The question was prompted by my familiarity with St. Louis combined with a recent visit to Cleveland, Ohio.
There has always been (to me) a sense that, ‘one block too far’ in St. Louis and you have your life in your hands. I love the city, but I’m not eager to travel Downtown, and I’m careful of the places I stop. I have to admit, however, that in around Ferguson are some of my favorite ‘haunts’. It seems to me that there is very much an ‘us verses them’ mentality among a large number of both blacks and whites. I’ve accepted this as “The City Experience”.
That was challenged recently by a brief visit to Cleveland Ohio, where the blacks and whites I encountered intermingled (seemingly) flawlessly. The people I met seemed more outgoing and forthright, particularly the blacks.
I feel there has always been an air of racial tension in St. Louis that I just didn’t feel in Cleveland.
As a side note, even as a middle aged white male I have been verbally abused and hassled by a St. Louis police officer to the point that I seriously considered buying a micro-recorder to carry in my car. He pointed to such significances as the small town I hailed from and the fact there was a handprint in the dust on my trunk as indications I was involved in ‘the transport of drugs.” Imagine if I’d been young and black, and it had been other that mid-afternoon?