I have opened my door, usually I engage the person to a point where whatever they are peddling or spreading, they don't come back again. I'm respectful and courteous, but make sure they understand that I don't do door to door --- whether she is a hot babe or not Angry Al!
Seriously though, there is an epidemic plaguing African-American males. Some of it is self-inflicted, but by no means should it be a condemnation of an entire ethnic subgroup. Using the “1 of 3” statistic that I've heard almost 20 years ago, does anyone mention what the other 2/3rds are doing? Usually not. "Statistically speaking", countless episodes of Cops, America's Most Wanted, and evening news are dedicated to reporting and presenting the troubled 1/3 to a point where the majority of African-American males (2/3rds) are marginalized. If all of African-American males were criminals and killers, there would be no more as they would all be in jail or dead by now. Not only that, but when future generations see African-American males, what do they see portrayed in entertainment? The troubled 1/3. Every stereotype, act of buffoonery, criminal action, etc. is not just ingested by African-American culture but Pop-Culture --- A life-imitating-art death sentence.
Still the picture has been painted. Purportedly 40% of all incarcerated are African-American, which is startling. Juxtapose that to more African-American males in college than imprisoned (at least some time ago). Both statistics constitute a subset of the 15-30 year-olds, mentioned above.
I'm not here to tell you what to do in your home, especially if confronted with a *real* threat. However, consider this --- African-Americans males have further progress to make. Some of this progress is being undermined by those whom they try to help. Do you want to add to the problem by generalization? I don't. So, instead of closing the door, maybe open one, talk to or engage one of these African-American young males. That is the only way to change the systemic tide of criminality that you see. I would like to think you'd want to live in a modicum of peace without clutching your handgun for security.
Hopefully this discourse should serve to confront our beliefs, assumptions, stereotypes, and misunderstandings at the "door", and not be limited to an African-American male.
4:31 pm
Speaking as someone who has been the victim of crime committed by "African-Americans" (actually I don't know if they were all American born, but I'll go with the PC term.) Why don't you go ask some "well-dressed" white men, or better yet women, to go door to door in a black area and see what the response is? Too edgy? I thought so. It's easier to attack common sense of whites and call it "racism." When are you people (pc crazies) ever going to get it? It's too late. It's not 1960 anymore. Too much has happened to too many white people.
5:48 pm
dell, Your suggestion is not edgy at all. In fact, one can say that well-dressed "white" people in an African-American neighborhood would be met with suspician too. Hence, why I made in comment #3 about Jule "playing on Cleveland Park’s potential for racial intolerance". I've been a victim of a crimes committed by African-Americans (not that MPDC solved the crime, but that is the assumption.) I was a victim of George Bush Economic Policies too, but because he is White and wears a suit, I should just let him in huh?
dell, racism cuts both ways. So in order for EVERYONE, Black, White, Brown, etc. to get beyond it, we should discuss it so that we can live up to what we celebrated 2 days ago in declaring our independance, "We hold these truths to be self-evident that ALL men are created equal."
6:29 pm
Q- If these fine white folk wanted a web learning course, they'd be online at U of Pheonix.
Leave the thread to the trolls. They're only listening to themselves anyway.
1:10 am
FYI I live in a dorm at a Big 10 school and my room mate is a black guy and quite the democrat. For fun he and his pals would pretend to be racist white guys on line as well as right wing extremists. I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't the Kansas B person or the realism person...flamers are idiots.
9:11 am
After reading some of the comments on this board, I am ashamed to be white. I wonder if any of you on here would have the balls to walk up to an African American and use any of the words you have on this forum. I hope you all rot in hell for your ignorance and hatred.
As far as the topic of discussion, I don't open my door to anyone going door-to-door. If I want magazines, I order them from the publisher and when I want religion, I go to church.