Tony: The Skeevy Suburbs Of Kansas City

While so many in this town live in fear of young people of color, what’s funny to me is that the nearly complete lawlessness and nastiness of so many white, middle-class students isn’t given much consideration.

I have examples:

Recently, hybird gangs in the suburbs were highlighted by local media. These are basically groups of young white dudes who want to take listening to Eminem to the next level and don’t mind if a few people get hurt in the process.

And, getting it on in school is apparently what’s hot in the streets for the according to a Monday report out of Overland Park.

It’s gets worse.

I don’t mind admitting that I’ve lived among “these people” and they’re just about as hardbody as any Black teen roaming The Plaza. At the risk of seeming ridiculous I don’t mind noting that some of the most horrible deeds I’ve seen have been committed by my young white colleagues when I was younger. Now that I have some perspective on the whole situation I really think there is a disconnect between media frenzy and the antics of middle-class teens in the suburbs. Not every outburst from this contingent is as entertaining as the stuff on Glee. Still, it would be unfair if I didn’t temper this rant with the acknowledgment that the most dangerous thing happening in the suburbs often relates to people taking the Insane Clown Posse too seriously. And, they don’t have the high murder rates in the suburbs. Yet. But maybe the difference between the lawlessness of suburbanites and their urban counterparts has more to do with poverty and the availability of guns and not the sordid topic of the racial divides that scar this city.

Tony Botello