I was blessed to grow up in a great neighborhood - St. Pat's. For decades, Troy neighborhoods where known by their parish names. In fact, my neighborhood wasn't called North Central until sometime in the late 70's or early 80's. The last 25 years have been pretty hard for North Central (now called Uptown), her dedicated residents and historic structures. Gone are the days of the church being the center of activity in a community. And with St. Patrick's RC Church closing, it's not going to be any easier for us. Such a shame, too, given all the support this parish provided to the neighborhood.
The final community mass will be celebrated at St. Pat's on June 27th. Although the original plan was to merge St. Paul's and St. Peter's parishes with St. Patrick's, that was not to be. Following a poll of the other two parishes, it was determined that the people "would not want to commute" to St. Patrick's. Commute is an interesting choice of words given that the other two churches are both less than 2 miles from St. Patrick's. Personally, I think it's time to open a few windows and air the truth.
So what's the real reason these fellow Trojans would not attend church in Uptown? Prejudice. Sorry folks, I call it like I see it. Prejudice is fed by fear, fear is fed by ignorance and ignorance is taught. Our vibrant and VIABLE church is closing because fellow Trojans are "too good" to come here. The people of Uptown have been on their own for at least two decades now anyway. Why should this situation be any different?
1 comment:
I agree with Peggy. I am a Troy native by adoption (lol) however, in the nearly 6 years of living in Uptown (formerly known as North Central) I get a very clear feeling that Trojans in other areas look down on the people in Uptown. People considering buying homes in Uptown are often discouraged because of the "type of people" that live here. The city generally speaking doesn't put much stock in Uptown when it comes to life improving changes. I feel that is the main reason that South Troy was chosen over Uptown to focus on first with grant money. What I was told is that North Central is too far gone. Well, if the city feels we are too far gone now, then where the heck do they think we will be if they wait another 2 and half more years to bring money here to fix things? This was the straw that broke the camel's back and why the Uptown Initiative exists today. The fact of the matter is that the city and Trojans in other areas want nothing to do with Uptown out of prejudice and I would add elitism to the mix.
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