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1. $3.60 · Not an emergency, ma'am: witnessing Edith Rodriguez's death on 20 Jun 2007 at 12:21 am

   [...] Racialicious, I found this article at the L.A. Times, regarding Edith Isabel Rodriguez’s death at the [...]

Comments

1. Mark N. wrote:

   Before aiming for Warren Buffett, Lebron needs to convince the Cleveland front office to get him better players.

   Posted 19 Jun 2007 at 6:29 am ¶

2. Lyonside wrote:

   Re: Home Alone…
   Oh, this rattled my civic pride.

   The author of the study says that they eliminated potential non-”diversity” reasons for the lack of civic involvement/isolation of residents, but I think they’re looking at this all wrong.

   They’re assuming a cause and effect. I say their problem is that the two issues (diverse ethnicity and social disconnect/dissatisfaction) are PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER.

   Because of the way our cities have grown in the 20th century (centers of industry/commerce, first stop of immigrants, etc.), a large town or big city is automatically more diverse. At the same time, with that larger population comes a higher incidence of crime, a more transient population, and a larger more complex government bureaucracy. THAT could lead to the disconnect people feel, not diversity.

   Add to that the collapse of the American industrial complex, the rise of drug trafficking and associated evils, and the crumbling infrastructure in US cities, and of COURSE you get people feeling as if they’re alone, they have no political power, etc.

   Unlike some small towns and boroughs, the mayor of NYC or Houston does NOT run the corner store, or the fire chief, or the largest landowner in town. So of COURSE some people who expect to know everyone effortlessly are disappointed. But when abandoned barns are becoming meth labs and small town politicos are being prosecuted for corruption or kiddie porn, I can’t see how the Mulberry Myth still survives.

   The smaller communities are becoming just as isolated, ESPECIALLY when you consider bedroom communities in the ex-urbs (for those going, “Wha?” it’s the trendy name for when even the suburbs aren’t good enough and they rip up rural areas for McMansion communities that tend to stress townships, school districts, and natural resources). How can an area where you HAVE to drive everywhere possibly foster less isolation/disconnect than a thriving city neighborhood?

   I sense an inherent bias in either the actual study or maybe just the way the article was written: why is it that the “smaller connected” communities are where the “Norwegians and Swedes” get together and call it diversity? Are there no small communities of minority groups that made it into the study? Or does the study essentially say that ethnic minorities are a “prob lem” of the city?

   Posted 19 Jun 2007 at 8:24 am ¶

3. atlasien wrote:

   I see diversity and integration as parallel forces. One city I’ve lived in – New York – was extremely diverse and integrated. Right now I live in Atlanta, which is diverse but segregated, and I’ve also lived in Miami, which was even more diverse and even more segregated.

   I think there are at least three factors involved. 1) how many people of different backgrounds live in the same area 2) how much actual day-to-day contact they have with people of other backgrounds 3) civic involvement.

   Posted 19 Jun 2007 at 9:49 am ¶

4. Lyonside wrote:

   Atlasian: I agree, and the first thing I thought of when I read the 3 cities you’ve lived in was, “location, location, location.”

   New York City’s very geography generally forces many people together over generations of time – it’s an old city, and has been a capital of commerce, culture, and integration for a very long time.

   In contrast, both Miami and Atlanta (although Atlanta is also old – not sure about Miami) to my understanding are “newer” in terms of building development and possibly city expansion? (not sure). If nothing else, the 2 cities are not on an island and therefore can spread out a little more.

   I suspect that both are dealing with the legacy of Southern versions of segregation, and that may affect where people have historically lived and how diverse a neighborhood is.

   Posted 19 Jun 2007 at 11:01 am ¶

5. Lyonside wrote:

   Crap: ” integration” should read “IMMIGRATION.” I know that individual neighborhoods in the North have been under de facto segregation, and that’s true of NYC as well.

   Posted 19 Jun 2007 at 11:02 am ¶

6. gatamala wrote:

   Lyon- your spot on in picking up the tone of this article! (Norwegian/Swede & Mulberry Myth! hmph!)

   Folks in the exurbs DON’T want to be connected to diverse people. Not even to live within 3 doors of others! The problem isn’t diversity, it’s the problem exurbanites (word?) have with it. The townships/incorporations, resources, minimal sq footage, school choice….euphemisms for the same ol’ same ol’.

   Perhaps it isn’t racial/ethnic diversity, but as you mentioned, the fact that you have some communities that have been entrenched in an area for decades, while others are new.

   The articles says “He was hoping to build on his earlier work, which described a precipitous decline in the nation’s “social capital,” the formal and informal networks — bowling leagues, parent-teacher associations, fraternal organizations, pick-up basketball games, youth service groups — that tie people together, shore up civic engagement and forge bonds of trust and reciprocity.”

   *chuckle*… Way my folks tell it, that “social capital” was not open to them and they formed their own networks – as do others. Now, legislation may have improved some of these formal networks, but as for the informal ones…wouldn’t the members have to extend membership to newcomers?

   Posted 19 Jun 2007 at 1:40 pm ¶

7. B wrote:

   I think all of you are spot-on in your readings of this article. I also was troubled by this quote for additional reasons: “In highly diverse cities and towns like Los Angeles, Houston and Yakima, Wash., the survey found, the residents were about half as likely to trust people of other races as in homogenous places like Fremont, Mich., or rural South Dakota, where, Putnam noted, ‘diversity means inviting a few Norwegians to the annual Swedish picnic.’”

   The above quote makes me wonder exactly how this information was gathered. If it was a self-report format via a survey, I question its value. I am black and grew up in an overwhelmingly predominantly white suburb in New England. I have no doubt that most of the people in the town I grew up with would *claim* that they would trust those of other races; most of the town’s residents were college+ educated, and are aware, to some extent, of being politically correct and pro-diversity on paper.

   After all, in the after-school meetings my mom attended with the dozens of parents of children who bluntly told me that they wouldn’t play with me because I am black, parent after parent said, “I don’t know where she got that idea; we’ve never said anything that would suggest she… uh… she… uh… you know, speak to your daughter that way.”

   I’d love to see if the experiences of ethnic minorities in the homogeneous–white, based on the Scandinavian/Norwegian line–towns they studied jived with their conclusions about the sentiments of the majority population.

   Posted 19 Jun 2007 at 3:14 pm ¶

8. B wrote:

   Oops–last sentence is confusing. I’m wondering whether the experiences of ethnic minorities in the homogeneous towns studied are in line with the conclusions that the scientists made.

   Posted 19 Jun 2007 at 3:34 pm ¶