This annual holiday in honor of America’s great nonviolent prophet, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is always a timely occasion to read the inspiring words of a minister who understood that his faith called for him to stand up for those traditionally frozen out of public decision-making and whose right to vote was always at risk.
Dr. King also understood that change often flows from the civic tension that forces people to confront myths and half-truths and insincere calls for more time before change is made. Most of all, Dr. King teaches us still that it is important for people of good will to step forward to work for the benefit of people whose interests are often ignored.
While Dr. King’s words have deep meaning at any time, they are even more appropriate this week as Memphis City Schools Board of Commissioners votes to move ahead with a referendum to relinquish its charter and merge city and county school districts. It is a legacy decision for the board members and a great time for all them to reflect on Dr. King’s words.
Address to 1st Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) Mass Meeting, at Holt Street Baptist Church:
And we are not wrong; we are not wrong in what we are doing. If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong. If we are wrong, Jesus of Nazareth was merely a utopian dreamer that never came down to Earth. If we are wrong, justice is a lie (Yes), love has no meaning. And we are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I want to say that in all of our actions, we must stick together. Unity is the great need of the hour and if we are united we can get many of the things that we not only desire but which we justly deserve. And don’t let anybody frighten you. We are not afraid of what we are doing because we are doing it within the law.
Letter from the Birmingham Jail:
You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.
You may well ask: “Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.”
Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood…Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.
How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.
All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. Segregation, to use the terminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, substitutes an “I it” relationship for an “I thou” relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful. Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation. Is not segregation an existential expression of man’s tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness?
I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action.
too bad that Memphis doesn’t even come close to fully understanding the importance of going forward..
the city is mired in the past and will always lag behind many other places to live and succeed
We admire Dr. King’s ability to be trapped in the middle of a seemingly inescapable reality but able to find the positives and the avenues to move to a better future.
That’s a strong message for Memphians.
Memphis and Memphians have not ‘got the message’ at all
that’s the ‘reality’ of it all
the ‘reality’ is that they don’t ‘want’ to listen to the ‘message’ one bit
if they did, Memphis would not be stuck in such a bad situation, whether socio-culturally, educationally, or economically !
by most objective measures, Memphis really hasn’t moved forward compared to other cities – THAT is the cold reality
No one has addressed the cold realities more than we have since 2005 on this blog, but we can either wallow in and act as victims or face the brutal facts and find ways to make things better. And there are some exciting things happening right now that should provide hope to even the toughest cynics.
Shekel-
What yardstick are you using to make objective measures?
“I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes.”
That is EXACTLY what Memphis has done for over forty years.
That is exactly the cause of all our problems now.
A winning formula of the past (not really) that has completely run out of gas and is now begging for renewed bolstering from state level racists.
A plan to fail has succeeded.
Urbanaut,
I think Shekel should have said “some Memphians in power and some state officials haven’t got the message at all (because of a vested interest)”.
—
Clearly, MANY Memphians have got the message decades ago if the ever had the wrong message and have no power, by design.
The good thing is that the state level racists are outing themselves through this and their paymasters are clearly visible.
Once the federal government begins to exercise it’s ability to seize assets and we get rid of these clowns, or render them powerless in our area, which is what’s happening, we will begin to see progress.
If we put our finest non-racist people in charge, regardless of color, you will see a flourishing multicultural Memphis that becomes a magnet for all races to live in harmony.
—
Don’t you think that Dr. King would have loved for the place of his untimely demise become the place that truly exemplified his dream, from the core to physical reality.
—
Shekel,
Clearly you are correct in your experience that Memphis had not moved forward AT ALL in over forty years, until last year.
Everyone in Memphis is not in that same boat. Many have not been able to affect the power structure here and have suffered long, regardless of skin color, and many have knee-jerked to a default of reactionary racism, and it clearly hasn’t worked any better.
It’s time for real new thinking, planning, implementation, and success IN MEMPHIS.
Frankly, King’s ‘dream’ is a nightmare in Memphis, and has been a failure in toto.
If it were successful, there would be more clear manifestations of any alleged ‘success’ presented as true, verifiable ‘evidence’. I have seen no such thing. I have however seen many other cities pass Memphis by at dizzying ‘speed’..some cities larger, many smaller.
Residents have been proclaiming the virtues and ‘potential’ of Memphis, since I’ve been here…sorry, but I don’t witness massive changes and intelligent growth, especially ‘between the ears’ of MOST (not all). I have certainly not witnessed it in the attitudes of even the so-called ‘elites’.
The city is xenophobic and insular..and has been ever since I arrived. It’s ‘evolution’ is incremental when fairly compared to other cities and towns (evenin the South).
Look, if you think the city is a ‘mature example’ of intelligent growth, then God Bless you. I don’t, and thankfully I am not shackled to living in Memphis exclusively. The longer a resident remains exclusively in Memphis, the more you become likely to accept mediocrity, undereducation, conflict, and a high threshold for pain and stupidity.
