Boston:
Roxbury
Mattapan
Dorchester (Blue Hill Ave. area)
New York:
Brooklyn-Brownsville, Flatbush, Bushwick, E. New York
Queens: South Jamaica, Hollis
Bronx: South Bronx-Yes, South Bronx is still rough.
Los Angeles:
South Central-Watts, Crenshaw, Florence & Normandie, Compton (borders South LA)
Philadelphia:
North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, South/SW Philadelphia
Washington, DC:
Southeast
NE Washington
NW Washington (portions where majority blacks live)
Atlanta:
College Park/SWATS
Bankhead
Memphis:
North Memphis
South Memphis (Westwood, Whitehaven, Orange Mound, Castalia, etc.)
New Orleans:
Uptown: 3rd Ward, 13th, 17th wards
Downtown: 7th Ward, 9th Ward (Lower 9th pre-Katrina)
Houston:
3rd Ward
5th Ward
SW Houston
Miami:
Overtown
Liberty City
Little Haiti
Opa-Locka
Miami Gardens/Carol City
The hoods listed in the aforementioned cities have made headlines for being notoriously dangerous. Violence & drugs have ran amok in these inner-city neighborhoods since the crack era, and although crime has fallen drastically in the above listed black neighborhoods since the crack era, violent crime is still an issue. During the civil rights era, the named hoods above were the center of black life. These areas had thriving black businesses which served their communities because blacks were forbidden to go to white areas for basic necessities. As decades progressed, the black family structure fractured leading to single parenthood, and the rise of gangs & drugs led to each black neighborhood becoming violence & drug-ridden. The ghetto doesn't have to be run-down and dangerous.
Being poor is no excuse for criminality. Why take what little someone else has just to satisfy your hunger? They're struggling just like you are, and you're going to steal from them. I don't respect that. Everyone in the hood has equal opportunity to make something out of their lives, but they choose criminal activity. True, someone in the ghetto has to work harder for the same opportunities but they usually appreciate the blessing more because of what they went through for it. What saddens me is that there are extremely talented folks in the hood with bright minds, yet they take that talent and use it to build a lucrative drug empire. I mean, some of the biggest gangsters could've been CEOs or corporate executives under the right circumstances, but the streets took hold.
Being poor is no excuse for letting a neighborhood go to waste. Some inner-city black neighborhoods are so blighted, you'd think you're in Beirut. Don't get me started on the violence; assault weapons flow like water, 6,7, 8 victims laying in blood in the streets. The reason for the carnage? Poverty. You don't see a way out so you resort to hustling to get out of your situation. Only one problem: Police scrutiny, enemies coming at you, etc. Even worse, law-abiding citizens have to live amongst the carnage because they can't afford to move to safer locations. Now, you do have law-abiding citizens who live in the inner city who bust their behinds to get out of the hood because they don't want their kids growing up around drug activity and hearing machine gunfire going off at random.
