[For a bit there I wrote for the Chicago Reader. This is a true story about what happened right after we moved into a neighborhood where things were gang-ridden and quite dangerous.]
When I moved into a house on Touhy in Rogers Park, a northside neighborhood in Chicago, I was immediately struck by the neighborhood’s clean lawns and the absence of broken glass and graffiti. Then my 13-year-old son and I took a walk to the Howard el station and I got a lesson in hats.
My son wore an orange hat with its visor pointing to the sky. It was five o’clock, and the streets were crowded with cars and buses. Two men walked toward us. One of them was holding a bat.
There’s a large park near our house with two baseball diamonds. Every morning, I see Park District employees working on it. So I didn’t think anything of the two men until the one holding the bat began swinging it from hand to hand, loosely, as if he were getting ready to strike an object, any object..
When we were 20 feet from him--his bat going from hand to hand--and his partner, I had a sudden mental image of the bat smashing down on a car’s windshield. Then I imagined it hitting a person, my son for example, first against his legs, tripping him, and then against his head.
They stopped directly in front of us. The man with the bat moved it again from hand to hand. Then he asked my son: “You a King?”
“No,” my son answered quickly.
“Good,” said the man. He shifted the bat to his shoulder, as if he were on his way to play baseball.
“Lucky,” said his partner.
Ten feet past them, I asked, “What was that about?”
“They thought I was a King.”
“A King? Like in the gang, Latin Kings?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Probably the hat.”
“The hat?”
“Yeah. The visor’s pointing up.”
“Pull it down.”
He pulled it down and said, “You can’t even wear hats anymore.”
“Sure you can.”
“No. You got to wear it a certain way. Backwards is one gang. To the side means Folks. Another way means Kings.”
“But those were adults. And you were with me.”
“I don’t think it mattered who I was with,” my son replied.
“But grown folks.”
“Oh, they were Folks, OK.”
“I mean grown-ups.”
We caught the train at Howard, ran our errands, and walked home in the growing darkness.
“Can’t walk that way,” my son said, pulling off his hat.
I wanted to cross the street. “Why not?” I asked.
“Those people on the corner are Folks.”
“Put your hat back on,” I said. He did, and stuck the visor to the side.
As we crossed the street I said, “Straighten it.”
“But—”
“Just do as I say.”
We walked past them. My son walked faster. His hat occasioned no remarks.
“Those were Folks,” my son said at a safe distance. “You should have let me keep my hat to the side.”
“There wasn’t a need,” I answered him. I’d seen that they all took off their hats when they saw us coming across the street, which I’d guessed meant there would be no confrontation.
Then I looked at my son’s hat. The visor was pointing at the stars.
| Copyright © 2021 by Michael H. Brownstein Michael H. Brownstein’s volumes of poetry, A Slipknot Into Somewhere Else and How Do We Create Love?, were published by Cholla Needles Press in 2018 & 2019, respectively. |
Back in the 1940s and ’50s, some close friends of my parents lived on Greenleaf, just west of Sheridan Rd and a few streets away from Touhy – and my mother’s sister and her family lived on Lunt, one street to the south of Greenleaf.
ReplyDeleteHeading west, one came to the elevated (“El”) tracks, and just beyond a small business district where Askenaz, a terrific delicatessen, was located, and where loved the Fabled Bagels of my Yesteryear.
All gone, gone, gone by the mid-fifties, as the middle-class elements decamped for the suburbs, and were replaced by folks such as those you and your son encountered.
I was born in Rogers Park, a Chicago neighborhood near the lake. When I moved back into the area as adult, much had changed. The street we moved to into a very old, old house was quiet and safe--quite peaceful. Four blocks away, not so much. If you walked to the lake--a five block walk--no problems. If you went to Morris--three blocks to the south--problems. Howard Street where the train station was--we called it the Howard Line back then--had many problems. You walked directly to the station. Otherwise, you might run into one kind of issue or another. Overall, though, everything was not really dangerous for adults. Teenagers--that was another story. Gangbangers differentiated between adults and teenagers and young men, but if you were with a young man, then they might cast their eye on you. We had a few issues after this story takes place--nothing really serious and we were not harmed at all, but incidents nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteToday, the house we were living in is gone and a large garden is in its place. The homes are still well kept and the street is still safe. Going as few blocks over beginning with Clark and Morse--no, not the same at all.
Rogers Park is trying hard to sustain itself. Property values are rising quickly. When my son recently went to see the house he grew up in (he knew it was gone before he arrived) he was warmly greeted by neighbors who remembered us. We've been out of that area now almost fifteen years. He told me they talked a long time. All is well.
