Being White in Philly

Philadelphia Magazine ^ | March 2013 | Robert Huber

[The people have spoken]

Subtitle: Whites, race, class, and the things that never get said.

My younger son goes to Temple, where he’s a sophomore. This year he’s living in an apartment with two friends at 19th and Diamond, just a few blocks from campus. It’s a dangerous neighborhood. Whenever I go see Nick, I get antsy and wonder what I was thinking, allowing him to rent there.

One day, before I pick him up for lunch, I stop to talk to a cop who’s parked a block away from Nick’s apartment.

“Is he already enrolled for classes?” the cop says when I point out where my son lives.

Well, given that it’s December, I think so. But his message is clear: Bad idea, this neighborhood. A lot of burglaries and robberies. Temple students are prime prey, the cop says.

[...]

At the same time, white Philadelphians think a great deal about race. Begin to talk to people, and it’s clear it’s a dominant motif in and around our city. Everyone seems to have a story, often an uncomfortable story, about how white and black people relate.

[The people have spoken]

This is the article that Mayor Nutter thinks has a "disgusting" tone.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

I have become a “cultural” racist when it comes to blacks.
thomas sowell, Ben Carson, Col allen West....no problem.

Blacks on the street ...forget it.

[Chickensoup]

I read the article, I wanted to copy and send it to a few people and file it but I cannot get it to copy and it looks like the gestapo will work to get it surpressed.

[Steely Tom]

Part of the “conversation on race” that Eric Holder says we’re too cowardly to have.

[hulagirl]

It’s payback time for Whitey, I’m not sure how it can be prevented.

[yldstrk]

I am a Caucasion woman, I do not talk to men, only women. But the men think I am a soft touch and are always heading my way for help or whatever. I just walk right past them. Totally ignore them. When I walk downtown or in the courthouse in the elevator, I keep to myself and avoid all that mess.

[Right Wing Assault]

Odd that you can’t get it to copy. Have you tried highlighting only the text of the article, copy, open word processor, paste.

I just copied that first page that way with no problem.

After you get all 5 pages or whatever, save the document and send it as an attachment.

[Chickensoup]

It crashes my Word every single time. Can you post it to the thread?

[Fred Hayek]

I attended college in Newark, NJ (Newark College of Engineering). Sometimes I would take the Amtrak to Philadelphia (the Amtrak ticket was cheap then). While looking out the window when approaching the North Philadelphia, I saw some city blocks that looked like Dresden after the bombing.

[MachIV]

One round of 00 buckshot at a time, in self defense of course.

[Lancey Howard]

Part of the “conversation on race” that Eric Holder says we’re too cowardly to have.

Yep. And this author was indeed taken to the woodshed by black readers. The article came out a couple of weeks ago or so, and a critique by a local black agitator quickly followed, and that was promptly followed by a very defensive twitter feed hosted by the magazine's editor. And then there were the "letters to the editor", lol.

It's all pretty hilarious. The author (a regular writer for the magazine) should have known better. Sure, he tried his hardest to be politically correct throughout his article, but then he goes and relates true facts and quote actual stories from white people. What a clown.

A white person has to be a moron to talk honestly about race.
The moral of the story? Just shut up, keep your distance, and watch your back.

[bmwcyle]

I work up in Philly from time to time. It not a safe place to travel.

[Chickensoup]

actually I think he is brave,

[Chickensoup]

actually I think he is brave,

[popdonnelly]

If it’s going to be suppressed, that’s a good reason to copy it.

[popdonnelly]

All the problems are caused by white Americans going into black neighborhoods and acting up. /s

[Fightin Whitey]

Gee you sound sweet. Can I get you anything?

[Secret Agent Man]

there’s a difference between urban ferals and those that escaped the urban war zone/plantation.

[JoeProBono]

Temple University - My Alma Mater

NORTH PHILADELPHIA - November 14, 2012 (WPVI) -- Philadelphia police are warning Temple University students to be careful around campus. Armed robbers have been targeting people in the area over the last few days.

Action News spoke with several students who say they received an advisory Wednesday morning from the school warning them of the armed robberies. Police say the robberies are taking place off campus in some of the areas where students live.

On Sunday around 8:30 a.m. two Temple University students were walking along the 2000 block of N 18th Street when a man approached them. He held a gun to one of their faces. A 21-year-old woman handed over her cell phone; the other woman, a 22-year-old, handed over her purse, which had her ID and debit cards inside. The man then fled down 18th Street.

Roughly 12 hours later, around 8:15 p.m., a 19-year-old student was walking along the 1600 block of West Edgely Street. A man pointed a gun at him and ordered him to the ground, but nothing was taken.

Then around 6:00 Monday evening another student was robbed at gunpoint on the 2100 block of N. 16th Street. The 18-year-old had been walking from her nearby home when a man appeared with a large, black semiautomatic handgun and pointed it at her head. He then fled east on Diamond Street with her cell phone.

Police say the latest victim's cell phone does not have tracking capabilities, and the cell phone in the first case had been turned off.

Ray Betzer of Temple University tells Action News, "The city came to us and said we think there may be a pattern here. And whenever there is a pattern we want to make sure our students are aware of it."

A couple students say they were not surprised to hear of these robberies, but will use extra caution.

Sophomore Alexa Bury responded to news of the robberies by saying, "I wasn't too shocked because we do live off campus at Temple."

"It's a part of city life," explains sophomore Dylan Ernst.

[OldPossum]

I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, in the 1940s and 1950s. The city was divided in half: whites on one side and blacks on the other. They had little to no interaction.

Did I miss something?