“ It appears that getting a crowd together for what is supposed to be a celebratory event is very dangerous these days.”
That statement made me think. I remember going to big kegger parties in high school in the early ‘70’s that sometimes exceeded 100 people. One thing you could expect to happen was somebody or a group of somebodies, usually from another high school would discover our gathering and try to start a fight.
That’s where it ended, maybe a couple of minutes of blazing fisticuffs and perhaps we would chase them away, but never, ever did anyone club, cut or shoot anyone, we didn’t need weapons, at 17 you are a weapon.
What’s changed? 2 prominent things…fatherless families and discipline/responsibility.
Yep. And it never felt dangerous.
In Houston in the 80s, 90s and into the 00s, we used to have huge festivals, some that would spread over a few parks downtown with several stages for bands and lots of other events. People of all races attended. Beer, wine and mixed drinks were sold and we never had any problems. As you said, there may have been the odd short-lived fistfight between a couple of folks who’d had a beer or two too many, but even that was rare. We never thought about things like shootouts occurring at one of these.
I don’t know the exact year those festivals stopped, but they don’t have them anymore.