CROSSING THAT THIN BABY BLUE LINE Two Bellaire City Council members are upset about a very long, baby blue line Metro painted along Bellaire Blvd. last month: “‘We work hard in Bellaire to improve the look of our community, the planning commission is working hard on a comprehensive plan, and then some outside entity decides to paint a stripe down our street, and I don’t like it,’ said Councilmember Peggy Faulk at Monday night’s council meeting. ‘We are continually plagued by visual pollution,’ said Councilmember Pat McLaughlan, who also challenged signs posted at-will by government jurisdictions through Bellaire. Metro painted the blue line along the entire route of its Quickline Signature express service, which offers high-tech hybrid buses at peak hours down Bellaire/Holcombe Boulevard from west Houston to the Texas Medical Center.” [Bellaire Examiner]
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Metro of course owns the streets. Well, probably did. Like everything else they probably sold the streets for the cash. Metro, you see, really doesn’t have any assets any more. One of the things you won’t read in the Houston Chronicle. Or anywhere else.
Get the scrubber out and remove it!
That street is Bellaire’s in their city limits.
METRO continues to be the A$$HOLE of local government. Wasting tax payer dollars avoiding TXPIA requests until the last minute to prevent important outside review by concerned citizens. On top of that they are withholding millions of dollars that the City of Houston and Harris County should receive as part of their agreements for road repairs.
METRO = Corrupt and inept.
Bellaire: Take back your street and just scrub out that blue line! (of course the METRO bus drive will probably get lost without the line!).
In the interests of improving the community as a whole do you think it would be possible for the City of Bellaire to call a moratorium on the building of faux Tuscan McMansions? Or perhaps a number of turrets per home limit?
Oh boo hoo.
That blue line reminds Bellaire that buses carrying Hispanics and African-Americans travels through their town. And Bellaire hates to be reminded.
I agree that the angst over a blue line is rather absurd, but I would give a hard line over anything Metreaux does. BTW KJB, Metreaux is the moniker I assigned to them, not Royko. Metreaux is a corrupt joke, just as racist insults against the city of Bellaire are misplaced.
I think making jokes about Bellaire’s racism is always appropriate, and will be until Bellaire stops being racist.
The Bellaire city fathers need to remove the collective corncob before they tackle the blue line.
Hmm…where’s Bellaire? Oh, yeah, that suburb around West Loop, whose major pastime seems to be chopping down little houses and putting up big, big houses for people suffering from acute cases of “Jones-itis”. (In case you don’t know what that is, it describes people who always *HAVE* to keep up with the Joneses.)
Why so much hate on Bellaire?
It is extremely sad that people can just throw around the comment of a town or it’s people as all being racist.
Should we go after West U for being an uppity Jewish conclave?
Or should I mention a the Heights as a bastion a left wing nutjobs?
All of these comments reflect more on the ass making them than who they are directed at. Why do you thing Quannel X, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton always look like complete a–holes when they are throwing out baseless charges.
RE: RWB Posts #4 And #6
You just labelled a community of 15,000 racist. Until you cite real proof, I’m labelling you a demagogue, a racist, and in my opinion, a liar.
Balls in your court, racist RWB – from a 15 year resident, a Bellaire HS grad, and a former member of several Bellaire civic associations.
Put up or shut up, racist. “Bellaire hates to be reminded” – what a joke.
I hope you’re a highschooler.
It seems people these days get fussy over so little, which I suppose is a product of the recession?
You can’t read a blog or forum these days without having about 2/3 of the comments negatively labeling someone as either A) Racist, B) Right-winger, C) Arrogant Liberal etc. We have grown into a nation that if you don’t agree with me or my stance – you’re immediately lambasted for your opinion. And now, it has even invaded a place like Swamplot!
I am not saying do not express your opinions, but there are constructive ways of doing so.
A person who insults entire communities of largely innocent people by calling them racist deserves what they get, Eric.
RWB – “…making jokes about Bellaire being racist is always appropriate”
No, it is not. It is racist.
I spent the majority of my life there, and I will defend the residents of my old home town against sleazy attacks by people who apply the labels to which you refer. Hopefully you understand. Absent an apology, RWB deserves a label – I believe it is accurate.
To the issue at hand, it would seem that the City of Bellaire is making much ado about nothing. Streets/road/freeways/pavement as a whole are pretty damn ugly – putting a neat blue line on it that is 8″ wide is neither an eye-sore or even worth the councils time and money.
I suppose Bellaire must truly be paradise if this is all the city council is really worried about?
In the end, the blue line is part a bigger problem. The blue line to the city council members represent their city losing a piece of control of their city to another governmental entity.
At least when TxDOT rebuilt the Loop in Bellaire, they worked with the city and it’s residents. Now when you are on the streets of Bellaire, you can barely notice the freeway. Why couldn’t METRO offer some of the same courtesy?
When I’m on any street in Bellaire other than Bellaire I cannot see the blue line at all. Even on Bellaire I have to be looking pretty hard. I would suggest that the blue line is considerably less visible than the multi-lane elevated freeway but of course I could be wrong.
Also, I object to being called a left-wing nutjob. I prefer left-wing eccentric … or godless pinko liberal, either works.
I spent the majority of my life there, and I will defend the residents of my old home town against sleazy attacks by people who apply the labels to which you refer.
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No doubt you are one of the many mixed- race religious and cultural ethnicities living in Bellaire. I grew up in Braeswood and remember the cops well. I doubt Bellaire has changed much in all these years. So, well, yes, it is racist. If it weren’t, the police department would have been fired “en masse” a long, long time ago. Most probably would prefer Metro not stop anywhere in Bellaire anyway to be honest. The blue line is just a symbol of how they really don’t like the rest of the city intruding into Bellaire. Particularly “those people” who are not welcome in Bellaire. Maybe it’s not really racism. Just a preference that people stay in their place. Which in the case of minorities, is anywhere but Bellaire.