Lest your statement be read as a defense of guns, I offer a slight rephrasing to be read as a condemnation: “I don't say this in condemnation of guns, but it is amazing to think that when everyone has access to a gun, any other person can put a bullet in you any time he pleases, whether you have gotten ‘out of line’ or not.”
ReplyDeleteI will say this for guns: if someone thinks you might be carrying a gun, they are much less likely to attempt to intimidate or threaten you with a baseball bat, no matter what inane neighborhood tradition may be encouraging them to do so.
ReplyDeleteHow would you rate these two opposed ideals:
DeleteIdeal I: No one has a gun, so everyone can feel safe to approach another to converse, to share, to greet, to wish well, to question when thought appropriate or needed.
Ideal II: Everyone has and might now be carrying a gun, so everyone is hesitant to approach another to converse, to share, to greet, to wish well, to question when thought appropriate or needed.
Or maybe a combo?
DeleteNo one has or might be carrying a gun, but everyone believes that others do have – and might be carrying – one?
Ideal I would be great, if Americans would put as more effort into getting along, instead of seemingly devoting every effort toward finding a reason not to get along.
DeleteIdeal II seems dark, sort of a small scale version of the U.S./Russian nuclear deterrent concept, but if it prevents nuclear holocaust - or people having their heads bashed in by baseball bats - then that's a win. It is a shame human nature manifests itself in the negative and aggressive fashion it so often does, but since that is the harsh reality we live in, deterrence can prevent violence and death.
A combo is the world we realistically live in, even if most people don't realize it. Pay close attention when you are in a grocery store or pumping gas, and you learn to spot the subtle but telltale bugle that reveals someone is carrying a concealed weapon. It makes me uncomfortable, because I know most of the people carrying weapons are poorly trained and won't have a clue how to react in a crisis, but someone of criminal intent is less likely to take a chance knowing guns are about - just as the U.S. and Russia are both less likely to do launch nuclear weapons because they know the inevitable outcome.
I don’t think anyone should routinely carry or have access to a gun.
DeleteWe are in the 21st Century not back in the Wild West of the 1700s.
No other “civilised” country has this issue because the first, yes the first, mass shooting of people by a gun holder they change the law so it won’t happen again!
When you have senators etc saying “every time” then you know your country is out of control!
To be in a country where there are 4 times more guns than people speaks volumes.
I don’t care how well trained or how careful an individual claims they are with their guns it’s idiotic.
I’ve fired all sorts of guns in a shooting range etc but to think that regular people have them is mind blowing and dangerousto others - as proven time and time again.
The Constitution was written in an era when man didn’t know better and whilst the majority of the world has grown it appears the USA is still firmly planted 300years behind.
Penelope,
DeleteThere is great merit in most of what you have to say. And the numbers are on your side: The intentional homicide and murder rates in the United States are exponentially higher than in the UK.
There is also the question raised by Michael's article: What exactly are you supposed to do to defend yourself - or your child - from people who are willing to beat you to death with a baseball bat because you wear the wrong hat the wrong way?
Firstly it’s not just the UK but mostly the rest of the World who doesn’t allow “regular” folk to carry/own guns and if they do they are thoroughly vetted and in-depth “searches” into them plus they can only purchase one gun and not an arsenal as they do here! They are also very limited in amount of bullets they can purchase and in many cases if no used shell to exchange then no new bullet!
DeleteThe main issue is social economic disparity! The gap in the USA is much much wider than the UK/Europe indeed its more akin to the levels I’ve witnessed in India! For instance I have never seen someone/family living in a car but are actually working but this is a regular occurrence here in USA - again I’ve witnessed it firsthand.
The biggest issue is racism! The article doesn’t say whether these individuals were black but statistics show that generally “gangs” are predominately black/mixed race. Why would that be?
We all know the answer but no one is willing to admit and do something about it here. Instead it’s deny, deny, deny Its been happening since slaves were brought here and they were the “stupid” ones, the “useless ones” Segregated and put down at every turn.
Yes some rose to the top but for everyone that did thousands were ignored, blocked etc.
No one cares enough to change as the majority don’t need to worry about doing everyday things like driving to work and being arrested or killed just based on the colour of their skin
So until the truth is said out loud nothing will change in the USA Until racism is “ousted” then gangs will continue, guns will still be abundant killing more and more. Until America takes its rose tinted “great” glasses off nothing will change.
I truly do feel I’m living in a movie when reading the news, no wonder Hollywood is based in USA and nowhere else!
