Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich
That, and I wish we couldn't tell they were all taken from a car. And, I'm not even sure I get what an "African American perspective" of the city is supposed to mean.
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Wow......did not your folks tell you that if you don't have anything positive to say....just don't say anything? Yes....all the things you listed would be nice...but there is a REASON why it is not so. Anyway.....I live part of my youth in Grand Rapids and most of the Housing areas you see are from the black community....Hence....its a window....ie perspective.....of the physical African American community in Grand Rapids. No....all black people don't live in these areas but most of those area are mostly black.
When people show images of Detroit city......that is also the black perspective because Detroit is an 85% black city. Grand Rapids black community is not that much different from Detroits black community or Flint's black community or Saginaws black community or Muskegons, Gary, Chicago, Philly etc. I also lived in Detroit for 8 years, 6 mile telegraph, and did not see what was so terrible about the city. It all depends on what you are used to and in Grand Rapids I lived in the SE inner city (on one of the streets in the photo set) and saw burnt up housing, vacant lots, no retail, crime and the like. However, the issues of the black community simply get muted by the predominantly white population of the city where as Detroit and Flint are majority black cities and the statistics of the city thus reflects the poverty and issues of African Americans. Hence, people can say that Grand Rapids does not have the problems of Detroit or Flint (what they are really saying is that Grand Rapids does not have as many blacks as Detroit and Flint percentage and absolutes)......but from the black perspective of Grand Rapids......blacks in Grand Rapids has the same issues as blacks in Detroit and Flint. Its Grand Rapids little secret.
Part of the reason that I posted these pics is because people always try to portray Grand Rapids or West Michigan always in a positive light while always portraying Detroit and the East side of the state in a negative light. Well.....Detroit has a lot more GOOD than what is popularly shown and Grand Rapids has more bad than what is popularly shown. If you ask the white residents of Michigan what are the worst cities in Michigan 90% of them will list all the cities in Michigan with a large percentage black population. Thats just a fact. I am not saying its racism....I am just saying that there is a racial correlation of whites finding black areas as "bad". Well....Grand Rapids has black areas too.
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