>>16321879
My grandparents who had lived there all of their lives and raised a family there insisted on staying. The didn't want to move even after the rest of us had escaped. They had their home robbed three times and had bullet holes in the wall of their front room before they finally agreed to move out.
Friends of my parents who had delivery routes, were robbed repeatedly and one was even shot & killed.
One of my older brothers and his friends were teenagers in the 60s. They were in a park at night and saw a White kid tied to a tree with several Black guys all stabbing him with knives. One of my brother's friends had a gun and broke up their party. Untied the guy and brought him to the hospital.
We weren't allowed to play at the park any more, even during the day.
Another of my older brothers brought me to the park and there was a cop there telling us that we couldn't go to the park, that we should go home. I was just a kid. I didn't know what was going on.
Paddy wagons pulling up in front of our house while my older sister and I were playing outside. Cops ran into the house across the street and went around back to the basement door and pulled about 20 Black guys out. My dad came out the front door and yanked me and my sister inside. I never did find out what that was all about.
My dad told us that when he was a deacon at our church that after they took collection, they had to have a convoy of three cars to bring the money to the drop box at the bank because when there was only one car. the collection money got stolen. I was just a kid so I never got all the details.
The Black kids that lived in the house next to us were our friends and when we had to move, we were sad to have to leave our friends.
There were good Black people living there. But the Black Gangs ruined it for everyone.