It was one more blow to the city, those senseless fights that broke out over the weekend at the Section V basketball tournament.
If you haven't been to a Section V game, you've missed one of the region's finest experiences. Intense, exhilarating, deliciously community-building, the tournament is one of the few events in this area that draws city and suburban families together --- and in particular, black and white families together.
And so.... And so.... On Saturday, a bunch of hoodlums who can't control their temper put the reputation of the tournament and the reputation of their city on the line.
Police arrested 12 people, most of them on charges of disorderly conduct. They range in age from 16 to 40.
Nobody, according to media accounts, was seriously hurt. But unfortunately, the damage to the city, and to downtown, is done. Here are some comments from the Democrat and Chronicle's website:
"Wonder why no one wants to go downtown to do ANYTHING... even watch a high school basketball game? But let's keep making excuses for bad behavior and at some point no where will be safe."
"I am so glad I left rochester 3 years [ago] to raise my family."
"Save the cops time and trouble - hold the games at the Monroe County jail."
"What this does is just confirm to just about every suburbanite what they already think and feel about being downtown, or somewhere within the city limits, for that matter."
Many of us who live in the city, including a large number of people who live downtown, can put the Section V fights in perspective. We're not afraid, and we don't feel threatened. Not downtown. Not anywhere.
And yet we are not the majority. And as long as the majority feels afraid of downtown, the city is fighting against tough odds. Perception is bigger than reality.
We can build Ren Square, stage festivals, and hold concerts and plays.... And in one evening, a dozen or so bozos start swinging, and the efforts of the city, the county, high-priced architects, arts organizations, and neighborhood associations fade into the background. And the fears of suburban residents come to the front.
If you did not live in this city and know it well, why, after news like this, would you drive your children to downtown Rochester and drop them off in front of Blue Cross Arena, trusting that they could walk inside, watch their team play, and have a great, safe time?
Section V officials did the logical thing: they announced they were looking for someplace else to hold the rest of the tournament. But by Monday afternoon, Mayor Bob Duffy, Police Chief David Moore, and other city officials had rescued the tournament, promising to provide more security. And it's a credit both to them and to the Section V officials that the tournament leaders have faith in that promise.
There is no excuse for those fights, anymore than there is an excuse for the drug dealing and gunshots that are oppressing Rochester's poorest neighborhoods.
Saying there's no excuse, though, does not grant permission to ignore the need for change. And that change won't come about by turning our backs on the needs of the inner city. The kind of violence that is afflicting the inner city, and that spilled out into the Section V tournament last weekend, does not occur in isolation.
The city's security plan for the remainder of the tournament points in an important direction. Staffing the tournament will be not only police officers but also Pathways to Peace and city recreation staff. And some of the police officers will be those who are stationed in city high schools. The reason, officials said, is that they're likely to recognize troublemakers.
That's exactly the right approach. But it's just the beginning.
If we want to reduce the violence that is afflicting Rochester's inner city, we'll have to do more than keep it from popping out at popular public events. Rochester School Board member Van White is pushing for a stronger truancy program. City Councilmember Adam McFadden wants a broader city curfew effort. Both would be focused not on punitive measures but on identifying students who need help --- and on getting that help for them.
Superintendent Manny Rivera's hopes for a Children's Zone --- the focus of this week's cover story --- would do all that and more. It would address unemployment, child care, parenting skills, health care --- all of the challenges of inner-city Rochester.
To do that right will take a lot of money. It will take the commitment of a huge number of people and organizations.
And it will take patience. The Children's Zone won't reduce violence overnight. It won't lift families out of poverty overnight. But as far as I can tell, it's the best hope we have.
The statistics that help define the Children's Zone neighborhood --- basically, the 14621 area of northeast Rochester --- are troubling. But one stands out: 68 percent of the households are headed by women. The citywide average is 16 percent.
And yet, as City's Tim Louis Macaluso writes this week, residents of that neighborhood are convinced that they can change things --- change the lives of the children in their community, as several of them put it.
Those residents don't think the situation is hopeless. But they worry that many of the neighborhood's young people do.
Neighborhood residents and other Children's Zone leaders will be starting to ask for money and services soon, to get the massive program going. The Greater Rochester community can not let them down.
Comments for "ROCHESTER: When fights break out" (10)
City Newspaper is not responsible for the content of these comments. City Newspaper reserves the right to remove comments at their discretion.
Bob said on Mar. 09, 2007 at 8:32am
Regarding your comments on city violence, there is a secret I am sure you know as do coaches, the military, private schools, business leaders and cops on the street. The basics and detail are the most important part of any endeavor. The City of Rochester needs to get back to basics and pay attention to details. It is the lack of follow through on the simple things in city life that hurt us. For example, there is pervasive sense of scofflaw in Rochester which any person can note whether a surbanite or city dweller. There are few streets in Rochester that do not yield obvious examples of lax enforcement wether it be safety, housing, littering, parking, noise, graffitti, traffic or unruly behavior. Our young who live in this city see very clearly just how important ordinances and public benefit laws are to the adults. Or in Rochesters case, how unimportant they are. Why would they not assume the same attitude and regard law as unimportant? And, why wouldn't a vast majority of onlookers outside the city consider it dangerous without any other evidence to the contrary?
