I received a letter from a longtime friend, neighbor, and work associate recently that really disturbed me. This individual is someone I have had a close relationship with for most of my 39 years as an employee of local telephone co. Unfortunately she refused to bail out of the community when many other homeowners did. I suspect her rationale was “if I can get along on the job I can do same in my community”. Well it doesn’t seem to be working out very well.

As you may have guessed, my friend is White. After reading her letter I sum the situation up as one where she has had the misfortune to find herself surrounded by people even I would not wish to be around. More simply said, bad neighbors come in all colors, shapes, sizes, and etc. But I believe it is important for all residents in this area to understand a little history and what a good neighborhood should be all about.

Back when I built my home, Fall 1972, there were very few Blacks in Randallstown. Even though there werea few small Black communities in the area (Woodstock, Winands Road, and Church Lane), I suspect we were fewer than 5% of the population. Most of the Whites were well educated middle income people who would simply pick up and move instead of acting like fools when their racist instincts kicked in. However, many stayed and are still living in the area. Aside from drawing the attention of a Carroll County KKK group, a face off with the local elementary school vice principal about a remark he made about Baltimore City schools and it students and a run in with an official of The old Randallstown Football program we never had to deal with the issues my friend is dealing with.  Yes, we had neighbor who sold their homes as soon as they realized our development was experiencing a size able influx of Blacks. We also had folks who were subordinate to many of us professionally refuse to speak or interact on a social level. But who cares, they eventually left and crossing paths with them didn’t leave me any worst off.  

Let me point out what some of my friends issues are. How many of you remember the old “don’t park in my space” concept that exist in most urban areas. Well there are folk who still believe they own the public space in front of their homes. I don’t have a problem with that, but when the end result is damaged personal property we have a problem. When people us abusive and racist language in their effort to resolve simple neighborly problems, we have a problem. The most disturbing is when uninvolved neighbors passively observe anti-social and racist acts directed toward their neighbor because they are now the minority, we have a problem.

May be it is time for some of us to look at ourselves in a mirror. Our kids are being shaped by what they see and observe. Are our actions what we would like our kids to emulate? Are we demonstrating the personal attributes that will assist our kids to become successful citizens? Do we yell when we are mistreated and remain on the sideline when we observe others being mistreated? Brothers and Sisters we can’t burn the candle at both ends!

Whats the fix? Well a community that is alive and well makes every effort to maintain its diversity. It also set the stage for neighborly discourse even if it is often loud and unsettling. We do this by being sociable. As little as a smile as we pass each other or a little chit chat would do wonders. This stuff is contagious and before you know it people will began to respect and appreciate the differences in all of us. Life is just too short to waste any of it and that is exactly what happens when we make life miserable for others.

What do you think?

Welcome. This is my first posting. As a result of two recent incidents I have decided to create a communication facility dedicated to perpetuating the quality of life I have enjoyed for over 35 years living in Randallstown, MD. The two incidents that prompted this action both involved the local school system. The first was a casual conversation with a neighbor about the increasing signs of gang activity within the elementary and middle schools and the second involves a situation that heightened my fear that we are foolishly relying too heavily on the public school system to assist in the raising of our children, especially black males.

Let’s face it, the system as it is composed or organized today is less focused on what is best for the kids and more driven toward standard test and the impact low performance on those test have on one’s career. It doesn’t take a whole lot to solve some of the problems if we, the stable members of our community, get more involved in the creation of a fertile enviroment for these kids. Children are like plants, if you fulfill their needs they will blossom. If you don’t they will make life miserable for everyone in the community.

Here is my quicky test to determine how well the community cares for it’s young -

• Are there Girl Scout, Cub Scout, Boy Scout, and Explorer Post within the community?
• Are there little league baseball, football, baseball and other activities in the community?
• Are there activities for the kids who aren’t interested in sports?
• Are the local Parent Teacher Associations functioning within the schools?
• Are community service providers (police officers, teachers, and etc) vested in the community (i.e. live within the community)?
• Do local political leaders actively participate in community activities?
• Are churches active in the community?
• Do parents participate and support after school activities?
• Do you have community activities like fairs, carnivals, cookouts, and etc? 

If you can’t answer yes to each of the above questions, we have a problem. Let’s chat about what we can do to turn things around.

Hopefully this Blog will encourage you and others who are truly interested in maintaining this community and insuring the fruit of the community (kids) get a fair chance to succeed share their concerns and ideas.