Linkage – 2008-08-07
by Latoya Peterson
del.icio.us is *still* throwing gang signs at me and tech support has not gotten back to me in their promised twenty-four hours. (It’s been four days.) If anyone has any ideas on how to fix, email me. Until then, a link round up:
Stereohyped provides a study which explains why blacks are leaving San Francisco.
A new report finds that poor schools, a high cost of living and a lack of cultural experiences are the reasons behind a major black exodus from the city San Francisco.
Jessica Yee blogs for Shameless about rapper Eekwol.
In comes Eekwol, who is an incredibly gifted Native rapper from Saskatoon, giving it to you straight up to let the truth be known. A Cree from the Muskoday First Nation, she not only makes me brim with pride from a cultural and musical perspective, but also as a woman. As you’ll see very quickly from any of her songs or listening to her talk, she clearly owns all of who she is.
Izzy Mo is in Dubai and had some interesting thoughts about international relations. (Via.)
Whether we realize it or not, America enjoys the love and mercy of many people around the world. While I have met people who will go on and on about America’s jacked-up foreign policy, I have yet to hear anyone condemn the American people. I haven’t encountered any seething hatred or raging Moozlimz. I don’t deny that it exist but the media tends to forget something. The mainstream American media paints the war in black and white. It doesn’t mean people here in the Middle East are unable to see all the shades and colors of this conflict.
How bad is it when you consider divorcing your husband in order to get affordable healthcare? The New York Times reports.
The debate continued until this summer, when Mr. Moulton’s father offered financial help. “I know we don’t take charity from anyone,” Mr. Moulton told his wife, “but I’m not going to divorce you and I’m not going to let you die.”
According to the Washington Post, the US is getting older and more diverse.
Minorities, about one-third of the U.S. population, are expected to become a majority by 2042 and be 54 percent of U.S. residents by 2050.
Sex and Moxie asks “Why Are Some Still Opposed to Inter-racial Dating?” The comments are interesting.
[...]I also think one major reason more black women don’t date other races is that they’re not being asked out. Even if you’re attractive, a lot of guys have the “anything but black” syndrome when it comes to marriage. Black women are on the bottom of the dating totem pole in the US(even sometimes when it comes to their own race) so there would be no way I could limit myself to black guys lest I want to end up an old maid. I’ve always thought it was odd that educated, professional Asian women, who have plenty of Asian men on the same or higher socioeconomic level are most likely to date interracially, but educated black women who typically have a lack of black men on their level, are the least likely to date interracially. [...]
—Quirky
The Sanctuary has up “5 English Lessons from thew Anti-Immigration Movement.”
My favorite:
Obviously, the the crew at the Sanctuary is using their damned socialist spell check!
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Matt wrote:
Would it be appropriate for us to post links here then? Now that Italy has deployed troops to the streets of Rome to fight the Gypsy* menace.. I take that back.. When the Italian high court ruled that it was okay to discriminate against and fingerprint Gypsy children because ‘everyone knows Gyspies are thieves,’ that’s something I find it hard to keep quiet about.
* The word “Gypsy” is often considered offensive, but few people know the Roma and Sinti ethnic groups by their proper names.
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 10:29 am ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
@Matt and All –
Yes, please do. I’ll try to do this a couple times a week, and feel free to post other links in the comments. Hopefully, the delicious issue will be fixed soon.
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 10:30 am ¶
Will wrote:
This is interesting. I’m African and I worked in San Francisco in 1997-1998 for a few months and I absolutely loved it. I actually considered moving there but was put off by the high cost of living (and I’m from Boston, which is already expensive). Anyway, a couple of years ago my wife and I (my wife is white) went back to California on vacation and we spent about a week in San Francisco. My, how things have changed. First of all, the diversity seems to have regressed and I definitely felt I was singled out for ’special treatment’. Every place I purchased anything I was asked for a photo ID while my wife (who has ‘ask for id’) actually written on her card was almost never asked for id. Going to restaurants it seemed that I would get routed to the crappiest table(s) possible and I had to ask to change tables. At about the same time, an eminent Kenyan writer (Ngugi wa Thiongo) was hassled in a hotel that he was staying in because they wouldn’t believe he was a guest. It just felt like the city had become uncomfortable, a feeling I never experienced in 1997-1998.
