A construction detour took me from my usual route today and I saw a part of town that I have never traveled before.The detour was caused by City crews working on new brick-paved sidewalks and enlarged, landscaped median strips.
I am embarrassed to admit that the minute I saw black bars on a store-front window, I checked to make sure my car doors were locked. There were lots of steel bars on lots of windows. Each building I passed was more run-down than the one next to it. Many business names looked handpainted and the rest of the building, unpainted. Torn, dirty curtains indicated some residential living above Tom's Tavern, King Pawn Shop, and Tatoos to Go.
Lots of people milled about. A large group of men were huddled under a tree reminding me of a herd of cattle shading themselves from the sun. Young men with dark, furtive eyes, peered out from under stained hoodies as they scurried from one corner to the next and engaged in brief conversations followed by even briefer transactions. Men just 'hanging out' lifted brown papered beverages to their lips as they watched the 'local' girls strut up and down the street displaying their wares for sell.
I asked myself, "When do these people work? Do any of them have jobs?" Are the women as afraid to walk here as I am to drive here? Mothers were waiting at bus stops, one child in their arms and the other holding on to the hand of another.
As I'm dodging the cones of construction, I feel a rage welling up in me.
New sidewalks? New median strips? Huh?
How about some job opportunities? Some paint and free building materials? How about some free daycare so parents could look for employment? For God's sake, how about some covered bus stops or a cleaning crew to wipe the profanity from the walls? What about a clinic or an adult education center? Is this too much to ask? Do City officials really believe new brick sidewalks and landscaped medians will better the lives of these people?
We all like pretty things, but pretty doesn't make poverty and oppression go away or look any better.
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