General Discussion

Mitchell did offer a more charitable interpretation of Kirk's comment -- that people drive faster through black communities because they don't want to see poverty (as opposed to being frightened of crime). But even that interpretation rests on dicey theories about race and wealth. As Mitchell went on to note, Chicago has a number of upper-middle class black neighborhoods, for example. He took umbrage, moreover, with the idea that simply putting a few rich people in poorer neighborhoods would solve poverty in those communities.