Sunday, September 9, 2007
* Buying Rock, Rule #1
I heard these two arguing over who was going to buy the 'Rock' (Crack) with the money they collected. My guess was from panhandling on Morse Avenue. As we all know, he who has the money, gets the stuff. So, who do you think was bummed out, the guy with the hat or the guy without the hat?
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31 comments:
Why didn't you block the faces of these guys so that we would not be able to identify their race? Your showing their faces enabling us to see their race smacks of racisim. Is this just another ploy to make us think that blacks are the only ones engaged in criminal conduct? And how do you know they were discussing illegal activity? Maybe they were discussing their portfolios. Just wondering.
i'm betting on them being informal students of law, and having a discussion about the finer points of 'possession being 9/10 of the law'
At first, I thought that they might be Loyola students, but Loyola students know to stay away from Morse Avenue.
and if meth dealing could be photographed this easily, all we'd see are white people making the
'headlines'
Big Daddy, There is definitely racism involved, but not where you
think you see it.
National statistics document that the majority of users of illegal drugs, the majority of wholesale distributors, and the majority of point-of-purchase retailers are white. The manner in which these people conduct their illegal business in sparsely populated rural and suburban areas is radically different from the way other people conduct the same business in dense, urban areas of our nation.
One major difference is in how drug transactions are conducted: secret transactions indoors vs. public transactions outdoors. Another difference is in the type of cocaine bought and sold: usually powder cocaine vs. crack cocaine.
The flip side of the coin of busy “open air crack markets” in Chicago and on the streets of Rogers Park, is the bustling powder cocaine business that happens indoors in rural and suburban areas.
Some of us know these facts, many do not. It is worth repeating the fundamental concern in your message: Blacks are not the “only ones” engaged in this criminal conduct. In fact, whites – not blacks –are the majority of drug perps. (In spite of this, our federal and state laws, police practices, and the courts proscribe more serious drug trade monitoring, law enforcement, and stricter sentencing and punishment for those involved in the urban, crack cocaine trade. The result is seen in our courts and prisons, where blacks are the majority of drug defendants and convicts. It’s a fact: urban blacks get hit harder for the same crimes than non-urban whites. That’s another issue, maybe for a different dialogue than this one, but it is related to the issues we face in Rogers Park.)
Having said all that, I disagree that capturing and posting this video was a racist exercise. I disagree that there is a need to hide the race of those involved in drug transactions. (Anyway, covering up the faces of the two men in the video would not prevent racial identification. Anyone can ascertain race by watching the video and looking at the skin color of their arms, hands, heads, and the back of their necks.) These are Black guys, and it is not news to anyone who has lived here longer than a week that Black gangbanging drug dealers have found a safe haven along Morse Avenue. Also, anyone paying attention will also realize that Rogers Park’s Latino gangbangers and dealers primarily use Clark Street as their business office. Shootings have been the result when turf boundaries were violated.
This video shows two men, at least in mid-to-late 40’s. One is trying to take money from the other. Neither you nor I was there, and I believe Craig heard what he reported (their argument about an imminent drug buy), especially since I have had personal contact with of one of these men.
The man with the backwards cap has a multiple arrest and conviction record. He is a well-known thief, hustler, and drug user. Three years ago, I called the police after he was in my back yard trying to steal something. He was charged with trespassing. The judge gave him probation and ordered him to stay away from my home. I’m glad I called 911, signed a complaint, and went to court. But, what do we see? This guy is still doing his thing, currently on Morse Avenue, every day. So, the criminal justice system is not achieving the results we desire. A different intervention is necessary. I’m not an expert, but people who are point to drug addiction treatment (and that can be by court order); education and job training; supervised, transitional housing: etc., etc.
One thing that you did not mention in your response to the video is that we rarely see pictures of who is making these purchases. These “customers” are people of all races and economic incomes. They include next-door neighbors we see every day, including university students. They include the many suburbanites passing through Rogers Park in the morning on their way to work in the Loop (that’s why the drug dealers open shop at 5am!) or drive back through in the evening. They cruise our streets to buy drugs or a prostitute.
