Photo by Noam Galai
Light up the Night
The “Light up the Night Coalition" the Coalition has launched a campaign to distribute energy-efficient light bulbs to homeowners and to encourage them to leave their exterior lights on from dusk until dawn every day, as a way to combat crime.
GET A FREE LIGHT BULB!
(While Supplies Last)
May 3rd Joe Cole Rec Center 12-3 PM
May 17th Trinidad Rec Center 12-3 PM
Trinidad residents are encouraged to come out, sign a pledge card and pick up your free light bulb, and turn on YOUR porch light from dusk to dawn!
Help make your Neighborhood safe put on your porch light every night from dusk to dawn
For more information Contact Robert Mann-Thompson at 202-494-0607 or robbycu[at]yahoo.com
GET CONNECTED:
Trinidad DC Website: http://trinidad-dc.org
Trinidad DC E-mail Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TrinidadDC
Trinidad DC E-mail Address: TrinidadDC[at]yahoogroups.com
Fayette Vaughn-Lee, MPD Fifth District
Office of Community Outreach
202 698-0188
Light up the Night
The “Light up the Night Coalition" the Coalition has launched a campaign to distribute energy-efficient light bulbs to homeowners and to encourage them to leave their exterior lights on from dusk until dawn every day, as a way to combat crime.
GET A FREE LIGHT BULB!
(While Supplies Last)
May 3rd Joe Cole Rec Center 12-3 PM
May 17th Trinidad Rec Center 12-3 PM
Trinidad residents are encouraged to come out, sign a pledge card and pick up your free light bulb, and turn on YOUR porch light from dusk to dawn!
Help make your Neighborhood safe put on your porch light every night from dusk to dawn
Because streetlights aren't enough.
For more information Contact Robert Mann-Thompson at 202-494-0607 or robbycu[at]yahoo.com
GET CONNECTED:
Trinidad DC Website: http://trinidad-dc.org
Trinidad DC E-mail Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TrinidadDC
Trinidad DC E-mail Address: TrinidadDC[at]yahoogroups.com
Fayette Vaughn-Lee, MPD Fifth District
Office of Community Outreach
202 698-0188
100 comments:
It's always sortof amazed me how few DC homeowners (and businesses, I guess) don't have adequate outdoor lighting, and how many don't even bother to turn on their outdoor lighting.
True, it may not prevent every crime, but it's almost certainly a step in the right direction. And costs almost nothing.
It's kindof hard for me to gin up sympathy for someone if their house is broken into after they were too lazy to even turn on the porch light.
My friend's house was broken into about a month and a half ago. The vandals took a mini fridge and threw it through his bay window. They took all the goodies, flat screen, laptop, etc. This was around 7 or 8 pm. It's obvious to me that these deadbeat gangster bums don't give a shit if they get caught. So whether the porch light was on or off really doesn't make much of a difference to these guys.
The hell with light bulbs. I'm getting a gun.
I'd just like to submit a brief note of dissent.
Though over-enthusiastic outdoor lighting presents great problems both for those who love a beautiful night sky and for astronomers, who need an unpolluted sky to do their work, this post is more addressing the safety issues, so I'll leave that aside.
As far as safety goes, outdoor lighting is questionable at best. I don't have numbers on what effect a porch light has on your likelihood of a break-in, but it certainly can increase the danger of muggings and street violence.
Because of the way that eyes adjust to light, the sporadic lighting offered by porch and street lights (and the back yard motion detecting lights that I often see in DC alleys) makes it far easier for would-be attackers to hide in the shadows.
Though the suggestion that good lighting makes it harder to see is counterintuitive, it makes sense when you think about it. If it's dark out, your eyes adjust to the darkness and you're unlikely to miss movement - or human faces, which our brains are hard wired to recognize.
When lighting is sporadic, however, your eyes adjust to the best lit places, making it almost impossible to see in the shadows. This provides a much more dangerous hiding spot for any potential attacker than an unlit street or alley, where there's nowhere to hide. Likewise, if you stay in the well lit areas at night, you illuminate yourself to potential threats even as you prevent yourself from seeing them.
And of course, no matter how energy efficient your bulb is, using it all the time still uses a lot more energy than not using it.
I would suggest both this article on light pollution:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/20/070820fa_fact_owen
And this list of outdoor lighting designed to limit light pollution:
http://www.darksky.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=56404
Sorry, a link that works to the light pollution story.
Question?
Does anyone know where I can get spotlights to put outside to keep the blacks away from taking everything in sight? Drove by the front of my house on Saturday night and a homeless looking man and a thug were tring to pick my lock at 11th and L.
I am so sick of this BS and crime. Someone should start breaking into their cars and homes! See hoe they like it
Are you serious? Seitzmore?
First of what the heck- "keep the blacks away"?
second? You own a place and don't know where to get spot lights from? hello have you ever visited Home Depot?
For some reason I think your trolling with your post.
Anyways for others- Why don't most people have alarms on their properties?
Trinidad Home Owner
ANON - Yes I do own my own home and yes I know where to get a spot light. I was trying to interject some humor about the attempted burglary at my home on Saturday. If you consider that trolling then ok, but I would love to see how you feel when you see two men trying to break into your own home. As for my "BLACK" comment, it is had seen two HISPANIC men or WHITE men then my phrase would have changed.
Sorry you took offense. That was not my intention and I apologize if you were offended from what I saw
Anononymous 11:44. I am sorry to hear your friend's home was buglarized. I am curious if he/she has an alarm system and if it was activated. I installed dusk to dawn spotlights on the front and rear of my home. I bought the lights at home depot. The lights remain on from dusk to dawn and when someone enters my yard they shine a spotlight. NONE of my neighbors leave their front porch lights on...I find it odd also.
