Comments on: JS’s Adams: Complaining about 1st District crime is wrong and probably racist

By: Journal Star’s anti-Ardis campaign giving readers more to snicker at | Peoria Pundits

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 15:29:26 +0000

[...] services first candidates were racists? What fears was columnist Pam Adams pandering to when she suggested Ardis and at-large councilman Eric Turner were also pandering to racists by making crime as issue? And even the news side got into the act by counting black faces and [...]

By: Let the hatchet job on Spears begin » Peoria Pundit

Let the hatchet job on Spears begin » Peoria Pundit — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 08:06:30 +0000

[...] Bear in mind, however, that this is the same newspaper which, not two years ago, used its editorial page (with columnist Pam Adam’s help) to imply that those who opposed the paper’s slate of “progressive” candidates were racist. Fairness? This is the paper that told voters that Peoria City Council members Gary Sandberg and Barbara VanAuken would vote as a block … because she is his ex-wife. This is a newspaper whose editorials said that their choice for mayor of Peoria couldn’t be held responsible for rising crime, yet a year later makes noise about how the current mayor isn’t doing enough. [...]

By: Vonster

Vonster — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Aw yes – Peoria’s very own Mao Mao.

By: Vonster

Vonster — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Although that column seems much less black racist than her usual.

By: Irishguy

Irishguy — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

What better place to comment on Vonster’s apparent view that crime is a black problem than here (since we can’t do this on his blog.) You’ve been quite fond lately of pointing out how black kids are always starting fights at school sporting events. You even went so far as to say: “However, you STILL do NOT see this kind of crap happening out in the sticks where the teams and fans are 99% white.” Well, I got news for you — fights at sporting events have happened, I imagine, since the dawn of sports itself. Doesn’t happen in the sticks? I popped these five words into Google: fight, high, school, student and game. The very second hit was this article: http://www.thenews-messenger.com/news/stories/20041206/localnews/1705322.html. That part of Ohio is the sticks, by the way.

Does that mean that black kids don’t start fights? Nope. I even imagine that gangs start more fights than others do, and that in Illinois, at least, those gangs are usually made up of black kids.

You may not be a racist, Vonster. I really have no idea. But you constantly point out only the bad things caused by black people, and imply that THEY alone are the problem. I noticed you made no mention of the shooting in MN on your blog — no black kids there. If it oinks like a pig …

By: Irishguy

Irishguy — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

More to the point: Bill, I think you misread Adam’s column. I think she agrees with you. Poverty breeds crime. Helping to alleviate poverty helps to alleviate crime. If you “fight crime” without attending to the the root cause of crime, you simply are fighting a losing battle. You need to cut off the source, and unless you can literally put a cop at each corner, you’ll never stop the problem.

By: Bill Dennis

Bill Dennis — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

FIrst: I believe that “helping” alleviate provery is the responsibility mostly of those who live in poverty. Certainly parents can make sure their kids get an education, which alleviates poverty in their family. Government help basically maintains poverty by addicting people to government handouts. Granted our poor have it damn good compared to people living in poverty in central America or Africa.

Second: Why is it when anyone complains about the lack of police officers — by the city’s own numbers, we have fewer than we need — apologists complain that ‘we can’t have a cop on ever corner?’ I would be happy with full staffing, with officers having use of adequate patrol cars, radios and vests. I would also like to see a change in philosphy away from big arrests and more toward zero tolerance for drug houses — whether arrests are always made or not — as well as noise, loitering, litter curfew violations, etc., that force people into the suburbs.