Toledo is the last place you would expect to see Nazi marches and riots. The Nazis were protesting "black violence," which, unfortunately, resulted in a sad, sad irony - black violence. Nice job making the racists look like they havd a valid point, asshats.
There's apparently a curfew now. How bad are things?
Strange, I just watched a movie called American History X, which is about this kinda stuff...neo-Nazi groups/skinheads and racism and all that. Their ways about putting action to their rhetoric is very unfortuanate...taking it to the extreme just like the terrorists.
"Life's a journey, not a destination"
-Steven Tyler
Insanity! Insanity again! (minimum character rule)
This Bear's mom's side of the family were all residents of this fine old neighborhood. I have been in the tavern that the rioters set on fire (although, a lot of years ago). Some of my employee's live in this nieghborhood.
Even though only about 24% black, the city of Toledo is much like many other old urban cities.....many poor residents, not a lot of opportunities, single parent mothers who really can't control their rebellious kids, young men who feel more at home with a red bandanna (which gang?) than with real family.
Same old urban problems.
Idiot neo-Nazi's enter the scene, counter demonstrations are planned, the police basically kick the neo-Nazis out of town, the counter demonstration goes on anyway, albiet with gangs and young men setting the tone.
Super Amputee Cat is a south Toledo resident, well away from the area that haad the problems. (Many of his great photos of Toledo homes were taken in a neighborhood very close to the riot area. My uncle's old house is one of those pictures.)
I know we have at least one (1) new Cyburbia resident living in Toledo, Frog. He/she was in the south end, too, but recently moved back into a more central location. Hope we hear from Frog, indicating that all is OK.
There is a certain sadness in seeing the national news images of Toledo, going out for all to see.....seeing rampaging youths, as viewed from helicopters circling the riot scene. The image we would rather project is families having fun at the new ball park downtown, young people visiting an art museum always considered in the Ten Best In The USA, hundreds of pleasure boats in the Maumee River (with the skyline behind them) watching the many fireworks shows, Toledo's historic "old west end" and the magnificent homes in that neighborhood, the "rose window" on Toledo's Rosary Cathedral, and many others.
Alas, Toledo is in the national news in January (Jeep factory worker goes on rampage and kills and wounds a number of fellow workers), August (candidate for Mayor indicates that if we don't vote for her then God will bring to Toledo a storm in the magnitude of Katrina), and this riot.
Bear
Occupy Cyburbia!
What's sad about this is that as repulsive and vulgar as the neo-Nazis are, they knew that their presence could incite this kind of violence.
Gang members rarely if ever target white residents, in any city. Unless those white residents are competitors in the drug trade. This was a clear case of the Nazis inciting violence to get the result they wanted.
Unfortunate.
Hi.
Everything is ok in my neck of the woods. I live about five miles west of the riot scene, just down Central. It was bizarre because I found myself driving through that neighborhood for the first time earlier this week, noting the houses that Super Amputee Cat probably photographed.
-Bill
SAC checking in. I’m OK. Like Bear stated, I live in South Toledo, miles away from all the action, but am well familiar with the riot area, having once lived nearby and working in the area a lot through my job.
I just got back from camping all weekend so I missed everything anyway, but was sure in for an earful when I returned. Now I just want to repack the camper and go to Northern Michigan with my kids.
With that said, I am not defending the rioters at all, but I will say that the area that the riot took place, North Toledo in general, has for years been the most neglected, ignored, misunderstood, and generally crapped-on part of Toledo. It has among the highest rates of poverty and unemployment and attending high crime, prostitution and drug abuse of anywhere in Toledo. Illegal dumping and abandoned factories are also prevalent. And it's spreading. North Toledo seems to have no idealistic persons of influence or local political cheereaders defending and supporting it unlike East Toledo and South and West Toledo.
Perhaps all this is what some of the rioters were really raging against. It’s kind of a vicious cycle that keeps feeding on itself.
But the riots weren't the only ugly story to afflict Toledo this past week. There's plenty more ugly $hit where that came from:
So you’ll excuse me while I vent.
