am I the only 'woman of color' in the Slope who's not...

BSloper wrote: I think PS is unique in a lot of ways and I love it, but diversity simply isn't one of its most outstanding characteristics. I just don't see how you can type these holier than thou things with a straight face. But, it is 100% symptomatic of the PS attitude.

- well which 'attitude' do you mean? Do you mean the totally racist, call complete strangers domestic help simply b/c they're black attitude, expressed above? or the 'I live in a diverse nabe, shop at the Food Coop, and dont drive an SUV so I am better than you' attitude?

Because it seems to me it is virtually impossible to have both and while I'll buy the latter, I aint buying the former, which is what the original posts in this thread were trying to sell.

Park Slope Liberal = always sent a check to fight apartheid, but called the NYPD whenever there was a black man in the stoop.

Pitbull - when I say super-rich I know what I'm talking about. I make considerable more than that figure you mentioned and I will tell you that I live next to super-rich, SUV driving assholes that told my wife to make sure she cleaned up the shit from the dogs she was being paid to walk. So please spare the lectures. If you want ot fantasize about how diverse, tolerant, accepting PS is go right ahead but spare me.

Livetotravel wrote: Pitbull - when I say super-rich I know what I'm talking about. I make considerable more than that figure you mentioned and I will tell you that I live next to super-rich, SUV driving assholes that told my wife to make sure she cleaned up the shit from the dogs she was being paid to walk...

Wait, I don't get it. They told her that because of her race? Or did they assume she didn't own the dogs because of her color? Is there a popular prejudice no one ever told me about that a certain race is inclined to leave dogshit on the sidewalks?

Otherwise, I don't see the issue. People should clean up the shit from the dogs they walk. White, black or green, can't we all agree we don't want dogshit on our sidewalks?

OnEasternParkway wrote: Am I the only one who has noticed that the original poster was discriminated against by her black friends calling her a "sell out". and not by the self-righteous "liberal elite" that this thread has turned to attacking?

Just thought that should be mentioned.

I am the Liberal Elite!

okay, I'm just quoting a t-shirt put out by the Brooklyn Museum during a funding crisis around the Chris Offili elephant dung flap,
and the shirt actually said
"I Am A Member Of The Cultural Elite"

in either case, I suppose that group would include me. And more than a few of you.

I maintain that it depends which Park Slope you're attached to. Mine, not exactly Landmarked but still longtime PS, remains profoundly multiracial. The heart of that is the Coop, which I daresay is the most integrated institution in NYC. It also includes my block, and my longtime friends who both own and rent here.

It's great this discussion is here. Viva Los Internets.

Anonymous wrote: [quote=friendlypitbull]PHeights Girl - yes the data is 6yrs old and it may change a few % here or there but PS was expensive and gentrified in 2000 -

My point with the data being SIX YEARS OLD is that there is a good chance the percentage of whites has increased while the percentage of people of another race has decreased. People are moving into PS all the time -- we all know it's the 'hottest neighborhood', so I wouldn't be surprised if it is becoming less and less 'diverse'.

Whoops, shit, that was me above.

Subject: Re: am I the only 'woman of color' in the Slope who's not...

I have been reading this post today and I grew up in Brooklyn and went to school at John Jay (82-86) and I remember that neighborhood being mostly white and hispanic. I think there were about 20 white people who attended John Jay when I did (including me). I had a lot of friends there and none of my friends who lived in PS were African American so to me it seems like it really hasn't changed over the years.

Absolutely fascinating and important discussion.

We should have more of these threads.

I think economics are the biggest predictor of who lives in Park Slope from a purely demographic standpoint. There are other factors, but statistically, this is probably the strongest determinant.

However, I don't think the statistics necessarily get at the "truth" and anecdotal evidence on the ground may hint at a whole multitude of cultural variables that make a significant difference to the statistics in the long run. Ultimately, the statistics are the result of the interaction of all of the other variables that are harder to pin down.

