am I the only 'woman of color' in the Slope who's not...
Subject: am I the only 'woman of color' in the Slope who's not...
a nanny or a maid?A friend of mine recently said that I'm a "sellout" for choosing to live in Park Slope and asked me if I notice that there are no other non-whites. I actually haven't noticed. Is this true? I've lived here for about 3 or 4 years but I've been very busy so I haven't really stopped and taken note of the color of people's skins.
Comments
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Subject: Re: am I the only 'woman of color' in the Slope who's not...
N. Slope Princess wrote: a nanny or a maid?
Well, don't start now. Who cares? Live where you like it.
A friend of mine recently said that I'm a "sellout" for choosing to live in Park Slope and asked me if I notice that there are no other non-whites. I actually haven't noticed. Is this true? I've lived here for about 3 or 4 years but I've been very busy so I haven't really stopped and taken note of the color of people's skins. -
i see asians and they are yellow
. thats a color. -
Didn't spike lee make 3 movies about this? It sounds like your friend is using the same silly arguement about keeping it real that people have been using to backup their class jealousy for years. Live where you want. I know the Slope works for me, and I'm very happy about that.
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steve wrote: Didn't spike lee make 3 movies about this? It sounds like your friend is using the same silly arguement about keeping it real that people have been using to backup their class jealousy for years. Live where you want. I know the Slope works for me, and I'm very happy about that.
Spike Lee made movies about Park Slope???????? -
I am a little wary touching this one but the timing of your post is kind of perfect. I was on 7th Avenue yesterday and it was the first time that I looked around and said, "my god, every black person I see is a nanny! What is going on?" Let me say that I think that is an important job and I have a caregiver who works for me. Every wave of immigrants who comes in does do some of the hardest work. (My grandfather pressed clothes in a factory). I think childcare is pretty hard work. But yesterday I kept thinking of what my friends who moved to LA told me: that the only people of color they see now work for them. How sad that we aren't moving very far ahead. And how absurd that Park Slope harps about its diversity. Is it just a small LA?
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No, you're not the only woman of color in the Slope who isn't a nanny, but you probably are a sellout
Outside of the enclave neighborhoods and some country club coops, the only color that matters is green. Can you afford it? If yes, live where you like. Presumably something about the neighborhood appealled to you.
As for your friend, next thing you know she's gonna come over and try to convince you to watch the Stop Snitching DVD. What a joke. -
digital_buffalo wrote: No, you're not the only woman of color in the Slope who isn't a nanny, but you probably are a sellout
An odd question. I wouldn't be living in an area (at least not for long), if I couldn't afford it. Neither would I choose to live here if I didn't like living here.
Outside of the enclave neighborhoods and some country club coops, the only color that matters is green. Can you afford it? If yes, live where you like. Presumably something about the neighborhood appealled to you.
As for your friend, next thing you know she's gonna come over and try to convince you to watch the Stop Snitching DVD. What a joke.
Unless, I suppose, I took to robbing banks and mugging people.
Anyway, as soon as I have kids I shall get a white nanny and reverse the trend.... -
Subject: Re: am I the only 'woman of color' in the Slope who's not...
N. Slope Princess wrote: A friend of mine recently said that I'm a "sellout" for choosing to live in Park Slope and asked me if I notice that there are no other non-whites.
I see you more of a pioneer than a sell-out. Enjoy where you live if you are happy that is all that matters. -
digital_buffalo wrote: No, you're not the only woman of color in the Slope who isn't a nanny, but you probably are a sellout .
I don't think you are a sell-out. You should live where you want and can afford to live. This city is getting too segregated among class and race lines. We need to re-integrate class and race. -
steve wrote: Didn't spike lee make 3 movies about this? It sounds like your friend is using the same silly arguement about keeping it real that people have been using to backup their class jealousy for years. Live where you want. I know the Slope works for me, and I'm very happy about that.
See "When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong", by Dave Chapelle !! -
No, you aren’t the only one – there’s me, and a friend of mine who lives a few blocks away, so there’s at least 3 of us! I see a fair number of different colors, especially around the restaurants and stores on 5th and also passing through the Q stop on 7th during rush hours. I used to live on the Upper West Side (not through choice) and believe me, Park Slope is a lot more diverse!
I was off work the other day and went up to the park, and I too was struck by the number of black women wheeling white kids around. I too have had the ‘sellout’ look from many black folk, but I like it here so I’m staying put. A guy was once trying to get my number and he asked where I lived - when I said Park Slope he replied incredulously ‘Park Slope??!! I’m not going to come and visit you there, that’s where all the white folks live!!’ -
Actually, the diversity of Park Slope was one of the reasons my fiance and I looked here. She is Latin, and I am White. We wanted an ethnically diverse neighborhood, and it was actually having dinner at 200 Fifth that we decided that the diversity here was something that we wanted to be a part of.
