(from Your Privilege Is Showing)
As well, look at the most ‘desirable’ cities, towns, and neighborhoods in *your* area. They may not be ‘de jure’ sundown towns anymore, but are they ‘de facto’; that is, do they welcome black people, or do they make sure to make their animus for us known?
I know that in my general region, San Diego County in Southern California, there are maybe 10 areas out of more than a hundred (San Diego is geographically huge) where I feel truly comfortable.
Fun fact: until ten years ago, in my mid forties, I had never dared to go to a beach area alone. For the most part, I still don’t, and I pay dearly for the privilege of living near the water. The vibe I get just sitting in a cafe, or strolling the beach, is palpable.
When wide swaths of this landscape is effectively off limits, and when white people feed into and enjoy the best a region has to offer at the expense of people of color (because, don’t forget, those pristine beaches and hiking trails and quaint main streets are subsidized by people of color, even if they are not welcomed to them), and when they make their decisions about where to live and work based, however indirectly on who is excluded, how does this fit into the trope of white supremacy?
When you chose where you live, did true functional diversity factor in–either as a ‘it is a value I will abide by and live up to, no matter how pretty the house or how desirable the district’, or was it not an element of where you ultimately chose to reside? Or, was it considered a feature, and not a bug–did the lack of black and brown faces reinforce your decision? Did you ask your real estate agent or rental agent to specifically show you properties with diverse residents? Because if you didn’t ask them explicitly, they almost certainly didn’t
A large amount of property values turn on the presence (more accurately the absence) of black people in the zip code of precinct. And it has a boomerang effect, the house values go up more and faster, so more wealth is accumulated; houses and property are handed down, thus cementing this dynamic.
How have you, or have you not, participated in this overarching fact of institutional and systemic racism?
Put another, more visceral way, if I was house hunting or apartment shopping in *your* neighborhood, and a property came up next to you, would you tell me about it?
Could I meet you for lunch and come early to work in a cafe near you, and feel comfortable–or would there be hostility as people by word, but most likely nonverbally, made it clear that I didn’t belong? Would that dissipate when you showed up to lend legitimacy?
Are these queries making you uncomfortable? Good. Answer them anyway. Where we live, and who we live with is an important part of our praxis.
How can effective racial justice work be done when you have organized your entire life to avoid meaningful engagements with the people with whom you insist you stand?
Comments only; no hearts or likes. No shares without comments; while I appreciate the willingness to amplify, I want to hear your voice more. I would like to see no fewer than 200 responses.
This will be part of the pinned series of posts.
Edited to add: please consider and answer all of the embedded queries, not just the ones you like or that seem easiest or least challenging to your praxis. If you have already answered, revisit to ensure you fully engaged. Thank you.