Students of Franklin High School said on Mar. 13, 2007 at 8:14am
we the students at franklin felt offended with the comments the article "WHEN FIGHTS BREAK OUT." We think that the way it was said in the newspaper it was took offensively to the CITY OF ROCHESTER SCHOOL AND THE COMMUNITY!!!
Jonathan said on Mar. 13, 2007 at 8:24am
In reference to what the students of FRANKLIN i would like 2 say that the quote was very offensive, the fact that some one says that "SAVE THE COPS TIME AND TROUBLE- HOLD THE GAMES AT MONROE COUNTY JAIL. That is unacceptable because not all community memebers attending the recreational activities held within the city are bad. Its just the fact that these kids or people are being stereotyped as trouble makers.
Moe Rawls said on Mar. 14, 2007 at 8:57pm
This article was quite offensive! To say that the Section V tournament should be held at the Monroe County Jail, is uncalled for. Its basically saying "lets round up all of the city youths and send them to jail." Crime happens all over in the Monroe County area, as well as the suburan areas, but theres never a call of arms. But whenever something happens in the City, they want to alert Marines.
Mary Anna Towler, editor, City Newspaper said on Mar. 15, 2007 at 8:18am
Just to make it clear: the comments weren't ours. They were comments posted on the Democrat and Chronicle website. We published them to point out the divisions in this community -- and the need for the community, white and black, city and suburbs -- to work together.
Jorge said on Mar. 15, 2007 at 11:15am
Mary Towler you are right they are blowing it out of proporshen. But we do need to take drugs and fights on the street they do need to stop. There should be stronger truancy.but we are not all bad like you said it is like only 16 percent of us that are bad but most of us are good.
Peter Burkin said on Mar. 31, 2007 at 2:46pm
"When...", the title alone kept me from reading the article. Ignorance is really causing all of the problems. Some years ago, I attended a home basketball game at West Irondequoit-vs-East from the city. It was after the Irondequoit Indians win that I realized there was no extra police at the game. Since there was not the added confusion or a perceived mindset dictated by society, that was the best $1.00 of entertainment I ever spent. At the time , I was an alum for the Indians and a teacher for the Rochester City School District. I was very proud that day. At this point, I have to say that we are all created equally and this perfect example exemplifies that point. As Rodney King put it, "Why can't we all just get along." The playing field has to be leveled and Rochester needs to lead by example.
Scott said on Apr. 01, 2007 at 3:37pm
People in this community need to realize that all the trouble starts in the home and is taken out into the neighborhood. Such as the drugs and the shootings just for the drugs. If the color people would start to act like humans and not animals and go out in the real world and get a full time job working for there paycheck instead of dealing drugs and shooting each other the city would be a better place for all. All you see in the city is run down houses dumpy yards and trashed cars. It is not like that in the suburbs because "White people" care and work for a living and earn a paycheck. Housing value in the suburbs is 40% better than the city. Why? Because our houses are kept up nice and they are not trashy like the city houses and we have no "Color People" in our neighbor hoods. So you color people stay in the city, live off of killing each other for your precious drugs but stop moaning and groaning that you are being harasses by the city cops. You bring in on yourselves and YOU are the trouble makers not the white people in the city.
View from abroad said on Apr. 07, 2007 at 2:58am
Where is the word "racism" in any of these articles about schools and city living? Let's be honest people, and make it clear that Monroe County, like most of the world, is a very racist place to be. Why some people think that they can't put their children in city schools and MUST move elsewhere has more to do with their racism than anything. They can be open minded, participate in the school community and help out in the classrooms to assure accountability from their district ONLY if they feel like they are still part of the majority- who wants to lose their social status as part of the dominant society? This may be why many people in the city are PROUD of being in a "Black" school district. Defacto-segregation has enabled some empowerment to minorities in Rochester. And then, there are people like Scott (above) who can continue to spread hateful stereotypes, or just move to the suburbs to avoid the great opportunity some of us take to be activists for change. I have been the minority most of my career, the lone white lady in a classroom full of 30 young people who speak different languages, have had different struggles, and who can see that I am an outsider.
view from abroad continued said on Apr. 07, 2007 at 3:00am
On different leaves I have taken during my teaching career- Peace Corps in Russia, and a Fulbright type fellowship in Moldova- I am still the minority. I am the lone American working with very poor teachers in the poorest country in Europe. There are intercultural skills that I learned as a student in RCSD in the 1980’s (ET c/o ’86) that are important to my work in Rochester and abroad. I learned that accusations, assumptions and sterotypes are often directed at outsiders and those accusations and assumptions are not always the truth (Americans are all rich). I learned to know my own truth (I am here to teach and make a better world) and to listen for someone else’s reality (I do want to learn, I want to be part of the group, I want to be praised). Rather than be angry or hurt by stereotypes about me, my work, or my race, I can take an opportunity to teach or learn about something with modesty, kindness or forgiveness. Americans are not all rich. We might be “created equal”, but there is a realty in society that some will always have more than others, and it’s not fair, and it’s an embarrassment to explain to people in such a poor country that rich America struggles
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