Sasha
Since installing your spotlights have you had any issues with vandalism/burglaries? Or did you have issues before which prompted you to purchase them?
What if we started a community watch to push the rif raf out of the neighborhood during the night hours. Would anyone be interested?
Seitzmore do you have an alarm system? Do you have one of those Brinks or ADT signs? Also what type of front door do you have? It's it a security door? If you don't have a security door they are on sale this week at Lowe's. You don't have to get the iron type door. Larson makes a door that has a break resistant glass and the lock is VERY difficult (virtually impossible) to pick.
Seitzmore
I had not had a problem before installing the spotlights. I did that because the lighting around my house was really poor. I also have an alarm system and security doors. I was able to get better lighting in the alley around my house. That was REALLY needed! I worked with the Councilman's office to get that done. What did you do when you saw the people on your porch trying to pick your lock?
Sasha
No alarm system, currently renovating. Have iron doors installed in the front and back. The two individuals got through the iron gate locks and were working on the door my home door when I pulled up. Thanks for your suggestions, cant wait until ADT is up and running
Seitzmore, perhaps you could have simply said you wanted to know about spot lights to keep burglars away. The keep blacks away phrasing doesn't strike me as funny, just really poorly thought out and inflammatory. Not to mention it doesn't even ask the same question at all. I mean, are you equally interested in keeping away, say Mayor Fenty? Are you seriously suggesting that you would have posted asking about lights to keep the whites away if you had seen white burglars?
Laid on the horn and yelled at them I was on the phone with the police
inked
sorry I made a broad generalizing comment that may have inflamed you. I would not try to keep Fenty away, but was referring to the hoodlums that roam the streets in the middle of the night
Geez that is scary! So they got through the iron door locks! Probably someone that has been watching your place. Or even someone who is working at your place..be aware of that too! That really sucks. But now I know my iron doors may be giving me a false sense of security. Not sure how you feel about having a gun in your home...but I feel confident the Supreme Court will strike down the DC ban. The ban is pretty worthless anyway! All the criminals have guns!!!!
But yes try the motion sensor lights from Home Depot. My house is lit up like a christmas tree :-)
If someone Really wants to get into your home they will..but normally theives will look for the easy targets. You just don't want to be on the "easy" list.
I am all for getting the rif raf out. I think we just need to call the police a lot and keep them in and around our neighborhood.
Seitzmore- You didn't say "black men" You said keep the blacks away from your home. So lets not try on turn the tables on this one. You said it- own it.
A thief is a thief and I to would be mad as hell if I pulled up and saw people attempting to gain entry to my home. I think they would have a hell of a time finding their way out of my yard with out me hitting their "asses" with my car etc.. IF the police don't want to do their jobs- then they must accept that the citizens are going to protect their own property/lives.
Trinidad Home Owner
i think education is the answer.
no, wait. it's proper parenting.
that and a 60 WATTer oughta do it.
i'll take two, to go!
I'm not sure how familiar you guys are with the concept of "nanotechnology" but I can easily forsee a future in which there will be no burglaries ever. How is such a thing possible? Because of nanotechnology. Basically each home would be guarded by fully autonomous, functioning nano-clouds that would be virtually invisible by night, but utterly merciless when protecting your home! Not to kill anyone, but mostly just hold them down until the cops come, or keep them trapped in some sort of cage.
Not that far-fetched. I know we don't have the technology quite yet, but perhaps writing your elected officials encouraging them to fund advancements in nanotechnology and stem cell research would be a better use of our time than passing out light bulbs (which, by the way, the burglars are only going to steal!)
Oh lighten up people.
How about this. I will fund the class if you can get any of the thugs/street walkers/burglers to attend
"why not to steal/vandalize 101"
LOL
LOL - keep them locked up in some sort of cage? Where do I sign up?
Not really so much an issue of "signing up" anonymous, as it is about engaging your elected officials. If they seem uninterested, or the concept of "nanotechnology" confuses them, kindly remind them that most people in the 1920's thought car alarms were a thing of fantasy, and now I hear them everywhere I go.
re nanotechnology...
and the fake ads from the movie "Robo Cop" and the technology that electrocutes the person who attempts to steal a car...
So people get pissed because Sizemore said, "...to keep the blacks away from taking everything in sight." While Sizemore's comments may have been a racist overgeneralization by inferring "all blacks" (which I think he owned), why can't people be more sensative to Sizmore's anger in just having been victimized by yet another black male and seeing his gereralization as a most unfortunate statistical truth?
look on the bright side, at least they didn't burn your house down like they did mine last October. Some hoodlums lit my trash can and spread to the rest of my house.
Burnt down the house. Now that is a shame. I am sure they bragged to all of their friends what they did. Now to be honest - when I was a teen I put a firecracker in a mailbox or two but nothing like these juvenile thugs do these days. I have never experienced a group of people like this in my life. I have lived in many developing areas from NYC to Chicago to LA (downtown). All the cities were infested with white, Hispanic, black criminals but nothing compares to these thugs that work on H street and the surrounding areas.
Once again, seizmore, some uneducated white man makes an ignorant racist comment in order to address his frustrations. Humor you call it? I laugh at the fact that I am an educated black male who has never had his home broken into and by the way, purchased my home on the hill 10 years ago for $130K. Thanks for the equity dumb white boy! And feel free to move back where you came from!
Now to say how I really feel,crime is a horrible thing. We have a major "class" issue in DC and that is not a surprise. Take some time to get to know your neighbors and get involved within the community so we can all collectively work together in order to make our quality of life much better and safer. Comments that you consider humor only divides our wonderful community. You'd be surprised that those so-called "blacks" who break into homes are a small minority. If I were your neighbor, I would've been the first person to call the cops and even comfront the intruders because it is the right thing to do. Regardless of your color.
