Across 110th Street

I'm on my way to work, and opting to not want to hear rap or bounce music (save that for tomorrow night), I popped in my oldies. Among some of the great songs I heard, Bobby Womack's song "Across 110th Street" came on. I'm a big fan of the song and have been since I first heard it on the Jackie Brown soundtrack (WONDERFUL soundtrack. I advise you all pick it up). However, I was particularly intrigued by one of the lyrics. "The family on the other side of town would catch hell without a ghetto around." That got me to thinking (as many things do). This statement is very true. It's society's equilibrium. There can be no good neighborhoods without bad neighborhoods. There can be no "good jobs" without "bad jobs." I know everybody rags on some low wage jobs, but somebody's gotta do 'em. Although nobody wants to live in them, ghettos and lower waged communities are somewhat of a necessity. Not to say that criminals only live in poorer communities, because I know wonderful people in impoverished neighborhoods and criminals in "rich" neighborhoods.

This issue reminds me of the Caucasian migration of the 1990's in New Orleans. Around 1993 or so, New Orleans East was predominantly a Caucasian area of town. Then, I believe around 1994, when New Orleans became the murder capital, they began moving out in droves, opting to live in outskirt areas like Metarie, Kenner, and Westwego. I know the house my family moved into in 1995 was purchased from a Caucasian family in one of the N.O. East suburbs. I noticed, though, that as much as these people (all those who migrated, not just white people) put down the violence and called New Orleans a cess pool of this and that, they never LEFT. They commuted everyday, kept their jobs, kept their children in our schools, the whole nine.

The "heathens from the 'hood" that the richer residents put down have to live somewhere. You would raise a stink and start a friggin' neighborhood watch or move away if they came to live in your neighborhood, so where are they going to live? Crime exists everywhere, but as we all know, there is this unspoken reference to putting more effort into protecting the richer neighborhoods. More things are swept under the carpet, news cameras don't do cover stories, residents keep a tight lip.

Bobby spoke about Harlem and the dangers within. The pimps, junkies, prostitutes, winos, thieves, drug pushers, all of them have to live somewhere to thrive. The ironic part is that most of their customers are the people in the rich neighborhoods. I've seen the documentaries and specials. The same Benz you see at the corporate job on Monday will be in the hood, picking up a woman in the hood on Friday (if they can wait that long). It happens all the time. So, all you people who have nothing to do but stereotype and profile people in lower-income neightborhoods, think about this: what would you do if they moved into YOUR neighborhood?

-B