Go elsewhere and talk with knowledgeable, well traveled professionals and listen to what they say, ergo conclude about Memphis, TN…and you don’t have to go outside the State necessarily..start with TN’s Capital, Nashville, then drive over to Knoxville.
Seldom do I hear any intelligent citizen of say Charlotte or Raleigh,or Austin, or Alexandria lament about their not having the opportunity to LIVE in Memphis, TN. I don’t even hear residents in Nashville say they wish they could live in Memphis, TN….in fact, NEVER.
Memphis is at or near the bottom. It’s been there for a very long while now…and remains so in survey after survey after survey. The ‘cheerleqders’ of Memphis are always quick to suggest that all of these academic or business surveys are automatically ‘flawed’, or the all of the people in all of the surveys/analyses done, must have some vendetta against good ole Memphis…..to which I laugh out loudly. the latest one I saw was by Parenting Magasine (Parenting.com) which graded the best US cities for families. Memphis I think was another relative ‘no-show’.
Comparisons are generally elucidative, but Memphians actually bristle when a transplant makes logical comparisons with other MSAs. I have never heard such visceral reactions in any other city in which I have lived/live. When Memphis matures and leaves that ‘love it or leave it mentality’ in the past, is when Memphis ‘may’ wake up and decide to move forward in an intelligent, educated manner……but they won’t, they can’t.
Proclaiming that you “Love Memphis” doesn’t make it a great city, a good place to live, a good place to obtain education, or a good place to rear children. That ‘zeal’ should be channeled into some action/attitude that really matters.
Les jeux sont fait.
Shekel,
No one suggests- at least not here- that this area is not displaying a negative trajectory that needs to be addressed as quickly as possible. In fact, while I cannot speak for SCM, that is a motivating factor for this blog. All I asked for was your yardstick which I gather is not so much data driven but is informed by your personal interactions with others based on this topic.
So you prefer to lump all those in this city that are doing so many new and interesting things on their own- as independents- in with others and simply label the entire community as a failure? If we employ you last little French saying and its use a the title of a film, we can actually assume that these creative approaches and efforts by so many will actually energize the city and place it on an inevitable path towards a more prosperous future.
I might suggest that you morbid outlook is rooted in your own bias and a closed mind where this community is concerned, especially towards those efforts that are seeing so much success. Oversimplification and labeling a community based on the attributes of only a portion of the population in fact indicates you yourself might be guilty of the characteristics you attribute to hindering the city’s growth. It is certainly not the attitude and outlook held by those that have fueled the growth of great cities around the nation and world.
These same individuals also are better informed than to cite any magazine “Top Ten” as evidence. The same surveys that have shed a harsh light on Memphis have painted New York as a most miserable city which could not be further from the truth.
Impossible n’est pas français
Look, Memphis as a city and memphis as a region is one of the poorest (and most African American) in the nation. The resultant social, civic and moral pathologies aren’t things that can be wished away or cured by the proper application of the “right” attitude. The education of the poor and undereducated population is the only real long-term key to solving the problems here. We have been bleeding wealth from this metro area for decades. and I’ll say it: when some a-hole from Nashville or knoxville (since shekel mentioned those cities) has criticism for Memphis I first want to know if it is constructive in nature, b/c I’ve lived in those cities and we all know where a lot of that sh!t is coming from. Let’s let those cities strap on the poverty and race demographics of Memphis and see how they cope. lol. So either get busy trying to make things better, or shut up. That goes for locals who are only hanging around for a paycheck too. There are plenty of people who are working hard here, if you don’t see it it’s b/c you aren’t looking, and those people are all well aware of our problems. That’s why they’re working hard.
I don’t have a trenchant quote in French to leave you with, but then I don’t have much use for dilletantes who do that sort of thing.
pack-
Si mon tonton tond ton tonton, ton tonton sera tondu.
Shekel:
We think you myopia is showing. We work in other cities, and almost unanimously do they complain about schools, crime, lack of confidence, and other urban maladies. But this isn’t a game of tit for tat. We may work in other cities but this one is our home. If we get to a place where all we want to lament the negatives and do nothing but complain,we’ll shut down this blog (if not move). It’s a cliche for sure, but if you’re not part of the solution…
Why would anybody want to live in a city where they don’t want to be part of the solution? And yet, we have so many people who do, and in the end, they get to argue their self-fulfilling prophecies. By tearing things down, things do in fact not get better.
While we’re at it:
Généralement, les gens qui savant peu parlent becoup, et les gens qui savant beaucoup parlent peu.
you guys do tend to blog a great deal.
It’s always revealing in that one person’s opinion, based on over 16 years hands-on experience and interaction in Memphis, the business community and across socio-economic strata, usually gets ‘greeted’ with shallow and vapid comebacks with ‘stuff’ like a personal attack, or with the tired retort of ‘well, maybe YOU’RE THE PROBLEM’
ha ! no, I’m not…I’m not some local meshugenneh much to your dismay perhaps..
My opinions are solely MINE, and are based on ‘a priori knowledge’ not empiricism. More importantly, no one has to agree with ‘opinion’. Opinion need not even be factual. Opinion is always individual.
