Back in April of this year I penned an article that called for an unused area of Kingsbury Run, which sits idle off of Kinsman Avenue near 73rd Street, to be used for “a dirt bike course that would keep inner city youth off of the streets (and out of police custody), plus serve as a race course for drones. Additionally, teams of rollerbladers, pulled along by their dogs, could compete while both animals and humans get exercise.”
I added the additional usages since I knew that if I proposed something that solely benefited black youth there would be blowback — and I was right. The Jackson administration recently proposed just such a BMX motocross course very near where I’d suggested putting it, and while Blaine Griffin and I will agree to disagree on who came up with the idea first, him or I, the naysayers have come out of the woodwork against it with characteristically ugly language.
And Griffin (who is a personal friend) rightly fired back at the critics. An article in the PD quotes Cleveland’s community relations director’s Facebook page where he posted on Friday that he “has seen the city throw millions of dollars at skateboard parks, boat docks, rowing sports and bike trails. But when it came to finding a home for dirt bike and BMX enthusiasts — who currently ride illegally on city streets for lack of a better place — council members took issue with it.”
Griffin didn’t stop there, nor should he have. “And because they are young, black and aggressive, people totally demonized the project. They disrespected them and the councilwoman [Phyllis Cleveland] who tried to find a release valve for these activities. The reason that they [other members of city council] gave is because they wanted [their] own personal parks to be fixed. The message that they sent to these young people (who rarely get involved in the electoral and political process) is, ‘The only thing appropriate for you young black men is an interaction with police, a [booking] number and jail.’ Listen to [the] Dog Whistle Politics. Race is always lurking in the background.”
Hush truth.
“You believe a motocross track should be a priority. I say our priorities should be to little kids who can’t use their parks. This is outrageous. I’ve seen some bizarre things in my time here, but this is unbelievable,” argued Councilman Michael Polensek, in his often not-so-veiled racially insensitive manner.
Other members of council said that, “police should be arresting those caught riding in the street illegally or turfing the grass in city parks,” and that’s exactly why the motocross park is needed — to get these riders off the street. Duhh.
Back in April I wrote, “Inner city youth need to have a site within their reach to ride and risk breaking their damn fool necks, just like suburban and rural white kids; its goes with being young and foolhardy.”
The members of city council who objected to this idea really should be ashamed of themselves, but as long as they are beating up on black youth evidently they have no shame — and this goes for some black members of that body as well. Voters should ask their councilpersons where they stand on this issue, and remember their responses next November.
Now, if we were truly a progressive city (as we like to sometime pretend we are), the philanthropic community would step up to the plate and offer to foot the bill for the project, which would end the acrimonious discussions at City Hall.
For all of the area foundations collectively, $2 million is nothing more than a rounding error. But the benefits, in terms of making our streets safer and tamping down quarrels between youth from different parts of the city, could be huge. This is an idea that could make our streets safer in more ways than one.
The decision makers at the foundations should at least attempt to see this through the eyes of east side residents who are most affected and afflicted by the problems posed by these wild young stunt riders. This is a golden opportunity to make an investment that will pay off for years to come, and in numerous ways.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com