My Personal Experience With Racism
Way back when I was 17 years old I met this gorgeous chick who went out with me. She came from the former projects in Bethlehem where she and her family just arrived from Puerto Rico. Her family arrived poor and mother made the dress she wore when she went out with me. A few days later her Hispanic neighbors confronted her, her parents and me when I went to visit. Us both being young never considered for a moment this would have been an issue. To make a long story short we were both naive and experienced what racism was like for the first time. This was the first in what would become several instances where I was on the receiving end of reverse racism.
I once trained a new coworker who was hired from a mostly Hispanic production faculty. She told me how the people training her refused to speak English nor sit with her at breaks.
A friend of ours is married to a Hispanic. Guess what happens nearly every single time they go to an airport, drive somewhere or go to a restaurant.
What I learned over the years is racism is alive and well and continues to exist. Face it Puerto Rican-Americans are most comfortable with others of their kind. Same goes with both the Asians, Middle Easterners, blacks and whites. Anyone who gets too comfortable crossing those boundaries are apt to find themselves in uncomfortable situations. That's the reality everyone attempts to shy away from.
In my own case early on I've never gave it a thought but as the years passed (as a white person) I had several bad experiences. Unfortunately in the "real world" there's just as much prejudice among one group of people as another. We can pretend it doesn't exist but in all reality little has changed over my lifetime.
As far as Allentown goes it always had lots of culturally divided neighborhoods. There's nothing wrong with that. The difference is residents of old came into these neighborhoods looking to stay. They made a long term commitment for they and their families safety. Today's problems arise from broken families drifting through for a few years or months never intending to stay. Still others who drift into town looking to make trouble.
How Can We Fix This?
Well it sure isn't by providing massive cheap rentals. Nor by relying on cops to clean up the mess of these failed policies. The answer lies in attracting married couples & families who wish to find a peaceful community in which to raise a family long term like we all once did.
* Anything that holds landlords accountable for the type of people they rent to would be a start. Unfortunately too many absentee landlords (investors outside the city) hold deeds to these multi unit formerly single family homes. Three unit formerly single family homes' property taxes ought be adjusted accordingly.
* Legislation should be enacted that require landlords to kick out those who commit felonies even forbidding them from relocating within the city elsewhere.
* Legislation that would reduce property taxes the longer someone owns a home would be helpful.
I'm not going to go on and on, but the point is black, white, yellow or green... even if we can't all get along we should at least all want the same peaceful neighborhoods despite our ethnic cultural differences. Can we all not agree on this?
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