City bigwigs have always viewed Paterson as an opportunity to "make money." His story - boring-long series of scandals. The latter was associated with the abuse of the money allocated to help the poor. Sitting here in the city jail known Negro champion boxer Rubin Carter, accused of killing three people at a local bar. Many prominent Americans were in favor of his release, noting that Rubin Carter was innocent and that there was a police provocation.
Journalist Christopher Norwood, who has worked for several years in Paterson, shows that in fact the town rules "mode, which from the point of view of political theory simply could not arise in the normal democratic conditions."
"The actual state of affairs - Norwood writes in his book" On Paterson: formation and decline of the American city, "- just the opposite of what people try to convince politicians and newspapers. In the end, people live literally in hell, but they can not put our finger on the cause. And they come to the conclusion that life in general - hell, "H
Many in the city had changes over the past decade. There are supermarkets, snack bars, streets, as it should be in America, causing the car. Silk mills are gone, but instead there were other, the population in seven decades has increased from 130 thousand to 150 thousand.
Paterson reflects the way of other American cities centers of blight, because wealthier citizens go to the suburbs, and their place is occupied by the poor, often negros and Puerto Ricans. In 1917, Paterson was almost black, Puerto Ricans have been no, and now black - 28 percent of the population, and probably the same - Puerto Ricans. Most people have no work. As a result, the report says the city commission, the so-called "low-income areas," flourishing "looting, beatings, alcoholism, prostitution and drug trafficking." On the second floor of the urban post office - recruiting firm to recruit volunteers for the army, navy, air force and marines. Everywhere in the city - they zazyvno advertising that promises travel, adventure, and for the boys more serious - the acquisition profession. And it seems that the supply of cannon fodder are the main occupation of the city authorities.
Preface. In Paterson, after John Reed 11