So there definitely a demographic shift going on and also there seems to be re-segregation going on and a resentment of african americans. Another thing is that quite a large percentage of the homeless are African American, which further complicates things. Once we left San Francisco proper things got better.
It was amazing to me how things had changed for the worse in the space of 8 years.
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 10:50 am ¶
Matt wrote:
Well, here’s two different stories about the Roma in Italy, besides what I already mentioned.
“[S]unbathers continu[ed] as normal with a day at the beach despite the bodies of two Gypsy girls who had drowned”
This one requires the explanation that the Roma people are not the dominant group in Romania. The name is a coincidence. Twenty Roma deported from Italy after a racist attack. “A Sky TV survey in Italy showed 83 per cent of people backed the deportations.”
The Roma and Sinti peoples have no country. Everywhere the Roma exist they are minorities, and that means a certain kind of vulnerability. In parts of Eastern Europe, they are still sterilized by doctors motivated by ideals of racist eugenics.
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 10:56 am ¶
atlasien wrote:
Here’s a fascinating though extremely long and involved one.
Why sweeping generalizations about Asian societies are wrong, why the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is also wrong and why David Brooks is a cretin (and wrong):
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=478
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 10:59 am ¶
Sharon wrote:
I live in Los Angeles but was in Cambridge, England a couple of years ago with my husband and step-daughter on a combination business/pleasure trip. My husband was attending a two-day conference with 50 other IT professionals from around the globe. We were going to be in England for ten days. Like many of the others at the conference, one of my husband’s colleagues who was from Romania brought along his young niece. She was going to vacation with him after the conference was over.
My step-daughter and I had planned to go on a tour of Cambridge while my husband was in the conference. We asked the young woman if she wanted to join us. She accepted the invitation.
Now, a little background. I am black. My husband is white. My stepdaughter, who is adopted, is black but was adopted by two white parents one of which is from Sweden.
So, there we were in Cambridge on a tour bus – the 18 yr old Romanian girl, my 13 yr old step daughter and me. We actually found quite a bit to talk about. Turns out the Romanian girl had just received a scholarship to attend the California Institute of Technology. And guess what — that’s my employer — what a small world. I couldn’t believe it.
She was so excited to learn that I worked for Caltech. We chatted non-stop. She was a delightful young woman filled with conflicting emotions about the new direction her life was about to take. This trip to Cambridge was her first out of Romania and in a short time she would be leaving her home country to go to California. She was proud of her achievement but a little afraid of the unknown. She was born and raised in Transylvania so my step-daughter, who was thinking about the “Count”, was naturally curious about her. The young woman knew a lot about the history of her country and was more than willing to share her knowledge. I thought this was great for my step-daughter who has no interest in history.
The three of us had a wonderful afternoon together and as we ended the journey we talked about reuniting when she came to California. After talking for a while, it was clear she had some unfounded fears about living in California — especially living in the area of Pasadena where Caltech is located. I told her that I’d show her around when she came to California. And I assured her that she had nothing to fear.
And then she asked me about Gypsies. My racism antennae went up. She wanted to know if she’d encounter any Gypsies in Pasadena. I told her that there wasn’t a large population of Gypsies in Pasadena but I thought there were probably some — this being the new melting pot and all. Then she said that that was one of her biggest fears. I questioned her about her fear of Gypsies — had she had problems with them? did she have any relationships with Gypsies?
She said she had not personally had any problems but she couldn’t believe I would ask if she had had any relationships with Gypsies. In her opinion, no self respecting person would have a relationship with a Gypsy. Everyone knew how bad they were in every respect!
I looked at this young woman, who was coming to my country, to get a free education from one of the top schools in America – a school that won’t even allow me to pay to take a class. And I could only shake my head.
