The big local news last week was this: Thanks to a series of
fights at the downtown transit center, the Rochester-Genesee Regional
Transportation Authority won’t renew its contract with the city school district
to bus students to and from school.
The RTS announcement was followed, predictably, by finger
pointing: at RTS officials, who are accused of pulling the plug abruptly; at
the school district, for unleashing violent students on the public; at RTS and
the district for not being able to work this out amicably; at the mayor (who
has zero control over the transit service and the school district); and, of
course, at the students and their parents.
So now we have another tense deliberation between two public
institutions. And by ostracizing the students, we’ve reinforced the slanderous
public perception that all city students are wild, violent thugs.
Doesn’t anybody want to talk about the fights and why
they’re happening? (Doesn’t anybody see the connection between the transit
center fights and the violence in the Freddie Gray protests in Baltimore?
Between the transit center fights, the Baltimore violence, and the Rochester
riots of 1964?)
These fights aren’t new. Pre-transit center, students were
fighting at the Liberty Pole and elsewhere downtown. In a
shopping mall.In a movie theater. There was a
highly publicized close-down of Seabreeze amusement
park when law-enforcement officials got wind of a fight planned there. And
there continue to be fights in schools. And in neighborhoods.
There aren’t fights every day at the transit center, any more than there are fights every day in city
schools and neighborhoods. But there are fights. And there is Grade A violence, including the recent stabbing of one student by
another in the transit center.
Clearly something has to be done to insure safe public
transportation – for students and non-students. And I’ll bet that RTS and the
school district will renew talks and find a way out of this immediate problem.
But I also bet that then most of the community will forget
about it. And I bet that the fights will just take place somewhere else.
Because to come up with a real solution to
the fights, we have to address their roots – and the roots of the seemingly
almost daily shootings in Rochester’s inner-city neighborhoods. And
nobody wants to do that.
The school district isn’t causing the fights. RGRTA isn’t
causing the fights. The mayor isn’t causing the fights. We can point fingers at
the students and their families, and obviously teenagers shouldn’t fight,
shouldn’t stab people, shouldn’t shoot people. But at
what point do we stop pretending that this has nothing to do with poverty?
The evidence is clear: Decades of concentrated poverty is
having a profound effect on families who have lived in it for generations.
A neighborhood of high poverty and frequent violence has an
effect on residents’ emotional health. It has an effect on their physical
health. It has an effect on their education, on their job prospects. (Among the
latest evidence: “The stress of growing up poor can hurt a child’s brain
development starting before birth,” the journal Nature reported last week,
citing a study by a team led by neuroscientists at Columbia University and
Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles.) Add destructive public policies in
criminal justice, education, housing, wages…. Layer it all with racism….
In the New York Times on Sunday, actor Sonja Sohn of “The Wire,” who worked with Baltimore youth for
five years, wrote of “a hopelessness on the streets of
Baltimore that ran so deep that it seemed to have killed the spirit of the people.”
How many more studies and focus groups and task forces and
calls to action do we need?
We are appalled when we hear about a teacher being assaulted
in school, a bystander waiting for a bus knocked to the ground and injured when
a fight breaks out at the transit center. Are we appalled enough at the
conditions breeding that violence that we’ll do something about it?
This article appears in May 6-12, 2015.
Poverty is such a convenient scape-goat for urban problems. Because of its complexity and ambiguity, no one can be blamed or everyone can be blamed; no one can solve poverty or everyone can solve the poverty.
Depending on one’s perspective, poverty can be described as the root of urban problems or it can be seen as a manifestation or result of urban problems.
Unfortunately, there will never be an end to poverty because there will never be an agreement on what it is , what caused it or how to end it.
One thing for sure is that poverty will be always be a polarizing topic for political debate.
“And nobody wants to do that.”
Including you. I don’t see any of your suggestions here.
If poverty were the primary determining factor in crime statistics, one would think that the U.S. poverty level had plummeted since the 1990s. The level of crime certainly has. Since poverty has not changed all that much, Mary’s claims would seem to be lacking substance. Why not ask if there is a sub culture that accepts crime in some neighborhoods or that the almost complete destruction of responsible parenting in those neighborhoods has something to do with the problems?
