Fast Eddie Friday...

The waldo rapist is big news around these parts. For you out of town readers here is a little rundown to fill you in. Waldo is a middle class area of Kansas City. I grew up on the far south end of Waldo, although they have yet to put up one of those blue signs saying, Waldo, birthplace of Mark Smith the Midtown Miscreant. Waldo is a middle/working class neighborhood, mostly white, relatively low crime. It's a good place to live, although it's not as affordable as it once was when I was a pup. No way a single mother of 3, making a waitress or medical assistant wage could afford a house in waldo today. There have been 4 rapes in the area in the last year, 2 of which took place in the last few weeks or so. The cops believe it's the same creep in all of the crimes. Folks in the area are naturally a little spooked by it all, and the local media is definitely helping to kick shit up a notch or three. The whole thing is reminiscent of the Westport Rapist spree that occurred back in the 80's. Turns out there were 4 rapists that got that title. I was living in midtown then, and I can recall the panic and tension.

Back to the Waldo Rapist. The cops released a sketch of the guy and the following description: Black Male, pockmarked face, smooth deep voice, smells like exhaust fumes, and has really bad breath. The local media is running stories about folks in the area who think they have seen the guy, one resident even believes he gave the suspect some money after some cockamamie story about locking himself out of his house. Most people are assuming the victims were white, myself included, if the rapes occurred around 39th and Prospect, I'd assume they were black. While the race of the victims hasn't been given, it's a fairly safe assumption. So we have a black guy with Barry Whites voice, Edward James Olmos pores, who smells like he has been eating shit sandwiches while standing behind a running car. And we have the police sketch, which rarely ever looks much like the guy they end up catching.


Enter Kansas City's busiest and most controversial blogger, Tony's Kansas City. The title of his post:

BLATANT RACISM MARKS KANSAS CITY'S HUNT FOR THE WALDO RAPIST!!!

Tony contends that white folks in Waldo, business owners in the area, and the Media have shown little concern for crime in the urban core, and are only concerned when crime comes to waldo, or if the victim is white, or a white woman. Naturally he is getting inundated with comments calling him a douche, a racist, an idiot, and some other shit, that is, well, kind of racist. There are two sides to every argument, so let's take a look shall we.
Tony is correct when he says that there is a lack of concern from the general, read white, public when it concerns crime in the urban core. That doesn't exactly make folks in Waldo, or any other majority white area, racist. I haven't noticed any coverage in the African American paper The Call on the Waldo rapes. That doesn't make the paper racist, it just makes them detached from their neighbors. People in Waldo are mostly detached from crime in the urban core as well.


Anyone who reads TKC, and a lot of people do, even though they might deny it, TKC readers know that Tony writes from a minority angle. I mean to say, he sees things through a different set of eyes than your average middle class white person. Doesn't make him racist, although he tends to say things in a way that could lead one to assume he is at times. Hey, I've been called a racist cracker on more than a few occasions myself. I'm not, but you won't ever convince the people who think I am. I'm not here to defend Tony, he's been stirring the soup pot long enough, he knew the reaction his post would garner, which is why he entitled it as he did.
Just as White folks from Waldo are removed from the harsh reality in the urban core, Tony is a little distanced from your average middle class white person in Waldo. He writes from a minority perspective, so he tends to see race and entitlement where it may not be applicable. As much as I like Tony and appreciate his bloggy efforts, and agree with him more often than not, this is one of those times I think he has over reached.


The ongoing slaughter of young black males, by other young black males, is as far removed from the Waldo rapes , as the Gap is from Harold Penners. Just as the Gap and HP's are clothing outlets, inner city crime and the Waldo rapes are both horrific criminal acts. And that's where all similarities end.

Shootings on the east side are as regular as bus stops.
Crime in Waldo, especially violent crime is not nonexistant, but it's not particularly common. That's why people want to live there. It's safe.

People in Waldo are taking a pro active stand against these crimes.
Folks on the east side have also taken a stand, but they also have to contend with a community that in large part refuses to report crimes. Even anonymously, a large part of the African American community refuses to cooperate. There have been multiple shootings on the east side, where dozens of witnesses refused to cooperate.

The difference in the Waldo rapes isn't racial, it's deeper than race. Reporting crime and cooperating with the police in Waldo will get you a slap on the back and a micro brew in a Wornall bar.
Reporting a crime and cooperating with police on the east side can get you killed, maybe get someone you love killed in the bargain. Still it can be done in anonymity, and it just doesn't happen, people won't talk.

The important thing to remember here, be it another black kid gunned down before he is drinking age, or the life altering violation of a rape victim, violent crime in this city hurts everyone in the end. Most of us don't really react to a thing, until that thing touches close to home. I'd be willing to bet that most folks who go on those Breast Cancer Walks never even considered it until they or a loved one was touched by the disease. We all have an "it will never happen to me or mine" attitude. When something does happen, we suddenly have an awakening, a reality check.

Does the media tend to go overboard when reporting a horrific crime in an area not normally affected by crime? You bet.
Does the media adopt a less urgent tone when another black kid takes a bullet? Absolutely.
But that's not the fault of people in waldo, any more than the folks on the east side are to blame for a black guy raping women in Waldo.


The reaction of the Waldo residents and businesses is a good thing, it should be applauded. And not for nothin, but maybe folks on the east side should take note. If there is a bone to pick, it's not with waldo residents. The bone to pick is with a media that takes a more urgent tone depending on where a crime happens. The bone to pick is with a large percentage of folks who never see a thing, turn the other way, and won't be bothered to drop an anonymous tip. The cops can only solve crimes if people cooperate. That's whats taking place in Waldo, and what doesn't take place enough on the east side.

Have a safe weekend. Be sure to make it back in one piece on Monday. I've got a great story in the works.