Inspired indirectly by this thread ,
I’m wondering whether the perceived “bad neighborhoods” where it’s “unsafe to walk” in the U.S. are ever anything other than a euphemism for black neighborhoods (as far as I can tell, the very bad neighborhoods mentioned in that thread in New Orleans and Chicago are probably mostly black).
However . . . years ago I was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and heard someone making vague reference to a “rough bohunk” side of town. Not sure how “rough” it was, nor if that exists anymore – but:
Are there any white (or other-than-black) “bad neighborhoods” where you (are perceived to) “take your life in your hands” by walking through?
It’s entirely subjective, I realize. My impression is that Hispanic barrios are relatively safe as I’ve walked pretty freely through Little Havana and Spanish Harlem. But then, in recent years, walking across 125th Street in black Harlem is much like a stroll through the mall, too.
Having said that: is it the case (and I really do mean this as a GQ, not a GD, though mods may feel free to move it if it elicits kneejerk reaction) that the perceived “bad/dangerous neighborhoods” in the U.S are mostly or all black neighborhoods?
There are some dangerous neighborhoods in Hawaii where I wouldn’t set foot after dark. Few black people, if any, live in them.
There are parts of Santa Ana, Calif., that I wouldn’t enter after dark, either. Again, not a huge black population there, unless it’s changed significantly in the past 10 years.
Do you mean unsafe to walk in if you’re white? Or do you mean black, or do you mean for anybody?
I would guess that there are MANY all-white neighborhoods that are not safe to walk through at night OR during daytime unless you are white. And maybe not even so safe then.
As an undergrad in Cambridge Mass., I remember hearing that Chinatown and the neighboring “Combat Zone” as well as Dorchester were all pretty bad. None to my knowledge have significant black populations. Of course, around here a “bad neighborhood” is often defined as someplace with few donut shops…
Chinatown in Honolulu used to be quite the bad neighborhood, for the general “combat zone” reasons. Decent ladies certainly didn’t go there. Now, of course, it’s cleaned up and where you get the best leis.
This is definitely in the past, but read “Gangs Of New York” or “The Alienist” for some pretty vivid descriptions of NY neighborhoods around the turn of the century. Those places were insanely dangerous and they weren’t black neighborhoods.
Last I heard, South Central Los Angeles was more Hispanic than black. I haven’t looked at the statistics lately though. I certainly wouldn’t walk through it alone after dark.
My dad (who is white) relates how he visited Boston in the early sixties and was surprised to find the neighborhood around the Bunker Hill monument (Charlestown) was both entirely white AND somewhere he didn’t feel particularly safe. He had lived his whole life in New York City and I guess in his mind white neighborhood equalled safe neighborhood (tho I don’t know how valid a view this really was back then).
I used to live just east of San Francisco Bay. Parts of east San Jose (a largely Hispanic area) were considered more dangerous than the mostly black parts of Oakland, although I never had any trouble in either place. None of the street gangs around our area were black.
In the rural town in Vermont where I ran on the local rescue squad, we had standing orders not to go into a particular trailer park, no matter how urgent the call, without police escort.
Black, Aisian, Native American, and Hispanic population of the park? Zero.
Watch “Training Day” and pay attention to the part when they go into the gang-banging Latino neighborhood. They didn’t make that up. I used to work and pick up kids in Compton, and I didn’t see much myself, but then I didn’t do something stupid like hang out on street corners at night while being white and nerdy.
I mentioned to someone from Charleston, WV that I had visited southern West Virginia (Logan and Mingo counties - the former Hatfield/McCoy territory), where my dad grew up. This elicited a reaction of dismay and concern for my safety. There are some black people in that area, but not many.
Cabbagetown used to be a rough neighborhood surrounding an old bag mill here in Atlanta. The residents were descendants of the (closed) mill’s old workers, and were white. The neighborhood was known for drug-dealing, prostitution and random violence.
Nowadays, the neighborhood is undergoing a transformation. The bag mill has been converted to loft condos, and the surrounding mill village, well, who knew you could gentrify a shotgun shack?
There are still a few of the rough-and-ready old time families around, though.
Dorchester’s population is primarily black and Asian (I lived there while in college). Like anyplace else, there are good parts and bad. The bad parts were the southern bits, where there was a lot of gang activity.
I don’t know when you were in Boston, but it is said that the Combat Zone doesn’t exist anymore. If you go to that area now, you’ll find a couple of adult stores and a whole bunch of Asian restaurants.