Quote:
Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller
It's far too early to tell whether this will set us on an a post 60s trajectory of city centers being abandoned by those with means. It's not too early to fervently pray that it does not happen as a result of hijacked or derailed protests. The poor would only get poorer (and the marginalized further marginalized) as a result, perpetuating and deepening the injustices that we all decry. They have nowhere to go and are left with the city as it is (or becomes).
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Shit, I feel old-----There were many forces at work in the 60s that wrecked many, many city centers, and most of them were already in the works before the big urban riots. The race riots might have been the final nail, but you had gov'tments investing in massive infrastructure projects to build out the suburbs and develop highways to get there. You had urban renewal which was mostly tearing down areas that had people living in them, and then building very little in there place. Philly still has empty lots that date from that era, such as the Science Center.
These protests feel and taste alot different from the urban riots of the 60s that they are unfairly being compared to, and I hope they can continue and continue to be different in the make up of who's doing the protest and what the 'goals' are. Racism is not a easy nut to crack, but there has to be readily available methods to stop cops from killing black males for terrible acts against mankind like jaywalking, or here in Philly delivering a pizza.
Those killings cost cities millions of dollars in lawsuits, locking up 1000's for carrying small amounts of drugs cost millions, having a militarized police force and a huge court system costs millions. Sure this week will cost us, the people who live here, alot and of course video of looting and burning buildings are very sexy, but most people don't realize the expense in real dollars that racism costs, as if the complete injustice of the dead men aren't enough to make one outraged.
On a 'positive' note whatever you feel about the cops as the strong arm of the gov't and how they are behaving presently, it is so much more reasonable then the 60s and early 70s. Sure the cops have thought alot about how to meet their 'goals' and are effective then it comes to pushing and shoving, they are the ones with all the toys, but people aren't being shot dead because they're carrying off a bag of shoes. I'm sure Rizzo is trying to dig himself out of his grave so he can show trumppp how to deal with a bunch of commies punks. Generally I'm against torching buildings as part of the protest, and on Sunday the mayor and City heavies said they couldn't get from City Hall to Walnut St. to be a presence that might have changed things because they weren't going to take risks unless they could do it in force. I might not agree or like the outcome but that's better then sending 10 cops over there who's only answer would be to crack heads and shoot people. Buildings can usually be replaced, not so much with lives.
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