Except for high-tech police surveillance sting operations, we rarely see images of the buyers because they are on the move. In contrast, the drug and sex merchants are basically fixed in place so that their customers can always count on where to find them. This is what irks us residents the most. Yet, it takes two willing participants for this drug dance to exist. The buyers should get our anger as well, but we never seem to blame or talk about them. Why?
Finally, I’ll be the first to say that there are innumerable examples of overt, covert, and institutional racism in our society, and surely in Rogers Park. However, rather than charge racism because someone takes a video of Black men in the drug trade, I’d rather our community come together to address solutions to the phenomenon of so many Blacks and Latinos who are caught up in gangs and drugs here as a way to make a living.
Wait, is it possible that we finally have someone here who will debate intelligently without name calling. By golly, I think we do. I agree with most of your post Michael except for a few things. Who says that most drug users are white. Where did you get your figures? I will agree that the money man is white at least 50% of the time, let's not forget that it is the black man who stands on the corner pitching dope. You never see that (ok,ok maybe never is to strong of a word)in a white area. For every white man that brings in kilo's, you have 20 black men standing on street corners pitching. THAT'S why there are more blacks in jail for drug related offenses than whites. You also state and I disagree with your premise, that there is racisim in that the penalty for crack cocaine is more severe than the penalty for powder cocaine. If thats true, maybe thats a good thing. Most black areas that I see are more adversly affected by the use of crack cocaine than are the white areas where powder cocaine is the drug of choice. But I hope you are not suggesting that we lessen the penalty for ANY drug simply because it it more common in one area racially speaking than the other.
mike
"It’s a fact: urban blacks get hit harder for the same crimes than non-urban whites"
"The man with the backwards cap has a multiple arrest and conviction record. He is a well-known thief, hustler, and drug user"
ummm, something doesn't add up
and if you want to know what bd is sarcastically on about, read the 128 comments posted on a similar incident
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9221697&postID=4067781003429668270
Black, white, yellow, green -- who the @#*%! cares?
Prostitution, drug markets on Morse -- who the #$**@! cares?
well, you care enough to try the dry idea to get the 'its' out of there.
after reviewing some of the stats on alchohol related issues/deaths, i'd like to see the whole country go dry.
but like one resident in an apt complex spraying for roaches, it pisses off the adjacent residents because it drives the roaches into their apt.
we've had functional alcoholics running the country since the founding fathers
go with a camel
http://www.ourcampaigns.com/PartyDetail.html?PartyID=38
with donkeys and elephants, one sees the other when they're in the DTs
Big Daddy obviously understands the business world. Many MBAs do professional networking in alleyways, discussing their curricula vitae while waving cash and wearing baseball caps backwards. These gentlemen were just engaging in some high level professional networking. See?
Sparky said, "and if meth dealing could be photographed this easily, all we'd see are white people making the 'headlines'" Hmmm. Apparently meth dealers and their customers are not as stupid as the average crack dealer/customer. Same for cocaine; smart enough not to stand on a street corner or a busy alley selling/buying it. Fucking morons.
how many of you accept as true that crack cocaine was introduced in this country by the cia, who sold it to make off-the-books cash. small planes with weapons, to nicaragua, cocaine back to la.
raise your hand if you hold this statement to be true.
both 'colors', absolutely lost.
but if you watch the program
'cops', you'll see that the cops are equal opportunity discrminators; they bust them all.
and so far, the program
'intervention', has only shown the lost, suburban whites. and not all of them are success stories
I don't know, but the CIA creeps me out. Does anyone know a good book on the history of the CIA. I'm curious to know what we're dealing with.
i'll be proud? to keep mine down, simply because the skeptic in me doesn't buy into conspiracy theories of any nature.
not alien, oswaldian, davincian, skull&bonian et al
here is a blog for you. this guy has been right every step of the way.
http://noquarterusa.net/blog/
google dark alliance. and
Gary Webb: In his own words (2004)
one more-
bill moyers- the secret government. a most excellent look at the iran contra scandal. a good look at what happened, and how. and of course note that all the same people remain in power.
