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[quote=Anonymous]First off I am Black and between this thread and the one on someone's Ikea visit I am just mortified.  I have spent my whole life developing into a black woman who is the  opposite of every Black stereotype and have achieved that (excluding being overweight) and to read such broadbrushed commentary is disheartening.  Yes there are Black people who are violent, have attitudes, devalue education, etc.  yet what is disheartening is the "that is just how they all are" perception.   I thought when I moved here from the midwest long ago that I was moving to be around a more enlightened and accepting populous.

We reside in PG currently in our starter home that we got before we had a child and before we became a $370k+ HHI but are now looking for a new place to live...either upgrading to a better home in PG or moving to another county for better public schools and a better quality of life.   Is it any wonder that some of us that do share your socioeconomic status and values about education and social behavior etc.  choose to stay amongst others that "share our skin color" but also share all the above qualities also?  These stereotypes are one of the concerns we have about moving to a community where we will be a rare sight in the neighborhood or where my son will be one of 1 to 8% of the public school population.   I moved to the DC area from the midwest mainly because I liked that there seemed to be less prejudice here.  People here were not shocked that families like the Cosby show exist or that a black man or woman could be a doctor, lawyer (like myself), scientist, engineer, and MBA (like my husband) etc. and that was not shocking.  I could shop in high end stores and be treated as a serious customer instead of side-eyed as a potential shoplifter.  That there seemed to be less of an assumption that I was a single mom, thief, violent, poor, didn't read books, uneducated etc.  I loved that about this area.  But these threads lately have me questioning that perception.   
As we consider dropping close to a million on our next place, yes we too want people who share our values.  Our values are anti-crime, anti-violence, pro-education, being a person of high morals, integrity and character and a good neighbor/citizen.  Our values are also that we treat everyone else the way that we would like to be treated and to not stereotype people who may be different than us in skin color, where they went to school or if they went at all, net worth, weight, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, etc.  We want to live around people who also embrace those values.   Yes, there are some (not all) people who share solely my skin color (and little else) that reside in PG (and are in every county though to a smaller %) who do not share my values about how you raise your kids or live your life...that is one of the reasons we consider moving.  Yet for every one of those people, there are wonderful diverse neighbors I meet who share our values and it makes me want to stay as they are a great social circle to raise my child around.   Some of these wonderful families couldn't afford a condo let alone a home similar to what they own in PG in the often mentioned preferred locations on this forum and some can but choose to stay.   Those that choose to stay but have the means to move do so despite the nonstop bashing by others who live outside of PG,  despite the other "element" that chooses to live near them and brings the quality of life down for everyone else,  despite the fact that they have to pay for private school, and despite the fact that they have to drive to other counties for all their upscale needs and things that people of their socioeconomic status prefer to buy.
I know many wonder why a family would choose to live in PG when they can clearly afford to live anywhere in this area.   Just look at the commentary on this thread and the one about Ikea (I am sure there are many others) and you will see why some minorities hesitate to leave.  We may get less crime, better schools and a higher % of neighbors that we have more in common with with respect to socioeconomic class...but what worries me is the prejudice and stereotyping as shown here that would come with moving to such a neighborhood where people who look like me, my husband and my toddler son are less than 10% of the community.   
I have been in PG 7 years now (after 10 years in Arlington and Tysons Corner as a renter) and I have not seen crime in my PG subdivision so I feel perfectly safe here and I can afford to pay for a great school for my child as yes my neighborhood school sucks (and a school that is 95% Black is not my view of exposing my child to reality) as the parents who all share my values that live here all have their kids in private or parochial schools...so after reading comments on this forum, online comments to local news articles, CityData local forums, etc. I wonder if living amongst the negative set of values held by some in the more elite neighborhoods with better schools and less crime is worth it.  There may be negatives about living in PG but there are also negatives (which are in some ways worse) about living as a minority amongst racist people in "better?" neighborhoods also.
We have a couple of years to decide but it is truely a dilemma.  We can spend a mint to buy into a non-diverse public school and community or spend a comparable amount of money to stay in diverse PG and buy a more diverse private school.  Getting to know different types of people in person and not from afar and based on stereotypes is important, especially after reading these threads.[/quote]

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