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Living in Richmond
"In Sacramento I felt secure riding my bike, taking long walks and riding the bus, but since I moved to Richmond, I’ve lost those privileges."
By Bianca Butler
I have a REALLY early curfew - my dad forces me to be home by sunset. Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not a juvenile delinquent. I’m a 17-year-old honor student, but I live in Richmond and this is my reality. I have to worry about random shootings, someone inviting themselves into an open window, and homeless people strolling down my block.
I moved to Richmond from a suburb in Sacramento when I was 15. In Sacramento I felt secure riding my bike, taking long walks and riding the bus, but since I moved to Richmond, I’ve lost those privileges. I know that there is no place sheltered from danger, but in my old neighborhood I didn’t need bars on every window in my house. In Richmond I do.
When I see my neighbors through those barred windows, I wonder if they feel trapped and isolated like I do.
I have a photograph of downtown Richmond in the 1950s when it was vibrant and the streets were lined with flourishing department, jewelry and pharmacy stores. If you pass down those same streets today, those stores are vacant, abandoned and boarded up. Whenever my dad talks about his childhood it reminds me of that old picture.
Now, my dad wants to move out of Richmond to Vacaville or Sacramento where he can leave the worries of the city behind and settle into a peaceful and respectful neighborhood. He sees long-time residents like the old woman around the corner moving to houses in the suburbs as Richmond changes.
But if people like my dad start to move away, in a sort of Black flight, if you will, who will bring back the memories of what Richmond was and could be?
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