I was reading this article and saying, “Yes. Yes. Yes.” Until. . . I came to ” But at what point do we stop pretending that this has nothing to do with poverty?
The evidence is clear: Decades of concentrated poverty is having a profound effect on families who have lived in it for generations.”
Here we go again with a one dimensional answer to a very complex problem. NEWS FLASH! There is no one reason for the numerous problems we see occurring with our youth, especially violence.
I do believe that spending less time on increasing academic rigor and more time on social, emotional and leadership development will give our youth a sense of self-worth, hope and purpose for a future.
Agree with the others. The poverty cry won’t fly and it doesn’t even have weight with the people in the worst conditions themselves. The most glaring example is the schools. Wealthy, primarily white, conservative Republicans and impoverished, minority parents agree that schools need to be firm and fair. We all want politicians and educational leaders to be held really accountable and yet almost no one is. The mayor ran on a platform that promised educational innovation but she has been silent. The same small group of educational leaders control the entire system and they also remain basically silent. This is obvious to everyone including the parents, students and community members that the “leaders” claim to care about. Talk is cheap. It is that simple.
OK Mary Anna. I’ll agree with you. It’s about poverty. But why? Liberals have run the cities and schools for 50 years. The war on poverty has been a failure.
Why do liberals have so little respect for the people that vote for them? Their message and policies do nothing but create despair and dependency. You should be really proud.
“But at what point do we stop pretending that this has nothing to do with poverty?” Give proof, please. Does this mean that the poor can’t be law-abiding? Does it mean that the well-off don’t commit crimes? No and no.
You are right Mary Anna. I had to read it again to get it. Yesterday I drove to R Community Bikes on Hudson to donate a bike. There was a long line out the door for a free bike. A friendly volunteer gave me a short tour. Rows of bikes for sale (they sell refurbished bikes too). I watched 6 or 7 bike mechanics all busily at work. I questioned, “Mostly volunteers?” I’m always suspicious that somebody is making money off of poor people. So, the response surprised me; “All volunteers. Except the guy who runs the place. He gets twice as much as everyone else.” It took me a while to figure out what he was saying.
Its about education. The parents are poorly educated and most have made poor choices. It is very rare for children to naturally exit from their current social class. The children need to work very hard to be something different from their parents. Most believe their parents ideals and beliefs are correct, when they may be very, very wrong. There is no one to discipline the children, because the parent is working or simply doesnt care. Most of these children were poor choices to begin with, but you cant turn back time. I dont know how to turn the tide? But its almost as if these children need to be educated in classes on math, reading, and social structure that will make you a successful person. You dont want school to be jail though, so how do you make these things fun? Is a 12 hour school day the answer? Building these childrens future in science, social grace, and money management? How does that not become jail?
“And by ostracizing the students, we’ve reinforced the slanderous public perception that all city students are wild, violent thugs.”
Seems to me the ones actually reinforcing the slanderous public perception that all city students are wild, violent thugs are the city students that are stabbing and fighting each other on a way too frequent basis.
We on the right always keep in mind that overcoming the obstacles is what makes you stronger.
From the left’s point of view, you should go running to the government (not family) for help at the first pebble in the road. And it’s all down hill from there.
Which point of view is more compassionate?
Has the no winners and no losers in children’s sports finally hit the wall? I hope so
I love how the majority of these comments are opposite of the direction the original writer. I’m sick and tired of people whining about poverty. Take some personal responsibility! My father didn’t graduate HS and I remember my parents searching through the furniture looking for money to buy milk. Both of parents worked hard raising us and setting the tone for my brother and I that nothing is free in life. If you want to be violent, do it against your parents. They are the ones that were too stupid to plan better on having a family. Don’t lash out at people who had nothing to do with your situation. And for those that commit the crime…lets lock them up. Time for our legal system to protect us from the offenders. That’s why we pay taxes. Build a prison in every town if need be!