<p>Alright, it’s about time we get to the bottom of this with some honesty. So many threads ask “Is such and such University in a bad neighborhood?” Unfortunately, this question often times evokes racist and biased remarks, and even if they’re not blatant, many of them straddle the line between truth and offensiveness. Are black people always behind the meaning of “bad neighborhood?”</p>
<p>To answer your question, “no.”</p>
<p>Definitely not.</p>
<p>I’m black for the record.</p>
<p>Generally, when people say bad neighborhood they are referring to black or hispanic neighborhoods. This is generally because black and hispanic people generally comprise more of the lower socioeconomic classes, thus, more crime, thus worse areas. People try to play it off like no, but in reality yes it is, and until people are willing to admit it, nothing will be done.</p>
<p>So yes, people are generally referring to black/spanish neighborhoods when they refer to ghettos and all, and the white equivalent would be something like a stereotypical trailer park. Sad but true.</p>
<p>Thanks dads for your responses, but why are all the threads of this nature dripping with racially charged content? Sometimes posters say everything but “black people” when describing a certain area. As far as I see it, words like “sketchy,” “crime-ridden,” “bad,” “unsafe,” they seem to be code words to inform the intended audience that there are a high percentage of blacks in the area. I don’t think I’m being at all naive to say what I’m saying. And I too am black hyakku. Nice response though.</p>
<p>When people ask about whether a neighborhood is bad or not, I believe they’re referring to whether or not it’s a SAFE neighborhood.</p>
<p>Yes but ask yourself acinva, what does that entail. You can’t just say safe. You are going to ask yourself crime rates, drug usage, prevalence of drugs, etc, and all these are more prevalent in black/spanish neighborhoods because they are designed that way. Its an endless downward spiral, and people who continue to assert things like this, while meaning good, only cause more harm. We need to see the world for what it is before we can change it.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a racial question. I think it’s an economic one. There are a number of white neighborhoods in the Boston area that I would classify as “bad” based on their crime statistics. There are a number of black neighborhoods that I have no problem with walking around at night.</p>
<p>As acinva says, it’s whether it’s safe, whether one can find an apartment that one would want to live in, etc. But that’s socioeconomic, not racial.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for other posters but in my mind when I think of a ‘bad neighborhood’ I think of attributes you indicated such as crime-ridden, unsafe, etc. but I don’t think of any particular race since it could apply to any race or any mix of races. Conversely, just because a neighborhood happens to be majority Black doesn’t mean it’s crime-ridden or unsafe or a ‘bad neighborood’.</p>
<p>Where I live (and I’m black) there are not enough black people around for the “bad neighborhoods” to be black. There are no black neighborhoods. Socioeconomics do play a role in crime. I read somewhere this is one of five places where the per capita income of blacks is higher than whites. My sister says that because the only two black people are me and my husband and we are both physicians…that’s not true…i know two other black physicians in town…</p>
<p>A “Bad” neighborhood would be one where it is not safe for residents to walk around the block. Not because they might see a drug buy- but be the likely victim of a robbery,the likely victim of getting their car stolen if it is in their driveway, of even being the victim of a drive by shooting.</p>
<p>Notice I said “likely”. My car has been broken into when it was in my driveway, other cars have been vandalized, homes been broken into during the day, but I wouldn’t call my neighborhood a bad neighborhood, in fact it is one of the most desirable in the city.</p>
<p>But a neighborhood where people are so demoralized that they no longer care/interfere/notice, when others are assaulted on the street, where no attempt is made to clean up graffiti, to mend broken windows or pick up garbage, that I would consider a bad neighborhood.</p>
<p>For the record my daughter attends the best ( IMO) public high school in the city and while the principal has told students not to walk on the street to get to the bus stop but to cut through the field, even though the mini mart across the street has open drug deals even when a marked police car is parked on the other side of the lot & even though students are often assaulted for their cell phones/shoes/ipods while walking home, I still wouldn’t consider it a bad neighborhood.
The residents care about the community, many are involved & they take pride in it.</p>
<p>As far as universities go- I know that some schools do make an effort to provide some sort of a bubble for students- in some cities that is more evident than others.