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That was me btw.
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the point of modern life is to sell out and cash out. if you can they are just jealous! they would sell out in a sec. if given the chance.
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To the poster who mentioned that it was time to re-integrate the classes and races - the two don't automatically go hand in hand, you know! Perhaps more black and Hispanic people will move into the Slope, but they're very unlikely to be working class blacks and Hispanics.... Or working class whites, for that matter.
The woman who used to do my housecleaning told me that my monthly rent equals more than she takes home in an entire month, and my rent is almost reasonable for the area. -
law&disorder wrote: To the poster who mentioned that it was time to re-integrate the classes and races - the two don't automatically go hand in hand, you know! Perhaps more black and Hispanic people will move into the Slope, but they're very unlikely to be working class blacks and Hispanics.... Or working class whites, for that matter. .
I didn't mean class and race go together. I meant that not only are we divided by race in this country we are also divided by class. I think it is important to not segregate either way. Instead of warehousing poor people in big housing projects, why not build a few smaller apartment buildings in every neighborhood? And why not prevent the Livanos (greedy developers) of the world from evicting rent controlled tenants who when gone, further homogenous neighborhoods? Now, with cell phones and email and other ways we can insulate ourselves from our"community"--we can talk on our cell phones to one of us, instead of saying hello to the bus driver or the guy who sells us the morning paper. Certain classes of people are becoming more and more invisible to affluent and not so affluent people. -
Kensingtonmom wrote: [quote=law&disorder]To the poster who mentioned that it was time to re-integrate the classes and races - the two don't automatically go hand in hand, you know! Perhaps more black and Hispanic people will move into the Slope, but they're very unlikely to be working class blacks and Hispanics.... Or working class whites, for that matter. .
I didn't mean class and race go together. I meant that not only are we divided by race in this country we are also divided by class. I think it is important to not segregate either way. Instead of warehousing poor people in big housing projects, why not build a few smaller apartment buildings in every neighborhood? And why not prevent the Livanos (greedy developers) of the world from evicting rent controlled tenants who when gone, further homogenous neighborhoods? Now, with cell phones and email and other ways we can insulate ourselves from our"community"--we can talk on our cell phones to one of us, instead of saying hello to the bus driver or the guy who sells us the morning paper. Certain classes of people are becoming more and more invisible to affluent and not so affluent people.
I agree with all of what you've said.
And to be perfectly honest, with the rather well-heeled and privileged blacks in my family and in my social circle - I've noticed that they seem even more keen than their white counterparts to treat less fortunate people of their own race as though they are inivisible.
One of my friends joked, "my mother would never be caught speaking to the [black] cleaner, mailroom staff or secretary in her office for fear that her white colleagues would finally realize that she too is black."
Anyway, let's hope for more diversity in the Slope soon!
A woman in a local store here asked me recently, "do you work around here?" and when I said, "I work from home actually, but I LIVE around here" - she looked shocked and the conversation ground to a halt. What was THAT about? -
Park Slope still has working class black and latino families that have owned their homes for decades, and haven't cashed in.
My block . . . white, latin, black, white, white, latin, asian, latin, white, latin, white..you get the picture. The three black owners that sold in the last decade sold to white people, none of whom have black nannies.
Sure the recent - in terms of decades anyway - influx of white people with black nannies stands out . . . but those of us who lived here before still live here. And I know a couple buppies who've moved in more recently . . . and appear to be the only non-nannies black folks on 8th Ave. So maybe it depends on which area of the Slope is your Slope.
This neighborhood has been diverse for a long time, and haven for interracial couples for years and years and years. The census data is really easy to check if you really care to know the particulars. -
i agree with the poster above. its more about class than anything else. you wont find any working class folks moving there from any "race". any working class folks that living there was pre 1990's.
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People must be blind b/c PS is FAR from all white - but if you walk around in the middle of a warm day of course you'll see tons of black nannies with white children - Who do you think is around in the middle of the day - caregivers;
But maybe people think white people should only hire white nannys? - their is a progressive idea -
I don't live in the Slope but do work in it (actually live up the street in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens). But I do understand what you mean about feeling like the only one. When I first started working in Park Slope back in 2004, I was asked by numerous residents if I was a new nanny or housekeeper and who I was working for and if I would be willing to watch their children or clean their home. This was usually said in the first breath and when I responded I was a publicist I would get a look as if I had 3 heads.
I personally haven't seen the "diversity" of Park Slope in the area past 7th Avenue going to wards PPW. I work in a small office on PPW and 9th Street and except for the other women of color I work with (1 Korean, 1 Ecuadorian, and 1 Bangledeshi) I rarely if at all see any one who looks like us who aren't in some sort of domestic service. If any are seen at all, they usually work at Methodist Hospital. -
Yeah sure! - white people are just walking up to you (a publicist) and asking if you would work for them as domestic help simply because your black!?
