Westport is the new Bannister Mall. Yep, you heard it here first. Feel free to quote me. The late night shooting that injured 4 people and the subsequent arrest of three men and the seizure of an assault rifle, pretty much firms my title up. Between the economy, the P&L entertainment district, recent robberies, homicides, and shootings, along with a few handfuls of thugs, the death of Westport is officially underway. Anytime you get one group of black guys, shooting at other groups of black guys, it's a sure bet that the solution will be flight. Businesses will close, replaced by less reputable businesses that will cater to the new clientele. The violence will increase, and soon the only white folks left will have badges. The change won't take place overnight. It will take a few more killings, a steady loss of customers, and lawsuits for the racial profiling that is sure to follow this latest shooting. "Yes it's been a long time coming, but I know, change is gonna come. Oh yes it will".
Right this minute, the boys in charge at the P&L district, are creamin in their triple pleated fancy pants. This latest incident in Westport is what they have been waiting for. In the near future, expect a "See we told you so" money quote from those corporate douche bags. As sure as Tony's Kansas City will make fun of the Funk and his wife Shrek on a daily basis, it is only a matter of time before the dress code debate in the P&L district will be used as a shining example of what happens when you keep a certain section of society at arms length. I'll go ahead and toss out the first stereotype. I'm willing to bet that the persons involved in this shooting, couldn't have passed the P&L dress code. Hey just because it's a stereotype doesn't mean it's untrue.
I know what you are thinking; Oh snap, MM just went all racial on us! As my first wife was won't to say, "Not so fast Skippy. Let me finish". Dress codes do work. They will keep out an unsavory element, at least to some extent. Racial profiling also works to some degree. If you stop 100 young black guys, bass booming in cars that ride on wheels as tall as a Fourth grader, you will eventually find some dirt on some of them. The problem is that you also catch a whole lot of folks up in the net that have done nothing wrong. Same way with dress codes. You cast a wide net, you penalize people for looking a certain way. Hey, some postal workers have been known to spray coworkers with lead encased airmail via the end of a gun barrel. Of course we don't lump all postal workers in with the crazed killers. Unfortunately we don't extend that same line of thinking when it comes to young black guys.
I don't blame the average white suburbanite for being wary of some young guy who is all thugged out. It's a look that is favored by many violent criminals, as well as youngsters who have never broken a single law. I don't think judging a person, or making assumptions based on dress is racist, although there was a time in the not to distant past when I did believe that. If however you have a negative or fearful reaction to a black kid in baggy clothes, but fail to have that same reaction to a white kid dressed the same way, well then you should probably stop reading this and go pick your white robes up at the dry cleaners.
The real tragedy in all of this is that it's the beginning of the end for another piece of this city's history. Just as you can drive down Paseo Blvd., gazing out your car window at the once fine homes, dilapidated and going to ruin, now shells of their former selves, inevitably in the near future, the Westport area will fall victim to the complacency of city leaders and business owners who will decide it's easier to move on to another area and exclude an entire section of society for the sins of a few. Lets face it, its a hell of a lot easier to divide than it is to conquer. The alternative to flight, the alternative to singling out entire groups of people, is to enforce the law, fight crime, go after the bad guys. With a police department that is bogged down through budget cuts, a mayor who chooses to focus on petty battles he cant win, a school district that churns out as many failures and drop outs as it does graduates, things don't look too swell for Kansas City, at least in the urban core. On the bright side, you can safely venture downtown, if you stay within the confines of a few square blocks. You can enjoy overpriced food, equally overpriced beer, in a sea of boring sameness. But you probably won't get shot.
When I moved to JOCO a few years back, I had to buy a lawnmower, so I shleped off the Sears at 95th and Metcalf on a Friday night. (The grass is getting long, since its spring in KC, and I haven't mowed since I moved in, like 5 days ago).
ReplyDeleteFound the mower I wanted, paid for it(with an out of state check) and then the kid checks the stock - they are out of it. He says that they have one at the Bannister location.
I said, "Great, where's that?" He says, "you don't know where Bannister is?"
I'm like, "Dude, I just paid you with an out of state check, I have no clue where Bannister is". He says to me again, "You don't know where Bannister is?" So I get a little pissy, but got directions.
So I go to Bannister on a Friday night to pick up my new mower, and they don't have it in stock - oh yeah baby! Talk about getting pissy - I was yellow! The manager ends up giving me the next bigger one for the same price.
The next day, my neighbor helps me unload it and says, "that's a big mower".
That's about the extent of my Bannister forays. Westport I only know for the bars and battles...
The shooting is unsettling, for sure, but I seriously doubt this is the death of Westport. I personally prefer it now that the P&L has sucked out a lot of the latter-day frattys and high-class skanks.
ReplyDeleteI try to be careful and keep my eyes open, of course, but there's no way I'll avoid it altogether, and I think that goes for most people who work there, live nearby or just enjoy the neighborhood, which everyone knows has much more history, character and personality than Bannister ever did.
I'm a big fan of places like Blanc, the Tivoli, the patio at Harry's, Streetside, McCoys, the occasional Beaumont show, trip to World Market for overpriced euro candy, the excellent reopened Napolean Bakery, Korma Sutra, Teadrops, the list goes on...
But America's Pub at last call? You'd have to be crazy (or hungry for Poncho's) to get anywhere near that place at that time.
I remember when Bannister mall was thriving. Now I'm watching them tear it down everyday on my way to work. Pretty sad what bringing low life into a decent area with gov'ment assisted housing will do.