I haven’t ever been to Chicago for example- but my daughter worked with “inner city” youth there while based with an Americorps program at University of Chicago. While UChicago was in a “transitioning” neighborhood, they primarily worked with African American youth, however they took them into an area that was apparently considered Hispanic to do urban beautification projects. ( Americorps workers were from all over the country)</p>
<p>I would also consider a “bad” neighborhood to be one that isn’t welcoming or at least tolerant of others who are not obviously from the “neighborhood”.</p>
<p>We all know the characteristics of a bad neighborhood. The question is what race is usually associated with such a neighborhood? In my opinion, a bad neighborhood correlates with the socioeconomically disadvantaged, which correlates with race. What are the races that have a greater percentage of disadvantaged individuals? The minority races. Thus, naturally, blacks and hispanics will be more prevalent in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, which are more likely to be bad neighborhoods. With that said, a don’t believe a bad neighborhood populated by whites to be any safer or more dangerous than one with mainly blacks because I don’t think that the nature of disadvantaged blacks and whites differs by very much.</p>
<p>no it could mean hispanic area…or white area- just typically its not- its a fact…not a stereotype</p>
<p>You are right, it is a charged question and, in general, ‘bad neighborhood’ does indicate proximity to all-black and all-hispanic–or in other parts of the world–all brown-skin neighborhoods.</p>
<p>No reason to pretend otherwise. The ‘why’ of that state of things is the critical question. That discussion would involve a really really long thread.</p>
<p>You guys (and gals) all make some great points. But, have you checked out some of the student threads? I know many of them are kids (ages 19-22) but that doesn’t make it OK for there to be so much bias in their posts. If it’s not an implication that a city school is in a bad area (Penn, Yale, Columbia…) then it’s a snide remark about an African-American’s chances for admissions. It has gotten so bad that although I’m in college, I’d rather post here, on the parent site. The other part of my thread I should have asked, “What do you think of posters who reply to chance threads with, ‘being a minority will work for you?’”</p>
<p>Glad the parent forum can be a sanctuary for a breather. I find the student threads difficult to read sometimes, when people are so HARD on each other!
Over grades, girls, chances, everything. It sounds like a “rough neighborhood” and I’m scared to go there, day or night ;)</p>
<p>My hope is that after 4 years at a college or university, some students will meet others and have direct experiences with students they never knew from their home communities. That will open everyone’s mind, and it’s the purpose of college to open minds, not reinforce old prejudices.</p>
<p>Also, they might take courses that bring in new thoughts. A course in economics or urban studies might teach someone, at the academic level, about poverty without all the moralizing judgment, as if someone chose poverty. Anthropology will help debunk misinformation about races. Evem poetry and literature can broaden a person’s perspective. Generally, I meet students who emerge from college with only a greater appreciation for diversity, even if they enter unsure. The “it works to be a minority” is a misunderstanding of Affirmative Action, IMHO but also a recognition that diversity is prized when colleges report to USNewsWorldReports. </p>
<p>When students post here, I like it. It reminds me of when our kids wandered into our bedroom at night to chat, just because they got tired of fighting with each other.</p>
<p>I’ve read that Lewiston Maine isn’t exactly the focal point of the Maine Visitors Bureau. Not many AA there. Unfortunately, “bad” neighborhood becomes synonymous with black neighborhood. I don’t know if there’s much that can be done to change that perception in the short term.</p>
<p>Even in the 1980s in mid-crack-epidemic New York I’d hardly have called Columbia in a bad neighborhood.</p>
<p>It would be disingenuous to suggest that the “bad neighborhoods” discussed on CC ad nauseam are not neighborhoods with significant black and Hispanic populations. But it would also be disingenuous to suggest that people are labelling them “bad” solely because they have significant black or Hispanic populations. I don’t think anyone actually cares about what the neighbors look like; they care about their personal safety. Where things get a little dicey is where people “feel” unsafe because of the number of faces-of-color they may see in the vicinity.</p>
<p>As to the other point, it would be disingenuous to suggest, except at a handful of selective colleges, that an applicant who is an “underrepresented minority” does not get some advantage from that. Since many posters here feel aggrieved by that state of affairs, it is often referred to in a resentful or hurtful way. Since many posters here agree that underrepresented minority status should be a positive factor in consideration of a student’s application, that status is often referred to in a way that is not resentful or (intentionally, at least) hurtful at all.</p>
<p>Welcome to life in America. Race is still something of a big deal here. But I am pretty certain it means less now than it did when I was 18, and I have every reason to hope that it will mean even less when my grandchildren are 18.</p>