In the latest edition of The Independent News, the weekly profiles Escambia County's District 3 in three different stories. In Rick Outzen’s piece, he describes the district as a place where whites don’t go “without risking their lives”. Dewayne Escobedo says District 3 is an area “where few white people ever venture”. Come on guys – is the area really that bad?
I think Outzen and company are being a little too over-dramatic in their descriptions of the area. I was a substitute teacher at Pensacola High School a couple of years ago and was never afraid of being mugged or car-jacked when I left the school.
Residents venturing near Pensacola’s “inner-city” don’t need to worry their safety. Pensacola doesn’t see the type of violence that bigger cities experience.
You don’t ever hear about an incident like this in Pensacola: Last month, in the predominantly African-American areas of Washington D.C., four people were shot to death in a span of five hours. That’s real violence.
That being said; I’m still glad the paper decided to write about this issue. Escambia County’s mostly African-American third district is a heavily blighted area; we should all take the time to understand the root causes of the district’s poverty. We can do something about the poverty once we understand it.
I think Outzen and company are being a little too over-dramatic in their descriptions of the area. I was a substitute teacher at Pensacola High School a couple of years ago and was never afraid of being mugged or car-jacked when I left the school.
Residents venturing near Pensacola’s “inner-city” don’t need to worry their safety. Pensacola doesn’t see the type of violence that bigger cities experience.
You don’t ever hear about an incident like this in Pensacola: Last month, in the predominantly African-American areas of Washington D.C., four people were shot to death in a span of five hours. That’s real violence.
That being said; I’m still glad the paper decided to write about this issue. Escambia County’s mostly African-American third district is a heavily blighted area; we should all take the time to understand the root causes of the district’s poverty. We can do something about the poverty once we understand it.
The piece is definitely melodramatic or over the top in a couple of places, and we definitely can't compete with DC, but there are shootings, there is prostitution, there is a LOT of drugs. It's a very depressed district.
ReplyDeleteDistrict 3 is pretty big. I live on the edge of East Hill in District 3, and I think my neighborhood is pretty nice. My wife works at Baptist Hospital, often late at night, and has no concerns about working there (although, to be honest, I do). Does District 3 have problems? Sure. But I think the IN story was putting it too strongly to just say the whole of District 3 is in crisis.
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