The Cause Behind Colorful Criminals

   The city is full of light, and darkness. It's full of justice, and injustice. There is a frown behind every grin. There is failure behind every success. For every win, there is a loss. This is simply how it is, and always will be. However, the victims of these incongruities are often seemingly consistent in race. In books such as The Intuitionist, and Lush Life, reasons and examples behind the cities
crimes are existent. One of the most potent reasons behind criminal racial consistency is segregation in cities. As simple as it may seem, segregation acts as the cloud of crime that causes criminal rain to fall each and every passing day. Often times, Latino and African-American families find themselves at halt in the race for economic superiority for different reasons. However, this is not only the case between races, but instead, between all "foreign"/less established peoples.
                                
 The quality of life seen in these less prosperous regions of cities portrays the true duality of the city. Areas such as the "Lower East Side" in Lush Life are hotspots for crime because they leave people unsatisfied with their lives, and desperate for prosperity. Eric refers to the Lower East side as "haunted", and "claustrophobic". Areas such as these, and other "dark sides" of cities are also often overpopulated, creating yet another disabling factor for it's inhabitants. While the wealthy may sit back on their 20 acres of land, the poor may be forced to reside in tenements. The lack of opportunity in these areas has a frustrating effect on those living there. All this dissatisfaction ultimately leads to desperation, which I believe is what causes crime. In the novel The Intuitionist, there exists segregation and ideas of the "chocolate city", the Great Migration, and "Black Metropolis". As the African-American community spread across the nation and inhabited cities, opportunity rose for change, and lower crime rates. This only reassures me of my belief that for there to be a city with minimal crime in the US, there must be a racial, foreign, and economic blend of peoples. There must be no racial judgment, no segregation, and equal opportunity, because if these three elements do not exist, the city will continue to be a mass productive criminal factory.