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Raisethefist.com: Street Riots Ebb in Benton Harbor, Mich.
Street Riots Ebb in Benton Harbor, Mich.
by anonymous Fri Jun 20 05:02:05 PDT 2003
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From left, Tim Buels, Patrice Allen, Patrick Drake, Kirk Ward, and Brian McKinney talk about the mood of the community in Benton Harbor, Mich., Thursday, June 19, 2003. The death of a motorcyclist during a police chase ignited two nights of rioting in this city that for years has struggled with poverty, high unemployment and racial tensions. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
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Street Riots Ebb in Benton Harbor, Mich.
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN, Associated Press Writer
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. - Residents of this city, plagued for years by poverty, high unemployment and racial tensions, say frustration and fear fueled the two days of street riots that followed the death of a motorcyclist during a police chase.
Someone set an arson fire before dawn Thursday, causing extensive damage, but otherwise things had mostly settled down by Wednesday evening, the Berrien County Sheriff's department said. One arrest was made for an allegedly concealed weapon.
The relative calm came amid rain, a heavy presence of police in riot gear and calls by the crash victim's family and city leaders to stop the violence.
"Well, God has blessed us," Police Chief Samuel Harris said at Benton Harbor police headquarters.
It was anything but quiet Monday and Tuesday nights, when hundreds of people roamed a six-to-eight-block area, setting fires and attacking passers-by, police officers and firefighters. Protesters burned at least six buildings and five cars and injured about a dozen people.
Terrance Shurn, 28, lost control of his speeding motorcycle and crashed into a building as he was being pursued by Benton Township police. Shurn was black; the officers who chased him into the city are white.
Ministers walked through the area, talking to residents and discouraging them from violence. Shurn's brother, Raynard, 33, also called for peace at a community meeting Wednesday.
"I would say to the people of Benton Harbor that I feel your pain, your frustration and, yes, your anger," he said. "But I ask you and I beg you, please stop the violence."
Resident Tony Sims said he wants to see at least one Benton Township police officer fired over Shurn's death. He remembered Shurn as someone who took pride in the young son who shared his name, had a girlfriend and planned to start taking college courses.
"If I don't get no justice, there ain't gonna be no peace," said Sims, 26, who wanted to protest Wednesday night. "I'm going to be heard, one way or the other."
Nanette Partee said many black residents, especially young black men, are fed up with the Benton Township police.
"Some people say Terrance wouldn't stop because he feared for his life," she said.
Resident Latonya Doss says she's worried Benton Harbor's poor schools, deteriorating neighborhoods and dismal economy will keep her three young children from ever having a chance for a better life.
She said Shurn's death was just another sign that the deck seems stacked against the 12,000 residents of this community in Michigan's southwest corner.
"It seems like every time someone tries to turn their life around, something really bad happens," she said after attending a City Hall news conference Wednesday addressing Shurn's death. "I'm scared to death for my kids to grow up here."
Benton Harbor is 92 percent black, and Benton Township is 52 percent black, according to the 2000 census. Boarded-up buildings and homes dot the community, and the city's average unemployment rate last year was 25 percent. Appliance maker Whirlpool is headquartered in Benton Harbor, but sits on the outskirts of town.
The struggling city is separated by a river bridge from St. Joseph, which offers a stark contrast: The city of 8,800 is 90 percent white, bustles with trendy restaurants, boutiques, offices and a picturesque waterfront, and had an average unemployment rate last year of 2 percent.
Ralph Crenshaw, a Benton Harbor city commissioner and Shurn's uncle, said the difference between the poverty in Benton Harbor and the affluence in the surrounding county breeds frustration.
"Benton Harbor (is) one of the poorest communities in the state of Michigan," he said. "There's no excuse for us not having the same opportunities for jobs" and a better way of life.
The decay affects everything from the city's ability to attract new businesses to the neighborhoods surrounding schools.
The city has had some new businesses set up shop in its renaissance zone, which gives tax breaks to companies that bring jobs to areas desperate for economic growth.
But Harris said this week's rioting will discourage that kind of growth.
"We've been working to rebuild the city, to invite businesses to come in to our city. We've got all kinds of tax breaks and incentives," Harris said. "But no one will want to come if they think this is the way we act. If we have a repeat of this kind of lawlessness, we'll never attract anyone."
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