Sorry not buying..... -
Subject: interesting dialogue...
this is a very provocative and interesting topic. i think that a lot of people focused on whether north slope princess should react to her friends vs. what is the composition/diversity of park slope like now. that is a really good point, good topic. and perhaps it is more about class than race. it's both i think.
in fact, i wonder about the neighborhood quality when people move in with lots of money, does some of the community suffer? are those people working on wall street or 'high powered' jobs and they don't have time to really put in anything beyond what they give to their "families?"
(this is going to sound bizarre but no one on my block has a bird feeder and the birds are really hungry in the winter. i just realized this when i threw some nuts to squirrels and all these exotic birds swooped in craving them. you'd think it would be a given, right? but are people just too busy/self-involved to think of these things...? anyway, i digress.)
in the five years since i moved to park slope it went from 'oh you live in park slope' sort of reaction to "OH you live in Park Slope." It almost gets embarassing because it's now assumed wealth whereas it wasn't so much even five years ago. plus it's so chi chi now. fifth avenue was not what it was then.
thanks for this discussion. -
No-you are not the only woman of color who actually lives in PS. I know quite a few Korean, Chinese, Latina and African American women who live in the neighborhood-and who own businesses here.
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I brought this conversation up to one of my coworkers (who is not a minority) and she herself has witnessed it as well. I never said ever white person I have come across has said things like that to me. But maybe you should sit in Prospect Park one day and watch some of the intereactions that take place there.
But if you do or don't believe it, that's on you.friendlypitbull wrote: Yeah sure! - white people are just walking up to you (a publicist) and asking if you would work for them as domestic help simply because your black!?
Sorry not buying..... -
Subject: Re: interesting dialogue...
cat wrote: this is a very provocative and interesting topic. i think that a lot of people focused on whether north slope princess should react to her friends vs. what is the composition/diversity of park slope like now. that is a really good point, good topic. and perhaps it is more about class than race. it's both i think.
i used to not consider 5th ave part of park slope
in fact, i wonder about the neighborhood quality when people move in with lots of money, does some of the community suffer? are those people working on wall street or 'high powered' jobs and they don't have time to really put in anything beyond what they give to their "families?"
(this is going to sound bizarre but no one on my block has a bird feeder and the birds are really hungry in the winter. i just realized this when i threw some nuts to squirrels and all these exotic birds swooped in craving them. you'd think it would be a given, right? but are people just too busy/self-involved to think of these things...? anyway, i digress.)
in the five years since i moved to park slope it went from 'oh you live in park slope' sort of reaction to "OH you live in Park Slope." It almost gets embarassing because it's now assumed wealth whereas it wasn't so much even five years ago. plus it's so chi chi now. fifth avenue was not what it was then.
thanks for this discussion.. -
This is a really good topic. I don't think it'd last 5 mins on the PH board though.
I was actually just on 7th Ave the other day, strolling around and observing, and felt really uncomfortable seeing the only people around who looked like me pushing someone else's kid around. I felt the same way sometimes going to HS on the Upper East Side. NYC is still so stratified in some ways and it can be tough being in situations where you seem in limbo (whether perceived or not). -
blksafyre wrote: . When I first started working in Park Slope back in 2004, I was asked by numerous residents if I was a new nanny or housekeeper and who I was working for and if I would be willing to watch their children or clean their home. This was usually said in the first breath and when I responded I was a publicist I would get a look as if I had 3 heads.
Wow!! Nobody's actually asked me straight out yet. If somebody stopped me in the street and offered me cleaning work I'd go get my mop and smack them on the ass with it.
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law&disorder wrote: [quote=blksafyre]. When I first started working in Park Slope back in 2004, I was asked by numerous residents if I was a new nanny or housekeeper and who I was working for and if I would be willing to watch their children or clean their home. This was usually said in the first breath and when I responded I was a publicist I would get a look as if I had 3 heads.
Wow!! Nobody's actually asked me straight out yet. If somebody stopped me in the street and offered me cleaning work I'd go get my mop and smack them on the ass with it.i would just take their keys and sell all their goods at home and sell their kids to organ farms.
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armchair_warrior wrote: [quote=law&disorder][quote=blksafyre]. When I first started working in Park Slope back in 2004, I was asked by numerous residents if I was a new nanny or housekeeper and who I was working for and if I would be willing to watch their children or clean their home. This was usually said in the first breath and when I responded I was a publicist I would get a look as if I had 3 heads.
Wow!! Nobody's actually asked me straight out yet. If somebody stopped me in the street and offered me cleaning work I'd go get my mop and smack them on the ass with it.i would just take their keys and sell all their goods at home and sell their kids to organ farms.
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