Freeman: North Side: A Defense. P-D 9/29/89

Headline: NORTH SIDE: A DEFENSE
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman URBAN VIEW COLUMN

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Fri., Sep. 29, 1989
Section: WAR PAGE Page: 1C Edition: FIVE STAR

Memo To: The St. Louis media
From: Gregory Freeman Re: North St. Louis

Well, to quote Ronald Reagan, ''There you go again.''
Once more, north St. Louis is being painted with a broad brush, one much broader than necessary.

The latest incidents surround President Bush's drug war. To illustrate the story locally, you have gone to north St. Louis to talk to North Siders about drugs.
That's fine. I don't think there's anyone who would pretend that a drug problem doesn't exist on the North Side.

But drug problems exist elsewhere, too. We're all aware of the Justice Department report on drugs in St. Louis that said that there are two different drug sale organizations in the city: one on the North Side, the other on the South. We know about the North Side dealers, those affiliated with gangs in places like Los Angeles.
But where are the stories, the 30-minute specials about the bikers in south St. Louis with clients on both the South Side and in the county? Why continue to paint a picture that makes it look like only North Siders use drugs?

The media have long painted a less-than-accurate picture of the North Side. One report recently compared north St. Louis to a vast crack cocaine area in Harlem. I know north St. Louis. I've lived in north St. Louis. Harlem is no north St. Louis.
I grew up and went to school on the North Side. And although I no longer live there, my mother does, and I have plenty of friends and relatives who do also. And guess what, gang? They're not drug addicts, they don't sell drugs, they're not in youth gangs, they're not pimps and - I may be mistaken - but I don't think any of them are mass murderers either.
My mother lives in a quiet, well-kept North Side neighborhood. Every spring, she grows flowers out front; in the summertime, she likes to use her barbecue grill; in the fall, she can be found raking leaves; and she shovels the snow from in front of her house in the winter. And she's hardly unique.

North St. Louis has quite an interesting history, if you'll look at it. Over the years, it has been home to people of German, Irish, Italian, Jewish and Polish descent. Its current residents are, for the most part, of African descent. Many of its parks are more than 100 years old. O'Fallon Park is one of the largest parks in the city. The annual St. Louis Fair was held at Fairground Park between 1856 until 1902. Learning a little about the North Side's history might help you to understand it.

North St. Louis isn't simply about history, of course. Plenty of good things are going on in north St. Louis these days. Lots of organizations are working to preserve the North Side through a smorgasbord of efforts.
The Herbert Hoover Boys Club on North Grand, for example, works with young people and teaches them the value of athletic competition. HELP Inc. on Natural Bridg e has been active for many years in helping people with jobs, neighborhood and day care programs. The Tiny Tot Nursery School on North Newstead is practically a North Side institution, with all of its programs for little ones.
Beaumont and Sumner high schools are among those that continue to produce good students, as is Cardinal Ritter College Prep. New condominiums continue to be built along North Kingshighway. Neighborhood groups still organize to keep their alleys clean.

Take some time yourself and get to know this part of our city. Instead of relying on stereotypes, go out and see.
North St. Louis is filled with plenty of people who work every day, and who are concerned about their neighborhoods, and who care about their kids, just like you. The North Side may not be utopia, but it didn't come from the moon, either. So why cover it like it did?

Look at north St. Louis when you do drug and crime stories. But why not look too when you're doing pieces on the best neighborhoods, lawns, restaurants in St. Louis? When you're doing person-on-the-street interviews? Folks in north St. Louis read the papers, watch TV and listen to the radio, just like everyone else.
While we're at it, would those of you who do radio call-in programs please correct South Siders who call in and say they are the only ones who pay taxes to the city? If that's true, I know plenty of hard-working folks on the North Side who would be more than happy to stop giving their tax money to the city.

In short, there's a lot of verbal redlining going on. North St. Louis is far from the worst place that's ever existed. Let's stop pretending that it is.
That's about all for today, gang. Just remember one of the first things you learned in journalism school: Never assume. With many of your past assumptions, you've given an entire area of our city an undeserved black eye.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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