The South Side of Chicago
During the '60s I attended school on the south side of Chicago. We had people dropping dead on the sidewalk, a shootout between criminals and the police (only one, though), and fires too numerous to count. Once, some of the girls decided to make a booze run to a neighborhood liquor store. On seeing the girls, one of the locals stopped his car, got out, and cried out in amazement, "White women!", got back in his car and drove away. Ah, nostalgia.
(uncle_bud is not the jelly roll king., Tue 3 Nov 2009, 3:54, 1 reply)

...oh god
That was my exact experience. I used to live in downtown Chicago, you see, and it was an utter shitehole. So many people complain about the crime in London, but compared to Chicago, living in London is absolute and utter heaven, replete with trumpets and the heavenly chorus.
I lost track of how many gang fights I witnessed, all of them black against hispanic. Fun, fun. Fortunately I had a sort of immunity because I'm white and obviously not from a gang, but I still keep my eyes focused on my feet when I'm walking down the street. Too many years of being forced not to make eye contact with anybody in case they decided I was looking for a fight.
(TheWonderfulWombat It came to me in a dream., Tue 3 Nov 2009, 6:30, closed)