Evan and I have talked a lot about the segregation of festivals here in Baltimore and Baltimore County (see Evan's blog post about this here) because we are festival whores who attend just about all of them with kids in tow, but this one was Ri-Di-Cu-Lous. I swear, the only diversity I saw were the two teenage boys who worked the ice cream venue, the man who grilled the yummy smelling grilled meat, and the apparently adopted toddler. (Evan feels that he saw more diversity than this...but I don't believe him. I took a pretty good look around, even though I was feeling a cold coming on.)
It is amazing to me how uncomfortable I feel in a situation of all White people. It's even worse if everyone is Jewish. Considering I'm such a White Jew, and honestly proud to be a Jew, I'm trying to figure out what makes me so uncomfortable. It could be the years of living in Brooklyn, and Jersey City especially, where such a diverse group of people and neighborhoods makes living there so interesting and fun. It could be the years working in NYC public schools and Catholic Charities in Brooklyn, which has probably the most diverse staff in the country!
Is it that I found the people yesterday to be a more conservative lot, and that is what made me uncomfortable? No. Because even at the HonFest this summer, where we all proudly displayed our tattoos (and by "we all", I mean Evan and I, not the boys!), we noticed how strange it was that the crowd was so White.
And now that I'm working again in a school where 99% of the students are Black (I have one White student and 48 Black students.), I notice the segregation even more. How could I not? I keep thinking I'll run into one of my students at one of these festivals, but then I remember how little people travel out of their own neighborhoods here.
It makes me sad. Not sad, angry. Not angry, determined...wanting to do something that integrates this place a bit. But what? How?
I know that by just being a Jew who works with my students and becomes someone that they can trust, talk to or relate to makes a difference. Perhaps they never thought they'd get close to a White, Jewish lady before. But that doesn't seem to be enough right now. I guess WE can still keep going to the festivals where we are some of the few White people. Or I can make a field trip with my students to some of the "other" festivals.
It's terrible that this is how so much of America is. I've been privileged by what the diversity of growing up in LA County and living in NYC and Jersey City has given me. Having so little of it here feels like such a loss to me. A loss for my children.
It's like staying inside and jumping on your bed, while a giant, deluxe bouncy house has been set up around the corner.
Brenda-- I feel that it is like that in Pittsburgh often too. It is sad -- and strange -- but I grew up in a very conservative "white" town in the Pittsburgh suburbs, and I think I turned out to be a pretty good person. I think if you raise your kids with the right values then they will have opportunity to explore more diverse neighborhoods, activities, countries, etc. as they grow older and then set out on their own. They will be tolerant and well-rounded people -- look at their parents -- the best examples!!
ReplyDeleteSarah D
Not to go too far afield but I really loved the inverse correlation between taking a "pretty good look around" and "having a cold." Also, 1 out of 48 is more like 98%. Is that quibbling?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, sorry about all the whiteness, but I agree with Sarah, that understanding and exposure to other "kinds" of folks is more about the attitude you grow up with than actual interaction. There's studies that show that increased proximity to those you identify as "other" actually breeds greater cultural intolerance than otherwise. I guess, then the issue is identification as "other" but that's kind of the bread and butter of diversity, isn't it?
Still, I would imagine a tremendous culture shock in your situation going from such constant exposure to nil and worrying about what kind of effect it'll have on the little ones. I can only imagine, that, as Sarah mentioned, exposure to you two is what is going to shape the way they interact with the people they meet in their lives and if that's true, they got nothing to worry on.
hey brenda, i feel you. i lived in hartford for awhile and experienced the type of segregation you write of. i also (as a 22 year old kid) was welcomed into various action groups to discuss race and building stronger neighborhoods. The type of angst you are developing (and acting on everyday you teach) is more productive than you know. fast forward to nyc where you need a degree in volunteering to volunteer. i've never acted and reacted with as much potential difference making in nyc the way i did in hartford. see you this weekend, adam
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