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July 4th over Charlotte


Mobuchu

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Ugh....this is why racial ties never get better....because the NAACP choses to make a political stand rather than admit the truth.

If McCrory said, I'm bored to tears driving through South Charlotte because of the over-weight, white, Brooks Brother dressed citizens, and this city won't be attractive to the creative class because of this bland category of citizen, I wouldn't be offended at all.

He could have also said, those white, rednecks, who apparantly don't have jobs blocking the construction entrace to the Whitewater park are wasting taxpayer money and are dillusional.....I wouldn't have found a problem with that.

Let's call a spade and spade, and stop needing to be so damn PC all the time. From what I've heard, it IS primarily African American youths that are acting intimidating downtown. When his statements aren't true, then they are racist, but until then, for the safety of everyone, the police need to focus their efforts on whoever is creating problems, and not worry about if they are offending overly-sensative groups that have a political agenda.

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Ugh....this is why racial ties never get better....because the NAACP choses to make a political stand rather than admit the truth.

If McCrory said, I'm bored to tears driving through South Charlotte because of the over-weight, white, Brooks Brother dressed citizens, and this city won't be attractive to the creative class because of this bland category of citizen, I wouldn't be offended at all.

He could have also said, those white, rednecks, who apparantly don't have jobs blocking the construction entrace to the Whitewater park are wasting taxpayer money and are dillusional.....I wouldn't have found a problem with that.

Let's call a spade and spade, and stop needing to be so damn PC all the time. From what I've heard, it IS primarily African American youths that are acting intimidating downtown. When his statements aren't true, then they are racist, but until then, for the safety of everyone, the police need to focus their efforts on whoever is creating problems, and not worry about if they are offending overly-sensative groups that have a political agenda.

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A couple of excerpts from an The Observer article today that highlighted Mayor Pat McCrory's response to the NAACP's demand for an apology to his comments about young blacks and their role in the disruptions on July 4th and crime in general.

Mayor McCrory has said he will not refuse, "Because my comments were accurate. Period."

McCrory said he understands that some were offended by his remarks, but said if he were writing the letter today he wouldn't do it any differently.

"My role as mayor is to communicate what I consider to be concerns and in doing so you have to step on some toes," he said. "What you say can't always make people feel good.... We can't run away from the situation and shoot the messenger."

McCrory has said he did not mean that only African American youth were imitating gangs. But he said he specified them because that's who he saw as he walked uptown streets during the celebration.

On Wednesday, he cited statistics showing more than 60 percent of Charlotte's gang members are African American. And, he said, the victims of gang violence also tend to be black.

"One thing we agree on is that it is a horrible stereotype," McCrory said, "but it's being perpetuated by those who continue to dress like, behave like and act like gang members. It's not productive to our community, our neighborhoods, our schools, or to those individuals who are doing it."

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^ i can understand certain points made by all regarding this situation.

however, one thing i have never been able to stomach... is someone demanding an apology. i mean if i ever do something to tick someone off - they should let me know... then, i will process that and on my own free will decide if i should apologize or not. that's what an apology REALLY is... it cannot be demanded or it will always feel disingenuious.

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I agree mostly. I do want to say that the NAACP does do a great deal of constructive work within the community. One of their more high profile functions is to act as a watchdog when issues such as this come up since they grab media attention. In a roundabout way I am trying to say that the NAACP does not just sit around idle and wait for controversy. They are actively engaged in positive outreach that is not "sexy" enough to garner attention.

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^ And honestly, that seems to be the real issue being expressed here. Those who already feel targeted by McCrory seem to be upset by his comments. Those who do not already have a problem with him, seem to support his comments after the 4th. Like it or not, the posts against McCrory on this thread don't seem to be objective, but rather people taking this opportunity to be critical because they have an axe to grind. (I'm sure I can expect a warning and an ugly IM for merely expressing an opinion here.)

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I really don't believe that this is what he said. Returning to the original quote:

"Too many of our youth, primarily African American, are imitating and/or participating in a gangster style of dress, attitude, behavior and action".

This is a highly qualified statement, as one might expect from a politician. But I would hope that we on this forum are able to recognize modifiers when we see them, and would not unfairly put words into McCrory's mouth.

He is saying that "too many" of the "youth" in our community (not adults) are "imitating" or possibly "participating" in a "style" of appearance and behavior that has criminal overtones, and that this problem is especially prevalent in the African-American community. Frankly, I don't see what part of that statement is not true to life. There IS a gang problem in Charlotte, but even moreso there is a problem of young people being influenced into imitating gangsters. And let's face reality: the African-American community has more trouble with this issue than the white or Hispanic or Asian community. I know it isn't PC to point that out, but it's real by every objective standard.

For the past couple of years I've worked directly with young people, mostly African-American and a large number actively in gangs (and many more pretending to be). I've witnessed gang fights first-hand (both individuals and groups), consoled a 15-year-old going to court on a firearms charge, and seen more than a few young women impregnated by their "thug" boyfriends and kicked to the curb in a matter of days. Therefore it's frustrating to me to see the NAACP's reaction to an inaccurate interpretation of McCrory's comments, especially because their public retorts have implicitly denied that the problem exists at all. Similarly, a lot of the responses here have hinted at the absurd counter-argument that gang activity (or the appearance thereof) is equal in all social strata. Perhaps even more frustrating is that several posters here have made a sort of metaphor out of the situation, equating it to prior comments about unrelated subjects that they found offensive (and which might rightly have been so). But all this political hay is no help to the people who have to live in the middle of a neverending turf war.

McCrory made a good-faith effort to address a very un-PC issue at a time when it was relevant and already had the public's attention. The response were cries of bigotry and the need for apology. I have to question whether we're even really addressing the good of the public, or the political priorities of a few. The facts have not changed: gangs ARE a race-related issue, and have to be treated as such. If we're going to roast every leader who faces the facts, we're going to reap what we sow when those 15-year-old wannabes are 25-year-old murderers.

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  • 11 months later...

So July 4th is coming up. I'm not going anywhere near downtown but do you think it will be a repeat of the last couple years. African American kids shooting firecrackers in crowds, Gansta wanna bes at every corner, scared white people, and not enough police but to many SWAT teams in full guard?

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If the weather is good (and right now it's looking that way), it will be very crowded downtown since it is a Friday night and there is an official celebration with fireworks at Memorial Stadium. Red, White, and Boom at the stadium is alcohol free, starts at 6pm and ends with fireworks at 9:30pm, but I'm sure there will be plenty of others on the streets before, during, and afterwards. CMPD will have a huge presence again as was seen at this past New Years Eve and again, almost nothing will be tolerated or the violater will be quickly arrested and taken to jail.

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There actuarlly were people throwing fireworks, it's just that no one got hit with anything. The gangs were out in force as well showing their colors. You can thank the CMPD for keeping the peace. As it was on New Years Eve, a show of force and numbers along with a zero tolerance policy kept most everyone in line. I think people have finally realized that if you're going to be stupid, you're going to spend the night in jail.

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My wife and I went to the fireworks show, rescheduled due to rain, at the Whitewater Center, on Saturday July 5th. It was a very well done 20 minute show, and just beautiful over the center and reflected over the water.

It made for a great family time and Charlotte should be proud of the center, the restaurant on site was pretty good too.

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