Neighborhood Watch Two Tales

Personal Experience

In my life I've moved around quite a bit so my experience of being in different neighborhoods has been quite rich. We lived in Los Angeles, along the beachfront in Venice where my parents managed an apartment building, and in the projects of Mar Vista Gardens. The community was diverse, not the poorest of all neighborhoods; not like Watts. In San Diego, we also lived in several neighborhoods, sometimes in apartments. On occasion, we were lucky enough to have a "real house" to live in, with a yard and space between our neighbors.

My mother and stepfather did the best they could to earn enough to provide our needs, but we weren't among the middle class. We qualified for and used USDA commodities to help stretch every penny. With that said, I also know that being "poor" didn't equate to poverty. My parents never expressed a feeling of being oppressed. Oppression and poverty were not my experience growing up but for many in my classes while going to school, looking back I realize that was their reality. I have learned as an adult that poverty breeds discontent, and discontent is the fertile field for crime. 


As a child we moved on an annual basis. As a young adult, at first it seemed that same pattern would continue but both my husband and I wanted something more rooted. Ah, you know the American Dream.

One thing was true throughout. I have always lived the reality of White privilege. I need to say that before I venture any farther in this topic.

Neighborhoods for me, no matter where I lived, were places where people interacted and exchanged pleasantries. People recognized us as people who "belonged" to the neighborhood. After being in a place for about a month we could at least identify a people by sight, as individuals who had a place in the community or were visitors to the neighborhood. That was and is my white privilege Southern California experience. In most of those places where we lived crime seemed not to penetrate our day to day existence. When we lived in apartment buildings, we spoke to neighbors in passing. We knew if there was an elderly person living alone and also when more than two generations shared the living quarters.

In apartments we sometimes learned about neighbors because of the thin walls of the building. Condominiums were better constructed. In those we learned about the party neighbors and hot headed neighbors because even the best insulation can't conceal the raised voices in the middle of night. On most occasions when the noise was too disturbing, I would be awoken. I would sit up and listen to hear if this was someone calling for help. Was that gunfire, a car backfire, or firecrackers? Should I call police and report the disturbance? In short, I ran through my mind whether or not a crime was in progress. Most times I simply went right back to sleep. This reality leads into the reasons why Neighborhood Watch programs began in the first place. Sadly, on one night, in New York City, one woman fell victim, and no one came to her aid, and neither did anyone call the police.

Neighorhood Watch members take on a role of being Guardians for the community. Rightly done, the men and women who take on responsibilities increase community safety and security.


One question I always wonder is what motivates someone to become a volunteer in any community activity. It seems to me that one thing that needs to be addressed is the process of screening to insure the wellbeing of the community. This may very well be an issue that has to go right back to the law enforcement agencies which facilitate the formation of neighborhood watch groups. Better screening, training and improved methods of accountability may all need to be invoked for the future success of neighborhood watch programs.

I've seen Neighborhood watch programs at their best. In my church community I've seen how a neighborhood watch leader made every effort to protect an aging member of my community. After the woman died of old age, among the mourners were the neighborhood watch leaders and the deceased's neighbor.

But sadly, in the case of Trayvon Martin, Neighborhood Watch only worked to his bring injury to him. Life lost. Anger at the death and now anger at the injustice of the case that was brought to trial. Trayvon Martin was spotted by George Zimmerman as someone who didn't belong in his neighborhood. What a failed execution of neighborhood watch.   

This case is so much in the news at the present I don't think I need to recount it in detail.

What went wrong?
I'm not going to over analyze the whole case. Others are doing a fine job of that.  This is my take, and I'm just going to name it in short hand: Bad law, unclear intentions, and a gun.

Tensions are now high across the nation. Unfortunately the present age seems to lack a truly noble force for non-violent change, someone like Martin Luther King. Al Sharpton is calling for marches in 100 cities across the nation, but I haven't yet been impressed by his ability to inspire NON-VIOLENT Civil Action. 

So what does the Church do to respond, to provoke justice and the unfolding of the reign of God instead of perpetuating a social construct which perpetuates this troubling tension?

Christena Cleveland is a social psychologist. She is described by Ed Stetzer as a person "with a hopeful passion for overcoming cultural divisions in groups." As a guest writer on Ed Stetzer's Christianity Today Blog, Christena writes about racism and the response to the verdict in the Zimmerman Trial:

"This is a problem for everyone who participates in our society. But I believe that this is an even greater problem for those of us who identify as Christian, are called to live out the metaphor of the diverse and interdependent body of Christ, and hope to follow in our Savior's incarnational and subversive footsteps."

You can read her entire article for yourself, and draw your own conclusions. My conclusion is she is speaking an important truth which the Church, every congregation, big and small, needs to begin to take seriously.

If you are like me, that is someone whose life has been lived in the context of White Privilege, it is time to start listening. It's time to pray for humility and patience to hear our neighbors in the city where you live, where I live.

If we want to see the neighborhoods in which we live become safer places even as we continue to become a more racially diverse  community, more churches might want to look around for ways to facilitate conversations to develop understanding. The resources to do this can be found online. My own experience with study circles on rural poverty using materials produced by Everyday Democracy proved to me how important it is for church leaders to actively engage in the process of community building and community development.  Their resources include discussions on Neighborhoods, Diversity, Poverty, Early Childhood Development and much more.

My last thought is a challenge to the culture of gun ownership and gun use. Having a gun on his possession while George Zimmerman chose to follow and approach Trayvon Martin surely influenced the entire encounter. I cannot help but think that having that gun on him made George Zimmerman feel more powerful, more confident in his task as a Neighborhood Watch commander. If Trayvon Martin had been someone who led a life of crime, that gun could just as easily have been used again George Zimmerman.

Gun laws and the cult of gun ownership in America are part of the problem.^

Of all the public statements I've heard in the last three days, the decision of one performer to refuse to enter the State of Florida until the Stand Your Ground law is revoked strikes me as the wisest individual direct action.

What will Church leaders around the nation do to improve dialogue with our neighbors of different races, and faith traditions? Because from where I observe public discourse, the incivility towards people who differ in many ways is sadly deteriorating.

So, in the end, I'm reduced to a prayer.

Lord God, creator of all things and judge of all creation. You have formed us in your image and invited us to be co-creators with you in this world. Increase in us wisdom that will lead us ever more closely to bring forth a community in which all live together without suspicion. Increase in us love for our unknown neighbor that we will grow to know and embrace them as kindred spirits and equally deserving of health, happiness and justice.  Send upon us your Spirit that will guide us in every day, that what we say and do will always bring glory to your name, most compassionate and merciful God that you are.  AMEN

^MY OPINION.