San Francisco Night of Violence
When I was young, each front porch would proudly display a fellow named Jack, who had a candle glowing in his head. Mom would roast Jack’s buttered internal organs (seeds) in the oven. In my mind I can still conjure up the the smell of the cold crisp air filled with the excitement of Halloween.
When I was young, adults were there only to assist with the making of costumes, the carving of pumpkins, and the lighting of candles. Into the night we were off, pillowcase, and flashlight in hand.
When I was young, Halloween was for children, and it was celebrated only one night a year. There were no huge plastic blow-up decorations, sprouting up on lawns like deadly mushrooms, in mid October.
When I was young, adults did not gather in large uncontrollable groups and shoot at each other.
10 Shot At Castro Halloween Celebration in San Francisco’s Castro District
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My friend and I left early, walking back up the hill at around 8:30 because the whole event seemed surreally quiet — at that time, no music and not a very festive atmosphere with mostly spectators.
It’s so sad that such a happy and creative holiday gets twisted by assholes with guns.
This Chron article has Sup. Bevan Dufty passing on information that all shooting victims were “young” — and by young I assume teens. Seven or nine injured, two in critical condition.
well, guess what? You are not young anymore. And longing for yesteryear does little to solve the structural problems in our society that contribute to this horrid violence. And by the way, people shot each other in the 50s, 60s, and so on - we just did not have people “blogging” about it and shooting live video with their cell phones.
Updates on the shootings:
1 Nov 06, 5:39 a.m.: KCBS radio
1 Nov 06, 9:29 a.m.:KTVU TV
Do you think that giving the people less to do (fewer stages) and forcing the celebration to end early contributed to the violence?
Would the violence have happened anyway?
Since Dufty’s plan of a reduced Halloween created *more* violence than last year or the year before, does that mean his plan is a failure and we should go back to how it was three years ago?
Mojo,
No, and Yes.
Have you read other people’s accounts? Have you spoken with people who were there? Halloween in the Castro is a thing of the past; what was once a wonderful community event doesn’t not exist anymore. Shrink it, end it early, whatever. There will - sadly - still be violence, hecklers, and people who come to cause trouble.
Hey Lilah,
I disagree. check out the comment thread over here: http://www.sfist.com/archives/2006/11/01/seven_shot_at_halloween_in_the_castro.php#comments A lot of people are saying that violence has been up all year, what with the Beauty Bar shooting last week and all of the gang violence in the Western Addition.
The violence needs to be addressed in other ways, closing down Halloween will just move it, not stop it.
I wrote a giant comment over there, but the crappy SFist comment system swallowed it. Sigh.
It’s always funny to read curmudgeonly reminisces as they generally ignore the fact that a lot of advancements have been made to trade off with the devolutions that have occurred.
They’re also funny for their selectivity of memory, as I’m pretty sure one could find quite a few examples of adults gathering in uncontrollable mobs in the 60s or 70s.
60s or 70s? ha-ha got you. I said that when I was “young” Halloween was for children.
I am sure kids still enjoy the day, but too many adults use it as an excuse to go crazy.
“too many adults use it as an excuse to go crazy.”
This is such a simplistic explanation of what happened. Assuming that a gang was involved, as the reports are now indicating, you better come up with a more thoughtful argument than that. Look at how we marginalize certain groups in the city, not just SF but across urban America, and then think about why we see the violence. It is not the excuse of Halloween.
Yeah, I have no idea when you were young or “young”. 50s? 80s? Whatever.
The point is that your original post puts forth an absurd insinuation that Halloween in the Castro is somehow a reflection of this entire era. And that, when you were young — whatever that means — things were characterized by nothing but good, clean wholesomeness.
Neither of those points hold any water.
If your post was about Halloween becoming an adult holiday, then just say so from the get-go. Because, as you wrote it, your original post goes beyond that point and insinuates a general sort of social decay that has taken place between when you were young and now and, unless you actually want to make and support big sweeping arguments like that, then just phrase your point with more precision.
Well said.
When I was young, Halloween was for children…
Even though I was a young child back in the 50’s I don’t recall older people gathering in the streets for Halloween. At least not in the central valley town of Modesto. Life was simple, and yes a lot of things were, gasp, wholesome.
Many good changes have occurred over the years. Though not perfect, rights are now more equal for women. Rights gained with the beginning of desegregation in 1954, through to the 1964 Civil Rights Act were major accomplishments. I was there to see it all unfold.
What I do see now - - is it social decay, or is it a lack of consideration? How many times after a World Series, or the Super Bowl must cities gear up for the mayhem that could explode? Am I wrong that this did not happen way back in the good old days?
The chances of chaos breaking out in a large group are probable. I would rather stay home and carve a pumpkin, than some goof on the streets carving me up.
I have no idea as to whether or not celebrations turned into yob-infested clusterfucks way back when the way they do now, which I think is a shame.
But while I agree that the Castro Halloween scene has turned ugly and that it’s perhaps just one example of a general trend insofar as such events go, I do actually enjoy that Halloween isn’t just for the kiddies.
And I’ll gladly trade off some random nights of isolated chaos for stuff like black people being able to vote, gays not necessarily having to live in mortal fear of being “found out”, and women generally being able to reach positions of power.
Which isn’t to say that such advancements preclude to need to fix the backward steps, but my point is that, when you reminisce about the past, try not to paint it with such a rosily revisionist brush. Otherwise the point you’re making gets obscured.