The Recognition We Deserve

Once again, Flint is getting publicity for its psychotically high murder rate. This isn't anything new or surprising to me, but I figure that it's always good to have Yahoo! backing up statistics on this shithole:

"1. Flint, Mich. 

Violent crimes per 1,000: 23.4

Population: 102,357

2011 murders: 52

Median income: $22,672

Unemployment rate: 18.9%

According to the FBI, no city with more than 100,000 residents had a higher violent crime rate than Flint. In 2011, there were 2,392 incidents of violent crime in Flint, which has a population just above 100,000. That same year, there were just 1,246 violent crimes in all 10 of the safest cities in America — which have 13 times as many residents as Flint among them. Flint has the second-highest murder rate and the highest rates of aggravated assault, burglary and arson in the nation. According to Flint Mayor Dayne Walling, “there are too many guns on the street and it’s easy for individuals with evil motives to take another human being’s life.” 

Though the violent crime has long been a problem in Flint, in 2010 the city laid off 20 of its 140 police officers, a decision that diminished both the police’s street presence and response times to crime." 

Flint's favorite son feels that its murder rate is caused by a surplus of guns and, more importantly, 'individuals' with evil motives. At face value, I agree that the problem is caused by individuals with evil motives having guns. Classification of these individuals is where Dayne and I disagree--Blacks with guns are the reason Flint is the most dangerous city in the US.

But enough about Walling--let's see if anyone else can tell us why Flint is the way it is:

"Notice how all these cities have high populations of subsidized housing and projects. Those are deadly to crime preponderance. Obviously, they are a symptom of deep social problems, but the connection is more than coincidence. By the way, New Orleans also had lots of subsidized apartments. Gruesome." 

 I can think of something else all these cities have a lot of!

"You can buy a nice house in Detroit for less than 20k.....that's the reason why."

And here I was thinking that affordable housing would stop Black  crime!

Update 810: There goes the neighborhood

I've always lived in a relatively nice area of Flint. Like the Swiss alps, a few major roads form a sort of barrier between the hood and my hood. However, thanks to various government housing programs, my hood has seen increased diversity these last few years. Since my last post (Feb 2nd) I've enjoyed the benefits of a racially integrated community on two occasions worth noting:

1) Relaxing on one of the first nice, sunny days of the year, some friends and I were driving to a park just a few blocks away from my house. Passing a minor road along the way, I noticed 6-8 young Black men crossing the street at an odd angle--and in formation. I noted the peculiarity of said group to my own as we parked around the block. We had time for a collective shoulder shrug before.... BANG. BANG. BANGBANG. BANGBANGBANGRATATATATATATATATATA. Naturally, we put the car in drive and hauled ass away from the incident. A few minutes later, Flint Police Ops tweeted the details. I never followed up on whether or not the victim (or aggressor) died, but it's worth noting that last year there was a murder two blocks down on the same street. Later that night there was a brawl on the corner, too. Just saying.

2) Yesterday, an acquaintance of mine called to ask if there were any police on outside of his apartment complex. The police had been called about a group of youths with automatic weapons seen attempting a break-in. I happened to be around, so I told him that the coast was clear. He explained that his cousin, an individual of less than reputable character, had engaged in some form of TNB. A carload of thugs were now cruising through the neighborhood flashing guns and asking familiars for his whereabouts. The thugs were caught on the road with their AKs and bad intentions shortly after my acquaintance and I checked his apartment--wrecked and looted. 

Before anyone says anything, I'd like to stress that I could be dead right now. Had a stray bullet from the first gunfight ricocheted the right way, I'd be dead. Had I been standing outside my friend's apartment just five minutes earlier (or the assailants simply waited inside), I'd be dead. Caught in the crossfire. Kaput. Done. Finished.

Update 810: Hanging Out

For the last two years now, more people have been murdered in Flint than soldiers have died in Iraq. On the plus side, the number of homicides from 2010 to 2011 dropped from 65 to 57. Detroit, on the other hand, went to work this year with a whopping 344. Adjusting for population size, however, Flint still had the greater amount of homicides per capita (note that this is a largely Black phenomenon and be sure to read this post with that in mind). What are we going to do about it?