Seitzmore, if you want to keep the blacks away from your house, just do this. 1. Put a GED application on the stoop. 2. Play NPR through the radio non-stop. 3. Put a bag of fresh vegetables in front of the door.
Seriously, people, come on. Seitzmore was trying to be funny/inflammatory, and he was just too darn generalizing. But the problem with our neighborhood is not, as far as I can tell, white on white crime. Plus, if he would have said burglars, everyone would have had an image in their mind as to who it was, and it would not have been Sigourney Weaver and Tom Wolfe. Seitzmore, get ADT, and get a better door, and get a clue.
Anon 127,
It's unfortunate that someone tried to break into Seizmore's house. But it's also unfortunate that he phrased his question as he did. And statistics are just statistics. To take one case and say well, statistics say this or that is really problematic. Smearing all blacks, or all blacks males, as thugs and criminals is dangerous, offensive, and very very wrong, both morally and factually. So I don't think statistics justify this kind of thing at all. All kinds of people commit crimes everyday, but it is too often black males that are disproportionately, and unfairly stamped with the stigma that they must be criminals just because of their skin color. It's wrong, and it's divisive.
Seizmore I figured you were half kidding with that comment. You could not be silly enough to move to NE DC and want to keep black people away from your house. You definately picked the wrong area for that. If you have not already..try and build good relationships with your neighbors. Especially the kids...they definately look out for you. If they see something and they know and LIKE you..they will call 911. however, if you walk around like "ew..stay away" it will make your life a lot more difficult. always speak to people...having a good working relationship with your neighbors is extra important.
By the way, the above was intended as a joke in poor taste, much as Seitzmore's stupid generalization was in poor taste. I was simply trying to send up stereotypes, by being one.
anonymous @ 1:57 does not understand statistics.
there are very few "statistical truth(s)". those are more accurately called "certainties".
it is NOT a certainity that the person engaged in a break-in in washington dc will be black, so your use of the term "statistical truth" here is ridiculous.
Darnit-
My Gtown rowhouse was broken into. What can we do to keep all these whities from breaking into our homes? What about the whities that are driving into our neighborhoods to buy drugs- how do we stop them from doing that?
I wonder how many of the Whites that now live in the H street area smoke pot?
Would you consider yourself enablers for the drug dealers or because it's not crack you consider yourself not to be a druggie?
All I can say is suck it up. Be patient, change is coming but not for another few years. If you don't like it or can't wait that long, too bad. These punks are not going to change and trying to do little things like lighting candles or passing out light bulbs is really not going to send any message across to these bums. It is just absurd to even think light bulbs might help the violence.
Trinidad for as long as I can remember has always been the shady part of the city. Why now, all of a sudden are people surprised at the violence?
As I've been saying for quite a while, change will not happen until the upcoming developments are completed and the working class (upper middle class) people start moving in and pushing these punks out with higher taxes and higher rents.
This has already proven successful in other parts of town (chi town, shaw, logan, etc) and is the only way to change Trinidad.
<-- White here. Live on H Street, smoke pot every now and again, have done coke a few times. If I ever had to purchase it I would never come purchase it off a degenarate street dealer on H Street. The drug dealers are not selling to Whites in GTown. LOL they are selling to the rest of the welfare collecting individuals in the city
wait til the Gateway Dev. & Noma Dev. are completed, those locations are a mile away from trinidad, here comes the higher rent.
The worst part about our house fire was that it displaced three families and none of us have settle with the insurance company.
Hey, wait a minute, Anon. Black 2:29 said, "I am an educated black male who has never had his home broken into and by the way, purchased my home on the hill 10 years ago for $130K. Thanks for the equity dumb white boy!" Why isn't this a racist comment? Can someone tell me why this isn't and if I (white or hispanic, or jew, or gay, or wealthy) said, "dumb black BOY", people would be all over me as "racisist" - hey, it was just a term.
And I'm sorry Inked, to say, "statistics are just statistics. To take one case and say well, statistics say this or that is really problematic. Smearing all blacks, or all blacks males, as thugs and criminals is dangerous, offensive, and very very wrong, both morally and factually. So I don't think statistics justify this kind of thing at all." I partially agree but I don't think anyone is condoning the comment of ALL blacks or even MOST blacks, but you can not say that most of these types of violent crimes aren't mostly committed by blacks. What's wrong with that? Its the truth, now we have to figure out why. These crime and prison statiscs are FACTS and I think its dangerous to deny this TRUTH and does nothing to help the statiscly FEW angry black males out there to deny this.
I've wondered about getting some sort of motion detector for my property- or a lock for my external gate. I have ADT, but that doesn't keep people from coming onto my property to take what isn't nailed down. I've had several yard tools and a dog toy stolen that I had accidentally left outside one night on the porch. They neighbors (black, by the way) said "they'll taken everything they can- which is why i don't do anything nice to the front of my house. They also stole my car once.) One neighbor told me that another neighbor put out some plastic American flags ion her house after 9/11, and the next day they were gone! It's sad that my neighbor EXPECTS things to disappear, and she just accepts it- and even plans on it!
Statistic or not, every person caught breaking into my house or trespassing on my property has been a black male. As a matter of fact, I have made this observation seven times.
Well geeze the neighborhood is only 90%black. I'm sure MOST car accidents in the neighborhood involve black drivers. Does that mean blacks can't drive?
That's hilarious. What can they possibly do with stolen american flags?
I just put up a new address "plate" I bought from home depot over the weekend. Now I'm nervous, if they're gone when i get home I'm gonna be pissed.
