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How much of "bad neighborhood" discourse is just racist hogwash

We have all seen the discourse on places like reddit or whatever, where even the positive comments about rough neighborhoods is like "just keep your head up, don't use headphones, pay attention and you will be fine"

Like how much of this is just white people playing out fantasy scenarios in their cop brains? I feel like most of "bad neighborhood" discourse just comes down to

Like sure there are places where you are more likely to get your place broken into or whatever and systemic racism tends to result in certain outcomes but I feel like most places like this are in the minority, and in fact this must be the case or gentrification wouldn't happen

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  • The danger is generally exaggerated but having lived in a few local 'bad neighborhoods', it is best to not look out of place or wear anything too expensive that could be resold or whatever. There are some desperate people who can be dangerous. I've had a few close calls, a couple attempted muggings where I literally didn't have anything worth taking, one time I got rolled for a box of frosted mini wheats cause I went to the store when high af for munchies and that'd literally the only thing of value I had. I negotiated that I could take a handful. Almost got swarmed coming home by some kids looking to do so and being a crust punk saved my ass there, they got closer, saw how I was dressed I heard one say "naw, this is just some punk rocker!' And then they wished me a good night. One time an older homeless dude who I was helping with his parking direction job in exchange for free speed thought I was also homeless and younger and was clearly trying to groom me into sex work, I just directed cars and got a handful of pills and left. Shit happens and there are for sure scumbags out there, but there are anywhere else too, it's just in poorer places it happens outside more often. I felt less safe going through richer neighborhoods on weekend nights when shithead rich kids would cruise around and kick the crap out of people they didn't recognize from hockey league or whatever. The racial demographics of any of these experiences probably leans a bit more towards white people being the perpetrators by incident. The group thar let me go cause I'm punk was all black kids and they would skew things if I went by number of people. A few of em I already knew who they were and they knew who I was, some were random. Like, I would say you may run a higher risk of getting robbed if you're in a 'bad neighborhood ' and are a clearly easy target for robbery cause there is a higher concentration of people that are desperate for quick cash for myriad reasons. Things aren't as bad as they're reported to be generally and racist fear mongering is a huge part of that, but at the same time, don't be an idiot and at the end of the day, you gotta realize they just want your stuff and aren't just doing random physical harmand while getting robbed sucks, robbing people isn't that glamorous either and take your loss as a privilege check.

  • I think the racist undertones come not so much in the explicit discussion of the crime rates, but rather in the the implicit assumption that a white person in the “bad neighborhood” will be more of a target for criminals that non-white people. It’s this obnoxious mindset that permeates everything in the burgerland crackkker brain. Despite their preferred positions in society and all the brutality their ancestors engaged in to give them that, they must always be the innocent victims that the Others have it out for.

    • I think this one is actually somewhat true, not because they're white but because they don't know how to act to keep themselves safe. Apparently criminals commonly choose victims to assault based on how they walk

      You can usually pretty easily tell if somebody is scared/unathletic/uncomfortable while walking in certain neighbourhoods

      And just anecdotal evidence but the techies I know who chose to live in the poorest neighbourhoods in SF apparently get harassed pretty often but the friends I know, which include women and older people who have to live in those same neighbourhoods haven't had any troubles and are friendly with their neighbours

      • So I was robbed in SF many, many years ago. In retrospect, it was likely because I looked like an outsider and I was in an unfamiliar part of the city late at night after a comedy show. It fucking sucked, but I was prepared, with money and a BART card in my shoe (as my friends from Oakland had advised me), and a hundred dollars in the wallet so they didn't take my ID (Classic take the money, just please don't take my ID it's a pain in the ass to get it from another state). All they got was my shitty phone and some cash. I didn't even bother filing a police report, as it would have taken more time and they never would have caught the guy anyways.

        That said, I went back there a year later after acculturating to the Bay area and was just fine, didn't get harassed or anything for being in the 'wrong neighborhood'. Just wrong place, wrong time probably. That said, getting to know some of the people who grew up around there, tech-people are seen as 'gentrifiers' and 'rich' regardless of the actual circumstances (though tbf they are probably both those things) so they are equal opportunity for both punks and neighbors to fuck with, because they are rarely seen as part of 'the community', which again tbf they do not actually see themselves as a part of.

    • My mom lived in a lower middle class neighborhood for several years, when they installed a speed bump in front of her house she was convinced it would cause criminals to drive by slower and wonder what she had inside the house to steal. I asked to be dropped off very close to that house years prior to catch a ride to a concert and she had been worried I was going to be shanked in broad daylight.

      • House robberies are super rare unless people already know what you have in the house and where to find it. Usually drug dealers, occasionally elderly people with scripts but chances are that's the shithead friends of their pillhead grandson most of the time and not random strangers. Picking houses to break into and rob at random is such a high risk vs potentially low reward. Most people's valuables are heavy and hard to carry out.

    • Yeah it's ironic because career criminals tend to commit crimes within their own communities rather than laying in wait hoping an unknown victim walks by.

  • basically dont wear expensive stuff and if you see groups of guys dont walk passed them

    there arent just hordes of minorities looking to rob and kill people like jakubians like to pretend. these neighborhoods have little kids walking to schools in the morning too. they’re completely normal and if you’re not fucking around they’re safe enough

  • It's not to say that there aren't some bad neighborhoods. But to be sure, it does feel like at least 50% of that discussion is racist hogwash. It was an unforgettable moment when a teacher of mine said the upcoming fieldtrip might require some people to lock their car-doors. This teacher lived in a white-flight suburb and two of us couldn't help but speak up.

  • There was one time where I was walking alone at night in a stereotypically "bad neighborhood", and was suddenly surrounded and attacked without provocation by a coordinated group of people. I had to revise my "people are inherently tolerant and benevolent" models after that.

    That experience shouldn't necessarily define the neighborhood, nowhere as much as should neoliberal blight as a shaping factor.

  • Never lived in one, but I've been to them on occasion doing party outreach. People there are definitely suffering, lots of beggars wanting money for food or booze or cigarettes, but I've never been threatened or attacked. For the most part, people there are like people anywhere else - they're busy living their lives and aren't out looking to start fights with strangers and will treat you with respect if you grant them the same. Situational awareness is good to have, of course, but that applies anytime you're out in public.

  • “Rough” neighborhoods exist. Naive lefties can run into trouble based on an idea that all of the society’s problems can be reduced to propaganda. Fact is, some streets you have a much higher risk of encountering violence, and you aren’t necessarily going to find help from 911. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that exploited communities are less reactionary than any other community. Bigots exist even in the “bad” areas because they’re just people.

    In equal parts as police actively cause violence, they also neglect to provide any sort of safety for residents of these communities. This is why, in the worst examples, residents sometimes have to take justice into their own hands. The state intentionally fails to uphold even the most minimal standards for social life.

    I don’t disagree with your overall point which I think boils down to basic humanism. “Bad” neighborhoods are full of normal people just trying to get by in a bad situation. Whatever real danger exists is also exaggerated because of racist, classist, and ableist reasons.

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