Quote:

Wonder Boy said:
I guess it's also not a statement of any significance that every "Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard" in America, far from being a center of peace, is a center of crime, drugs and violence.



Quote:

Karl Hungus said:
it's not a statement of any significance. Do you have any statistical evidence? Do you have racial breakdowns of the neighborhoods? Do you have (more important than race in determining crime rates) economic breakdowns of the neighborhoods?
Or is this just some generalization



I don't know if WB is correct, but the generalization of which he speaks is not an uncommon belief, or even one held exclusively by white people. As the St. Petersburg Times noted:

    most everyone agrees that the image of King Street, U.S.A., is largely of a destitute, crime-ridden area. It's a stigma comedian Chris Rock uses in his standup routine.

    It goes like this: Rock says a white friend called him for directions. The man said he was calling from King Street.

    "Run!" Rock tells him.

    "I don't care where you live in America," Rock says, "if you're on Martin Luther King Boulevard, there's some violence going on."

    That perception of the nation's 680 King streets too often matches reality, says Jerry Kolo, a professor at Florida Atlantic University. Once intended as a symbol of equality, the roads have become the dividing line between black and white America.