Comments on: First Signs of Demolition at Allen Wilson Terrace

By: cubalibre

cubalibre — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:16:54 +0000

DM, you’re right on with your observation about there being a very fuzzy divide between the categories of segregation– I also believe that too many people assume that middle- and upper-class people of color automatically want to live in “white” neighborhoods. That’s not always (or often) the case. The posters who are talking about the quantifiable differences between segregation by class rather than race have very valid points; the simple fact is that a disproportionate number of folks on the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum are also racial/ethnic minorities. People of means, however well-intentioned, seldom end up living amongst those without. The obvious overlap between racial and class segregation makes it easy to confuse the two, so I understand where both sides are coming from. Even so, whenever I read things that have a classist/racist slant (however oblique the reference), I’m still taken aback by them. Like most of us here, I always hoped that such attitudes would be much less prevalent in the 21st century. There’s no doubt our society has made some great strides, but when I see things like the Vent I posted, it reminds me that we still have a hike ahead of us. Not hatin’, just sayin’.

By: Decatur Metro

Decatur Metro — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:00:26 +0000

I’m not sure who I agree with here, but here’s what I keep wanting to say.

It’s near impossible to tell where segregation due to race ends and where segregation by choice or class begins. Even if the entire population simply stopped segregating by outward appearance, there’s still going to be an extended period of time when the results of this segregation by race hang around. Forced segregation has lead to generations of whites and blacks growing up in entirely separate cultures…not to mention varying levels of opportunity.

So, while blind racism is no longer socially acceptable and many folks are now thankfully ambivalent about the color of another’s skin, the two cultures cannot immediately meld seamlessly after living separately for centuries. Today we continue to slowly make in-roads in this area, but we’re still very much in a transitional period.

And with any cultural shift, there are various levels of participants. There are those who obsessively despise any prejudices that they may harbor thanks to their environment and use every opportunity to dispel their own knee-jerks and then there are a whole host of other variations on that up to those who don’t really consider how it has affected them.

All this to say that both Eric’s thread and Tyler’s thread have valid points. We shouldn’t get too cocky about how diverse we actually are (and what gentrification has a tendency to do) and blind ourselves with back-patting, and at the same time we shouldn’t let any less-than-perfect reality deter us rectifying this centuries old problem.

By: W. Gibbets

W. Gibbets — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:17:44 +0000

Ok, it appears that, other than avoiding reality, you can’t bring yourself to read what I posted before.

There is confusion between the concepts of class and race–particularly here in the South, and oh my god! is it 2008 already?–what I said before was the reality is that It will take even liberal white folks a while to get used to non-whites moving out of their past economic classifications. And there is no guarantee that they will start flooding into your Decatur neighborhood.

At an old job I worked with a group of middle and upper middle class black Southerners and where did they choose to buy their houses? Not in Decatur, but out by Old National in a neighborhood that was populated by other middle class blacks.

Keep throwing “integration” around and you’ll start to sound like you’re living in the 50’s. Our neighborhoods have moved WAY beyond those days if you think about it, but–and if it ever happens–you will probably not see complete and absolute diversity for a long time. (One question I have: how many white families live in Decatur public housing? Is it just a few? a lot?)

By: CSD Snowflake

CSD Snowflake — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:31:14 +0000

There’s more and more racial/ethnic diversity in the Great Lakes these days. I don’t believe that DHA housing is officially or unofficially a public housing project. It adds income diversity to Decatur which was becoming harder to find until the recession. Thanks to the recession, even income diversity is starting to pop up in the Great Lakes and all around Decatur. Maybe eventually DHA homes will be more diverse in terms of race/ethnicity. They are already diverse in terms of country of origin.

By: Robbie

Robbie — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:09:49 +0000

Sounds like a conspiracy to me. Today the Great Lakes, tomorrow the world! We really must do something about all these white folks with money (the worst kind, IMO) coming into our community with their ‘backward’ ideas and lack of appreciation for the dogma of diversity. And then they have the nerve to speak ill of public housing projects?!? These people are clearly not Decatur-worthy.

Of course, if they didn’t like/respect/enjoy living in a diverse community then it’s highly unlikely they would have moved here in the first place, no?