Sorry but slamming a homeowner who just happens to be one of the few African-American homeowners into a wall simply for trying to explain their son did not steal his own car and then watching the cop shoot their son is not exactly conducive to the argument that Bellaire is not racist. I will believe it was not a racist act when a nice white homeowner is slammed into a wall and her son shot because the Bellaire police believed her son had stolen his own car. Which is pretty easy to determine by running plates. Which obviously they don’t do in Bellaire until after they call the ambulance after they’ve shot you. If the cop had been smart he would have said the gun went off by accident. But he wanted everyone in Bellaire to know he is there to protect them by shooting first and asking questions, and running plates, later.
The only thing that surprises most people familiar with Bellaire and its “demographics” is that it wasn’t covered up. Next time no doubt the whole family will probably be killed and the Bellaire police deparment will claim they were suspected drug dealers. Bellaire, in a word, is scary. Always has been. And probably always will be.
As for Metro, well, again, they are Metro. No doubt Metro will come paint the line a little bigger so everyone knows they own the streets. And then they will probably cut all the stops in Bellaire and wait for everyone to start screaming about how they have to go pick up the maid three miles away.
Matt,
Your post does explain so much that is wrong in the US today. People think they always have the whole story.
Were you there? Do you know exactly how the incident played out? Are you weighting the word of some involved heavier than others?
The incident was tragic, but there’s no reason to throw race into it. When race it brought up, it muddles real facts and throw in tons of emotion. Emotion has no place in the court of law.
In the end, I don’t have a final opinion of the incident because I don’t know all the facts. And no news story will ever get all the facts either. Deciding guilt of any party involved in the court of public opinion does a disservice to our legal system.
It just takes a few extra words to correct misperceptions. “Bellaire” is not racist. “Some” Bellaire cops are. “Some” Bellaire residents are. “Some” of its governing body is. Just like it applies, in greater multiples, to Houston cops, residents, and politicians. As the song goes, “One bad apple don’t spoil the whole bunch, girl…” There are definitely more than one, but don’t condemn the whole on the actions of a few.
There are definitely more than one, but don’t condemn the whole on the actions of a few.
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I would suggest that the whole needs to address the few then. So far the whole just denies the few even exist.
And since someone mentioned West U, West U and Southside Place aren’t much better. The assumption on the part of the police is if you’re a minority, you have no place there and so you will be stopped to be asked what you’re doing. Just ask any number of African-American realtors who have experienced the pleasure of showing in Bellaire and West U and Southside Place through the years and left the Benz or the Beemer at home that day and drove the old Toyota.
Hey, a couple years back didn’t the Bellaire coppers shoot and kill a teenager white boy who was on acid?
The city council of West University passed a unanimous resolution demanding that Metro paint a pink line on Buffalo Speedway as it passes through West University. A council member declared “I think we have a bus coming through our city and it is only fair that we get a stripe and pink is my favorite color. We will be using that pink stripe as our new economic development slogan, ‘West University think Pink'”.
Pantera Rosada, official spokesman for pinkness, had no comment.
Re: Bellaire. Again I say “boo hoo.”
Re: Matt and RWB
To others who read/post here:
Please read #17 and #20 from Matt.
Please read #4 and #6 from RWB
Response – Clearly, there’s no need for a trial here. Our own “mini-mob” has the torches and pitchforks. They’re so talented that we now know that the police Sgt. shot a 23 year old because he was not white. Also, the community supports such actions in keeping with its well-known racist heritage.
How splendid and cost-effective. How vicious and racist. How convenient. I guess they get their opinions, racist, hateful or not. My opinion: The noted posts (citing no evidence, no stats, etc.) are among the sorriest and sleaziest I’ve seen on this board. They verbally tarred and feathered an entire community, an entire police force and and a policeman who hasn’t even had a day in court. All they offer are vague (sometimes stupid) ANECDOTES, minus any objective evidence. Kind of like a bigot or racist might….
They verbally tarred and feathered an entire community, an entire police force and and a policeman who hasn’t even had a day in court.
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They will all have their day in court. As for “tarring and feathering” them they have done a good job of it themselves.
In terms of “objective evidence” you might, again, talk to any number of African-American realtors who know Bellaire well along with West U and Southside Place.
We are a racist society. Some parts of our society more racist than others.
No offense but some really have made their racism quite evident with their “the Blacks are coming, the Blacks are coming” battle cry which they did in Riverside Terrace and then in Fondren Southwest. Which explains why so many of them moved to Bellaire.
You’re right. They’re not racist. They just prefer not to live among minorities.
Again, no facts – just your racist bias, Matt.
“objective” – look it up.
You’re in over your head.
Matt,
Also, remember it works both ways. A minority group confining themselves to one neighborhood would be just as guilty if a majority group did it.
People naturally group themselves with other people like them. That’s not racist at all. It’s natural. It’s called defacto segregation. Racism occurs when discrimination is physically carried out against one group by another.
Matt wrote:
We are a racist society. Some parts of our society more racist than others.
No offense but some really have made their racism quite evident with their “the Blacks are coming, the Blacks are coming†battle cry which they did in Riverside Terrace and then in Fondren Southwest. Which explains why so many of them moved to Bellaire.
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Well, Matt, why don’t you just tell us flat out which “racists” you are referring to here?
And once you are man enough to do that, Miz Brooke Smith invites you to step outside. Yeah, some of us “racists” live in 77009, imagine that. Come up here to the barrio and I’ll set you straight.
The blue line on the Boulevard isn’t anything to get all pissy about in my opinion, but I can understand council members nitpicking on it since it is a pretty sleepy area.
I grew up in Bellaire as well (folks still live there) and it is surely something else these days. Not sure I’d call it progress, but it is a transformation of sorts. So in the beginning, Rice’s praire land was sold to Baldwin who began infrastructure, and by 1950s it had a large stock of decent-priced tract homes mixed among a few farm houses left over. Then about thirty/forty or so years later, this outlying prairie that eventually was eaten by Houston is desirable to people that like to pay $800k for a 4,000 square foot hastily built McCustom house on a fairly small lot. It’s interesting, that’s for sure.