Of course I told her that her feelings about Gypsies were unfair and inaccurate. But that didn’t change her deeply rooted prejudices.
What was a delightful afternoon ended on a sour note. We did get together one time when she came to California but we never got together again.
I know this was a long response but if you’d like to read more of my stories go here
I live in Los Angeles but was in Cambridge, England a couple of years ago with my husband and step-daughter on a combination business/pleasure trip. My husband was attending a two-day conference with 50 other IT professionals from around the globe. We were going to be in England for ten days. Like many of the others at the conference, one of my husband’s colleagues who was from Romania brought along his young niece. She was going to vacation with him after the conference was over.
My step-daughter and I had planned to go on a tour of Cambridge while my husband was in the conference. We asked the young woman if she wanted to join us. She accepted the invitation.
Now, a little background. I am black. My husband is white. My stepdaughter, who is adopted, is black but was adopted by two white parents one of which is from Sweden.
So, there we were in Cambridge on a tour bus – the 18 yr old Romanian girl, my 13 yr old step daughter and me. We actually found quite a bit to talk about. Turns out the Romanian girl had just received a scholarship to attend the California Institute of Technology. And guess what — that’s my employer — what a small world. I couldn’t believe it.
She was so excited to learn that I worked for Caltech. We chatted non-stop. She was a delightful young woman filled with conflicting emotions about the new direction her life was about to take. This trip to Cambridge was her first out of Romania and in a short time she would be leaving her home country to go to California. She was proud of her achievement but a little afraid of the unknown. She was born and raised in Transylvania so my step-daughter, who was thinking about the “Count”, was naturally curious about her. The young woman knew a lot about the history of her country and was more than willing to share her knowledge. I thought this was great for my step-daughter who has no interest in history.
The three of us had a wonderful afternoon together and as we ended the journey we talked about reuniting when she came to California. After talking for a while, it was clear she had some unfounded fears about living in California — especially living in the area of Pasadena where Caltech is located. I told her that I’d show her around when she came to California. And I assured her that she had nothing to fear.
And then she asked me about Gypsies. My racism antennae went up. She wanted to know if she’d encounter any Gypsies in Pasadena. I told her that there wasn’t a large population of Gypsies in Pasadena but I thought there were probably some — this being the new melting pot and all. Then she said that that was one of her biggest fears. I questioned her about her fear of Gypsies — had she had problems with them? did she have any relationships with Gypsies?
She said she had not personally had any problems but she couldn’t believe I would ask if she had had any relationships with Gypsies. In her opinion, no self respecting person would have a relationship with a Gypsy. Everyone knew how bad they were in every respect!
I looked at this young woman, who was coming to my country, to get a free education from one of the top schools in America – a school that won’t even allow me to pay to take a class. And I could only shake my head.
Of course I told her that her feelings about Gypsies were unfair and inaccurate. But that didn’t change her deeply rooted prejudices.
What was a delightful afternoon ended on a sour note. We did get together one time when she came to California but we never got together again.
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 11:43 am ¶
Sharon wrote:
oops.
I posted the same thing twice.
Sorry.
Sharon
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 11:48 am ¶
meownette wrote:
For anyone who’s interested in the first link, I’m trying to find links to additional articles I’ve read over the past couple of years, but my stupid computer is being really slow right now. It’s a depressing topic, but it’s still kind of nice to see some Bay Area love on Racialicious!
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 12:59 pm ¶
Alexandra wrote:
@Matt
That is so horrible and thank you for sharing. I was really disturbed by the first story and will definitely do my best to spread the word.
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 1:10 pm ¶
sdg1844 wrote:
I’m a transplanted Harlem-ite living in San Fran and Stereohyped is not lying. The situation for Black folk here is not good and saddens me greatly. There are no cultural institutions and I do feel alienated.
I’ve been here for 5 years and I will be moving back home to NYC. I can’t complain about cost of living. Having grown up in Manhattan for 35 years, SF is not shocking.
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 2:16 pm ¶
Avalon's Willow wrote:
Re: Delicious Problems
I humbly submit Simpy – at the very least because it treats one’s links as database for a personal search engine – thus tags are keywords that will bring up the list of links.