Anon 327, I'm aware of DC's racial make up and some statistics on conviction/arrest stuff in DC. What I'm saying is that statistics can easily be misused and I think you can run into trouble when you take numbers statistics like that and assume that what may be statistically true is true in any particular incident. It wouldn't be any more awful if a couple of white guys or asians had tried to break into this guy's house. But if he had said whites or asians nobody would chime in about how he was justified because whites or asians are responsible for large percentages of crime in a particular area. It would seem like an absurd comment. And I think it's equally so here.
Want to help neighborhood kids stay on the straight and narrow? Volunteer to teach at your local Rec., get the local kids involved in community building activities, or mentor a kid. Or maybe it helps if each of us just does small stuff like saying hi to, and acknowledging the kids on our own blocks.
Oh my god. I try to make a post about the downsides of overzealous lighting, and I come back to see almost 50 posts, the majority of which make me want to vomit.
One overarching theme seems to be "can't wait until we price those poor black hoodlums out." That's shameful. Community building means flexible development with room for all. Higher density, when guided properly, can mean more economic diversity.
I'm really shocked to find such nastiness among a community of posters that - despite frequent spats - often seems very well intentioned. But here, the ones that aren't trying to drive out an entire community are trying to make their houses into fortresses.
Oh, and to anon who refuses to buy his drugs from a "degenerate street dealer" - your distaste for his form of entrepreneurship just means you'll end up paying a lot more. Or at least that's what my cousin says...
Show me any neighborhood in any city in the US where the taxes and rent are dirt cheap and crime is also low. Doesn't exist.
It pains me to see the law abiding poor citizens on welfare having to leave the area because of higher taxes/rents but tell me honestly what other choice is there?
You think we can have diversity among classes? We DO have it now and it's clearly NOT working.
Thanks Anon 348,
that's pretty much the point I wanted to make.
Regarding the Light Up the Night activities. What you have here is a group of residents trying to make the neighborhood safer. They want to boost the lighting, and frankly we've all been lobbying for both greater lighting at Joe Cole [the site of the recent murder] and greater police presence. You really do need both. Having people keep their porch lights on does have the effect of making things appear safer, and sending the message that you care enough to turn on your light [just like planting a flower in your yard might send the same message]. The other goal of having these events is, of course, to get people out and talking to their neighbors. Hopefully you build a greater sense of community in the process.
The majority of people I've met during my past almost 7 years in this neighborhood have been very friendly. There are always kids that get into trouble, and some adults who insist in engaging in illegal and sometimes violent activity. We've got racial diversity. Most black people are not looking to shoot, stab, rob, or otherwise harm anyone, black or white. And the same holds true for those black residents who fall into the categories of lower class, or poor. Guess what, they are victims of the same types of crime, and that isn't anything new. I hope we can all remember that we're talking about neighborhoods here and we're all living in close proximity. It's real shame some of us don't know and trust our neighbors. Getting to know those around you is absolutely the biggest thing you can do to both feel and actually be safer. Plus, I think it will make everyone feel more happy and at home.
While you guys are busy arguing about trivial things, I'll be buying stock in every corporation in the country researching nanotechnology. At least I'll be part of the SOLUTION.
The question is not "is there a problem?"
The question isn't even "is the problem race-specific?"
The question is, "How do we make things better?"
The absolute biggest thing you could do to lower crime in DC would be to reform the public welfare system, starting today.
As it currently stands, DC warehouses the considerable majority of the poor, both the working and nonworking poor, for the entire region.
In fact, we seem to pride ourselves on taking the burden of the poor for the entire region on ourselves. We are so proud of it that we seem to count the number of poor warehoused in DC as a badge of honor. Then we forget how to actually work to make them no longer poor.
Like it or not, with poverty comes crime.
Especially when you warehouse the very poor together in large housing complexes, then you set up a system where having more kids is rewarded, getting a job is discouraged (your benefits dwindle the more you make at your own job), and where poverty becomes a fashionable political cause to be celebrated, rather than a problem to be addressed and fixed.
It's high time we as a city start demanding that the suburbs take on their share of the poor. The jobs the poor are most likely to get are often in the suburbs. The good schools for their kids are almost always in the suburbs. The reasonably safe more affordable rental housing options are in the suburbs.
So why do we insist that they remain in DC, often surrounded by crime, horrendous social climates, and terrible schools?
Why? Because we continue to elect politicians that pander, rather than solve problems.
I have yet to hear a single DC politician have the courage to state the obvious - that a poor welfare mom and her three kids is FAR better off in a suburban location, in a suburban school district, in an environment where thuggery is a discouraged deviation, not a glorified expectation.
And we need to address the culture. It's high time we admit that in DC there is most certainly a culture, common among the poor, that glorifies excessive displays of vulgar wealth and the thug lifestyle, and ridicules getting an education, supporting your family, getting a job.
Until we address the culture, redistributing the poor (especially the non-working poor) throughout the region, and revising how we deal with the poor, we're just wasting our time.
...wondering if Hillman has ever been to PG?
The decentralized and highway dominated landscape of suburban DC makes it extremely difficult to deliver social services. You can't get kids to an afterschool program when there are no buses and their mom is at work. You can't get the unemployed in training if they're in the suburbs and don't have a car.
You're right that social and economic isolation only hurts people, but there are successful models for building mixed-use mixed-income communities, and suburbanization is by no means a prerequisite (or, for that matter, usually a benefit).
Have you been to Largo recently? That's where people go when they get priced out of the District. It's no picnic.
Kerry:
I didn't say ALL suburbs are better for the poor.
But with the exception of parts of PG County, pretty much any other DC suburb would be vastly better than, say, Trinidad, for a welfare mom and her three kids.
