i can;t remeber the titel........

I will keep my GUNS, my FREEDOM, my MONEY, you can keep the CHANGE

You know it's a funny thing but I've just been browsing through archived Antioch news stories. Read about gang fights at both high schools. Robberies and fights at the old drive-in and various bars in town. How about someone murdered, wrapped in a rug and thrown off the back of a truck on Hwy 4. Lots of crime throughout Antioch. All of this before the turn of the century. Long before the influx of Section 8 or as you seem to believe, that undesirable element from the west. My point being that there may be more crime but that's also a result of Antioch growing as fast as it has without the proper infrastructure in place. I agree there are quite a few criminals in our area that hapen to be black but unlike you I also know that there are just as many that happen to be other colors as well - including white. It just seems that they are hardly reported unless the crime makes national news. Then conveniently those like you have a short term memory and seemingly forget those crimes by whites while every crime committed by a black person has a cumulative effect. That's a problem.

You want to assign blame for this morass to Section 8 and this is one reason why I think that those that think like you won't ever be able to figure out a solution for Antioch's woes because you have no idea what the real problem is nor do you really care. Just as (you believe) no one can point a finger at you and you can feign a superiority complex because your 'race' has nothing to do with the ills of the world. Unfortunately you are suffering from a serious rectal-cranial inversion and need to see the light so that you can become the best you can be.

Don't worry. I'm not calling you racist, red neck or trailer park trash. Just misinformed. If you feel your comments are well thought out and you have the pulse of the community, then God bless you. I'll leave you to your fantasy.

You laugh, but whites who were rich and poor, took advantage of the section 8  program in the 50's. At that point in time, no blacks were receiving section 8 benefits. To be honest is your mom's house a section 8 house she got back in the day. LOL

I certainly agree there is corruption in this program as well as nearly every program, private or public, that we have institutionalized.  There is always a balance between cost of oversight and cost of the loss.  We could have a county worker assigned to every section 8 recipient that follows them around to be sure they are not cheating the system, but I think we would all agree that would be too much government.  I would like to see an analysis of how much is misappropriated versus how much is spent in oversight and what the benefit would be to add additional oversight.  I honestly don't know where that would fall- perhaps we are better off investing in more agents to check up on this type of program, but my gut says that would be a difficult return.  I share everyone's frustration with fraud, abuse and corruption and it is rampant .  I know of families who receive government assistance for necessities but somehow have cash for luxuries. (I see cell phones as the single biggest example of this).  I just think perhaps that is the cost of doing business in a society where we value every individual and believe in inalienable rights.  That is not to say that we do not have a collective responsibility to try to make it better.

There are literally hundreds of people in our community who are trying to help by looking at the kids in poverty or near poverty and doing what we can to help raise them up so this cycle does not continue for another generation.  I choose to do that through education, others do it through youth programs like PAL and others do it through direct intervention.  I really think the only way we can solve this problem is to help teach the youth that there are alternatives and give them the resources they need (and may not receive at home) to make better decisions than those that have come before them.

I wonder if the Times, or some other institution would be interested in compiling a live resource giving community members access to all of the local businesses, non-profits and government agencies that need volunteers, donations or other types of support.  If we could all spend just a portion of the energy we spend feeling outraged on trying to make a difference, I bet we would see some really amazing work done right before our eyes.

I'll keep my freedom and the change.

Fix, I am referring to processes city officials such as the APD (CAT) and AUSD have tried to put in place but have been hindered because some of the individuals that have been singled out can and have claimed that they are victims of bigoted and even racist attitudes throughout the community and that has to corrupt these processes leaving them in unfair situations. Whether true or not it changes the focus of the cases and the APD and AUSD are backpeddling trying to defend themselves against these accusations. So instead of dealing with the real issues of actual system cheats and abusers, unruly kids and real law breakers, we're stuck settling lawsuits because there are lawyers savvy enough to spin a case in such a way. All because our unenlightened citizens would prefer to try and blame one group for all of the city's ills.