It makes more sense to me than delicious ever did and the more people I see complain about things post revamp, the more I want to remind them there are other options.
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 2:38 pm ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
@Willow –
Thanks for the tip. I will check it out this weekend.
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 2:41 pm ¶
Randy wrote:
There is almost no Black middle-class in SF. It’s mainly due to the high cost of living. Average 2-bedroom 1200 sq ft starter homes cost a minimum of 800K to buy. Rents are high as well.
The Fillmore was known for its Jazz scene and Black community, but interestingly enough, the Fillmore was mostly Japanese before WWII. When the Japanese were sent to the Internment camps the Blacks moved in and took over the housing and businesses vacated by the Japanese. Now the Fillmore is known only for trendy boutique shops and Yoshi’s.
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 2:45 pm ¶
atlasien wrote:
Horrible, horrible, horrible use of a racial authority figure.
Is it Racist if I Say This?
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2008/08/13/is_it_racist_if.html
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 4:00 pm ¶
jen* wrote:
ooh wee, atlasien, that was something else. I couldn’t read far into the comments because it looked to be pure poison, with very few people who seemed to be capable of logic.
is it wrong of me to just write people off when I see them go that direction? cuz I do.
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 6:30 pm ¶
sfsinger wrote:
I agree about the situation in San Francisco. It’s bad. I’ve lived here for 7 years and I am at the end of the rope. My income has dropped and my housing has increased by 35% for a rental. Finding a decent job that actually PAYS well is very difficult right now. I don’t want to move the the East Bay. I like not needing a car. My landlord was trying to raise our rent over the legally allowed annual increase. My roommates and I were already paying more than $2100 [It's now $2550] and all the utilities [including a typical $300 water bill] for a 3 bedroom apartment with little insulation so our gas bills were unusually high as well. I actually spotted the Mayor and confronted him about the Black exodus – 46% and counting. He did answer my questions and was very well-versed in the history of the city. There are plans in place to allow the children and grandchildren of those displaced by racist housing practices to be able to return. It was just passed. That’s great but SF has always been overpriced and people who live here now come from other parts of the country and are not necessarily following an anti-racist code. When the average rent is close to $2000/mo and housing is close to $1M to buy there’s going to be a limit on the type of people you have living in your city. And yes the homeless situation has gotten worse imo. I’ve seen some of the same people still begging on the streets for years – because I’ve given them money or food! Living here you see the effects of a free market and deregulation – it’s toxic to those of us who have no safety net.
Posted 15 Aug 2008 at 2:05 am ¶
Tariq Nelson wrote:
The irony is that SF is supposed to be such a liberal city
Posted 15 Aug 2008 at 4:13 am ¶
Randy wrote:
@sfsinger
Actually, SF is one of the most overregulated environments in the entire country. One of the reasons why rent is so high in SF is because of rent control. If they got rid of rent control, it would allow rent prices to be more elastic in tune with the supply and demand. It’s pretty much classic economic basics, but very few people understand the impact the rent control regulations in SF have had on the supply of housing in SF and on what *kind* of housing gets built in the city.
Posted 15 Aug 2008 at 12:53 pm ¶
Kendra wrote:
I’ve only been to SF once thus far; I went there for a field trip to the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD).
I’ve heard of gentrification and complaints and bias against the gay community present there. I think that some restrictive covenants may still be in place, but they may simply be inactive now (but it usually costs money to get rid of them). I never imagined that a city with the MoAD could be so increasingly non-black. I hadn’t that much time to check out the city when I went to the MoAD, so I can’t say much on the demographics.
Posted 15 Aug 2008 at 11:20 pm ¶
Ike wrote:
Every time I hear generalizations on an entire ethnic group, I google or wiki the people to see what they look like and how others can hate them just by looking at them.
Guess what? So far I’ve only found pictures of normal looking people, and I still can’t understand why certain groups are so resented at only face value.
Posted 16 Aug 2008 at 8:08 am ¶