And I don't buy the argument that you can't deliver social services in the burbs. Many of the burbs are a lot more urban than they used to be, in terms of services, transit, infrastructure, etc.
It may shock you, but there is public transit in the DC burbs.
It's not just isolated cul de sacs anymore.
"You're right that social and economic isolation only hurts people, but there are successful models for building mixed-use mixed-income communities,"
True, but for the most part that's not what we have in DC.
Any any time we try for that model, we are accused of racism and classism.
Witness the constant whining, name-calling, and outright lies told by 'public housing advocates' when public housing was torn down around the new Nats ballpark, to be replaced unit for unit with brand new public housing, in a much-improved mini-neighborhood.
And even the new mixed use developments we create in DC are still going to be dumping the kids into DC public schools, and are still going to be exposing kids aned parents to the same destructive street thug culture, usually within only a couple of blocks.
"The decentralized and highway dominated landscape of suburban DC makes it extremely difficult to deliver social services. You can't get kids to an afterschool program when there are no buses and their mom is at work. You can't get the unemployed in training if they're in the suburbs and don't have a car."
Even though I disagree with your underlying argument, I'd just like to point out that, from the suburban perspective, this is a feature, not a bug. Suburban areas across the country have been using such forces to condense the poverty-stricken, homeless, etc... into urban areas.
The main difference between, say Chicago, and DC is that in Chicago is enmeshed in the region by budgetary ties. DC is essentially on its own.
So what you have is a bunch of wealthy suburbs who, for a half century have been red-lining and doing everything else possible to create and maintain the ghetto, and not only absolving themselves of any responsibility for the regional problem, but actually blaming DC for not doing a good enough job of fixing all the social ills.
It's as if we built a Cabrini Green in, say, Cathedral Heights, and the rest of us in DC collectively washed our hands of any responsibility, other than to regularly scold the people who live around that neighborhood for the awful social ills.
Sorry, but the idea that DC is solely on the hook for taking care of all the regions problems is no longer sustainable. And I've got a feeling that unless the municipalities of MD and VA step up to their responsibilities, there's going to be a race to the bottom down the road.
Also, I'd like to add to the consensus that this Seitzmore character is either a troll, or the kind of bigoted knucklehead that would have been played by Carroll O'Connor in some after-school special about racism.
IBC -
I'm not really sure how you could argue that it's easier to provide social services in a denser area.
That said, your post is very well put. And let me second your thoughts on Seiztmore.
And - back to the original post - down with overzealous outdoor lighting.
ANON 327
I am with you on the "black boy" vs "white boy"
Funny how nobody jumps on the "dumb white boy" but gets on Seitzmore for not wanting people breaking in his place.
Reminds me of an Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson rant. Only jump when a white person says something they precive as racist mean while they are the actual racists...
"Funny how nobody jumps on the 'dumb white boy' but gets on Seitzmore for not wanting people breaking in his place."
I thought the "white boy" comment was an overzealous reaction to the initial Seitzmore comment. But there's a difference between the initial comment: "How do I keep 'Teh Blacks Menace' away from my home?" and the response, which was basically "Go stuff yourself, silly white man."
If you don't understand that difference, there's really not much I can do to explain it to you.
PS: I don't have a lot of sympathy for the "[Minority A] cannot be racist" argument but, boy howdy, given a choice between that side and the "White-men-are-the
-only-remaining-acceptable-victim" crowd there's really no competition.
You people need to find a better way to release your racial hostility because YOU CLEARLY HAVE A LOT OF IT! It's so annoying. Why not call one of your like minded white friends and bitch about all the problematic black people to them instead of posting it anonymously on FrozenTropics? I know you won't give us real entertainment in the hood by going outside and saying it to a black person's face. If you decide to PLEASE let us know when you plan to stop hiding behind a blog and actually open your scared little mouth to the people you post about here. We will all come right over to watch..PROMISE!!
I have never been one to tell people to leave or go back to a certain place. But I have to ask...why did you move to a poor/working class predominately black hood and then proceed to whine about black people bothering you? An earlier post was right. There is crime in Trinidad. Trinidad is 97% black. Who did you think would bother you? You moved to an area that is not known for having the lowest crime rate in the city and then you start yapping about black people bothering you. You knew EXACTLY what you were getting yourself into. But the dollar signs of potential equity were just to great to pass up. Well if you can't stand the heat get your AZZ out of the kitchen. You live in the HOOD!!! No one reading this blog wants to be a victim and no one wants to see anyone regardless of race get hurt or victimized. So stop it with the BLACK people are bad comments. YOU know better!!!! If nothing else you know the black people reading this blog are not out to get you so WHY must the people who say it..keep saying it? The only thing I can think of is that you are just plain upset with black people and posting hear is the only cowardly way you can get over that anger.
Spare the other readers can call your shrink!!!!
"You people need to find a better way..."
Google "do not feed the trolls"...
Reading all this almost drove me to tears. We simply wanted to do something to help. I'm black and not a thug. I don't have an alarm, or bars and I live one block from Bladensburg road near the Trinidad Rec Center. It's bad here. Until recently we had an open air drug market that had taken over an entire intersection. Through community efforts that activity has gone away.
I am sorry if any of you are bothered by lighted streets that may make it safer around here. This isn't the only thing we can do. There are PSA meetings Orange Hat Patrols, building linkages with youth, tree/flower boxes, picking up trash near your property, and getting out meeting your neighbors.
Race has taken over several of these posts. I was thinking about what that may mean, and what we can do about it.
