Community upset over Marisol

I grew up in 'da hood and taught in 'da hood for many years and have Heavy D, Puffy and Mary J. Blige come from the hoods I grew up in or taught in.

I do not know Pilsen specifically but I am sure there are good neighborhoods and neighborhoods that have the potential to be good but are controlled by a few unsavory community members.

Urban areas have their ups and downs and goods and bads.

I loved my time in Money earnin' Mount Vernon and my family still lives there. Living in the city made me who I am and I am proud of that even though we got tons of negative press growing up. Get over it!

My sentiments exactly, Lorie!!

I grew up on the west side of Chicago in a big courtway building that looked exactly like the Carter Apartments in New Jack City. I've had family members killed, raped, beaten, mugged, etc. That was in the 70s. Today you could not pay me to visit my old neighborhood in an army tank. However, there are places on the west side that are not bad at all. As I am sure there are in the Pilsen neighborhood.

If all of this controversy is over one line in the book, people need to know when to just let something go.

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Originally posted by Jandjmom:
Lynet: Wow! I knew Mexico City was huge, but I had no idea crime was as bad as what you describe. That is incredibly sad [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img] .

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The crime in Mexico in general is bad. And the police aren't very efficent either. Often times they are bribed to look the other way.

Don't qoute me on this, I've never been to Mexico, this is just what I've read.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ February 02, 2005 03:34 PM: Message edited by: Felicity+Addyfan ]</font>

I SWEAR ALMOST !!!!EVERY NEWS STATIONIS TALKING ABOUT MARISOL! I CAN'T BELIVE WHAT SOME PEOPLE DO JUST TO MAKE A FUSS!

THIS IS GETTING OUT OF HAND! [img]mad.gif[/img]

That's what we call "Saure Gurken Zeit" = pickeled cucumber time - when they don't have anything else to report about and blow up one minor story into a huge affair. This tactic is also often used to cover up more important issues which the public shouldn't notice.

I grew up right outside NYC- just miles away and people in my neighborhood were terrified of the city- but our crime rate was worse.

I will walk through just about any neighborhood in New York. I am comfortable there- even in the south Bronx. I have an aura of confidence and faith in the people of the city and the law enforcement community.

Having said that, I worked on a graduate studio project in Newburgh NY (a city surrounded by lily white suburbs in Orange County NY) and was walking down a street in the middle of the afternoon with DH taking photos. Many of the buildings were burned out and in various state of ruin. A group of men were hanging out in a gang painted vacant lot staring us down and I crossed the street without missing a beat and made tracks. The hair on the back of my neck was standing up and I was terrified (not much scares me, I had two students convicted of capital murder).

I think that there are places within range of every community that have unsafe elements. I think the Pilsen community is overreacting- especially since the community was never mentioned by name. Safety is a perception and I am sure that the author visited the area prior to writing about it.

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Originally posted by Miki_:
That's what we call "Saure Gurken Zeit" = pickeled cucumber time - when they don't have anything else to report about and blow up one minor story into a huge affair. This tactic is also often used to cover up more important issues which the public shouldn't notice.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Interesting. If only I could pronounce your phrase. I'd love to use it some time!

Okay, read this

I was actually checking to see if it's the neighborhood of my ancestors and I think it's very likely. However, this was an interesting link I found. Read the education statistics...scary!

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Children growing up in low-income immigrant families face unique obstacles. Their parents often have little education (70% of Pilsen adults have not completed ninth grade), limited mastery of English, no marketable skills, and few of the basic skills necessary for survival in Chicago. As a result, many children start out behind and are unable to compete in school and subsequently in the workplace. Teen pregnancy and parenthood are alarmingly common, as are gang involvement and substance abuse.

Fully 65% of children in Pilsen drop out of school, according to the Chicago Board of Education, with dire consequences for their future participation in the work force. Pilsen's main high school, Benito Juarez reports that 94.5% of their students are classified as low income. In 1990, Latino youth (ages 16 to 19) unemployment in Chicago was 27.9%. The 1990 U.S. census reported a 13% unemployment rate for all Pilsen workers, compared to 7% for the city of Chicago. More recent estimates range up to 25%.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">"[My mother] explained it was no place for me to grow up. It was dangerous, and there was no place for me to play." seems like an understatment, doesn't it?

Frankly that link to the stats for Pilsen was scarey. Doesn't sound like a nice quiet neighborhood at all. Reading from the article
"In addition to poverty and related social problems, Pilsen residents must cope with high levels of violence. In 1992, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority named Pilsen one of the "hot spots" in the city for street gang violence. Today, the level of gang-related violence in Pilsen is widely considered to be second only to East Los Angeles." Not exactly a glowing statement about the area.

Most of us would not have had a clue what neighborhhood they were talking about (if you even thought it was a real neighborhood) had they not brought it to every media source around. Not really sure why they are doing what they are doing.

Bonnie

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ February 02, 2005 10:36 PM: Message edited by: bekeating ]</font>