Well, we probably won't do anything--and not just because it's racist to punish Black crime. This is partially due to our  newly-appointed emergency financial manager--the adult supervision cities like Flint receive from the state when they get too out of hand--trying to balance the budget and cut costs wherever possible, and partially due to the idiots that voted for Dayne Walling. For those of you who might not know who Dayne is or what he stands for, here's an excerpt from his campaign page:

"Dayne knows that people in Flint have the skills and the dedication, and he already knows the groups in Flint which have been working for many years to improve the city. When people work together, our children will be proud to call Flint their home. We will have good schools, good jobs, and good neighborhoods for all people and families. This is what it means to be a great city in the 21^st Century."

Seriously? Good schools, good jobs, AND good neighborhoods for ALL families? Throughout the entire mayoral race, the idea that Flint (namely high-crime areas like Da Nof' End) is a spectacle of rampant barbarism never really came up. Actually, I shouldn't say that; we had a candidate who vowed not to take a paycheck until 50 officers were back on the street. Let's not forget that this same candidate owned a business which he started in Flint, giving him both monetary and moral incentives to follow through. Unfortunately, even mentioning that Flint is particularly violent means you're racist for noticing.

So what do we do about it? What can we do about it? We know for a fact that everything we HAVE been doing HASN'T been working. Democrats have been running the show in Flint for a long time, and have run it straight into the ground. In the face of such ridiculous crime rates, I feel that the only way to really drive home the message is to appeal to Flint's citizens on a more visceral level--bring back public hangings.

Some--most--would call that measure a tad extreme. I feel "fuck you, 57 murders is a tad extreme" to be a fair rebuttal. If people in Flint have such disrespect for human life and the rule of law, they need to see first-hand what happens when you disrespect either of the two. It doesn't have to be public hangings either; all we need is a swift and brutal message of "this shit isn't gonna fly." You can't tolerate criminals out of their behavior--fire with fire.

Update 810: Streets Still Not Safe

A guy who works at a gas station I frequent was fiddling with his front teeth when I stopped by yesterday. The owner, an Iraqi man who bought the place a few years back, brought his voice low and said, "The fucking brothers jumped him." The employee then brandished a foot-long hunting knife, which he said was, after the incident, his new self-defense system.The full story of the attack went something like this:

He was walking down Saginaw street and had stopped at the Sunoco when three upstanding African-American citizens approached him. One of them threw a hook, which the employee ducked. He backed away from the trio and was greeted with a ceasefire--the initial attacker extended his arm and offered a warm "Nah man, we cool." There was, as he described, not time enough to glance back up after looking down at the attacker's outstretched hand before the second sucker-punch landed. The three victims of racist oppression then literally beat his teeth out.

We--meaning I--here at The 810 Diaries feel that three crucial mistakes were made by the employee that night:

1. Being on any part of Saginaw Street, at any time of night, on any day of the year, and in any weather. I can't stress enough that FLINT IS A DANGEROUS PLACE FILLED WITH DANGEROUS PEOPLE.
2. Not owning a gun. Michigan is an open-carry state, meaning that someone as young as 18 can carry a legal gun in plain sight. Our guy is over 21, which means he should have already had one holstered under his coat when he made mistake number one.
3. Sticking around. If you're ever in a rough part of town without a gun and you see three Black guys coming your way, you cross the fucking street. You might feel like a good little anti-racist for giving them the benefit of the doubt, but the alternative is losing some teeth--or worse. (Look it up yourself, if you don't like the source.)

I don't care that the police won't ever bother to go after the attackers. I don't care that this wouldn't be considered a hate crime. I don't even really care about the guy who got his teeth knocked out--that's what he gets for mistakes 1, 2, and 3. What really gets me is that there are people out there who would excuse this behavior--we all know that White racism is what really jumped the guy, who probably said something racist to provoke it anyway.