Penelope,
DeleteAgain, I can't argue with most of your facts or any of your idealism. The fact that just about anyone in America can possess an assault weapon is an obscene attack on logic and safety.
Hopefully this country does someday modernize its thinking and starts addressing the many inequities you mention. Until that rose-tinted world becomes reality, what are the rest of us supposed to do? Avoid taking our children to our local park because we fear the gang that has claimed it as their turf? Avoid our local greenways because they have become hunting grounds for criminals? Avoid driving through parts of the city we grew up in because the people who have moved in don't want "white people" in "their" 'hood?
Or do we confront the reality we face, rather than the reality we wish existed, and live our normal lives in our normal fashion, going forth knowing we are as prepared as possible for whatever situation might arise?
Isn’t something a lot more radical than “modernizing our thinking” going to be required? Kidnapping or assassinating the ten richest arms manufacturers? The ten most dangerous private militia leaders? The ten U.S. Senators most adamantly opposed to reforming our laws governing the manufacture, sales, possession of guns and particularly of military-grade weapons? Just hypothesizing....
DeleteFirstly we need to start in the home and with the children! Children don’t see ethnicity or colour it’s adults who instill that and many other traits - good and bad- in children’s thinking.
DeleteFor the USA to not do something but to stand still is asking for trouble from any and every colour skinned person.
Everything starts with a small step and if that’s just a letter to your local council or to the POTUS himself highlighting what you feel is amiss or suggesting a change (no matter how small) Showing awareness and care is a huge step to change rather than denying the issues are there and not getting better.
Not doing anything is the reason the USA is in this state! More people need to stand up and be counted! BLM is a classic example of how to openly address this situation but what happened- people (White!) started saying “all lives matter not just black” totally missing the point of the movement!
It appears the “fear” that a black person is equal to a white person cant be true, that a movement to highlight black people can exist is insulting to every white person who voiced “all lives”!
If I had a dollar for every “woke” White person who said this and whom I debated with then I’d be a billionaire! The fact that it’s questioned is racist itself! But black people have also got to take responsibility for their actions however there is such a “low” opinion of them by themselves that it will take many years to get on an even footing but not to do something is going to end in tragedy and sooner rather than later thanks to the last POTUS!
We too in the UK, have areas where it’s deemed not a good place to wander after dark but they’re far and few between as many of out ethnic populations are integrated They didn’t start that way and back in the 1970s there were mainly Pakistani, Ethiopian, Caribbean etc housing estates but that changed slowly over the 70s and by the 90s they existed no more. That’s not to say that there are still groups of the same ethnic groups living n the same area but rather there’s an equilibrium of mixes and each learns and respects from each other.
The USA is in danger of being left behind by the rest of the world. The past year has exposed its ugly side to the world and that’s not a look any nation should be comfortable or happy with
Penelope,
DeleteAfter decades being away, I now live in the house I grew up in and drive many of the same streets I grew up driving. When I was a child my neighborhood was all white families, quite a few of which despised people of a different skin color and did all they could to keep "people of color" out of their neighborhood. Those white people were wrong; I make no defense for them.
Today, we have a different situation. Our neighborhood is almost exactly equal parts white, black and brown, and most of us get along well. But there are at least two black families who make no secret how much they despise having to live around white and brown people - never mind that my white family was living here before their houses were even built, and several of the Latino families were here well before the two black families. It may be politically correct to make excuses for the racist beliefs of these black families, but I would no more do that than make excuses for the racist white families I grew up around.
Where I used to live in North Carolina, the city, state and fed combined to create one of the largest subsidized housing developments in the country. Its purpose was to provide quality housing to people who could not afford it, thereby introducing them to a higher standard of living and encouraging them to achieve in life. The city also ran a wonderful greenway along the edge of that development. In short order gangs from the subsidized housing development started attacking, robbing - and in some cases raping - people who dared use that section of the greenway: not the greatest thank you for being given a decent place to live.
My point is that the U.S. seems to struggle to integrate compared to what you say is the great success you've had in the UK, and it seems to come from all sides: white, black and brown. I don't know what drives the American mindset and the violence that stems from it, but from exponentially higher murder rates to issues of race, Americans just don't seem to want to get along with each other. You outline some steps that may someday help change that, but until then, when I take my son to our gang-claimed park, I have to be prepared for what might happen, rather than just hoping something won't happen.
And that’s sad that you can’t go to the park without being “on edge”.
DeleteI’d like to go back to your statement about the affordable housing etc. Giving people a better standard of home will only work if they can maintain that standard and that means having the same opportunities, encouragement etc from all involved in those lives.
