Reply to Are D.C. residents divided on what to do with police reform, crime, etc.?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm black.

I grew up in a community where black respectability is strong. The elders simply will not tolerate wayward behavior in kids. Those kids grow up to be educated, productive members of society. They have children that are also well-parented. And so on.

Living in DC (trendy, gentrifying neighborhood) has been an adjustment, to put it mildly. I finally understand what it's like to feel outright disgust about my own skinfolk. The absolute trash behavior that gets passed off as "culture" here is just ... I can't even.

I woke up this morning to discarded fast food packaging and several used condoms in front of my house. Again.

I want the city government and police to treat nuisance crimes as seriously as armed robbery.

I want more policing. I want aggressive behavior profiling. Not to be confused with racial profiling -- [i]behavior[/i] profiling. People roaming around looking for an opportunity to commit a crime absolutely behave differently from a couple of friends walking down the street together to get from point A to point B. The latter should be left alone. The former should be stopped and evaluated.

I want a dedicated mental health squad that patrols the streets to deal with people behaving erratically, obviously under the influence of a substance or untreated mental illness. Wrap them up, take them to an institution, treat them on the taxpayer's dollar.

I want the city to hire an army of street cleaners to walk around and pick up garbage. Every neighborhood. Every block. Every day.

DC could be soooo much better than it is, much nicer, much prettier, much higher quality of life for ALL residents. But it will take real political will to eliminate the cancer growing deep here.[/quote]

Have you considered voting moderate Democrat or Independent or Republican? I am a moderate DC Republican and want all the same things. They will never happen with the far left Council. The happiest I've been with our city's governance was Tony Williams. I would vote him for President; however, he did his service and retired gracefully. I am born and bred in DC and have worked extensively in all communities, SES, demographics. It's a lovely city and blaming everything on gentrification is lazy thinking.[/quote]

I am also black and these are all things that Dems want.  [b]However, I HATE respectability politics.[/b]  It is not the job of the police to monitor behavior.  That is the job of parents, neighbors and honestly I think, schools.  Not police.  Guess what, respectability politics doesn't work.[/quote]

NP -- I don't understand what you mean by respectability politics.  I did google it, but I'm still unclear.[/quote]

Another unclear on what you mean. However, It is not a neighbors' job to monitor behavior -  or schools[/quote]

Respectability politics is the idea that black people would be more accepted by the white majority if only we would just behave ourselves. Dress well, hide our natural hair texture, speak proper English, have a good job, not have children out of wedlock, etc. It's a concept that is extremely racist at its core, which is why many people hate it. However, people who [i]do[/i] grow up in families and communities that hold their own to a high standard [i]do[/i] fare better in the world, so it's hard for me to argue that promoting respectability is bad.  [/quote]

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