The death of the American mall

[Max]

I'm really disappointed in this language, Alphanguy. I find it sickening whenever somebody says something politically incorrect and has the "bigot" label thrown at them, but when you call them "EBT queens," you are just sinking to their level. With the way the word "racist" is freely tossed about by some, we need to separate what is truly racist (comments like "EBT queens") from what is not (talking about the fact that gangs are a problem at some shopping malls).

We need to have a serious debate about racial issues, free of name calling on both sides.

[Cheap21]

He's doing the most with the stereotypical and disgusting comments. But I guess this is how we is

He has no concept of what is offensive when it comes to race which is why he continually hurls out comments which can be perceived as racist while failing to understand the weight of the words. That is the issue. Either that or he does it intentionally to stir things up and antagonize which is probably worst. There are things I would not say or write to someone bc especially on the internet, things can easily be misconstrued and if I unknowingly offended someone and was informed of that, Id be more cognitive about what I say the next time, not go out of my way to be an a-hole about it. This isn't a new occurrence with this thread but has been a recurring issue for quite some time

[quartermainefan]

What the heck is EBT? I never heard of that before.

Max, I don't think this is the forum for a serious discussion about race relations. It just will not end well so there is little to be gained from embarking on one.

[Cheap21]

Electronic benefit transfer. Basically welfare and electronic food stamps

[marceline]

HEY!! I'm only in my forties!! Don't push me into the light any faster, thank you very much. LOL!

Alphanguy, thank you very much for just flat out proving what the rest of us were saying. You're a bigot. Even Max sees it. Now you can head on back to Reddit or Stormfront or your corner bar or wherever bitter geezers like you hang out and reminisce about the good old days when we all knew our place.

[MissLlanviewPA]

Where I grew up in Maryland, we were in such a rural area that the nearest malls were either about an hour away (in Waldorf--Charles County, near DC), or an hour and half or so away (in Annapolis--I honestly have only been to that mall one or two times at best). Because of this, combined with the fact that these areas have some of the highest-paid populations in the country (we ARE right by DC, after all!), I don't think either one of them are really in any danger of becoming "dead" malls. That said, there have been recent store closures in Waldorf, although IIRC, none of them have been major department stores. I DO remember when Montgomery Ward closed, but that's when the entire company as a whole went out of business in 2001, which I actually remember from when I was 12, because I can't, off the top of my head, remember any other major department store that had closed before that.

I remember being so sad when I found out Lazarus went out of business. I remember going there in Indiana (I would call it more of a Midwestern chain than a Southern one--I know Ohio had quite a few of them) when I was little. I can still remember my mom's credit card from there.

Also, out of curiosity, I looked that mall in Cleveland that Vix and marceline mentioned, and I saw that it used to have a Higbee's. I'm not sure if it was the one used in A Christmas Story or not, but the presence of that store is a dead giveaway that the movie was not in fact shot in Indiana (where it otherwise took place).

The producers of that movie wanted to film it somewhere that looked like a "quintessential 1940s Indiana town" (paraphrasing, but it's close), and settled on Cleveland. Make of that what you will.

ETA: Some of my friends from college are from Frederick, and I remember them talking about Frederick Towne Mall, and either how dangerous/abandoned it was and that it would probably close (which it obviously did, eventually). So seeing it on the dead malls site was both hilarious and sad for me, all at once.

[marceline]

The Higbee's featured in A Christmas Story was in downtown Cleveland. My mom used to bring my brother and me there every year. It's a casino now. Although at Christmas they did a nice job of recreating some of the decorations.

[MissLlanviewPA]

Thanks, marceline! I'm a huge fan of the movie so that's cool to know.

My boyfriend is from Arlington, VA (right next door to DC), and I just found this article about his hometown mall and how it could be improved. I've been there with him a few times before (needless to say it's not a "dead" mall...right now, at least), so it's interesting to me.

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/23425/how-do-you-fix-ballston-mall-make-it-less-like-a-mall/

[marceline]

Well if you ever find yourself in Cleveland, the Christmas Story house is now a museum with an attached gift shop where you can buy a leg lamp.

[MissLlanviewPA]

Yes! I've heard of it, and I've always wanted to go. Maybe someday.

[alphanguy74]

Actually, Max, it was meant to be a classist statement. But that's what happens when trying to converse over the net, things rarely come across properly. Don't sweat it. . You see.. every single race, group, what have you has it's criminal element and it's low class trash. Considering this little group on this board support and glorify, or act as apologists for their community's low class trash, one can only deduce that they themselves are part of such trash, or related to it. Your'e never gonna see me trying to say that meth head trailer trash that is white should be treated with same respect as upright citizens, or given the benefit of the doubt in any way, either. But in order to not be a racist, not only do you have to openly assert that the black community has no ills or problems, or low class trash, you have to make excuses for such trash and put them on a pedestal. The main reason I said the gang element was closing malls, is because this DID happen here, locally to two of them. But then two others went as well, and they didn't have that problem. So it is mutli faceted, like all issues.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

I've never used or seen an EBT in my life. And your comment regarding that is just sickening. Shady people like are just disgusting of the highest order. I am PROUD African American male and I don't need nor want handouts from you, the government, or any other individual. I've worked hard all my life to get where I am at right now and I'm going to work even harder still so that I can accomplish all I want in this life.

You can dodge and weave all you want but you've been exposed as the racist, ignorant individual you are and no amount of backpedaling and double speak is going to erase that. It's just sad that the moderators on this board won't do anything to address you themselves and instead your hateful comments are just allowed to be spewed and viewed by anyone.

[alphanguy74]

Is there a particular reason that you are not able to separate the criminal element of a group or race from the rest of the group or race as a whole? When a person is speaking about thugs or gangs, it's about THUGS AND GANGS, and not the black community as a whole. I have had criticizm about the black community as a whole in regards to this, but it's basically about "Good people standing around doing nothing", and that's it. I always mean exactly what I say, it's the rest of you that are shady and twist and spin things, so you automatically think everyone else does it, too. Well, some of us just don't.... it's a midwestern thing that many people can't understand.

[marceline]

I actually prefer they leave this kind of stuff. That way everybody can see what he's about. One of the reasons some people can pretend that we're past this kind of benighted thinking is because we like to delete it and cover it up. There's a reason Klan members used to wear hoods.

[alphanguy74]

Of course everyone can see what I'm about. I hold the exact same opinions that Bill Cosby, C. Delores Tucker, and Dionne Warwick hold. But because I'm white, I guess I'm not allowed permission by the politically correct "Gods" on this board to voice them. Wallow in your cesspool, see if I care. I see the war is over, and the lowest common denominator has won. It was all predicted years ago, but none of you all ever listened. You'd rather just watch a bunch of Atlanta housewives degrade themselves in a stereotypical, neck-rolling, shade-throwing minstrel show. But hey, as long as it's covered in a sparkly dress, it's classy, isn't it? Or is it?. Read this and take it to heart. http://blackandbrownnews.com/opinion/sharons-stoop/c-delores-tucker-you-were-right-what-you-predicted-has-come-to-pass/