The race issue in the USA is deep and goes back hundreds of years and despite the Civil War and the Abolishment of Slavery it was never fully embraced- particularly in the Southern States- and it still exists today in many, many people. I’ve said many times that I find it shocking that as late as the 20th Centuray the USA still had segregation so why are you surprised at the vitriol shown by black people towards whites?
This is a WHITE issue, created and perpetuated by white people and now black people have formed their own prejudices. Why should they be thankful for anything - other than they’re still “free” in the 21st Century?
All prejudice is damaging no matter the skin colour. I’ve experienced firsthand being berated and intimidated by a black woman, it’s scary, so imagine generations of it.
I read how the USA was outraged that the Emperor of Japan had still not apologised to the USA for bombing Pearl Harbour etc so imagine how 20% of the population of the USA feel at their treatment for generations just because the colour of their skin.
There is no “quick fix” or indeed any fix if people do not acknowledge their own part in this. It’s going to be a very hard road but it is one that must be travelled if this nation is truly going to be, not just a United States but a GREAT USA.
I was brought up in the uk so have zero experience of this intense level of “ganglife” of adults.
ReplyDeleteWe as kids had gangs but rarely did it enter in the realms of “turfs” and the oldest participant was 11!
We did have Greasers and their opposites-Mods! Greasers had bikes and Mods had scooters. It was more about fashion than violence- although there were skirmishes but mainly at beaches!
My first awareness of “grown up” gangs was West Side Story which seemed wasteful in the sense they could’ve just done away with the fighting and just “made sweet love”!
Groups of friends are not gangs but somehow in the USA that’s how they took it.
I’m learning more and more about American “thinking” everyday!
And thank you, Penelope, for joining Paul and others here in attempting to enlighten American thinking. Let’s be a force!
DeleteMoristotle,
DeleteThat is some interesting hypothesizing. If you looked into that plan, I'm guessing you would be shocked at the overlap between arms dealers, pro-gun legislators, the most powerful militias - and leadership of the U.S. military and our law enforcement, from local to federal. Some of that overlap has been revealed in the statistics about the group of domestic terrorists who attacked the Capitol on January 6, and more is likely to come out - although powerful legislators and the heads of various agencies will no doubt succeed in keeping their involvement out of the headlines.
The problem in going after the people you mention, is it is much like going after organized crime here or drug cartels in other countries. Criminals have money, lots of money, and that generally enables them to be interconnected all the way to the top of the very law enforcement agencies and political institutions that are supposed to be keeping those criminals in check.
Taking private campaign contributions completely off the table and funding campaigns solely by a government agency might make a change, but corruption and under-the-table payments to politicians have always been part of life in America, so I don't know that it can ever be changed.
Thank you, everyone, for this great discourse. There really is no need for guns on the streets, concealed carry, etc. Nonetheless, this country's highest court has ruled any gun law is an abridgement of the freedom to own guns. I now live in Missouri with the new nickname "The Shoot Me State". St. Louis is now at the number one spot for violence, not Chicago (though Chicago gets a lot more publicity).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks for the great debate and great comments.
Michael, your mention of our freedom to own a gun provoked the following thought: the “original intention” of the generation who gave us our Bill of Rights was that citizens were free to own a musket or an American long rifle! Far from a modern military assault weapon, a musket or a 1790s long rifle in the hands of everyone who wanted to own one would be relatively safe. And arms manufacturers could still make, distribute, and profit from them! Photo of an American long rifle in this Wikipedia entry: link here
DeleteAnd they were supposed to be members of a well trained militia. Somehow that part of the amendment got lost in the reading:
DeleteA well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Michael,
DeleteIn addition to my comments here, your excellent "A Lesson in Hats" article prompted me to write an entire article in response, which I assume Moristotle will be publishing at a future time.
That said, speaking as a liberal leaning moderate, I am as wary of liberals suggesting themselves as "constitutional experts" and putting a southpaw spin on their view of how the rest of us should see the world, as I am wary of Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, et al, doing the same thing from their right wing perspective.
Does the entire "guns rights" argument hinge on the founding fathers' choice of a comma in the amendment you quote, whereas a semi-colon would have clarified the matter? If so, it is amazing to think that the future of civilization as we know it might hang on a matter of punctuation.
Alas, isn't that what almost brought down President Clinton?
DeleteIt's one thing to own a gun in a town where guns are not needed--a totally other matter when you live in a town that's not safe from either gun toting thugs or the so called armed good citizen who may be more dangerous with his gun than the criminal.
How many times in history was a pause turned into a sign of weakness?