Racism occurs when discrimination is physically carried out against one group by another.
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As in calling the realtor and telling them to “hurry up and bring the sign with you.”
I have lived in Houston my full 49 years of life (excepting living in Austin for 2 in the mid 80s). I have had many friends from Bellaire that I would not consider racist in any way. However, the police department has been known MY ENTIRE LIFE to be very inhospitable to people of color. Same with Southside Police and West University police, although you don’t hear much about West U anymore, so I think they have changed. Pasadena police department has always been the worst quickly followed by Bellaire. Interesting that Officer Cotton, shooter of Robbie, came from the Pasadena Police Department. Seriously, are you really saying racial profiling doesn’t exist? Really?
Of course, this is not true of all Bellaire/Pasadena/Southside Police, oh and let’s not forget the Memorial Villages, however, if you look the other way, you are part of the problem.
Oh, and the guy that shot the white kid on acid? I don’t think that was necessary, but the kid was on acid. The worst you can say for Robbie Tolan is that he may have been on Jack in the Box tacos.
However, the police department has been known MY ENTIRE LIFE to be very inhospitable to people of color.
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Thank you Emme although of course you will be told you are not offering anything in terms of objective evidence although the official reports do indicate racial profiling by Bellaire PD in terms of “traffic stops” although of course the reason is that minorities tend to not wear their seat belts and not renew their stickers and don’t replace the burned out tail lights. The list of “rational explanations” go on and on. The reality speaks for itself. Bellaire has a problem with racial profiling. And the reason why is Bellaire PD reflects the attitude of the majority of Bellaire residents obviously or the majority or residents would have put a stop to it a long time ago. Because they “prefer” not have to minorities in Bellaire. Bellaire is not alone, as you point out, but definitely is somewhere that African-Americans risk being charged with “DWB” which is Driving While Black. Hispanics mainly have to worry about WWM. Walking While Mexican. Unless they’re mowing a lawn of course.
Matt, I don’t know that I agree with you on the residents of Bellaire having the same racist agenda. Sure, we racists are everywhere. I say we racists, because I don’t believe you can be raised in the US of A and not have racist and sexist shadow beliefs. It is an unfortunate part of our culture. The question is do you act on it? To what degree have you tried to remove sexism and racism from your core beliefs?
Back to the Bellaire residents. I don’t think that if it isn’t happening to you or in your face as an eye witness, that you really realize how rampant it is. Robbie Tolan, bless his heart was the perfect wakeup call victim. I would really like to see the Bellaire residents stage a rally for Robbie Tolan. A positive rally to welcome him home and envelope him in a community hug. That is what I find sad, the total lack of outrage. But I don’t think that means a majority of the residents are racist, just that a majority of the residents aren’t passionate about it. i’m sure over their morning coffee they thought the shooting was a shame, too bad for that poor boy. and the next thought was what time is Junior’s soccer game? Not necessarily racist, but probably apathetic.
And regarding the kid that was shot while high on acid? My police officer neighbor told me that they are taught in the police academy when dealing with anyone on psychedelic drugs to shoot to kill. That is sad. Do you know that psychosis mimics someone high on psychedelic drugs? Our mentally ill are just as at risk as are our fellow citizens of color. You can be apathetic about that as well until it is your mother, brother, husband or child.
OK, releasing my hostage hold on this thread.
Hey, people on psychedelic drugs have rights too.
Take the cops away from guns.
This comment is tangential, but, I would like to add that people with both a carbohydrate high & the resultant ‘diabetic’ low are as psychotic as any! Though temporarily, until the next time their crappy diet leaves them out of fuel for basic mental stability.
Emme,
You allege that racism in the Bellaire police dept. is “rampant” and assert that this is some sort of wakeup moment for the community to repent to prove they’re not really a community of closet racists. Where is the evidence of this rampant bigotry other than your ‘feelings’? Maybe officer Cotton pulled over Robbie Tolan because he REALLY DID think that he had reason. Officers run plate checks at red lights all the time… maybe Tolan’s plates were reported stolen, even if by error. And if it turns out officer Cotton acted recklessly (and the evidence we’ve seen doesn’t look good for him), that’s no reason to smear an entire community. It’s unfair and wrong what you and Matt are doing. In Robbie Tolan’s case, there has been no evidence presented that Tolan was pulled over because of his skin color. To make matters worse, you claim that it’s standard police training procedure for them to kill “anyone” on psychodelic drugs. You seem like a real deep thinker.
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In Matt’s case, he cites without evidence claims of racial discrimination in real estate sales in Bellaire.. as if that proves anything. Perhaps there have been examples of such discrimination. Or not. Or perhaps he is relying on hearsay from realtors who lost sales for other reasons but who blame it on racism. Like most smear merchants, he doesn’t cite. But 1 or 2 or even 10 examples of discrimination out of hundreds of thousands of real estate transactions in no way demonstrates pervasive racism. Virtually any seller of real estate in Bellaire or any other area would be outraged to learn that potential buyers of their property were disqualified or discouraged because of a bigoted realtor. That would be an actionable lawsuit waiting to happen. Matt is smearing an entire community because it makes him feel morally superior as if he’s some noble truthteller. It’s despicable.
Mook, my neighbor, who is a young Houston police officer, TOLD me that they are taught in academy that if faced with someone in a drug induced psychosis like those caused by LSD or acid, that they should shoot them. I don’t know how you ascribe that to my deep thinking. He TOLD me that. I didn’t even ask, he just offered that information. I can’t think of more proof than that, oh and the number of people killed in our fine city while wielding a fork, a bible, a cellphone, etc. Or while absolutely stark naked with no weapons other than his exposed penis.
Or perhaps he is relying on hearsay from realtors who lost sales for other reasons but who blame it on racism.
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Or perhaps “hearsay” from African-Americans who left the Benz or Beemer at home and drove the old Toyota to meet a client and were stopped for no reason at all. And then followed them. And then sat in front of the house and watched until the client showed up.