I thought we'd grown. We haven't. I'll leave you with the a very apt song, maybe I should give up, make it go away, all of it, so that none of you, not one of you, could get to me any longer:
Louis Armstrong - Black and Blue
"Cold empty bed springs hurt my head
Feels like ole ned wished I was dead
What did I do to be so black and blue
Even the mouse ran from my house
They laugh at you and all that you do
What did I do to be so black and blue
I'm white inside but, that don't help my case
That's life can’t hide what is in my face
How would it end ain't got a friend
My only sin is in my skin
What did I do to be so black and blue
How would it end I ain't got a friend
My only sin is in my skin
What did I do to be so black and blue"
-Robby
All this ranting and raving, including from Inked that assumes a majority of these arguments are about "ALL" blacks - which yes, did stem from Seizmore's 12:13 racist, generalized comment regarding "the blacks". Here is the summation of my statistical argument.
Not ALL blacks are criminals, however, most of the people in the prison system (aka "criminals") are disproportionatly Afr. Americans. This is a stastical FACT! Now the question is what are we going to do about that? This is where we need to work together - best I can tell there was only one comment in here that inferred "the blacks."
As long as you're looking for racist comments that aren't there (black boy and white boy - is one more racist than the other) then I don't see where it will ever get better?
Gays do drugs and are promiscuous.
Women are emotional and can't do math.
Whites are racist bigots.
Christians hate Jews and visa versa.
Blacks are criminals.
These are all racist, sexist, homophobic generalized stereotypes, but yet there is still some truth in these stereotypes, to deny this only means that we can't even begin to solve these problems so that:
Use of drugs and the spread of STDs in the gay community will not get better.
More women won't become rational, statisticians.
Many whites will continue to be racist, bigots - and sadly, not even realize it.
And some blacks will continue to commit crime, die of street violence, and fill our prison systems.
NEVER EVER believe anyone that says "I'm not racist, sexist, or homophobic because I'm enlightened" - they've just told you that they aren't.
Different post, same racial hostilities.
Anyone who thinks race relations are improving only needs to look at the comments to the blogs and news articles on the internet.
Clearly, we will never all get along but we definitely need to try harder.
"Anyone who thinks race relations are improving only needs to look at the comments to the blogs and news articles on the internet..."
Oh, please. At what point can we say "race relations" are improving? The day that you can't find a single idiot posting anonymously on the comments section of a website?
Time to gain some perspective, and start ignoring the idiots who are clearly just trying to stir the pot. This blog is a great community resource, but nothing will screw it up faster than taking the bait when some marginal racist loon shows up and starts flinging feces.
Can we get back to talking about how to make our community better now?
This blog really does bring out the worst in people doesn't it. I never realized how racist some of my neighbors are until reading some of the threads posted on FT.
The crazy thing is that it wasn't always this way. I've been reading this blog for a few years, and never has there been as many racist threads as there have been the past few weeks.
I have to repeat what someone said before: What the hell did you think when you moved to TRINIDAD?! How stupid are you?! Poo Poo's a jackass, but really; if you don't want to live around young brothers, move to Prince William County!!
From a big mo perspective, I always thought my fellow gay brethren were quite the sluts until I started hanging out again with single straight guys.
Believe me, gay guys ain't got nothing on single straight boys in this town, from a slut perspective.
I'd also argue that the stereotype of promiscuity probably doesn't hold true for lesbians, by and large.
I would be quite interested in seeing believable stats about drug use amongst different gay groups as compared to comparable demographics amongst straights.
I don't deny that drug use is common amongst some gay groups (depending on how you define common), particularly young single guys involved deeply in the single nightclub scene. But I've often wondered how it compares to drug use amongst similar straight groups.
Speaking as an older gay guy, I can tell you the most exciting drug me and my crowd use is alcohol. And even that's in what most would call 'moderation'.
Hey Robby,
there is a quiet majority that's interested in improving our neighborhood.
I think the Light the Night campaign is a good one. Yes, it uses energy but I would look at that as a 'cost of doing business' rather than a luxury. Given that it's a good idea, we should and will use the most efficient bulbs available.
Yes, some thugs will kick your door down regardless of whether you have a light on or not, but I definitely buy into the theory that a clean, well-kept, well-lit street is at least some kind of deterrent to crime because it signals the criminal that people care on that street...they're not afraid and hiding.
You know, re: the thread about stuff being stolen from porches, I've definitely had rakes, etc. stolen but no one's ever stolen flowers or plants from me. I think everyone from the elderly neighbors to the kids on the street...they all appreciate a nice yard and flowers to look at. Lock your stuff up if necessary...but get out in your yard, plant some flowers, talk to your neighbors, and then think "how would they feel if I said that to them in person" before making these crazy blog comments.
"there is a quiet majority that's interested in improving our neighborhood."
I'd say that's a considerable majority, of all shapes, sizes, races, conditions, etc.
Nothing to say. I just wanted to be Comment 69.
Ugh... sadly, this is the one thread that the Post will cite to when they write thier next boilerplate "gentrification fuels racial tension in NE" article.
