re: What will it seriously take to clean up New Orleans and it's senseless crime?

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When,"Snitches get Stitches", became the law in their neighborhoods, they were never going to recover.

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It was like that when the ghettos were filled with white european immigrants. Anti-snitching is not a new trend by any means.

The difference is we now have people living in squalid conditions who in previous generations desired and worked towards upward mobility out of the ghetto. With drugs, welfare, and multigenerational single parent households there aren't as many people working their way out of the ghetto.

In a capitalist society, you will always have a segment of your population living in poverty and there isn't much you can do about it. However the root cause of violence in the ghetto I believe is linked to the fact that Drug abuse eroded moral values and destroyed the traditional two parent family structure.

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However the root cause of violence in the ghetto I believe is linked to the fact that Drug abuse eroded moral values and destroyed the traditional two parent family structure.

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well said... and this isn't limited to any one race.

It's not one thing to "do". It's also not an issue that affects just New Orleans... although we seem to have a higher per capita density of it than other places.

I think it boils down to three things.

1) Crime pays. It pays better than working min wage at McDonalds. Selling drugs brings in money. Taking what isn't yours - it's yours now.

2) There is no one home to steer them right. No dad, uncle, grandpa to guide them. Mom might be working three jobs, or she might be completely unqualified to be a parent. She might be on drugs, or welfare, or both.

3) Lack of a commitment to education. With all the affirmative action programs out there, scholarships, etc, if a kid from the ghetto were to be able to buckle down and get even a 3.0 in high school, they can get a full ride out of town to college. That's the ticket - because now that kid can be in a better environment and not be seeing all the negative influences every day.

A more educated place and people won't have all this senseless violent crime. There will always be some, sure. But I think the real key is a generational shift to a life of education and betterment.

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Of course, I realize there will be fraud as there will be teachers getting paid to give grades

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That is the first thought I had.

But instead of paying for grades... maybe we pay for the parent to do something. Come to the PTO meeting? Get a $25 gift card. Come to parent teacher conference night? Get a $50 gift card. Something to get the parents involved in their kids education. And if you have to work that night? Come another day, get the incentive.

Of course, we have to have schools that are worth attending and that actually teach. Schools in Orleans Parish are slowly getting better. That should help over time.

We also need to bring vo-tech back to the schools. A lot of these kids aren't going to college. So instead of wasting our time pretending that they are, give them the basics of math, english, and science/history, but beyond that... teach them plumbing, or machine shop, or craftsmanship, etc. Give them a chance to actually graduate high school with a skill that they can immediately use to make money.

1. End the war on drugs
2. Completely clean out the corrupt city and disctrict court judges, NOPD, and DA's down there.
3. The community has to completely turn on the murderers and testify against them
4. Reverse white flight by former NOLA natives from the suburbs back i to the heart of the city to displace the hoodrats
5. Pass the FAIR Tax Act
6. End generational welfare and entitlements for those who refuse to work.

Sadly we may never see day when the violence in N.O. lessens. That outta sight outta mind mentality is alive and well and perpetuated by some posters in this thread.

In 1990 there were something like 450 murders in NOLA

By 2000 that number dropped to around 250

Now it's a little over 150


I'd say things ARE getting better

More white collar jobs in the city to raise the average income and costs of homes....although that would only move the problem. It would not solve it.

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Gentrification but hopefully the unheard of kind where people are relatively local and wish to preserve historical culture and tradition that isn't murder

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translated means you will dump your trash on Texas again?