It’s there. HAR knows its there. It’s not as “there” as it once was. But it’s still there. And how many African-Americans do some of the “River Oaks Realtors” have on their agent rosters by the way?
Quite honestly the people through the years I’ve met and known who live in Bellaire and West U and Southside Place, not to mention the Spring Valley and Villages areas, who forever claim they are not racist actually are. They just don’t want to admit it. They have nothing against minorities. But really don’t want them living next door.
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That blue line reminds Bellaire that buses carrying Hispanics and African-Americans travels through their town. And Bellaire hates to be reminded.
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I didn’t bring up the matter of racism.
RWB did. Point made. And point responded to. Some as always protested too much.
Emme,
Perhaps you weren’t listening well when your HPD neighbor told you about their police training procedures. It’s fair to say that after hearing that, or thinking that you heard that, pretty much anyone with more than 2 functioning neurons in their head would have asked (especially before repeating it elsewhere) a clarifying question something along these lines:
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I mean seriously, that is far fetched, don’t ya think? Yet you accepted it and repeated it without questioning, and in doing so impugned the reputation of police officers (even if that was not your intention), making it seem like they’re trained to be trigger happy. No doubt your HPD neighbor was trying to communicate to you that he was trained to use extreme caution when dealing with a deranged drug user.. not to shoot on site anyone tripping on acid who says to him “Hey officer, why is your face melting?”
“From matt:
Quite honestly the people through the years I’ve met and known who live in Bellaire and West U and Southside Place, not to mention the Spring Valley and Villages areas, who forever claim they are not racist actually are. They just don’t want to admit it.”
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Like I said, you provide no evidence, you cite no facts to establish your accusations.. you’re simply a smear merchant peddling innuendo, nothing more. You’re bigoted yourself.. undoubtedly you never say a word when you hear black folks make comments about “whitey” and “crackers” as you nod in solidarity
Hey Mook-
Like it or not, and regardless of facts, proofs, or innuendos, it still remains that Bellaire does have this reputation.
I think it is common knowledge to people who know these things.
“From markd: I think it is common knowledge to people who know these things.”
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Tell us markd, who are those people whom you claim “know these things” and what are their qualifications in your opinion? I was a resident of Bellaire 1992 – 1995, do you think I might know something? Do you think ‘devans’ who posted on this thread who is a lifelong resident of Bellaire might have more insight than halfwits like yourself and “matt”? I’m just curious as to what standards you’re holding us to here. Please enlighten us with your penetrating insights as to this so-called “common knowledge”.
Mook
Ahh, c’mon. I have only lived in Houston for six years, and I know that Bellaire has that reputation. And Pasadena as well. C’mon now. Not exactly breaking news.
Hey Mook, that’s pretty lame, for you to call me a halfwit because you can’t accept the truth.
And the truth is that Bellaire has a reputation when it comes to minorities and the city’s police. Maybe you should look up the word “reputation” or “repute” in your dictionary.
If everything in the city of Bellaire is on the up & up, then why in the heck are the Feds getting involved in monitoring the Tolan trial?
Mook, let me guess, you also think Ollie North is a national hero?
You’re bigoted yourself.. undoubtedly you never say a word when you hear black folks make comments about “whitey†and “crackers†as you nod in solidarity
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Claims of “reverse racism” are just reactions by whites to cover their racism. Just how does a minority in this country disciminate against someone who has always had protections and rights under the law? It’s the law that discriminates and that is what whites, particularly in “white enclaves” like Bellaire, don’t like.
Twice already in this city whites have fled a neighborhood claiming they were “forced to sell” when in fact they chose to sell, and sell out a neighborhood in the process, because they didn’t want to live with blacks.
Here’s to a third time and don’t let the door hit you on the way out. And please, do take your racist cops with you.
Bellaire has always had a bad reputation. It has gotten worse, to be honest, rather than better through the years.
Mook, I am an articulate person with a very good sense of hearing. I know what he said, and I did question it. And yes that is what he said and that is what he meant. He is not a mere acquaintance, he is a neighbor who I have come to know over a couple of years. His preface was, “honestly EMME, between you in me, in the academy we are taught that when faced with someone on psychadelics, we should shoot them, and shoot to kill.
OK, maybe he meant shooting spitballs, but I don’t think so. Maybe he meant to kill flies off the naked psychotic guys butt, but I don’t think so, but if that’s what you need to believe to feel better about yourself, rock on. I just pray that you are not in law enforcement.
Again, I don’t believe that all Bellaire residents, or for that matter, all Bellaire cops are and/or act on racist beliefs. And for the most part, I don’t think people who are bigoted know that they are. But to out of hand deny what some of your hard working, fellow American citizens report as their experience, out of hand based on their race…well you know.
And that’s it for me. Peace to all.
Hey Mook –
You know; like “common knowledge”, dude.
Because facts, statistics, cites, and links are not necessary for racist demagogues and opportunistic hate-mongers.
You see, we have oracles like young (I hope) Matt, who like Iran’s Supreme Leader speaks for all. And he has spoken.
Bellaire has a racist reputation region-wide. We don’t know it, presumably, because it is assumed we are white, and therefore oblivious, uncaring and left alone by the BPD.
I’m hoping that the next summer session at the Community College fires up soon so these racists (no such thing as reverse-racist, btw) can grease up their mullets and ride their bikes to school. They’re simply redneck racists based on posts like #4,6,17 and 20 (and more).
The main thing is these bigots cite no facts, links, etc. to “prove” their case…just an unending supply of dumb
“everybody knows”, “common knowledge”
unsupportable anecdotes and unprovable
hate speech. Amateur Quanells, all.
Sorry to insult any non-bigoted community college students.
I’m done…battles of wits with unarmed people and all….They’ve got nothing!
Bellaire’s huge Jewish community used to be further east along Braes Bayou, in the third ward. That migration started, oh, about two minutes after the first black guy moved into the stately and formerly racially-deed restricted homes along Wheeler, Dowling, Southmore.
