tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496204323905769705.post8094549470829174271..comments2023-10-11T04:18:22.898-07:00Comments on Essays on Sucking: Why White People in My Neighborhood SuckH. Cheadlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01363445070021229602noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496204323905769705.post-74377031135574629652010-11-29T12:33:21.360-08:002010-11-29T12:33:21.360-08:00Hi. My family has been looking at a few apartments...Hi. My family has been looking at a few apartments in the neighborhood, but before we move, I just want to get your permission. Is it ok for us to move to Bed Stuy? My grandfather's family lived there in the 40's and 50's. They moved out to Long Island, where my dad grew up. I suppose I'm relatively working class. Father was a cab driver, mother is a nurse, we never owned a home. I do clerical work in Manhattan for $12/hr. Oh, and most importantly, I am a white male married to a white woman who teaches junior high school (to mostly hispanic and west-indian children, if that helps). We have a two year old white daughter and another (presumably white) baby on the way. Our combined household income is about $50K/year. If Bed Stuy is not an option for us, can you please recommend another affordable neighborhood, preferably as vibrant and beautiful as Bed Stuy, where our presence won't piss too many people off? Thank you in advance.Mackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04947764656556072013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496204323905769705.post-38014992680322371262010-09-20T17:01:47.929-07:002010-09-20T17:01:47.929-07:00I will try to remain calm as I write this... for w...I will try to remain calm as I write this... for what I don't know...? I hear you... as we say here in Bk. My experience though is deeper still. I am a woman of color born and raised here. My father is a jazz musician well loved and in his younger years ran up and down these streets with his sax playing at local bars/clubs that are nonexistent now. I grew up in a rich culture filled with music, mom & pop businesses, race memory, cornrows, foods from the African diaspora, natural hair, calypso, matriarchal women, and yes wino's and crackhead's that were a pain in the ass but we all looked out for. My roots are here, because my ancestors were brought here. I can't begin to express the pain in my heart as I watch big business and my "new neighbors" move in. Radical change is never easy but I am beginning not to even feel at home here anymore... I can't recognize it. I truly understand how the natives feel when the "white man" moves in and erects a condo next to your shack. Maybe you can relate a little because at least ~class wise~ the "haves" are moving in. There is also historically an air of entitlement that is in the air... that my people unfortunately (for the most part) haven't had. I often wonder what these new comers think? What do they tell themselves as they move into their all amenity having condo... & complain about the less than perfect produce, the ATM, watch their poor working class neighbor step out of their dilapidated building. Is there ever a thought of the larger picture? Where do we go when we are priced out? How they may be contributing to a larger injustice/imbalance? Though some things are slowly changing... there are few places on the planet where "white folks" haven't ventured. Yes, people see green when you are coming... but is nothing sacred?? With population booms the people on the bottom have to leave, migrate. How many more times will we have to endure this, and countless other colored nameless faces? Yes, I miss the Brooklyn I once knew.anaishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05613753403964914112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496204323905769705.post-20556674817211866782010-06-11T11:54:39.588-07:002010-06-11T11:54:39.588-07:00well said. i remember once almost getting mugged a...well said. i remember once almost getting mugged and i said i had nothing and he was like "what? you look like an atm to me" and i pulled out my bank statement and showed him the little i had. he goes, "damn girl, i got more than you." and went on his marry way. about two weeks later i was waiting for the bus and he walked by with some friends, stopped and said, "this is the white girl i told you about, she's all right." and gave ME a cigarette.Marissa Forbeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11347324433399703672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496204323905769705.post-81529538576512148632010-06-10T11:54:26.152-07:002010-06-10T11:54:26.152-07:00well said.well said.eden Hudsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03165558379078596645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496204323905769705.post-32897584410364251822010-06-10T05:23:59.990-07:002010-06-10T05:23:59.990-07:00You know in the show 'Gossip Girl' some of...You know in the show 'Gossip Girl' some of the 'poor' white characters live in a loft in Brooklyn. Maybe that's why so many white people are moving in. I don't know.Hookerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08157461965972794096noreply@blogger.com