Here's my anecdotal contribution:

I'm from Tennessee, and I had between one and four personal friends who were African American for my entire 38 years as a resident there. Every one of those friends had a similar educational background. Some of them had middle class parents as I had, others had working class parents, but they all had middle class aspirations and education was assumed to be the biggest part of achieving or maintaining that economic status. I was an avid participant and supporter of performing arts, and I noticed that this seemed to be correlated with having more friends outside of my ethnic group. Perhaps art encourages people to think outside the norm. But I'm just guessing. I had even fewer Asian or Latino friends once I graduated from school. The demographics in East Tennessee are predominantly white, with African Americans making up the second most populuous group. The number of Mexican and Asian immigrants was growing, but they were mostly working class and tended to cluster in family groups in ethnically homogenous neighborhoods. I would probably do the same thing if I immigrated to Vietnam or Venezuela. It helps to be surrounded by what's comfortable and familiar when you're in a new and potentially risky situation.

Since moving to Brooklyn four years ago, the pattern hasn't changed. I have one close friend (lives in Ft. Greene), one neighbor on my condo board, and one acquaintance who I chat up at my local watering whole who are black. I know one more woman who lives in the area who is a former co-worker of my wife's. Every single one of these people are attorneys and belong squarely to the professional class. I certainly consider myself to have a friendly customer relationship with some of the check-out clerks at Key Food and local servers/bartenders who happen to be African American, but these aren't people who I've had dinner with. I have two friends of Asian heritage, but then again, I haven't been here long and I'm slow to build up personal networks.

The one thing that's VERY different from hicksville Tennessee is the sheer number of opportunities to interact with people of either a different ethnic or economic background every single day. Park Slope may be insular and seem homogenous to some, but it's far more diverse than your average suburban enclave in so-called middle America. I'm sure there is no shortage of closet racists who imagine themselves to be progressive. I'm also certain that even the most progressive among us, regardless of ethnicity,have unspoken incorrect assumptions and serious blind spots. But I think every social interaction, no matter how cursory, is a gateway to something more substantial - tolerance, community, maybe even friendship. The one thing you can't do in Brooklyn is maintain the illusion that people different from you don't really exist or don't have the same needs you do. You must walk the street, you must ride the subway. I like the way that daily life in New York forces me to confront that reality.

Maybe the effect would wear off after awhile and I'd be living in my own ipod induced bubble again. Who knows? For now I'm going to look on the bright side. Of course, that doesn't mean we have a license to ignore the problems that do exist and try to address them.

Thanks to whomever started this whole thread for giving me something to reflecton on.

guest wrote:
The Caribbean nanny appeals to a particular kind of white person, not necessarily racist, but narcissist.

I don't understand that at all. I had a Caribbean nanny when my kids were little. I was home with my kids for a little while, so I spent some time hanging out with nannies in the park and on "playdates," and the person I hired was a friend of a nanny I was friendly with. As I recall, all the potential nannies I interviewed were Caribbean, but it's not like I put out an ad specifying "Caribbean only." I would really have preferred to stay home with my kids, but I couldn't for a bunch of reasons, so I hired the person I liked best, out of the people I interviewed. Where is the narcissism in hiring a nanny?

On the larger topic, the South Slope was more diverse when I moved here almost ten years ago. There were many more Hispanic families living here then. Some of them cashed in when these crappy little frame houses started selling for half a million dollars, and no doubt others were displaced when rents went up or their homes were sold to developers so we could have more ugly Fedders buildings here.

Also, I am white, and I was approached many times when my kids were little (when I was with them) by people asking if I was a nanny and looking for work. It was very strange, especially since my kids looked just like me.

Another thing -- wouldn't it be worse to refuse to hire someone because of her race/national origin? I mean, "no Caribbeans need apply" seems kind of, um, racist and wrong to me. Maybe I am missing something really obvious. Are people thinking that white people should only hire other white people to care for our children? What if the best-qualified person is nonwhite? I can't believe I'm even typing this.

Or it the idea that women with young children should just stay home with them and not hire nannies? And if you can't afford to stay home, you shouldn't have had kids?