So Bellaire is actually full of racist Jews! But if you point that out you’re a racist, since Jews are ALSO a minority. Divide by zero, my mind just exploded.
And those Jews settled in Third Ward originally because they were deed restricted from living in River Oaks.
The reality is that current residents should not be blamed for actions of the a generation (or two) from the past. That idiocy leads to horrible ideas such as reparations.
Bellaire’s huge Jewish community used to be further east along Braes Bayou, in the third ward.
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Actually some of the Jewish community used to be further southwest along Braes Bayou. In Fondren Southwest. Where $500,000 homes became $250,000 homes overnight. “The blacks are coming, the blacks are coming…”
It wasn’t really the blacks per se but the blacks who started moving into the apartment complexes along West Bellfort and Fondren which ironically were developed and owned by Jewish developers who envisioned a “perfect” community in Fondren Southwest. They took HUD money to develop the complexes so when occupancy took a nose-dive, they were required to accept Section 8 housing. And there, as they say, went the neighborhood. The owners, many of whom lived in Fondren Southwest, didn’t believe the government really did such things. The government did. That was before developers had mastered the art of having HUD rules and regulations changed in mid-stream to create loopholes. As for mixed-income and mixed-used master planned communities, not only Fondren Southwest but Lakeside are testaments to what disasters they can become when developers prefer mega-apartment complexes to parks. The original plan for Fondren Southwest had a greenbelt along Fondren from South Braeswoood to West Airport. No greenbelt meant more apartment units as well as more parking for the planned “shopping mecca” at Fondren and West Bellfort. By 1985, I believe, only one real estate brokerage remained in Fondren Southwest. Interestingly that broker was Jewish and had been blackballed for having “integrated” Tanglewood by selling a house to a black couple “without disclosing to the seller that the buyer was black” as I believe the seller put it although I believe the seller was a little nastier than that. She sold the house by herself. She got it to closing with a little help from the Justice Department. She finally gave up on Fondren Southwest in 1987 and moved her office to West U.
Of course some in Bellaire weren’t real thrilled with that exodus. Bellaire was not only “politely” racist in every sense of the word long before the Jewish community arrived but also “politely” anti-Semitic. Not everyone in the Jewish community in Bellaire is racist. But suffice it to say that those who are found themselves amongst their own kind.
Most who moved from Riverside Terrace moved to various areas including Sugar Creek in Sugar Land and Memorial and of course many moved to Lamar Tower initially before moving somewhere else. Fondren Southwest was attractive because it was new, most of the homes were custom homes rather than tract homes, and, again, it was perceived as “perfect” and unfortunately most interpreted that as meaning it would be white and Jewish.
Nothing is white and anything anymore. And hasn’t been since Equal Housing became the law of the land. Some will still pull contracts which they have the right to do but many find themselves with someone from the Justice Department knocking on the door after they do. If you don’t want to sell to a minority, better plan on selling by word-of-mouth. Or just not selling.
As for Bellaire, maybe what happened will have a positive effect and Bellaire PD will either be “overhauled” or at least forced to undergo “sensitivity training” including learning to remind themselves that some black men and women in old Toyotas really are realtors and may have left the brand new Benz or Beemer at home that day. Batteries do die and tires do go flat and realtors are going to go show a house if they have to walk. Or drive the old Toyota. At the very least what happened will wake some people up although some probably won’t wake up until the city is hit with a huge judgement against it which no doubt it will be.
As for the “blacks are coming, the blacks are coming” they’ve been coming for a long time. Time to get over it or move to South Africa. Oh, I forgot. Too late to move to South Africa. Guess everyone will just have to get over it.
Matt, not only are you full of…spite…but your history is wrong. The main Jewish/white exodus from Riverside was to the new subdivision of Meyerland, at least for the families with a lot of money. Jews didn’t start moving to Memorial in earnest until a half-generation later.
And some of the Jews without a lot of money who left what in the early 1960’s was the more modest parts of Third Ward, moved to…Bellaire. The neighborhoods by the RR tracks. Where they lived in harmony along with everyone else there in the “poor” side of Bellaire.
Seems to me there’s a lot of opinion and not much fact blowing through. I guess nobody told me, (a white European immigrant) or my Chinese, African American and Indian neighbors on my block here in Bellaire that it was such an unfriendly place. Just one example that proves nothing? – Probably, but a good deal more factual and reflective of reality than most of the pontificating on here.
“The main Jewish/white exodus from Riverside was to the new subdivision of Meyerland, at least for the families with a lot of money. Jews didn’t start moving to Memorial in earnest until a half-generation later.”
Do read what I posted again:
“Most who moved from Riverside Terrace moved to various areas including Sugar Creek in Sugar Land and Memorial and of course many moved to Lamar Tower initially before moving somewhere else.”
What did you miss with regard to “other areas?” Meyerland, Maplewood, the various subdivisions in the Braeswood area between Kirby and Stella Link north and south of Brays Bayou, and, yes, Memorial. And Sugar Creek. Which for the longest time was another “all white enclave” which is why many moved there.
Several of the more prominent families moved into Lamar Tower. Unsure of where to move. Just as blacks were not welcome everywhere, Jews were not welcome everywhere either. Particularly in River Oaks.
It wasn’t a mass exodus all at once but rather over the course of about five years as I recall. I was at Pershing during the last of the exodus and there were quite a few who still lived in Riverside Terrace. And not all moved to Meyerland.
You of course have brought up the biggest misconception of all which is that Meyerland was and is a Jewish community. Not sure about the demographics today but for the most part it has been anything but a Jewish community and in fact has several Christian churches but no synagogues and before you respond that Beth Israel is in Meyerland it is in Maplewood.
I guess nobody told me, (a white European immigrant) or my Chinese, African American and Indian neighbors on my block here in Bellaire that it was such an unfriendly place.
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I don’t think anyone said there weren’t minorities in Bellaire. Just that quite a few in Bellaire wish they weren’t there. There might actually be more than there are but as a friend of mine’s father once put it with regard to the possibility of moving to River Oaks at one point when River Oaks became “open” to Jews, why move somewhere if you aren’t welcome there?
