GREENSBORO, NC -- City Council approved a downtown curfew for minors last night 6 to 3. Ed Cone has a great digest. I could not help but notice the number of times proponents of the curfew justified it by saying how they or their acquaintances were feeling "uncomfortable" downtown. Yes, the unfamiliar can be uncomfortable but, for Pete's sake, is passing laws that banish people who are making you uncomfortable an enlightened way to set public policy? No. It is a small-minded approach to baking up some tasteless white bread.
Particularly notable from last night was council representative Robbie Perkins saying that it was really a perception problem and that facts did not support the new ordinances before he voted for the new ordinances.
Here is a woman who lives downtown speaking from the floor against the proposed ordinances. I thought she made some good points:
Bonus
Greensboro's history of curfews: 1969 and 1979.
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Yeah, must be a crap thing if you have teens or young adult living with you and your residence is in that shiny new blue building.... (or other)... It's crazy to think that just a couple years ago we were considering buying business and residential property downtown, and it was initially the crime of the entire city (not just downtown) that persuaded us that Greensboro wasn't the right place for our investments.... to think that if we did, our children when they got older would be under Sharia law or something... geesh... I can't wait to see the court battle on this with some rich Northwest student.... oh it's going to be grand!!!
ReplyDelete"I can't wait to see the court battle on this with some rich Northwest student.... oh it's going to be grand!!!"
ReplyDeleteI'd put money on it that there are already attorneys scheming with someone to find a 17 year old with a legitimate reason to be downtown at night who will cooperate with being "arrested" for curfew violation just to get a civil rights case in the judicial pipeline.
Greensboro, please remember that any settlement will include attorney's fees which are sure to strung out and dragged on for as long as possible.
I'm waiting for the nineteen year-old who gets detained because he could not produce proof of age.
ReplyDeleteI'M waiting for the police officer who is too busy writing out a citation for a curfew violator to help the lady getting her purse snatched two blocks away.
ReplyDeleteReally bad ideas make really, really REALLY bad laws.
I can't be the only one who believes that there is at least a bit of underlying racism in this new curfew law.
Just like there was a nasty undercurrent of bigotry when Scarfone announced his new club would play only pop or modern rock music. Not that sketchy hip-hop stuff because, well...you know.
No city in America can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like Greensboro, NC.
A guy I know is in prison right now for snatching a lady's purse downtown. (Previous offender.) He's white. My under-18 year old kid isn't allowed downtown at night. Not because of curfews or color. Because of crime. And there's a whole lot more than gets reported.
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