We’re back to regular posting. If you’re looking for my “Crime in Downtown Memphis” post, scroll down. I may bump that post back to the top early next week.
You may notice that I temporarily removed some of the remarks I made in my early-this-morning post. I want to stress that I did not take them down because I was asked to, or threatened in some way. I decided to remove those comments (at least for a while, while I do some thinking) after an e-mail from a friend whose opinion I respect, another blogger who in the past has suddenly found herself in the middle of unexpected controversy.
She made me realize something: My purpose in making these posts should not be to scare my readers; it should be to inform my readers and let them come to their own conclusion. So that’s what I’m going to do from this point forward.
That does not mean I’m going to shut up. If I hear about crimes being committed, I’m going to say where it happened. If it happened near a condo building or downtown business, I may well say it happened near that building or business. If the people who own those condos or businesses don’t like it, TOO BAD. This is a problem. Do something.
A lot of these new condos are promoting a “walking community,” where pedestrians walk to get the goods and services they need. I do not believe the developers were lying when they created those ad campaigns; up until recently, downtown was a walking community. But due to the recent uptick in crime and presence of gangs, it no longer is. At least in my opinion. You can read my crime post and make your own judgment.
It’s interesting – after I started posting about crime, I got the first wave of e-mail in response: “Paul I’m so glad you’re getting this out in the open. Something needs to be done. You may want to talk to __________ who works at _________. Thank you thank you and fight the good fight for us.”
This afternoon the second wave started coming, e-mails like: “What gives you the right to scare everyone away from downtown? I talked to [some “important” person downtown, a developer or CCC member or business owner] and he says downtown is safe.” Some of these e-mails also included attacks on my credibility, which I won’t bother quoting.
To them I respond: Ask the “important” person you talked to this – what is the last time they walked the streets of downtown (especially Union, Second, the Main Street Mall, and Beale) between the hours of 10 and 2 on a weekend night? And if they answer “never” or a long time ago, how can they claim to know what’s going on at those times, to the extent that I do given that I’m actually out there?
The attacks on my credibility don’t bother me. Those people don’t know me, so they couldn’t possibly be reacting to me. They’re reacting to a perception inside their own heads of who they think I am based on extremely limited information. I don’t feel the need to defend myself, but I will say this, just for the benefit of those of you who have never met me: I was a faculty member at the University of Memphis for five years. I served two years on the board of directors of Mpact Memphis. And there are at least a few people who think a lot of my blogging – like the people at the Commercial Appeal, who offered me a position as their Deal of the Week blogger two months ago. I love downtown. I’ve lived down here for four and a half years. I’m passionate about it. I want to see downtown grow and expand and attract many more residents and visitors. But I am not willing to sweep the safety issue under the rug, even if it hinders that growth in the short term. At least I’ll be able to sleep well at night knowing I did everything I could to prevent my friends and neighbors from getting attacked.
A note about the reporter from Channel 5 who contacted me – when someone forwarded him the article about downtown crime, he didn’t really believe it either. Then he saw who wrote it – me. He and I have worked together personally on projects for Mpact Memphis, projects which promoted the city and gave it a better name. Based on that he knew he was dealing with a reliable source. I got the inroads to the police director and city councilman from a friend who knew me personally, with whom I had worked on Downtown Neighborhood Association projects. Again, at least some people think I’m credible.
Hmmm… so maybe I did feel the need to defend myself a little bit.
I’m going to reverse my previous position and issue a challenge to anyone who will take it: Come downtown this weekend, after dark. Walk down Union. Walk down Second. Walk down the Main Street Mall. Walk down Beale. Come to your own conclusion about whether it’s safe. Personally, I think you’ll find it’s a much different downtown than it was even two months ago. If you do take me up on my challenge, please, do your walking as a group, keep your eyes open, and stay out of alleys.
I will continue to post about crime as I hear it, but this blog is going to begin to slowly drift back to the way it was a week ago, where I talk about my life downtown and what’s going on that’s fun to do. I’m suspending the June theme for a little while because I want people who’ve never seen this blog before to take my posts seriously. Hopefully by mid-month this blog will be fun to read again, and not so depressing.
I still plan to be on the Peabody rooftop about 7:15 for some R & R, and again extend the offer to my readers to meet me up there.