He was one of those who moved into Lamar Tower.
http://www.criminaljusticecoalition.org/files/userfiles/publicsafety/Racial_Profiling_Data_2006_Analysis_of_Search_and_Consent_Policies_in_Texas.pdf
The plural of anecdote is data. In 2004, Bellaire was 9 times more likely to conduct a consent search (officer’s option as opposed to probable cause or the execution of a warrant) in a traffic stop on African Americans than on whites. (See page 21.) The source of this data is the Bellaire PD’s own records, which they have been required to collect since 2001 per state law.
It appears that all those rumors and anecdotes that the Bellaire PD target African American drivers more than white drivers are true. I am sure most people in Bellaire are decent and don’t think of themselves as racists. But their police department has long had a reputation as targeting minority drivers, and actual data seems to bear that out. I hope that residents of Bellaire think this is a problem that needs to be addressed. There are minority drivers that make a point of driving around Bellaire to avoid driving through it. That is just wrong.
(Sorry that I inadvertently threadjacked.)
RWB must be singing “if I only had a brain”. By your own source RWB, Bellaire pulls over black drivers for consent searches MUCH less frequently than in Houston or Fort Bend county. So much for the nonsensical “common knowledge” BPD is racist argument, wouldn’t you agree?
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By RWB’s source, Bellaire cops stop black drivers less frequently than pretty much every other law enforcement jurisdiction in the state listed in that report, which is why someone would have to go all the way to the bottom of the list on page 21. Sorry that you’re too STUPID to have not understood that basic point.
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Emme, please tell us on what basis you allege that racism is “rampant” (your choice of words) in the Bellaire Police dept? I’m sure a self proclaimed “articulate” person such as yourself would have no problem explaining such an inflammatory accusation…right? Because you’re so articulate that shouldn’t be a problem
Well done, Mook and others. Matt and RWB are racists, bigots and hypocrites who are projecting their myriad anxieties onto a terrible tragedy. Instead of waiting on the facts (gee…like a trial?), they adopt the racist tactics of damning an entire community. Relatively smart people frequent this forum-and I’m sure they ignore the likes of these two bigots-but for those who don’t follow facts on this issue, I’m glad that there are those who will hold these losers’ proverbial feet to the fire in re: verifiable facts.
Watching these two post is like watching a slow-motion train wreck – horrible, but so hard to believe, you watch anyway.
The thing to keep in mind is that these two are stereotyping LARGE groups of people and offering NO VERIFIABLE PROOF.
That is the essence of racism. Pot-Kettle, Matt and RWB! Brilliant cite there, RWB, btw. HA HA.
Keep up the good work in exposing these haters, fellow posters!
It’s not about the total number of consent searches (different PDs will have different policies on when to do consent searches). It’s about how many consent searches a given PD does for white drivers versus black drivers. And Bellaire does 9 times as many for black drivers. Fort Bend does consent searches of black drivers 1.7 times as much as white drivers. Houston does consent searches of black drivers 3.8 times as often as for white drivers. Neither are figures to be proud of (in my opinion), but they look a lot better than Bellaire’s 9 to 1 ratio.
(Now if you think consent searches are, by themselves, a problem, then Bellaire looks pretty good! But the issue of whether a PD should conduct consent searches has not been the subject we have been arguing about. That subject is whether or not the Bellaire PD treats minority drivers different from white drivers, and this report strikes me as pretty conclusive. Unfortunately.)
Hey Mook, do you have any reading comprehension skills at all? Because you obviously could not comprehend the data in the presented .pdf document.
So let me get this straight:
If all the consent searches of black drivers were proper, then Bellaire should pull a bunch of non-black drivers so their numbers look good and they don’t appear racist?
Or, they shouldn’t pull over some black drivers at all (even if they think they are doing something wrong) so the numbers look good and they don’t appear racist?
Why is race even considered? To me, that in and of itself is very much racist that we track these stats.
I don’t understand why blacks don’t truly follow Martin Luther King Jr’s example and put it in practice. Of course if they did, people like Quannell X, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton couldn’t make money. They thrive on trumping up racism where it isn’t to extort money from non-blacks who feel guilty.
I don’t feel the white guilt. I rather speak truth to the load of crap that is dispensed in the country regarding racism.
A good book to read on this is “White Guilt” by Shelby Steele. He does a better job of explaining how guilty feeling whites and so called black leaders are the primary ones who keep racism alive and make sure it doesn’t go away than I can. Many Americans feelings about race is can be attributed to the guilty whites relentless need to apologize and the black leaders relentless need for white to apologize to them. Everybody else is stuck in the middle just trying to live there lives truly not caring about their neighbors race. Most Americans don’t care about race and aren’t racist. If you want to see what a truly racist country looks like, go to Mexico. If you know your history, you know that racism in America is nothing compared to racism in Mexico. And Mexico it is still legal to discriminate. Cities and towns have rules specifically regarding race.
The demographics for Bellaire from the 2000 Census:
White
13,939
89.1
Black or African American
131
0.8
American Indian and Alaska Native
43
0.3
0.9%
Asian
993
6.3
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
10
0.1
Some other race
289
1.8
Two or more races
237
1.5
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
1,221
7.8
Minorities obviously love Bellaire! The Hispanic/Latino population is probably reflective of Hispanic white collar workers as opposed to Latino blue collar workers living in Bellaire. But then a lot of Hispanics don’t like African-Americans. A lot of Hispanics view themselves as Caucasian on the basis of their Spanish, as opposed to indigenous Indian, blood.
Whites who call other whites and minorities racists and bigots for pointing out the racism in our society are merely pointing out their own racism.
Bellaire is a racist community in that people for the most part move there for the same reason they move into other predominantly white areas. They “prefer” not to live around minorities. And some areas have less minorities than others. Perhaps because some areas have police departments notorious for making minorities feel unwelcome.