People like me are not to blame for the malaise and muck of Memphis, TN. If some of you brilliant posters are in fact LOCALS to Memphis, north freekin Mississippi or eastern Arkansas, you should BLAME yourselves, because you invented the problems, you are the ones who have abdicated your responsibility for intelligent growth/education for a very very long time. The buck stops ultimately with YOU. Shifting blame to tranplants is patently silly. It is further warped to believe that transplants have some legitimate ‘duty’ to continue to ‘knudge’ locals into the ‘light’, when it has been in your purview and ‘court’ to solve the reasons WHY Memphis obviously lags behind many many cities in a variety of areas/disciplines. ARE YOU NUTS ??
YOU are the ones ‘obligated’ to continue to lift your ‘own wonderful city’ up to where it needs to be.
For one, I have tried for decades to contribute massively to many causes and projects….only to be met with resentment and moronic indifference….and in some cases, hostility.
Memphis HAS BEEN VERY HOSTILE to the notion of change, cross-racial communication, quality public schools and a host of other considerations…ARE YOU BLIND ??
Instead, Memphis has chosen to openly embrace actions such as ‘white flight’ (witness HH and Cordova at present), re-segregation, and FEAR laced with a sneaky-brand of prejudice (i.e. that sort of “who me?, I’m not a bigot !, I have 2 black friends !…..er,…at work” )
Get a grip….I already have. Memphis is NOT indicative of a lot of other fine southern/midwestern/westcoast cities…..SORRY…there are many other cities out here that are nothing like Memphis, TN. No city is perfect, but there are some ‘more perfect than others’ ! period.
Memphis even resists the notion of even examining OTHER CITIES and how they have evolved….they resent even having to be presented with that process…..Memphis hasn’t LEARNED from others, from other cities and environments….why ???? too slow to learn from example….too dumb to try other methodolgies….too xenophobic….and too ‘close’ to MISSISSIPPI and its course, and negative history and social sickeness which have embedded themselves in making the foundations of Memphis culture and social structure….and values. The ‘sphere of influence’ for Memphis is not to be found in say an Atlanta (where Bham is in their sphere of influence)…..Memphis is not in the sphere of influence of St Louis, Dallas, or a Charlotte.
Spheres of progressive thought force populations to ‘think’, to adapt, to compromise, to plan, to communicate…….if you reside in a community where homogenous thought is the rule of the day, new ideas or ways of thinking will never take root.
Memphis has been ineffective because it has shackled ITSELF to the concept of embracing a Mississippi-like history and thought, instead of divorcing itself from much of those bad histories and social constructs. Therein lies the crux of why everybody in the State of Tennessee calls Memphis, the LARGEST CITY IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.
If you think the above ‘proclamation’ is somehow a compliment, you too are dumb as a box of rocks.
Memphis has wasted its valuable time in ’embracing’ all things “MISSISSIPPI”, rather than embracing all things Tennessee….and many professionals outside the midsouth and the state equate that mantra with backwardness of all sorts.
When Memphians rid themselves of that immediate ‘association’, perhaps there shall be continued hope and REAL progress…..
oh, and the remarks/retort about using “les jeux sonts faits” only serve to buttress the conclusion that many of you must not have an ‘original thought’ of your own, thus you seek to mimick another……
Many of us DO actually speak more than one language….I do….how many do YOU speak ??
amazing crap
Funny, shekel, I lived in Knoxville and was constantly bombarded by race-negative comments about Memphis; same thing in Nashville. Read the Tennessean’s chat comments about hispanics for an eye-opener sometime. Memphis’ problems ARE unique to Memphis in some respects, and I totally agree that insularity is a problem, but somehow I don’t buy the argument that the white people who live in the whiter parts of the state are somehow racially more accepting than the white people (if indeed that’s your argument) who live in a majority black metro area. And “embracing all things Tennessee?” WTH does that mean? SHould we all start listening to bluegrass instead of r&b?
btw, I speak semi-passable Spanish, but I don’t feel the need to end my posts with it.
Shekel, you give yourself far too much credit. I was not attempting to end my posts as a reflection of your opinion- I was having a little fun at your expense.
Honestly, I found it incredibly shallow but as you said that is an opinion and only that. I still find it very interesting and peculiar that you would lump an entire citizenry and city into the same opinionated proclamations. In essence you are guilty of the same bias and bigotry you claim to despise so much. This conversation accomplishes nothing.
Shekel, if I really truly embrace all things Tennessee and move to Williamson County, does that mean I’m suddenly a forward thinking progressive? Or just one more upper middle class white guy running away from Memphis?
We’re not trying to personally attack you, but we’ve been working on ways to improve Memphis for a lot longer than you have. Here’s the thing: we all have only so much energy and so many hours in the day.
We know all the facts and we’ve worked on all the toughest problems, so we guess we could join the mourner’s bench. But if that’s our inclination, we have promised ourselves that we’ll move to make way for people who have the right attitude and can make a difference.
It’s this simple to us – why would we want to constantly run down, demonize, and attack our hometown? We’d rather admit the problems and work to fix them.
