RE: [Caution: Message contains Suspicious URL content] Re: [longview-park-community-watch] Fear Promotes Violence

I’m glad you sent the email. When I sent a previous email on a different subject, on I think the CAC thread, I made a distinction between renters and owners and it was one of those things in which I immediately felt like a jerk-off after I sent it. I was talking about the rental units in which the landlord is nowhere to be found, the tenants come and go and the place gets trashed and no one cares. But immediately after sending it I thought “crap all the people on my block who are renting are going to hate my guts” and I almost sent out an apology email but I thought that would be insulting as well. So for the record, I’m sorry I made such a jackass comment. I think there are a lot of divides in this neighborhood and people respond very differently to situations in the neighborhood based on their own experience. I think Alice’s point about how we perceive a girl going down the street to get points for her school is an illustration of that. How dogs are perceived is another. Some of it’s about race, some of it’s about economics, but really I feel like a lot of it has to do with how hard it actually is to be truly tolerant of your neighbors and not choose to live amongst people who are just like you. I don’t want to live in some planned community with a bunch of people who look and talk like me. But sometimes that means I’m going to offend or be offended by someone because we all come from different places. One of the things that bothers me (and I’m putting myself out here to have everyone jump on my butt so feel free) is how argumentative, passive-aggressive or critical these threads can get. It’s not fun when someone disagrees with me or says something I don’t like, and I want to react defensively, but I try not to. Alice’s point is valid. Matt’s fear is valid. I think we have the ability to talk about both sides without getting defensive or making sharp comments about some kid we don’t even know. I’m sorry to take up so much time on this subject, but there is no way we can go forward as a community if we can’t talk productively about difficult things. Thanks - Elise From: longview-park-community-watch(a)googlegroups.com [mailto:longview-park-community-watch@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Doyle, Alice Sent: Monday, July 30, 2012 4:15 PM To: 'longview-park-community-watch(a)googlegroups.com' Subject: RE: [Caution: Message contains Suspicious URL content] Re: [longview-park-community-watch] Fear Promotes Violence Matt, Actually, this is Alice (Stevens Road), Donald and I use the same account and its always me commenting. And to your reply, I was primarily commenting on the Door to Door stream of emails about the young girl whom folks called the cops on while out pointing for her school. From: longview-park-community-watch(a)googlegroups.com [mailto:longview-park-community-watch@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of matt ramey Sent: Monday, July 30, 2012 3:52 PM To: longview-park-community-watch(a)googlegroups.com Subject: [Caution: Message contains Suspicious URL content] Re: [longview-park-community-watch] Fear Promotes Violence I'm not sure what your point is Donald? No one is "promoting fear"...we are concerned for our community due to a spike in break ins (especially on my block). Of the 2 houses robbed, one was a renter, one was a homeowner. I'm not sure how that factors in, or if anyone has made an implication regarding that fact. I don't care if people rent or own, I don't want break ins becoming a common occurance in our community. And we all need to play a part by communicating with one another and being more diligent with keeping up with what is happening in Longview. _____ From: Donald Whitaker <staugdon(a)gmail.com> To: longview-park-community-watch(a)googlegroups.com; east-cac-bounces(a)eastraleigh.org Cc: angela.merritt <angela.merritt(a)gkndriveline.com> Sent: Monday, July 30, 2012 3:01 PM Subject: [longview-park-community-watch] Fear Promotes Violence Saddened by the impetuous expressions in some neighbors' recent posts, I discussed these concerns with another neighbor in our community to ensure my concerns were unwarranted. Funny (and somewhat in response to some other and recent posts), we both rent and care no less about the community than a homeowner. We take pride in our dwellings, even as we've seen some homeowners neglect theirs leaving the care of its landscaping to disinterested renters and showing no interest in the effects their property had on other homeowner's values. Sadly, some have lost their homes to the recession so the offender is nameless. The seemingly naïve division in these groups keeps Angela and I close, aware and prepared. Inspite of all this, we are forever and always concerned and proactive in the safety of our neighbors. However, with no "us against them" mentality. Back to the subject, the same fear expressed in the Door to Door Posts is what I began to feel for my nieces and nephews in their own communities; I wonder if they're neighbors are saying the same about them? It scared me that the cops would be called and then things taken out of context and the violence that would ensue and how deeply out of control it'd get. We've seen it happen too many times over and again. After snapping out of our own fears, we both concluded how foolish some of us can be and began to reminisce in Angela's story about Ms. Betty below. Just another great story of our youth when less fear eroded the very fibers of our communities: Angela: (Stevens Road) Recently while reading of the terror solicited by a young girls collecting points for her school and asking for water in our neighborhood it brought to mind my days as a girl scout in a community similar to the one in which I reside today "Longview". As I walked from door to door carelessly confident that I would achieve the highest number of sales because I belonged to a terrific community of all ethnicity's, yet there was peace due to a sense of culture and breeding that my parents placed in me and in their community as well. I wonder did I get thirsty? I use to sneak a look inside of Miss Bettys house ( she was single and very flamboyant) hoping to catch a glimpse of something forbidden I wasn’t allowed to see. Perhaps I stopped there for a cold drink only to spill it out on the way out the door....disappointed because my childhood curiosity remained unfulfilled on to the next DOOR!...I don’t really recall What I do CLEARLY KNOW is....I WAS A GIRLSCOUT...nothing to fear...no agenda beyond the highest cookie sales....just a young girl WALKING DOOR TO DOOR IN A MULTI-CUTURAL COMMUNITY I WAS A GIRLSCOUT! On 7/30/12, Elise Ardoyno <eardoyno(a)havenhousenc.org> wrote: