the economic blight spreads
2020-Jul-03, Friday 11:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mellowtiggerThe economic blight started before I arrived here in North Minneapolis (the neighborhoods nearby known by me as the #WarzoneInMinneapolis). I remember when I first moved in, I did the thing that everyone does. I ordered pizza as I started unboxing my stuff.
I learned immediately that pizza doesn't deliver here. Ummmm.... okay. So I drove to Pizza Hut to get my pizza. The employees were safe behind thick glass and a metal door. They gave me my pizza box through a giant metal drawer, like you see at secure banks. It made the familiar kerCHUNK-kerCHUNK sound as the levers and gears worked to slide metal plates into secure positions. It wasn't enough protection, though. A year or two later, Pizza Hut closed their store. There is no national pizza chain here in the warzone. None. That's a stark reality for a pizza-loving America. Burger King closed a few years ago and nothing reopened in that building.
Then the CVS pharmacy store closed last year. It was just a few blocks from my house. I walked there for prescriptions and allergy medicines. No new business ever showed up in that empty building. I switched my prescriptions to a Walgreens pharmacy store farther away. It's across the street from the Cub grocery store where I got most of my groceries. Here they are now. I don't know where I'm moving my prescriptions the next time I need something.
Those stores were at different corners of the intersection where the main protests and riots happened here in North Minneapolis, which I think never made the local news. Everyone was focused on south Minneapolis where George Floyd was killed and the 3rd Precinct police station burned. Oh, and I drove by my 4th Precinct police station yesterday too. The barricades and barbed wire are gone for now.
I took a panorama photo of that whole business plaza where Walgreens is located. They're all closed: AutoZone automotive, Dollar Store discount, Subway sandwiches, H&R Block taxes, and more. You wouldn't know about it from listening to local news.
As I prepared this post, the television talked at me from the living room. "The View" was telling everyone about the police killing of Breonna Taylor in her own bed. I'd really like to hear the 2nd Amendment types explain this one to me. They riddled her body with 8 bullets. Explain to me how this is supposed to work, or do only white people have the sanctity of their own home? None of the police had body cameras or police uniform.
After "The View", local tv news ran a story about a huge increase in Minneapolis police filing PTSD complaints to leave their job with workers' compensation benefits. One of the talking heads warned that 25% of the police force may do this. I don't believe these officers suddenly develop PTSD when they're finally held to account for their behavior. Nobody gave me a bulletproof vest and helmet when I moved here. Nobody gave me a weapon. Nobody sends me to therapy or pays me for the stress of living in a warzone. Our local police were already paid a lot more than the people living here whose taxes they consume.
The police have turned into a gang. They kill when and where they want. They're an organized crime gang, like in the classical days of corruption of Al Capone, siphoning protection money from people who deserve better than they are being treated. They are just one more gang on the streets that's killing poor people.
They're a gang that theoretically we can still control. Replace them with something new. Disband the police. Use that significant bankroll of money to fund services that actually help here.
I learned immediately that pizza doesn't deliver here. Ummmm.... okay. So I drove to Pizza Hut to get my pizza. The employees were safe behind thick glass and a metal door. They gave me my pizza box through a giant metal drawer, like you see at secure banks. It made the familiar kerCHUNK-kerCHUNK sound as the levers and gears worked to slide metal plates into secure positions. It wasn't enough protection, though. A year or two later, Pizza Hut closed their store. There is no national pizza chain here in the warzone. None. That's a stark reality for a pizza-loving America. Burger King closed a few years ago and nothing reopened in that building.
Then the CVS pharmacy store closed last year. It was just a few blocks from my house. I walked there for prescriptions and allergy medicines. No new business ever showed up in that empty building. I switched my prescriptions to a Walgreens pharmacy store farther away. It's across the street from the Cub grocery store where I got most of my groceries. Here they are now. I don't know where I'm moving my prescriptions the next time I need something.
Those stores were at different corners of the intersection where the main protests and riots happened here in North Minneapolis, which I think never made the local news. Everyone was focused on south Minneapolis where George Floyd was killed and the 3rd Precinct police station burned. Oh, and I drove by my 4th Precinct police station yesterday too. The barricades and barbed wire are gone for now.
I took a panorama photo of that whole business plaza where Walgreens is located. They're all closed: AutoZone automotive, Dollar Store discount, Subway sandwiches, H&R Block taxes, and more. You wouldn't know about it from listening to local news.
As I prepared this post, the television talked at me from the living room. "The View" was telling everyone about the police killing of Breonna Taylor in her own bed. I'd really like to hear the 2nd Amendment types explain this one to me. They riddled her body with 8 bullets. Explain to me how this is supposed to work, or do only white people have the sanctity of their own home? None of the police had body cameras or police uniform.
After "The View", local tv news ran a story about a huge increase in Minneapolis police filing PTSD complaints to leave their job with workers' compensation benefits. One of the talking heads warned that 25% of the police force may do this. I don't believe these officers suddenly develop PTSD when they're finally held to account for their behavior. Nobody gave me a bulletproof vest and helmet when I moved here. Nobody gave me a weapon. Nobody sends me to therapy or pays me for the stress of living in a warzone. Our local police were already paid a lot more than the people living here whose taxes they consume.
The police have turned into a gang. They kill when and where they want. They're an organized crime gang, like in the classical days of corruption of Al Capone, siphoning protection money from people who deserve better than they are being treated. They are just one more gang on the streets that's killing poor people.
They're a gang that theoretically we can still control. Replace them with something new. Disband the police. Use that significant bankroll of money to fund services that actually help here.
no subject
Date: 2020-Jul-03, Friday 08:53 pm (UTC)https://littlecaesars.com/en-us/store/8140/