And if you think that the cities and counties that you’ve mentioned are all full of forward-thinking people, it sounds like you’re engaged in a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Of COURSE, other posters are attempting to “attack” ! It has devolved into a typical, defensive , sycophantic, Memphis-mob attempt to silence divergent OPINION.
why ? because perhaps some people in Memphis don’t want to be reminded of how far behind Memphis has fallen, compared to other cities !
Let’s be frank here….white flight was aided and abetted during the late late 1970s and early eithties…with the use of ‘block-busitng’ techniques slyly implemented by real estate firms such as Crye-Leike (particularly in HH and WH…now in Cordova), and with the help of mortgage banks such as First Tenn, Union Planters, Bank of Bartlett, et al…..and further aided with deliberate ‘red-lining’ policies of firms such as NBC…..the developers worked hand in hand to “scare” white homeowners until it culminated in a ‘snow-balling’ and cascading effect of home turnover…..
Whites RAN out. The black majority of the City of Memphis had little to do with their decision to ‘flee’.
Now, whites CONTINUE to RUN…haven’t you noticed ????
NOw in some cases because of feeble attempts at gentrification, a few whites NOW are moving into the centre city or Midtown….but again, the effect is the same…RUNNING away !
Sorry, I don’t SEE a vast consciousness of whites (or blacks) that is allegedly driving Memphis FORWARD….are you NUTS ??
The enlightenment that you seem to wish to allude to is smoke and mirrors in my opinion….based on what people articulate in “private”, and not on some cheerleading nouveau, za-zou vogue blog or website touting Memphis ‘rising from the ashes’. It may be someone’s pipe dream, but it doesn’t accurately reflect what is happening on the ground and in the heads of the masses (the people who generally count…not some frekkin wannabe elite)
If you want an honest picture, start looking in the mirror and Memphis’ own history….and your own hearts.
The first thing to move forward is to stop lying to yourselves, and stop pretending that there has been some massive evolution of thought in the hearts and minds of most Memphians……it HAS NOT OCCURED…will it ?? perhaps so, perhaps NO……Memphis has yet to have an epiphany in MY OPINION BASED ON MY LONGTIME AND CURRENT EXPERIENCE.
Many whites think they can actually live in a ragion and never encounter or have to deal with, or live around blacks (and other minorities)…..they don’t LIKE having to do that from my observation and conversations….why ? because many still seem to be ‘unreconstructed rednecks’…never mind if they are attorneys, pinstripe suit wearing bankers, or Ole Miss graduates with MBAs…..many still have ‘redneck perceptions’, and ‘redneck proclivites’, and ‘redneck values’ in re social order and community vision. The blacks have a similar set of ‘issues’.
This is NOT a formula for timely, intelligent growth sorry to say…and this is specifically true when Memphis is farily compared to other cities that are competing for industry, economic growth, jobs, and a high quality of life.
I would bet that many of the posters here hailing the possibilities for future Memphis, don’t HAVE 3 CLOSE BLACK FRIENDS with whom they interact consistently OUTSIDE OF WORK (work doesn’t matter, really), on a close social level….OR have their children or WIVES do so.
Whites in Memphis seem to like to assert that they want community involvment, but don’t get it that it starts in your own home…..and not on a website or blog for chrissake. But THAT’S Memphis…..long on show and short on actual personal deeds…
Am I optimistic ?? when I personally experience seeing more unreconstructured whites (and the mass of undereducated blacks, et al) start LIVING what they ‘claim’, in daily deed, and in pure, immediate and close social interaction on a truly personal scale, then I will know there is HOPE on a timely basis……otherwise, it will take Memphis, TN another 30 years to join the ranks of thoughtful, educated, and progressive cities.
Yawn. It’s just another diatribe from a blow hard with nothing but “feelings” and personal opinion based on all their “experience”. Shekel, I read the posts by the others and there appears to be only one post that could remotely be considered as going on the offense with you personally as a target. You come across as the type that would consider any viewpoint different than your own as a personal attack and offensive. Thou doth protest too much, but apparently you whole line of logic relies on that notion.
Funny- you criticize these people for not having some kind of great intellectual awakening and the individuals who are working toward something better you write off as “wannabes”. Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. You are so closed minded I bet any experience that runs counter to your opinion of the world results in regular mental meltdowns. If anything, you come off as being bitter where their efforts are concerned. Meanwhile, your view is apparently so screwed up you read all the posts through your grim tinted glasses. By the way, if you are going to criticize the intellect and motivations of a group you might want to run spell check and use correct grammar in the future. Pot, allow me to introduce kettle.
Now while most of the other authors seemed to post ideas and opinions that simply differed from your own, you can take this as a very real criticism of you as a person, or at least the way you choose to portray yourself on these boards. All I see is hot air and a representative of the “masses”- great at identifying problems but inept at working towards solutions. The whole “I’ve been here my whole life so I know what I’m talking about bit” sounds like every other stubborn 70 something year old person upset that their life did not turn out how they wanted, thus they have to find someone or something to blame. Oh the drama. Please.
That was a pretty good post shekel. Good overview on the historical conditions, ( esp. the Crye Leike blockbusting- I know one of the original plaintiffs in that case) Now, what do you think more “forward-thinking” cities like Nashville would be like if their metro area was 50% African-American with a huge number in poverty? Would they be any better or more progressive than Memphis? I highly doubt it. I also highly doubt white people in those cities are “LIVING what they ‘claim’, in daily deed, and in pure, immediate and close social interaction on a truly personal scale.” I mean, like I said, if I move there, does that suddenly make me “forward-thinking” and more inclusive? Are the ex-Memphians who moved there and the non-Memphians who would never live here on a bet somehow better than the people who live here? I just don’t buy your argument (if I am indeed getting it correct) that white people in other southern cities are so much more progressive on these issues than Memphians. Heck I was in Knoxville for 2 full days staying in a friend’s house in Bearden a couple of years ago and I saw a total of about 4 black people in that time period. So is anyone there REALLY dealing with these issues? Doubt it.
Memphis’ problems (and they are numerous) don’t stem from the statistic that it’s a majority ‘black’ city in terms of population numbers ! are you nuts ??
Memphis’ history is that of run by repressive white backwards residents such as Boss Crump, Chandler, the idiot Hackett, and then idiot Herenton.
Whites controlled the voting booth for a very very very long time (read, Blacks weren’t even registered to vote and in other cases intimidated from voting by whites)
Skin color or race is not the crux of Memphis’ problem………racism has been, and continues to this very day….I hear it out of the mouths of some of my associates who in some cases are very visible and known in the community………you ought to HEAR the RACISM SPEWED from their mouths when they are in what they think is ‘like company’ !!
Again, most are disingenuous to say the least. They talk a good game about Memphis and how much they love it, want it to go forward, etc etc etc……but then you ought to hear comments from their wives, girlfriends, co-workers,, and even children.
Most are patently BOGUS in what they really really think, and how they behave….these same smartazz so-called great thinkers have never had a black friend in their own home, and they have never been to a black so-called friend’s house on ANY social occasion.
They are hypocrites. They refuse to really establish an up close and personal dialogue, notwithstanding sitting around a conference table in a symposium with their ‘black brothers’ of the City of Memphis…..lol….but seldom istting around the dinner table one-on-one, breaking bread on an INDIVIDUAL level….but THAT’S MEMPHIS..
People in Memphis actually believe that ‘living around blacks’ is some great feat…or spotting them in a neighborhood ! LOL How shallow is that ? “living AROUND” people is not congruent to “living WITH” people.
Stop attempting to discredit an opinion, and look at yourselves closely…..as I stated earlier none of you (like most in Memphis) probably don’t have 3 close black friends (not ‘associates’).
The solution for YOU is to establish friendships….personal ones….and that’s not the same as becoming involved in ‘green’ projects, ‘farmers’ markets’, ‘greenline bike riding’ (lol), writing editorials, starting impersonal BLOGS, or attending symposium sponsored by some bs academic.
BTW, Atlanta has a fairly large black metro population…Atlanta is far from perfect, but it’s way further along than Memphis…no doubt about that.
Stop pretending…anyone who has lived in Memphis for over a decade must blame themselves….a Mesiah is not coming in at least 30 years….unless you people come to grips with how you really ‘change’ a community for the better…it starts in your own HOME….with your spouses involved…also teaching your children by EXAMPLE.
shalom !
We’ve done extensive work in Atlanta, and what the focus groups say is that Atlanta has done a great job of hiding its racial problems and that they still fester beneath the surface.
In that regard, we think Memphis is better because we acknowledge it and put it on the top of the table. And despite your opinion, most of us are brutally honest about our challenges and it’s why we’re so dead serious about addressing them in an effective, reasonable way.
Shekel, Atlanta is indeed farther along than Memphis in regards to race relations. That was clear in 1968 when the mayor of Atlanta held an umbrella and had his arm around Coretta at the airport when she was boarding for Memphis while Henry Loeb had his arms crossed in stubborn intransigence. But even then, shekel, there were Memphians trying to effect change; and Atlanta’s business executives weren’t less racist at that time, they were just smarter. But no other city in Tennessee is really any better than Memphis in this regard and I know that from experience (since you are using your anecdotal personal examples in this matter I can too). I bring that up b/c you say we should “embrace all things Tennessee.” And many of us ARE living by example and teaching our children in our own home. You make a lot of assumptions pal. Again, if I leave Memphis and move to Williamson County, does that make me better than a white person who stays here? Have you preached your gospel to people who live in lily white communities? For good or ill, Memphians deal with race every day. Get over yourself.
If you have dealt with ‘race’ every day, and/or you have dealt with these salient issues ‘longer than I have’ (sayeth SCM in an earlier post/retort) then let me break the news to you :
YOU HAVE DONE AN INEFFECTIVE if not lousy job (in implementing those ideals you purport to believe in or ‘support’)
Don’t break r arms patting yourselves on your backs.
The fruits of your collective so-called, ‘effort’ have not yielded very much at all…again in my opinion and based on my experience as a business professional.
Any of my ‘assumptions’ are buttressed by years of experience in dealing with various strata of Memphis community ‘life’…..
And, my ‘assumption’ about not many of you actually DON’T have 3 or more close black friends, (or your WIVES or children having 3 or more close black friends on a social basis) is ALSO borne out of my handson actual experience with some of you good ole ‘progressive Memphis thinkers and planners’. SORRY, THAT’s what I’ve SEEN and experienced for close to 20 years…..’pal’
shalom !
oh, what’s this weak admonishment of ‘get over yourself’ ?? lol
How about ‘you should look in the mirror and look at your own dynamics in your own HOME’ ?
shalom, ‘pal’ !
Do you get up every morning deciding to be negative and to tear down things and insult people? We choose something different, and we think in the long run, it’s best for our city and for us.
Smart City Memphis :
As a professional trained in Urban Planning as well as several other disciplines (including education), my opinion is that ‘branding’ as a marketing tool for future Memphis may represent an ineffective strategy IF a desired result is to change Memphis into a city of choice or destination.
The solution for most of Memphis’ longtime problems can be found in EDUCATION.
Also, if the residents, white and black, are not brought together on a sincere social level, your efforts will be meaningless.
Try enlisting the massively segregated church congregations in Memphis. Address shared VALUES.
Memphis has some of the biggest churches that seem to masquerade as nothing more than tax-advantaged country clubs, some of which have ball-fields, bowling alleys,olympic-sized swimming pools, tennis courts and snack bars.
I’m waiting for some to build golf courses next…..all in the name of course, Jesus.
Any rational person can see or intuit why these ‘facilities’ have evolved and floruished in Memphis, TN, and it has nothing to do with ‘loving your fellow man’, and accepting Judeo-Christian VALUES.
Religion, or bifurcated organized religion should play a significant part in your ‘project’ of Memphis.
Segregated religious traditions are at the heart of the disingenuousness, in re race, and racial relations in Memphis, TN
Since when is providing an OPINION, ‘insulting’ ? it’s my opinion based on experience…
funny thing, I’m not criticizing YOU PERSONALLY ! I don’t really care about your own opinion….duh…it’s YOURs ! and you are entitled to just that
Does Memphis only ‘belong’ to YOU ?
Does everyone have the same experience ?
Does everyone wear blinders ?
Must everyone AGREE with you or even your effort ?
Must everyone SEE what YOU see or believe in ?
People are individuals, much perhaps to your chagrin.
shalom !
The anger displayed in your post is palatable, and perhaps better focused could serve to benefit those around you and better inform this discussion. Instead it shows an immaturity that serves to discredit any opinion it might contain. The lack of knowledge where the nature of the posts found here at SCM shows poor research or true devotion to understanding your audience. Had you spent more time investigating the site, you would realize that for every post and conversation that has highlighted and explored the negative trends in Memphis, one will also find an example of what is typically a small grassroots effort to address at least one of the variables driving that trend. Telling people to become friends is not enough. As anyone should well understand, providing common points of shared interest and investment is a key to developing such relationships that will in fact last a lifetime. Shared interests are found in all sorts of ways- sporting events, community meetings, entertainment and, yes, physical places such as the greenline. Without these areas, it becomes increasingly difficult to find a common ground.
So, based on your experience, your message denotes that you are making assumptions about an entire group of people who are only connected by one or two common characteristics. I fail to see how that is in anyway different than the “racism” you suggest pervades every single resident of this area. Those individuals also make assumptions that drive a bias towards a a group of people that also may share no more than one or two common characteristics.
I personally enjoy the fact that someone who does not know me personally is making assumptions about who I am and the demographic makeup of my friends and then goes on to make an attempt to crucify those who would harbor a bias towards a segment of the population. You have no knowledge of who I am, what my ethnicity and background is or how I am involved in the community. I am essentially being called biased by a biased individual. Perhaps the hypocrisy being displayed eludes you. I can simply hope for the sake of your associates that as a “business professional” you conduct yourself in a more professional manner than you have displayed here thus far.
Evidently, shekel, YOU have also done an ineffective and lousy job at what you criticize others for because you’ve been doing it for 20 years with no improvement. I guess that means you’re a failure at it. You have no idea what I have done, who my friends are, and what my commitment to these issues are and the familial and social price I’ve paid for not just going along with the good ol boys. Do white people in Knoxville that you believe is so much more progressive than Memphis have 3 black friends each? Hell no they don’t. You’re the one who keeps trying to personalize this.
And no one here is patting themselves on the back, we KNOW there is trememdous work to be done, we’re just not at the point (and hopefully never will be) of being obnoxiously insulting burnouts who have given up.
Can you summon up an opinion delivered in a way that contributes to a meaningful discussion? That is the only standard that we seek.
As Anon posted earlier,
With at least this one individual this truly is a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation.
I am a practicing Architect and Urban Planner who moved to Memphis from NYC a short time ago. Somehow Shekel believes they know me personally and has the authority to label both me and my efforts fraudulent in nature. If I do nothing, this individual will offer an opinion that I am complacent thus supporting the issues and mentality they so harshly criticize. If I am involved and working on projects both professionally and personally that will improve the quality of life for the residents of this city and region, it is completely personal in nature and perhaps my attempt at becoming a “frekkin” elite and in no way could be derived from a very real and personal passion to see this city attain certain goals. Shekel, do you now understand why so many might see your message as seriously flawed?
@urban ~
“common ground” is not ever found in building or designing a greeline or a frekkin staduim…that’s bogus
“common ground” is always found in (shared) VALUES and principles…family, community, and religious
Mr. Architect/Urban Planner from NewYawk ? Want to ‘improve quality of life for the citizens and the region ?? start with education, faith, and family structure/values, NOT with designing a new museum, parkay, or roundabout …LOL
@pakrodent ~
what’s this penchant for Knoxville ??? Knoxville is full of hillbillies, and a ton of rednecks, just like Memphis…and of course it’s less ‘black’….but equally as virulent redneck in losts of places near there like Tri Cities…lol
So, WHERE is all the real EVIDNECE of this wonderful growth and progression in Memphis ??
Sorry, I don’t see or hear the hearts and MINDS changing…and have not seen great change in the last 15 years……NOT the kind and volume of change I have seen elsewhere around the nation and the south…..again, sorry, but Memphis is not competitive, if you’ve really LIVED (not visited) many other cities in the SAME time frame.
That’s my own observation, and if you don’t agree with that assessment, that’s your business, but I would tell you to go LIVE in a host of other cities for over 1 year, then make your own intelligent comparison based on your OWN experience…….but we never have to agree on a damn thing, and please keep that in mind.
shalom !
…as I said I moved here from New York- the Upper Westside to be specific having lived there for many years. I can now count 4 cities among those serving as home over the course of my young life. My profession has allowed me to work in many more beyond those. Fortunately I know the history of NYC and that it was not always the urban utopia we know it as today. It actually sank into a deep quagmire or urban decay and socioeconomic chaos that many predicted it could not escape. However, thanks to the dedicated effort of a small portion of the population that remained in the city despite the fact that removing themselves to the suburbs or other cities entirely, New York managed to reverse its coarse and once again become a viable metropolis. It took several decades to reverse a downward spiral that began in the 1960s and was still evident as late as the 90s (and continues to some extent in some neighborhoods to this day). Many other cities have gone through the same evolution.
Your inability to grasp how the physical environment does in fact effect all the issues and ways by which people relate leads me to question your claim as a “trained professional in Urban Planning”. On a very personal note, if you truly believe that friendships cannot be forged by way of sporting events, I have several individuals you could contact that I became quite good friends with all starting with the fact that we sat near each other via our “blue collar” season ticket package for the Mets. It is a great experience that forged relationships that have spanned years and now, many miles. Interestingly enough, our group of 6 transcends both your negative critique of friendships in stadiums and the fact that residents of Memphis do not have a demographically diverse social life. I could also direct you to a young couple that my wife and I met at the dog park recently and plan to have drinks with in the coming week. This entire conversation makes me question whether you have actually lived in some of our nations great cities and have bothered to partake of their social aspects. This is how people interact and meet in those great cities.
Once again I think there is a failure to listen to what is being stated here. We are painfully aware of your opinion of the city and your opinion of other opinions that differ from your own. Where you continue to show an inability to comprehend what is being written is the noted state of the city. You still fail to realize that we are conscious of Memphis and its relation to other cities in many categories. We are aware that the city experiencing a negative trajectory where many issues are concerned. What you apparently cannot comprehend is that there are those of us that love a good challenge, have the passion to drive us to make changes and are willing to stay our ground.
You touted KNoxville and Nashville as being more progressive on race issues; you said we in Memphis should “embrace all things Tennessee.” Are you backtracking?
First and foremost, some of you behave as though I, The Shekel, am your ‘adversary’ and opponent…I assure you that line of ‘reactionary response’ seems laughable…but my own opinions seem to really irk some of you…which is equally laughable albeit strange indeed..
@ Pakrodent:
Memphians should embrace all things Tennessee, rather than maintaining or attracting more, ‘all things MISSISSIPPI-like’……that seems easy enough to understand, since MISSISSIPPI offers hardly anything to replicate in academic OR social order to aid in Memphis’ alleged plan to become a truly great city. MISSISSIPPI has nothing to emulate, but Memphis seems to deliberately ‘mirror’ more of MISSISSIPPI than anything in Tennessee……surely most residents of the rest of Tennessee and other southern cities can see and hear that for themselves…..I happen to think that MISSISSIPPI is at the BOTTOM of the totem pole in most every measure imaginable in order to offer change, progressive thought, and participatory goverment….frankly I could say the same thing about the MSA of Birmingham (notwithstanding a few pcckets of excelence around Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, some parts of Shelby County/south US 280 corridor perhaps, just perhap)
Failure of almost 20 years in Mem nophis ?? ME ?? Perhaps so perhaps no…but operating in a sea of recalicitrant, unreconstructed rednecks (most emanating or early migrants from places like MISSISSIPPI and eastern Arkansas who have descended upon Memphis for generations) is easy task.
