old school photo time

Jason got in touch with me about an old photo of mine from something like 2006. There is an area in Birmingham called Gate City and it is not a place I'd like to find myself after dark, or really near dark. The area is known to me as a place that is not only a set a of Projects, but one with only one way in and out. Anyway...this was nearby said projects and, in fact, it is still around today and just as impacting. So since I dug out the negative and rescanned it I figured I'd post it too.

I still have no idea what the sign is in reference to. I will never ask.

It reads (for the sake of it being text on the page instead of just an image):

WE BEG YOU WITH TEARS IN OUR EYES TO PLEASE LEAVE US ALONE