"Ever been to a housing project or a Section 8 home lately? Most of them are trash. I figure if these people stay long enough at the Astrodome, they'll trash it too."
Yes, actually. I live close to a project and around many Section 8 homes. Do you? Part of the reason there's so much trash around is that the City doesn't bother to do clean-up here very often. And yes, another part of the reason is that many people don't respect their environment or, for that matter, themselves. But it sure doesn't take a bunch of poor black people to trash a sports stadium. Ever been to one after a game?
"Yes, actually. I live close to a project and around many Section 8 homes. Do you?"
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I live within a ten mile radius of 12 projects and there are three Section 8 homes within a block of my home (far more in the municipality in total). I grew up almost next door to one of the projects. Most of the ones in my neck of the woods were built right after WWII. They were meant to be temporary housing for GIs returning from the war who wanted to marry and start a family, but they didn't have enough money for a home of their own. I grew up with many of the children who lived in that project and when I was a kid, it was no big deal to visit those children in their neighborhood. The homes were clean, neat and tidy, and you didn't have drive-by shootings, robberies, rape, drugs and all the other stuff you have now. Most of the residents had jobs, but even if those jobs weren't that well paying, they took pride in their homes and kept them immaculate. They also had strict rules they had to abide by. Trash your place or cause trouble, and you were out on your ear. Then came welfare rights and court-ordered reversals of tenant rules and regulations. These projects had to take in anyone -- didn't matter if your neighbor was a rapist or drug addict or murderer, or his unit was a mess -- he had the "right" to live next door to you. Before long the whole project deteriorated into ruin. Now, I wouldn't go through one of these projects even in the daytime. The children from the projects I grew up with -- they moved away as soon as they graduated, and as soon as they could, they got their mothers and other family members out of there as well.
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"Part of the reason there's so much trash around is that the City doesn't bother to do clean-up here very often. And yes, another part of the reason is that many people don't respect their environment or, for that matter, themselves."
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I would say that the MAJOR problem is that the residents themselves do not take care of the properties they have. Sure the local government should sweep the streets. But it should not have to clean your housing unit for you. The three Section 8 houses in my neighborhood -- they are in abysmal condition. All three of them -- the front doors are barely hanging on. One of the houses caught fire a couple of years ago. It was already trashed before the fire. The house was restored and remodeled late last year, but in about eight months' time, the front door of this house is hanging off the hinges and the yard is full of trash.
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"But it sure doesn't take a bunch of poor black people to trash a sports stadium. Ever been to one after a game?"
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Unfortunately, you will have litter after every public event. Seems children are no longer taught to put their trash in a proper receptacle anymore. But trash after a sporting event is nothing compared to the destruction I've seen in the projects and Section 8 houses. You're comparing apples and oranges here.
I have never understood the argument that the city is responsible for your neighborhood being free of debris and trash...you see in my neighborhood people are fined for having debris and trash sitting around, when there is trash along the street, someone (anyone) picks it up.
As for stadiums being trashed after a game...(the insinuation being by the rich white fans I am assuming?) You are comparing the trash left behind by fans (who paid to get in, and the cleanup cost are included in the ticket price) to what happened in the Super Dome? And I am curious, how many evacuees are volunteering to clean up the bathrooms, help serve meals.
As for Barbara Bush, I think she is a very intelligent, kind hearted, well meaning woman. People need to turn off their "I am going to turn everything into a race issue" stance.
I'm sorry to say that my sister lives in public housing. Let me tell you how it REALLY works. Because she is the cleanest person that I know, compulsive really, the managment asked her to keep the grounds clean and pay her a small amount to do so. She spends about 2 hours DAILY doing this. Every morning she wakes up and it is like starting over. She made some mistakes early in her life and has been in housing for several years. THE TRUTH is that these families are GIVEN everything and have NO respect for property, no respect for neighbors and no respect for authority. You simply do not take care of things that you do not earn and it is passed from generation to generation. I see able bodied men in and out of that place, I see single moms with different men coming in and out. Dont bother telling me that these are folks down on their luck. They are in the same school district that I graduated in. Also, when my mom had her anuerysm my brother moved to that area and had a job THE DAY that he moved there. He has a HS ed. just like me but there is work. One other thing...THE CITY doesn't clean my property either. I just dont trash it (well, when I had a home, anyways)
You stated "Yes, actually. I live close to a project and around many Section 8 homes.
Part of the reason there's so much trash around is that the City doesn't bother to do clean-up here very often."
How about they clean up after themselves. After all, how many of them have a job? If they just sit at home anyway , they should dlean up after themselves and their neighbors. Why are people always expecting others to clean up after the welfare dependants? That's part of the problem. Let them care for themselves for once and stop expecting others to do for them.
You know I'm sick and tired about people complaining that they live around trash. If you don't like it, why don't you go out and pick it up? I do that in my neighborhood, why don't you? Why wait for some city group to do it for you?