2. October 14, 2005. Rib-Off festival moves to snob suburb.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.../-1/ARCHIVES30
Great. Another gain for Maumee at Toledo's expense. Can these ignorant white-picket-fence-the-be-all-end-all of existence suburban a$$holes do anything more to suck the life out of Toledo? Maumee is the most white-bread (and proud of it), least diverse suburb of Toledo, both racially and economically. (I’ll have to check the Census, but I do believe Maumee has the fewest proportion of black residents of any Toledo suburb). Unlike other rich suburbs, like Perrysburg or Sylvania, Maumee has no real low-income neighborhoods or predominantly black/Hispanic neighborhoods within its boundaries. You’ll be hard pressed to find even poor whites there. Any attempts at government housing have been dealt with harshly across-the-board opposition by rabidly zenophobic Maumee residents.
3. October 16, 2005. Another goddamn Maumee s(n)ob story:
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.../-1/ARCHIVES30
These elitist developer a$$holes are nothing more than cultural vandals and should go to jail for what they did to the Historic Miami Childrens’ Home. (They demolished all the historic buildings for Condos)
With the discoveries of the graves earlier this year, here' s hoping that the stigma of being associated with a burial site will keep buyers away, causing the whole development to tank and send these pricks into bankruptcy. But giving the fact that most rich Maumee residents are soulless pricks to begin with, I don't hold out much hope.
4. Bush cuts funding to Great Lakes.
A letter to the editor, October 15, 2005
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...ON03/510160345
For fear of being banned from this forum and being investigated by the FBI I will refrain from making any statements about what I'd like to see happen to George W.
Oh and just the usual everyday stuff:
5. October 14, 2005. Historic District Demolitions:
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...016007/-1/NEWS
6. October 13, 2005. Corrupt Local Politicians Acting Badly
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...001/-1/OPINION
After they all get re-elected by Toledo votors anyway, they'll probably just vote themselves a big raise next year.
7. October 16, 2005. More shopping sprawl.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...76/-1/BUSINESS
Three old houses were demolished for this ignoble piece of crap. "Across from Wal-Mart", how appropriate.
8. October 15, 2005. Toledo/Ohio leading nation in bancruptcy filings.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...SS04/510150394More stunning, the Toledo court and others in Ohio are virtually leading the nation in bankruptcy filings. As of mid-week, there were as many cases filed in northwest Ohio as were filed for the month in the state of Massachusetts and in the Manhattan borough in New York City, each of which has considerably larger populations.
Ohio is not looking very good," said Jane Truch of Lundquist Consulting Inc. of Burlingame, Calif.
9. Katie Holmes. (Sorry I refuse to post any link to hearing about Tom and Katie and their future devil's spawn. Believe me, Toledo is going to be inundated about Katie and Tom baby stories ad nausea for the next year at least.)
Sorry for the vent, and I know that I'll be flamed relentlessly for it by some of you, perhaps deservedly so. But after hearing all about the above this past week, plus years and years and years of the same depressing crap before it, I really don't give a damn. I just want to go camping with my kids and leave all this ugliness behind. I never listen to or read the news when I'm on vacation and that suits me just fine. It's just returning to crap like this that's getting tougher to deal with.
Last edited by Super Amputee Cat; 17 Oct 2005 at 1:38 AM.
More info of the event, from a local blogger: http://historymike.blogspot.com/
Images from the Toledo Free Press: http://toledofreepress.com/gallery.html
Another local blogger: http://szollositoledo.blogspot.com/2...-our-city.html
I thought O.D.B. was dead...
http://toledofreepress.com/images/gallery/IMG_1316.JPG
Serously, this seems to be blown way out of proportion. Riots occur everyday. I was in a much larger riot in my teenage years that barely made the news and yet another during the 2000 presidential debate at UMass Boston. It seems like riots and melees involving poor African-Americans elicit more (anger) fear in the media than those involving white college students or sports fans.
P.S. Why does Ohio seem to have such awful black/white relations?
It's noy just Ohio, but rather most older industrial cities in the Northeast.Originally posted by jmello
Race relations are bad because older immigrants saw blacks as possible competition for their factory jobs.
I was referring specifically to rioting in Cincinnati and Toledo. Race riots have only occurred in a few select cities in the past two decades and two of those cities are in Ohio.
You are wrong.
What about Los Angeles in April 1992?
What about Benton Harbor, Michigan, June 2003?
How am I wrong? Please re-read my quote. I said that two cities, out a few select cities, were in Ohio.
Quote