The mayor of Bellaire said she was unaware of racial profiling by Bellaire PD. Maybe she doesn’t bother to check data or maybe it just sounded good when she said it. My money is on the latter.
Matt,
I need some clarification. Because of my choice not to live in Sunnyside, I’m racist?
If I chose to live in the Woodlands, I must be racist?
If I bought a town home in a gentrifying latino community, am I vindicated from being racist? Or am a truly evil racist because many of the latinos may move out because they can’t afford the neighborhood now?
It seems in your world, there isn’t a damn thing a white person can do to be good other than bow down and grovel.
Matt, you need to grow up and live in the real world. Throw away your misguided education and learn that most people don’t even consider race when picking a home or go about there daily lives. Many consider much more important things such as how good a school district, price, commute, and the community feel.
You must be a truly miserable person to have every waking moment spent in fear of white people. Maybe if you stopped accusing all white people of being racist, you may learn that many are quite nice and don’t care about the color of a person’s skin. Just like MLK Jr wanted us to live.
From kjb434:
Why is race even considered? To me, that in and of itself is very much racist that we track these stats.
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We track these stats because otherwise all we’d have to go on are the many personal stories of minority people that they are being hassled by the Bellaire PD.
The reason we look at “consent searches” are that they are totally at the officer’s discretion and not prompted by a broken law (speeding, broken tail-light, not signalling, etc.) or by probable cause (an uzi in the back seat). As much as anything that can be captured statistically, they reflect the officer’s feelings. And what these stats show us is that Bellaire PD officers “feel” like performing a consent search 9 times as much if the person being searched is black than if he or she is white. This totally fits in with the sense that minority drivers get that Bellaire PD picks on them unfairly.
I wish we didn’t have to think about race. I get sick of hearing about it.
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kjb434 continues: Many Americans feelings about race is can be attributed to the guilty whites relentless need to apologize and the black leaders relentless need for white to apologize to them.
===================================
Bellaire PD certainly isn’t apologizing for consent searching black drivers nine times as often as white drivers. Nor are Bellaire’s citizens, who generally can ignore this as it doesn’t really affect most of them. I think minorities who avoid driving through Bellaire do so not because Quannell X told them to, but because they feel more likely to be pulled over and hassled there.
RWB,
Shouldn’t a black person avoiding driving through Bellaire be considered just as racist as a white person avoiding driving Airport Blvd through Sunnyside? Both may have there reasons whether justified or not.
kjb434: I don’t think either driver should be considered racist. I’m not even sure where you are going with that question. The (apparently) racist ones are the police in Bellaire.
I still don’t understand how you are racist for pulling someone over.
None of us, not even the stats that were linked too even detail each incident of a pull over and what was said.
By the stat of more blacks happening to be pulled over being racist, then the entire legal justice system is racist since black make a larger percentage of the prison population.
The sad part is some people believe the entire legal justice system is racist.
I just can’t imagine what life would be like if I had to worry about always having to prove my innocence, when no crime has even occurred. http://www.khou.com/news/local/crime/stories/khou090108_mp_bellaire-racial-profiling.9183e9d.html
EMME,
That’s exactly how many whites feel. They feel like they are branded racist automatically with no exception.
Whites are expected to apologize for their existence in the US at every turn.
I choose to not care. I choose not to get wrapped up in the white guilt because I haven’t done anything wrong. I choose not to associate with apologist or the accusers.
kjb434: They were very careful in the study I cited to only look at consent searches. Consent searches are a very small percentage of all interactions with the police, but they are quite useful because they are purely at the discretion of the police–they aren’t triggered by some other event (like a broken traffic law or probable cause).
The reason they don’t use total number of times being pulled over is because those events are triggered by some alleged traffic violation. So even if blacks were pulled over 9 times as much as whites, a PD could claim that blacks broke traffic laws nine times as much as whites. This claim doesn’t really pass the smell test, but it can’t be disproven.
So they use the consent search because it is truly based on one thing–whether or not an officer wants to conduct such a search. No statistician can read an officer’s mind. So we don’t know what their motivation is for conducting consent searches so much more frequently on blacks than on whites. But on its face, a reasonable conclusion is that they do it because the person is black.
Can’t you see how much that would suck, if it happened to you?
You must be a truly miserable person to have every waking moment spent in fear of white people. Maybe if you stopped accusing all white people of being racist, you may learn that many are quite nice and don’t care about the color of a person’s skin. Just like MLK Jr wanted us to live.
_________________________________________
Just in case you are assuming I am a minority I am not. I am white. And in great part from having worked in real estate for over 20 years and not only heard a lot but seen a lot I can see why blacks really do hate white people.
Many white people are nice. Polite. But even some of the nice ones firmly believe that the standard of equality should be separate but equal. That is not equal.
Many black people are nice. Polite. But even some of the nice ones see only that they are separate and somehow not equal.
“But on its face, a reasonable conclusion is that they do it because the person is black.”
That’s where I have the problem. They get labeled at racist only for the appearance. As I said before, I the police make the effort to pull over just as many whites for consent searches, then the stat is void. They can do this and still be racist and still give black drivers problems, and your precious stat won’t catch it.
Matt,
I’ve met lot of white people that are truly afraid of white people because they are racist. That’s where that book “White Guilt” dives into.
On the other coin, I know lots of blacks that laugh at things you mention. They absolution disdain the modern civil rights movement because it degrades blacks more than lifts them up. It locks them into victim status and tells them they can never achieve. It puts into the air that blacks that have achieved are only able to do so because of the white man. That is so sad.
To me, the volumes of successful black people at all levels of life show the ridiculousness of your statements.
If I bought a town home in a gentrifying latino community, am I vindicated from being racist? Or am a truly evil racist because many of the latinos may move out because they can’t afford the neighborhood now?
_________________________________________
How about a “gentrifying” African-American community like Fourth Ward? I worked with the people in Fourth Ward when they fought Houston Renaissance and its “revitalization” which was nothing more than racist gentrification.
