Gunfire on Sterling Place Near Franklin --Sterling Pl. Blues

happy new year to you to mha, oh and I hope you find that white man that keeps causing all that black on black crime in your neighborhood

I love bacon!

no! after reading your post about how I went off topic, I read the first page of this whole discussion, something I didn't do before I left my first comment. and on the first page you mention black on black crime. yesterday I noticed one of your discussions and read only a little bit and noticed you kept referring to white folks, I looked at your profile and happened to notice this discussion and commented without reading the first page. all I did read was that some guys grandfather was murdered and i felt bad so I commented, had no idea you were talking specifically about black people until earlier today. anyway, i'm not a racist, i love everyone the same and that's that .besides, my brother is a criminal and he's white

No one here called you a racist

you were trying to with your "they" "them" question.

"when I was reading your posts, I felt really uncomfortable with the way you used the words white folks, white man, white white white. I just don't see any reason to refer to other human beings by their skin color, it seems to separate us even more."

I'd submit that referring to other people according to race is important if we are going to try to understand history and its consequences on our societies and our lives. After all, it wasn't MHA who first came up with the idea of "race". American slave owners, amongst others, used it brilliantly as a way to legally keep humans as property into the late 19th century.

Race is a valuable construct to use when you start trying to understand why, as just one example, the percentage of young African American men in prison is seven times that of their white counterparts. And MHA is very interested in understanding that fact, as well as surmounting the forces that have made it true. Personally, I think that his mission is more important than any individual's discomfort with talking in racial categories.

by the way krowonhill, you're very pretty!

And MHA is very interested in understanding that fact, as well as surmounting the forces that have made it true.

MHA is interested in playing the race card whenever possible. he is interested in throwing around thinly veiled accusations of racism in the majority of discussions he participates in.

and before you say it, MHA, this is not ad hominem.

I appreciate hearing MHA's perspective

me too. it's entertaining.

he is clearly a thoughtful person

he thinks a lot and seems to say whatever pops into his head, that's for sure.

who cares a lot about the neighborhood

sure.

Hopefully, he won't take offense

his specialty.

Mod here. I gotta say that oddly, I agree with MHA. The topic here isn't about MHA and his views on race and gentrification. Its about a shooting on and around Sterling Pl. You guys want to discuss MHA and his particular socio-political philosophy do so in the lounge or politics boards. Thanks.

this is all directly related to the events on Sterling place on June 12:

Some bohemian-looking dude came into the Chinese spot and looked me dead in the face and asked me if what JUST happened was gang-related, and I asked him if I looked like a anthropologist, and how would he expect me to know that. I asked him calmly; I really wanted to know how did he expect me to know that. He changed the subject and asked if I knew if the killing that happened 3 weeks ago on Lincoln was gang related, I sighed and I said yes, it was. He asked what gangs, and I said the Bloods and the Crips. Two brothers started talking about it; one of them said to the other, we've been killing each other before we got here, and now we're killing each other before we are moved out of here too. I raised a quizzical eyebrow because I didn't know what he meant. What immediately came to mind was a line from Biggie's 'Ready to Die' album where he boasts that he has been 'robbin' ni66a's since the slave ship.' What the guy meant was that before the Middle Passage, Africans were engaged in tribal warfare, and the conquering of the continent by Europeans was easily facilitated by this African on African violence; lo, I imagine he would say, with the advent of gentrification, amidsts being priced out, the violence continues. I got his point. He, me, and the third brother all shaked our heads from side to side and bid each other a good night. Bohemian dude asked me if I thought it was going to get worse. Oh yeah, I said, it's gonna get worse.

I have to laugh when I read quotes from mha..."oh yea, I said. It's gonna get worse....." dun dun dun dun dunnnnnnn , he thinks he's in a spike lee movie or something