Isn't that an amazing dichotomy? One the blackest places in America right alongside one of the whitest places in America, and both in the gravitational pull of one the most corrupt places on the planet.
Yes it is. What most people would find surprising is that there isn't very much violence between those two hoods. You have the crazy hillbilles beating the shit out of each other regularly, and the black thugs gunning each other down daily, but they rarely cross paths. I grew up in Gary, went to the last all white High School which was intergrated during the early 60's with our graduating class being the first to have black kids in it. 522 people in our graduating class, about 60 were black. We had been with those kids since 7th grade so when we went to high school we were pretty much friendly with everyone. The black kids took a beat down for the first year or two from the upper classmen, but it mellowed out. Then 1968 came and the shit hit the fan again. Gary really fell apart during the 70's and 80's with the white flight and it's gone to hell ever since. Too bad really, it was a nice place to grow up. And I can tell you every one of those black kids graduated, most went to college and from my facebook contacts and reunions, most are very successful. It was a different time when we went to school. Family structure was still in tact and teachers still gave a damn.