And that's unfortunate. I don't know why a number of largely, I think, innocuous posts have generated such response in recent weeks, but it is certainly something that's been on my mind. I don't know if Frozen Tropics is getting more trolls [definitely an issue with a couple of XII posts], or what. I always like to think it has a mostly positive vibe. And most of the comments have traditionally reflected a general interest in the area and in building neighborhood community [something I've valued greatly about the blog]. I'd like to hope that we can return to that. And yes, please take a breath and think before you post. Part of my exasperation [perhaps what one commenter picked up on in his comment] is do to a concern that lately too many threads, say this one which was just a simple announcement of a neighborhood event, have turned rather ugly. I hope we will all do our part to stop that from happening. I'm not saying don't be honest, but rather, be kind. Generally it is a good idea to give a neighbor the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes a comment will offend, again, think before you post, we can't hear your tone, or see your body language when you type a response, but let's all try not to escalate things to an unnecessary level. We all live here because we chose to, so there must be something each of us loves and appreciates about the place. Let's just try to remember that. And Rob, I think the majority of the community, as with the majority of the readers, absolutely are good people, friendly, willing to help out a neighbor, be they black, white, or other, or friend, or stranger. That's one of our strengths, even if some of us haven't been showing it lately.
hillman,
i think you should watch the document "chocolate city" about the arthur cappers housing development formerly located near the stadium before you allege that the removal of low income housing in that area caused no harm to anyone.
the fact is, there is a perceived value in community in the eyes of many people...most citizens don't want to be arbitrarily removed from the community they live in and relocated to a new one miles from friends, relatives, etc.
there have been many attempts to relocate people to suburban communities, bus kids to suburban schools, etc, many of these things have been tried. the level of success in changing living standard indicators and even changing academic performance, etc, has been mixed.
this is not an a-b-c thing where any random commentator knows the 'solution'. changing the class position of large groups of people is the type of thing that takes years of policy implementation.
http://idealistdc.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/film-chocolate-city/
China had a General Mao; we need a cultural revolution in inner cities, specifically, when it comes to cooperating with law enforcement. Stop snitching ideology is destroying Trinidad and many other communities cross out the country. Someone knows the killers, and until those people step-up to the plate nothing is going to get done.
First off, I just want to thank Inked for creating this blog. Frozen Tropics has been THE definitive source of information for my wife and I during our first year in the neighborhood. To some, living in Trinidad may seem like a nightmare, but to me this is the realization of the American dream. Why dwell on the negative? I am more focused on the positive aspects of being a 27-year-old homeowner. Owning my own home is something I thought would be impossible since my parents still live in the rented two-bedroom apartment in Queens, NY that I grew up in.
As far as the topic of the thread goes, it doesn’t hurt to leave the porch lights on, so why not do it? If it’s something that shows solidarity amongst neighbors and the community, what’s the harm in following along?
We may not be perfect and we certainly have a long way to go, but the fact that my car did not get broken into on the corner of Morse and Trinidad with my wallet on the passenger seat for over 10 hours shows the underlying goodness that is apparent in most of the residents of Trinidad. Aside from showcasing my monumental stupidity, it also shows that the average Trinidad resident is not a hoodlum, welfare recipient, or crackhead. In fact, the only time my car has been broken into and had items stolen from it was when I lived in Reston, one of the wealthiest communities is all of Northern Virginia.
Maybe its because I grew up in a place as full of diversity as Queens, or maybe because I’m neither black nor white, but race is way bigger an issue than it has to be in our neighborhood. I’ve harbored good will from my neighbors on either side of me regardless of their race because that’s what neighbors are supposed to do. I gave my PS2 to one of my neighbor’s teenage age grandkids because they’re teenage boys like any other. Sure they may hang out with their friends, but who am I to judge if they’re good or bad or to assume that they’re involved in some sort of criminal activity? Black, brown, white, purple, or green…we all want the same thing: a safe, vibrant, and prosperous neighborhood.
Absolutely, Trinidad has been a bit of a haven for me over the past several years. I've met lots of great friends here who I wouldn't trade for anything. There is a very strong sense of community, and I hate to see that downplayed, or ignored, in the discussions here. We all have an interest in a safe, clean, and welcoming community. I hope most people can see that. I've help neighbors, and had help from them in working on my house. Shortly after I moved in a woman who had been here since the late 1940s gave me some helpful tips on drainage. In fact, I just spoke with her a half an hour ago regarding the shooting at Montello and Morse. I continue to believe that what I've found here is very special, and I wouldn't take back my time here for the world. I feel very lucky to live here.
I think 99.99999% of the readers of this blog (and residents of this neighborhood) would agree with this completely. Well said.
"the fact is, there is a perceived value in community in the eyes of many people...most citizens don't want to be arbitrarily removed from the community they live in and relocated to a new one miles from friends, relatives, etc."
I'll take a decent future for my children over 'community' anyday, especially if that 'community' is exposing my kids to constant drug dealing, violence, and stunningly destructive personal values.
Chocolate City - I didn't see the whole film, but I've seen substantial excerpts.
I found it to be most revealing.
These public housing residents are being given brand new homes, at absolutely no cost to them, to replace the dilapidated crap boxes they lived in before, in a brand new super duper deluxe neighborhood, with a trillion more opportunities and possibilities, and with a whole lot less crime, drug dealing, etc.
Every single public housing unit down there is being rebuilt. On the exact same blocks as before.
Yet for the most part all they did was complain.
If someone else is paying for your housing and most of your other living expenses, and has been for quite some time with no end in sight, you lose the right to complain about it.
It's a little like being 40 and living at your parents house for free, lounging on the couch all day while they go to work, then complaining because your parents didn't give you the master bedroom.
anon @ 9:26
If all you're posting are "facts", why do so anonymously?
"Not ALL blacks are criminals, however, most of the people in the prison system (aka "criminals") are disproportionatly Afr. Americans."
Your statement makes several erroneous assumptions and has one incorrect statement. One, only HALF of current prison population is Af-Am (One million out of roughly two million, total), not "most of" (which is greater than 50%). Two, you are assuming that people who are imprisoned accurately reflect the number of people committing crimes; this is inherently a fallacy as the prison population only reflects the people that the prosecutors have been able to convict in court and secure a prison sentence (this does not include people who beat the charges, who are arrested but never charged, who only get probation, who get 'time served', etc etc).
In other words, like so many arguments in racial discussions, yours is simplistic and far off the mark. Your mangled attempt at trying to state a "fact" proves absolutely nothing of relevance to the current discussion.