Which brings to the link you provided from the Chronicle in SF. I thought it was a good article on how they were able to reduce violent crimes. No where did it mention Section 8 as a root cause. No where did it point to Blacks in general as the problem. It mentioned some "African-American gangs" but it did not stigmatize an entire race and cast blame. Fair reporting.

Deputy Chief Kevin Cashman said police concluded that a small segment of the population is responsible for a large share of violent crime, and that taking those people off the streets is leading to the drop not only in homicides but in violent crime across the board. - SF Chronicle.

That is a fair and accurate statement. I believe the APD could take the same approach and have the same type of success once they can get from under the cloud of unnecessary blanket statements and pseudo-facts that some are all too willing to throw out there. In order for them to get there, they have to be above reproach. That's not going to happen if the community is viewed as unfair to some because your government agencies are always viewed as a reflection of the community.

As for Tom with the misleading DOJ statistics, I'll refer you to Iris and this page from DOJ stats for 2007 in Contra Costa County...  http://stats.doj.ca.gov/cjsc_stats/prof07/07/22.htm

I'm not a big proponent of these stats but my only point is to show that there are a lot of people committing crimes and they come in all shapes, sizes, colors and genders. Keep the focus there and we'll resolve these issues a lot quicker.

Good for him. Ask him what makes the grass grow/ BLOOD ! BLOOD ! BLOOD!

HAHA... Good times.

Fix, I am still trying to get a handle on where you're coming from. Some of your statements have validity. Then you revert and come at us with... "and if we left the blacks in africa, you would be a spearchucker with aids". What am I going to do with that? Obviously you are very conflicted with this chit-chat and how to present your views but let's be clear, that's an extremely bigoted slur. I know you don't like tips but here's another... if you wouldn't say it in mixed company (or around your black friends), you shouldn't say it here. I really understand your frustration but I can't hear you when you choose to come at me like that. Other than that, congrats to your son.

Now Sugamommi, to be fair, there are some things you say that I can agree with but a lot of your points have me wondering. At this point in time do you really think it's fair to blame all whites for all that is wrong in the black community? Should we be rationalizing the actions of the criminal element in our community today by stating it's an outgrowth of slavery, jim crow and "the man" holding us back yesterday. This is why we can never get past the dialogue stage of correcting these problems. We (Blacks) hang on to our baggage and they (Whites) hang on to theirs and we never find common ground.

I would venture a guess that these criminal minded indivduals have very little knowledge about the history of their people. They most likely are not even concerned. They just want to get through the day and do some damage to someone, you and I included. A criminal is a criminal is a criminal. Some may be misguided youth but once they start commiting criminal acts, they need to be dealt with accordingly. If there are a lot of criminally minded individuals - who happen to be black - out there doing dirt, then they should be taken off of the streets because, frankly, they present the most immediate threat to my family and me because they might be in my neighborhood and I want a crime free environment to live in. Don't tell me that the evil they do is because their ancestors were bought over from Africa 400 years ago. Don't tell me it's because there was a blurb in the Constitution about being 3/5 of a person over 200 years ago. Don't tell me it's because their great great great great grandparents were raped, beat, hung and worked to death 150 years ago. Don't tell me they know who Plessy or Ferguson is and they're acting out as an effect. Don't tell me they remember the Roseville Massacre, The Scottsboro Boys, Emmit Till and countless others that were lynched, Those four little girls in the church or anything that had to do with the civil rights movement. They most likely don't nor do they care. As a matter of fact I believe they desecrate the memories and piss on everyone who has been able to rise above that and achieve something in this world. The playing field has been fairly even for the last couple of generations if you want to get in the game without your baggage. There is no reason for some of these knuckleheads to do what they do other than they prefer sociopathic behavior.

Like I said before, as soon as we can get past the bs, we can deal effectively with the real problems. Correcting Section 8 (or the HCV program as 4Antioch has corrected us) and reducing crime in general.

hey fix it seems as if we have a few veterans on here including me i served 10 yrs in the us navy i served in the gator navy which deals with amphibious warfare ie: troop transport,assault boats and ship to shore operations with marines,if your son is curious about this type of duty or has questions send them my way. there is an old saying in the core and it goes( 0311,anything else is just support) he may soon learn this ask him if hes heard it. jerry