Club bosses, however, are handling it in slipshod fashion. A report in Friday's News-Leader noted that an anticipated dress code still hadn't been written or set by Thursday night. But manager Sean Kisner still managed to proclaim that "we know it's going to work."
Mmm-hmm. We'll see.
Meanwhile, we have a better guess as to why Springfield police are no longer allowing anyone but the chief to discuss the downtown incident. On Thursday, police released statistics that make it very difficult for the city to defend its ham-fisted actions against Traffic.
Through Oct. 16, police have been called to Traffic 68 times this year. That figure includes 22 assaults.
For the same period, cops were called 100 times to Jordan Creek, another big downtown nightclub. That figure includes 19 assaults.
Yet the city isn't pushing for the closure of Jordan Creek. Earlier this week, city types were trying to explain away the difference by noting that Jordan Creek's calls were not nearly as serious in nature as those coming from Traffic. The numbers say otherwise.
The big difference between the bars? Traffic catered to a "urban clientele." Jordan Creek is where frat boys hang out.
7 comments:
Well there's a slap to the head Springfield PD.
Because frat boys are some how less dangerous? PLEASE. I say this over and over again, how is it in 2005 we're still dealing with racism. How patently pathetic.
If we are going to call this racism (which I do not think that it is) let us call things by their true names:
When we say 'frat boys' we must be speaking of white kids, because only white kids go to college and get an education.
When we say 'urban clientele' let us say black, because surely only black people are poor and live in economically depressed areas.
Understand that when we resort to the racism of euphemism we are perpetuating these beliefs and perhaps exposing something about ourselves that we may not be prepared to acknowledge.
This is not about racism. If it were the city would be trying to oust the Hispanic proprietors of Maria's Mexican Restaurant or perhaps Bijan's would be under close scrutiny.
This is about the city determining what is proper public behavior in a very selective fashion.
Jordan Creek is not under scrutiny because of its lack of proximity to the city's latest cash cow, the downtown area. If Jordan Creek moved into Traffic's location and continued with its current statistical trend, it too would be shut down.
There is a lot of money being tied up in downtown and if you threaten it in any way, you will face the city's 'ham-fisted' (please pardon the pun but it is too rich) retribution.
Yes, race is a factor of economic success in America, but let us not accuse the City of Springfield of racism, the city is guilty of having double standards and a total lack of testicular fortitude in declaring this fact.
To say this is only about race is to ignore the significantly more sinister fact that the city is only enforcing law when it sees fit and letting it slide when there is no greater motivating factor. That, to me, is much scarier.
Anon: When we say "frat boys," we mean just that -- young men who are in fraternities at Missouri State and Drury. Some are black. Most are white, reflecting Springfield's overwhelmingly white population.
The Traffic slam is more than a racial issue. But race does play a part, and it's not just on the part of the City of Springfield.
"Jordan Creek is not under scrutiny because of its lack of proximity to the city's latest cash cow, the downtown area."
Uhhh... Jordan Creek is actually closer to the Square than Traffic.
South and Walnut are the cash cow at this point, with the square taking on only a marginal role. South and Walnut carry far more foot traffic and are more exposed to the public than Jordan Creek. When was the last time you walked past Jordan Creek during an Art Walk?
Following the same line, though, do you think the city will allow the weekend gathering of youth that currently occurs on the square to continue when the Heers building begins to take on real tenants?
Ron: Sorry to disagree. Obviously you are correct that there are many african american frat boys, but to differentiate a crowd that is clearly majority black by describing its antithesis as 'frat Boys' seem to indicate that the black crowd does not contain any frat boys. This denotes a connection with fraternities and caucasians. Draw your own conclusions, but I think it is a somewhat racist attitude. It is surely not a malicious or intentional attitude, yet it is still tinged with racism.
My question is simple: Why is the city of Springfield more concerned with a nightclub called Traffic when they should be concerned with the "traffic" on the city streets? Is this the only place in America where nothing moves on green, but people refuse to stop on red.
Anon from 3:39 p.m.: "Seems to indicate" is as squishy as "urban clientele." As for your charge of racism: pah.
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