I just want to make clear...my previous comment was to show Robby some support for what he & others in the community are doing. Don't give up!
Did I mention that empirical data shows a white person is less likely to serve prison time than a black person arrested for the same offense? Oh no, anon @ 9:26, I just killed your attempt at an argument! Will I serve prison time? The likelihood depends on my race, studies show. LOL.
Hillman, just curious, but do you spend much time in Trinidad?
"there have been many attempts to relocate people to suburban communities, bus kids to suburban schools, etc"
Name even one major attempt by DC housing officials or politicians to do this.
Anger gets us nowhere. Racism makes some angry, reverse racism makes others angry. There have been ignorant comments made by whites - surprise, surprise and yes, some pretty ignorant comments made by blacks, but all in all I think the discussions, even when filled with emotion, are helpful because you see where others are coming from and I assure you some of the anonymous ones would never say what they say if they couldn't be anonymous. So I say take it all with a grain of salt, learn what you can and leave the rest. Try not to get defensive, it fuels the anger. I do think its very reflective of what's going on in our community (below the surface) and therefore has value in being dicussed. It's clearly some of the longest threads of any one post.
Inked:
Not a great deal, no.
But conditions in Trinidad affect everyone citywide, not just Trinidadians. Or is it Trinidaders?
Hillman, true, but I think the neighborhood gets a bad rap. Often it come from either people that have never visited, other than a drive through, or people that have lived here a long time, but not spent much, or any time here recently. I think they miss out. The Garden Club is having a clean-up on Sunday. I hope people will pitch in, or at least stop by. I promise we won't shoot you. But we might hand you a trash bag and some gloves.
Inked:
I should also say that my thoughts about housing policy and safety issues really go beyond just Trinidad. It's really a region-wide issue.
Inked:
Yes, I agree Trinidad gets a bad rap, moreso than it sometimes deserves.
What Trinidad does have going for it is a fairly high number of people that are adamant about improving crime and poverty conditions in the neighborhood.
That's not always the case in every neighborhood.
Hillman, full understood. But people that aren't around here much miss out on the good stuff going on around here. There is a tendency to glom onto the negative stuff in the news that doesn't really capture the full reality. I'm sure you experienced that in the various places you've lived in DC.
this thread made me do a little research. I fould this report from the US Department of Justice -Bureau Of Justice Statistics.
Here is the brief rundown
- Per 100,000 African American males 3,042 of them are incarcerated
- Per 100,000 Hispanic Males 1,261 of them are incarcerated
- Per 100,000 While males 487 of them were incarcerated.
That is a ming boggeling statistic
See link below
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htm
H Street Resident (10th Street)
Yes, and there is a lot going on behind the scenes with that statistic. As a law student who has encountered some of these issues in class, I can attest to the earlier comment that research suggests that blacks are sentenced more harshly for the same crimes than when those crimes are committed by white. The conviction rates for blacks and whites on trial are also higher for blacks. One could make various arguments when this pertains to juvenile adjudications [regarding family structure and the involvement of social services], where this also holds true, but it certainly raises questions when you look at adult convictions.
Inked, I have to chime in to your comments about Trinidad getting a bum rap. I almost have to smile. As I have pointed out, I live in the historic district of Capitol Hill. This sounds like our community 15 years ago(along with alot of the incidents that are plagueing Trinidad right now). At that time, I didn't even know where Trinidad was! And now I've driven over there and am more aware about sections of the city I didn't even consider.
All the things and activities you advocate for are the things that help communities move along. Things are not always rosy on "the Hill", but we have come a long way. I will add that the feeling of "community" is one of the things that has kept my family here.
inked
I am a lawyer. One of the reason those numbers are skewed is because of the repeat offenders that come through the system. When an individual has 3 prior convictions he will recieve a longer sentance then one who is a first time offended.
The stats do not take prior convictions into account.
H Street Resident (10th Street)
H Street Resident, good point. Repeat offenders distort the crime stats in multiple ways. Thanks for pointing that out, but I'm pretty sure I've also seen stats showing that the same was true of first time offenders. I'm certain that I've seen them for juveniles.
inked
one other thing that is padding those statictics are FEderal Sentencing Guidlines. These have taken the authority away from judges to give more leinent sentences and have been in effect for many years.
That coupled with repeat offenders should give your great blog a clear picture that the stats are not really that off
H Street Resident (10th Street)
By the way I am not racist - just want everyone to understand teh stats and provide some actual numbers than quotes
H Street Resident (10th Street)
RODNEY KING SAID:
Can't we all just get along?
Thank you 10th & H for posting the Justice Dept. stats.
And building on the Rodney King post, instead of arguing over whether the statiscs are skewed or right on - can we at least all agree that the numbers are way too high for African Am. males? And second, what are we as a community going to do to change that? If you are unable to see (or admit) that the African Am. numbers are significantly more than other minority groups, then it is most unfortunate that you're too busy seeing how "the white man" is the "cause" of the problem or "the system" is the reason for these problems then these things are not your enemies, you instead become your own enemy. Will you allow others to help? Are you willing to do you part to help yourself? Or is there so much anger that we're incapable of getting along?
Wow, way to pollute an innocuous and well-meaning post about an upcoming community event.Better lighting and a show of solidarity and community never hurt anybody.
I heard about this string and am blown away and quite disgusted.
I've lived over here for 7 yrs. There are alot of great people who truly feel a sense of community here. We all want to be here AND be safe. We need to support each other, help each other, and look out for each other - not slander each other with all these provocative comments on what has been and should remain a positive and informative blog.
Tina, I think some people just want to point our other people's ignorance and while doing so often reveal their own.
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