Big Daddy, thanks for your kind response! I also look forward to continuing a mutually respectful and as you said, an "intelligent" dialogue here.
You asked "where did you get your figures." The truth is that I did not have one particular source. This is stuff I already know. My comments were based on many years of community work and reading about these social issues. As a rule, giving a point by point response to your questions would be fine by me, when I have more time to do so.
For now, however, I'd like to point you to some excellent writing and research on this subject. I just did a Google search to find the documentation to support the facts and beliefs I posted earlier. There are hundreds of references and citations that do just that and I can cite them later. Or, you can do a Google search as well (Illicit Drug use, Blacks, Whites, etc.).
Among the hundreds on links I found, there is one very most interesting article on the issues I raised, and it is chock full of footnotes to supportive research. It's on the Human Rights Watch web site at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/
usa/Rcedrg00-05.htm
Here's the lead paragraph:
VII. RACIALLY DISPROPORTIONATE DRUG ARRESTS
The disproportionate rates at which black drug offenders are sent to prison originate in racially disproportionate rates of arrest. Contrary to public belief, the higher arrest rates of black drug offenders do not reflect higher rates of drug law violations. Whites, in fact, commit more drug crimes than blacks. But the war on drugs has been waged in ways that have had the foreseeable consequence of disproportionately targeting black drug offenders.
Read that article, share your thoughts here, and then we can discuss further.
sparky,
that is up to you, but it is a proven fact that conspiracies do indeed exist. especially where there is a lot of money.
you could say that any time your government does anything there is conspiring. just a little pile of unmarked bills. always a nice thing to have.
here's another one- see the movie syriana. watch it twice. it is pretty much true. google Robert "Bob" B. Baer
read john perkins "confessions of an economic hitman" he has a new one, too. very good. real history, not that shit they taught you in high school.
conspiracies: a proven fact?
that might simply be a matter of finding what you're looking for. and when an author is writing about those conspiracies, they also have an eye on a lot of money, because they know what the audience wants
do you know that the most listened to radio talk show was, art bell's, 'coast to coast', and it was primarily about space aliens.
but now, it's about conspiracies
"There's absolutely a growing conspiracy climate," said Noory, explaining the phenomenon of numbers typically unheard of for that time slot. "People are tired of being misled and confused from taking information directly from a government official. After a while, it becomes almost like a pressure cooker that needs to let off steam."
That conspiracy theories have joined the mainstream is an extraordinary phenomenon in itself, according to Michael Barkun, a political science professor at Syracuse University and author of "A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America."
"These kinds of ideas that used to be really out on the fringe and tucked away in a subterranean subculture are now a part of pop culture," said Barkun, who also sees a link between the growing political conspiracy climate and the end of the Cold War."
Barkun also credits the Internet, which eliminates a gatekeeper, as an ideal medium to grow a culture of conspiracy."
"Whether that trivializes the subject matter as simple entertainment or turns it into something more powerful because it reaches a mass audience remains to be seen."
http://www.infowars.com/articles/media/coast_to_coast_am_conspiracy_theories_propel_to_top_10.htm
and if you want to read something on the college level history of america; read howard zinn's
'a people's history of the united states' 1492-present. with the present being 'the 2000 election and the war on terrorism'
Cee Dud, Get a fucking life. It's jag-off's like Natas, Toto and yourself that force most all of the Rogers Park bloggers to use comment moderation.
I've told you a thousand times, GO AWAY. You're not wanted here.
Well, that put a end to that. Now I get the final say.
quoting sources, in the end, is only about 85% likely to be completely true. unfortunately, it is basically impossible to believe or trust anyone, be it a civilian out on the street, or a government official, or "facts" out of a book.
it is well-known that most government "truths" are in some way skewed, so reading something supported by the government will not get you the entire truth. so we don't know the entire truth about anything, statics-wise.
it is also well-know, that authors, because they are human, will let some bias sway their thoughts.
so, no matter what you read, you need to take it with a grain of salt, because there is no guarantee that it is true, in the end.
personally, after hearing about so many large groups, many of them government supported, like the red cross, cheating and stealing from people, i don't trust anyone.
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