Additionally, lousy educational structures and resources have produced lousy undereducated citizens (for decades).
Besides, people (masses) have to WANT to change…these people want no such thing..in general. They enjoy the status quo for the most part….have you NOTICED ??
For example….then they send idiots and opportunists to Congress, like the politico, Steve Cohen. Look at who occupies posts of authority in the MSA….for decades….back to idiots like Loeb, Crump, Chandler, and the moron of Dick Hackett…all of whom squandered opportunities to place Memphis on the MAP years and years earlier (well before Herenton)….Did they do anything ? not really, while many many other cities around the nation made real strides …. so, “the Die is Cast” (aka ‘Les Jeux Sont Faits’)
So, URBAN, I figure that almost 20 years of experiencing intransigence is quite enough real-life experience to learn notsoquickly. If you want to spend another 20 years, OR YOUR 20 years beating a very dead horse, that is your choice indeed. I would never advise any professional or young professional, son, daughter, neice or nephew, to ‘invest’ their time with “a Memphis Tenn” IF they had other VIABLE choices….neither would I advise transplants to rear their children in any school there or in the region….and certainly not undergraduate school either (Rhodes notwithstanding, perhaps CBU)…..
@UrbanNEWYAWK :
You can ‘question’ anything you wish..but I have lived in NYC, MA, IL, IA, CA, GA, TX, FL and beyond…including Montreal to list a few areas….but so what ? I was speaking about Memphis, TN . BTW Memphis is not my only ‘home’, fair enough ? but again, we’re not talking about ME, but rather the ills of Memphis, TN not NYC, Miami, or Cleveland, right ? I’m not really soliciting your agremment on ANYTHING ! that’s also patently silly it seems.
Please allow me to respond to your suggestion of the ‘value’ of ‘physical environments’ and its alleged impact on social order. First, physical structures don’t ‘act upon’ a person’s mind, a person’s values, character, or most anything else. Those alleged positives are over-rated (for Memphis TN).
Your valuing the idea surrounding ‘physical environment’ or structure are mostly self-serving given your profession of being an architect who moved to Memphis for a JOB or position, and probably not because Memphis offers greatness when farily compared to other cities. As far as I know, you might be just another carpetbagger or a Sidney Schlenker. I trust however you are no such animal.
I’m not attempting to dissuade you or ‘convince’ you or anybody else of a damn thing. Your stated experience is that of 2 YEARS of being in Memphis….that’s great.. Mine is that of almost TEN TIMES that.
Experience is the writer on the mind. I think
that was asserted by Plato ? or was it Socrates ? lol
Sorry to disappoint you Shekel, but I have not spent most of my life in Memphis. I did in fact live in Memphis before moving to NYC. After living in New York for several years, I returned to Memphis in order to merge both my professional career with my passion to help Memphis evolve at both a local and national level. I have learned much during that period and I am employing that knowledge and skill at the local level. I have spent most of my adult life in New York. How you interpreted my previous statements is of no concern to me.
As you have shown in your previous posts, you are more than willing to make assumptions about all those here who do not agree with you and your opinions, even though you have never met any of us. At what point is my post “disingenuous”? I am no more a local than you are from Des Moines, Iowa. At the same time I now consider myself a Memphian as I am committed to resolving those issues to which my efforts can best be applied. If you read other posts I have made here, I have made the same reference as well. Interesting that while you yourself state that you consider several communities home, apparently that right cannot be extended to anyone else- or is it just denied to those who would disagree with you? Your attempt to discredit anything I have written once again falls short and displays a deep-seated insecurity as well as immaturity.
@urban :
give up.. you know nothing of me, (or where I’m from..lol…are you crazy ?) and you are certainly entitled to your opinions about Memphis and the future of Memphis…
SO AM I ……are you that ‘enthralled’ and that much a victim of your own ‘zeal’ ?? lol
Do you understand that I don’t care if you and others don’t agree ?
“Passion” to help Memphis ? good for you. Your so-called passion is misplaced in being fixated on ‘architecture’ and ‘open spaces’…….that’s NOT the locus of the the myriad of problems facing Memphis, TN…
Start with the foundation (no pun intended), the foundation is what Martin alluded to… which seems to escape you and others.
The foundation is VALUES….and will never be ‘bricks and mortar’, or some self-aggrandizizng project of ‘design’ !
Waske up people.
Read Martin AGAIN !
shalom !
I’m not sure that values are so much better anywhere else in this country shekel, if you mean what the Right calls “values,” i.e., this country needs to get back to God and other bromides like that. Things like that aren’t easily definable and certainly not quantifiable.
Are the “values” in Dallas or Atlanta really so much superior than those in Memphis? There are churches everywhere here, yet we still have entrenched poverty and ignorance.