ReplyDeleteThe "elephant in the room" this time, is black. For cryin' out loud, read your own script. Paseo - gone to hell because of ---------, Bannister Mall - gone to hell because of ---------------, now, Westport is sure to go to hell because of -------------. It looks like it just might be BLACKS...
ReplyDeleteYeah, and I recall when The Landing was once a thriving shopping spot, too ... things change ...
ReplyDeleteSomething tells me TKC won't be linking to this article. I'm sure he has 'no comment'. He and Alonzo can't handle the truth.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you like superheroes??
ReplyDeletein Reality there are two Westports. The daytime one with good eating and cute shops. It's a safe area down here then.
ReplyDeleteThen there's the nighttime version of Westport and I can't say it's safe. I also can't say it's less safe than it was 10 years ago. When my husband first started doing balloons in the bars he saw fights and at least two stabbings and one fatal shooting. Until recently it had been awhile for that level of violence and even now it's not like it was a few years ago. I've been down here late nights and most times I don't feel unsafe. There are times I do, but that can be said of almost any part of Kansas City. I live half a block away from Belton and someone shot something the other night. Don't know what it was because it never made the news, but they used at least 6 bullets on it. It's not just Westport - this whole metro is on the verge of becoming a warzone some days.
I don't know that the violence in Westport is anything new or neccessarily related to P&L. Since I moved back to KC after college, it's been like clockwork - right around Memorial Day, the baracades go up in Westport and the streets get a little bit more dangerous. The shootings increase in number, the thefts, stabbings...and it all seems to subside again after Labor Day. My friends and I were sadly just joking the other day about how it was almost time to migrate to another set of bars for the summer - and then 4 people got shot that night. Sad, but nothing new.
ReplyDeleteThey won't let you in if you look like a gang banger. They probably wouldn't let you in if you were wearing robes and a turban with dynamite strapped to your waist, either. Would they let you in if you were a white aryan type wearing body armor and a red white and blue M-16? I think not. It's not racist. It's common freaking sense.
ReplyDeleteActually there were not any shootings at Bannister Malls. It was mainly loud teens hanging out in the food court, being rude and a few purse snatchings and armed robberies. After the hoopla and after the media deemed it gang related and after the mall put up guard towers rather than just enforcing the rules they had and hiring better security the mall went down. There also was a rape, but the same thing happened later at a JoCo Mall (after Bannister was already deemed the bad mall) and no one blinked.
ReplyDeleteSo actually if the Westport merchants take a pro-active step or two that doesn't involve racial profiling but common sense they can head this off. Make the lots secure with fencing or gates that require payment or tickets or something. Have armed security patrol them and enforce laws against loitering. Have armed security and a few off duty cops just outside the clubs and in the parking lots at closing. The clubs can set dress codes (follow the ones at the black clubs that have not had a lot of problems like Epicurian and publically say you are duplicating them so there is no flack). This isn't rocket science. Other cities with larger, black populations that happen to be more violent seem to manage to have things inside the city with no problems.
MM, great post. I agree with you. It's not racist to single out a group of people based on their attire even if that group happens to be of a particular race.
ReplyDelete"I don't blame the average white suburbanite for being wary of some young guy who is all thugged out."
BTW, I'm black and still relatively young (late 30's') and I too am wary of young guys who are thugged out. Sadly, a lot of us (black folks) don't see past the race issue and take the time to focus on the behavior.
MM--I love your blog and your writing, but I disagree with you on Westport becoming the next Bannister Mall. It won't happen. You and I both know every so often a shooting occurs in the area. Such an occurence is not a portent of some sea change, it simply happens. I think the neigbhorhoods around WP are strong and the merchants there probably LOVE that the P+L District has, for the most part, taken the nightlife crowd away.
ReplyDeleteI think the downturn in the economy might have more of a negative impact than any occasional random shooting will.
Tis all becuase necks and gers don't have the chromosome that makes one stop and think..."I don't belong here". There is no shame and no accountability. Most readers of this blog, i think, have some sense to know where they are wanted and where they are not. Dress codes work. Soon all the "normal" bars will have to become gay bars becuase we all know gers are too self conscience to be around boys who kiss boys. I can see it now...Drag Nite at Kelly's; best Liza costume wins. ugh.
ReplyDeleteWestport won't collapse anytime soon if at all. If you look back at its difficult past and the horrific collapse of midtown 50 years ago due to white flight, it's weathered worse situations. Basically, Westport is the line in the sand between east midtown blight and the more prosperous west half of the metro. It has stood its ground for all these years due to the close proximity to the successful Plaza, the resurgent Crossroads District, and the now rebounding downtown and is buoyed by rising property values as the gentrification folks have moved to midtown to reduce their commutes and live in trendier digs. The fact that the drug trade and street prostitution have dramatically declined in the west half of midtown is a sign that the decline of midtown had crested sometime in the late 80's and early 90's and the troubled waters are now receding. Don't get me wrong. We still live in an urban environment with a lot of blight not too many blocks away, but its far better than it was in the past. I think too many people have invested in the Westport/Midtown neighborhoods today to pull back now.
ReplyDeleteTroubled waters receding? Except in that sh**hole neighborhood just to the north of Westport between Broadway and Gillham Street. I have friends who live in an apt there and have had their car broken into 4 times in one year. There's always some druggie or crack whore out on the sidewalk and it's gotta be the dirtiest, seediest area of midtown. The people who own houses there seem to be more concerned about planting flowers and bitching about 3am bars than about the crime on the streets. It doesn't help Westport at all to have a big criminal breeding ground right on it's border.
ReplyDeleteOtr214428
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