You might not be racist if you bought a townhome. But if you were a developer working with Houston Renaissance telling poor African-Americans,as well as some Italian-Americans, that their land was only worth $6 a square foot and if they didn’t like it the city would give them even less when they condemned their property under eminent domain so you could build a townhome and make a nice profit, well, yes, that would make you a racist in my eyes. And in a lot of other people’s eyes as well.
From kjb434:
“But on its face, a reasonable conclusion is that they do it because the person is black.â€
That’s where I have the problem. They get labeled at racist only for the appearance. As I said before, I the police make the effort to pull over just as many whites for consent searches, then the stat is void. They can do this and still be racist and still give black drivers problems, and your precious stat won’t catch it.
===================================
You’re right! Using stats is hard and as everyone who watched the Wire knows, PDs have all kinds of ways to “juke the stats.”
And indeed, people who do wrong things (like treat black drivers badly because they are black) have an incentive to try to cover up that behavior.
So Bellaire could “solve” it’s problem by treating white drivers just as unfairly as it treats black drivers. That would be a pretty spiteful way to approach it, but I guess it could be done. Or they could ask themselves hard questions, like “Hey, am I pulling this guy over because he was going over the speed limit or because he is going over the speed limit and is black” or simply “Am I treating black motorists worse than white motorists because they are black.”
I would like to see the latter approach.
On the other coin, I know lots of blacks that laugh at things you mention. They absolution disdain the modern civil rights movement because it degrades blacks more than lifts them up. It locks them into victim status and tells them they can never achieve. It puts into the air that blacks that have achieved are only able to do so because of the white man. That is so sad.
______________________________________
The only African-American I can think of who would agree with that statement is Clarence Thomas who believes he is on the Supreme Court simply because he “proved” himself on his own and didn’t benefit from affirmative action and who was the sole justice who voted not to extend the Voting Rights Act.
Even Antonin Scalia accepted the reality that African-Americans are still denied access to equal representation and still denied access to the polls as a result of racism.
As for the feelings toward Clarence Thomas in the African-American community, as someone put it not long ago the African-American community is still waiting for an African-American to be named to the Supreme Court.
As for Metro and its “blue line” in Bellaire, you can see the racism in the entire Houston area quite well in its policies with regard to rail. The rail plans so far are planned per the needs of the developers and their “upscale” developments aimed at “upscale” whites. Everyone else gets broken down buses.
You obviously don’t know Clarence Thomas or much of his biography. How is he not black?
I guess you rather the black community to be continually be abused and extorted by the same politicians that claim to support them. The current Democrat is the new plantation and the much of the voting black populace are their new slaves. Now the same party is trying to do the same thing to Hispanic voters. Of course the Republicans are guilty of trying this with Hispanics also. Politicians of both parties group people and put them against each other then promise that they will fight the group. It’s very old political technique. Politicians scare black, old people, gays, religious, poor, and (put name of group here) so they vote for them. If all groups are fighting against each other then no one is watching the politician. Welcome to our national politics. Every group is fighting for only their group while politician of both parties screw over everyone.
I have more respect for a black person (or any person of classified political subgroup) to not follow herd mentality and think of themselves as part of a group. I respect people who look above the group and prefer to be the better American versus part of a sub group.
Being gay I hear the similar crap but from a sexual orientation angle just like blacks here about racism. If we look beyond this and and actually look to better ourselves, the issues of any form of discrimination begin to fall away.
Our current realpolitik requires that discrimination exist so that they can keep their power.
My respect for Clarence Thomas, J.C. Watts, Thomas Sowell, Condi Rice, Ward Connerlly, Walter E. Williams, Tami Bruce, etc. is that they broke from the chains of group victim hood and decided to think for themselves.
As for METRO and rail, I could have told anybody that rail transit has nothing to do with moving people and making traffic better. It never does. From my civil engineering point of view, rail never solves traffic problems and is only an alternative mode of transportation. It’s obvious METRO’s plan from the beginning is all about future development. Our own Sheila Jackson Lee is playing that game too. She has alliances with developers who are trying to profit from rail lines. Her concern of Third Ward rail lines had more to do with developers who are purchasing tracts of land in the area versus the charade she had last year with a town hall meeting listening to residents. With that said, this is not racism. It’s unethical yes, but it’s not racism by any means.
Black to Clarence Thomas, I think is a shining example of a Supreme Court Justice because he doesn’t use his race to guide decisions. That would be against the constitution and the role of Supreme Court. Empathy is not a tool of a judge. Although some try to use it and use it with great disservice to our country, the justice system is supposed to be blind. It’s does not care about race, creed, wealth, etc. In that way Justice Thomas is a great Supreme Court Judge.
Besides, the barrier for black Supreme Court Justice was broken by Thurgood Marshall.
I see the rout of the the two bigots who can’t seem to shut themselves up (except when it comes to PROOF that Bellaire is racist in any way). No matter what ignorant,
off-point non-applicable tangents they introduce (“consent searches?” – yes, what a &%$&#*& definitive variable -brother!)
I think these hypocrites are in league with Berg – the plaintiff lawyer. Berg (like his daddy would have) has attempted to put the whole community on trial. Quite common legal tactic to maximize recovery in a civil suit. In law school, we were taught to call it (informally)the “idiot roundup” ’cause there are always attention-seekers/conspiracy theorists who will emerge with specious and cruel assumptions. Their bleating (devoid of relevant facts) is designed (by the lawyer) to place intense pressure for an inflated settlement on the elected officials who are supposed to be intimidated by the race card. Besides making fools of yourselves (Matt-an expert on race relations/salesman, and RWB, still trying to derive a significant damning damning statistic (EPIC FAIL)), these guys are just tools for a dude who’s looking to snag a 40% contingency. He is just trying to force it into the 8, instead of 7 figure range. Matt/RWB, he appreciates you doing his dirty work, but he won’t share his bounty – and if the $ was in Missouri City and the races were reversed – he do exactly the same thing.
Most plaintiffs lawyers are truly colorblind – except for green.
You guys are simply blind – and racist.