Is DC and its suburbs segregated?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know where the poor white people live.

Are there poor white people in DC? I'm not talking about folks who only bring in 100K instead of the usual $250K+ on these boards. It seems every other large city has working class white people but this one.

No kidding. I've wondered about that myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Lyon Village in Clarendon. Not very diverse at all. I am black and my spouse is white but all my neighbors are white. I don't think about if often, but when I do, I do find it a little strange. I do wonder about the self segregating argument since I do know several well off black people - not necessarily African American - who live in houses at least as expensive as ours ($1m+) but they all choose to live in the Rockville, Silver Spring, Bowie neighborhoods. I wonder if they just feel more comfortable in more diverse areas.

I guess I am a well-off African American, and I choose to live in Silver Spring. I chose this area, not because I see it as choosing to self-segregate, but because I choose not to make my child be the one to integrate a segregated (white) school and neighborhood. I consider all three of the areas you listed as relatively integrated. So, yes I felt more comfortable in a more diverse area, but I would not call that self-segregating for those of us who live in the ares you listed.

[Anonymous]

PP, that's interesting. I identify more with families in our income bracket than families of the same race.

[Anonymous]

Where do the white cooks, cleaners, and maids live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, that's interesting. I identify more with families in our income bracket than families of the same race.

I don't see them as mutually exclusive. Where we live, DD's teacher, dentist and pediatrician are all black. And I am a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know where the poor white people live.

Are there poor white people in DC? I'm not talking about folks who only bring in 100K instead of the usual $250K+ on these boards. It seems every other large city has working class white people but this one.

No kidding. I've wondered about that myself.

I think they used to live here but left in the era of white flight.

[Anonymous]

To 12:12 - what's your race?

[Anonymous]

12:12 (and 11:58) here - I am black.

[Anonymous]

Did someone really try to claim that Spring Valley was diverse? Maybe diverse in that the white residents came from different parts of the country. Ha!

[Anonymous]

not sure what is up with the smile icon, I was trying to post that I am both the 12:12 and 11:58 poster, and I am black.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the previous poster that economic diversity (or lack thereof) is what we're talking about and b/c most affluent folks are white it keeps "diversity" at numbers that are comfortable for white folks, sadly. But when African Americans start to move in in large numbers, even in an affluent neighborhood, the whites leave. (The so-called "tipping point")That will never happen in Chevy Chase, so the people in Chevy Chase can proclaim to value diversity, but never really have to confront it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the previous poster that economic diversity (or lack thereof) is what we're talking about and b/c most affluent folks are white it keeps "diversity" at numbers that are comfortable for white folks, sadly. But when African Americans start to move in in large numbers, even in an affluent neighborhood, the whites leave. (The so-called "tipping point")That will never happen in Chevy Chase, so the people in Chevy Chase can proclaim to value diversity, but never really have to confront it.

thats BS. First of all please tell me one affluent (not middle class) neighborhood that has seen a flight because blacks have moved in. This is all part of the claim of proclaiming that blacks can not live in certain neighborhoods. Again, they can live wherever they so choose and they choose to live in places where they like. Don't try and blame white residents for something they have no control over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm just curious. Those who feel that there is diversity or that you have some meaningful interactions, do you have actual friends of a different race within your same socioeconomic class or vice versa?

I'm the Rockville PP. We're an interracial couple, so honestly, I don't really care one way or the other if my kid 'experiences diversity'. Our family is pretty diverse. But, at daycare, DS definitely interacts with kids of various races and the parents meet up at birthday parties. Personally, I have friends who are of different races. I don't really think much of it. I agree with the PPs who say that socioeconomic level tends to segregate people. I really want to make sure that my son understands that there are people (black/white/asian) who live with much less than we do. And, we're pretty middle-ass, fwiw.

[Anonymous]

So clearly pp you don't know about DC history (pre-riots) or housing patterns in major cities. There are many, many neighborhoods in DC that used to be predominantley white. There are people living in Shepherd Park right now who remember when home sellers were discouraged from selling their homes to black folks. Granted this happened a long time ago but to say that white flight never happens, is crazy. And the fact is that it continues to happen but mostly in the suburbs. Just ask anyone that used to live in Wheaton, MD for example - while it was never an upper class white neighborhood, when I was growing up it was working class white - now its incredibly diverse.

[Anonymous]

13:08 here responding to 12:51