Reply to Please stop saying the K-Word

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[quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]I do not think that deleting the original post was a good idea.  We struggle because we refuse to openly discuss certain class and race issues.  The intent did not seem to be to disparage certain types of people but to talk about the potential impact on children's perceptions.  I grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta and came to the District to attend Howard in the 90s.  I experienced the culture shock that often results from initial exposure to an urban culture for the first time.  Having grown up in a neighborhood replete with black professionals, I did not draw negative conclusions, but someone without a broader context very well could.  If I could ask Jeff a question, as a longtime user of this site (13 years), I would want to know how to best open those discussions of controversial issues without being offensive.  I understand his decision but feel that shutting down the dialogue deprives us of the chance to connect.  One of the things that has kept me coming back to DCUM is the ability to exchange opinions with people I do not necessarily meet on a daily basis.  I hope that all of us can work together to maximize the site's incredible social potential.[/quote]

I don't think that it is ever a good idea to reduce any community to its most troubled members. The very clear impression left by that poster was that white children in DC would only be exposed to black people who were using drugs or involved with crime. This is factually wrong. Indeed, even if the white children in the poster's neighborhood never left their block, they would at least be exposed to her (a professional black woman) and she would provide a counter-example to the drug-addicted criminals. DC has such a diverse black community that it would be almost impossible to live in such a hermetically-sealed environment such that drug addicts and criminals were the only black individuals with whom you ever came into contact.

The poster presented her post as a sort of warning to white people -- "be careful, you are unintentionally raising racists." But, if she has children, aren't they exposed to the same drug-users and ruffians? Are her children also internalizing these negative stereotypes? Is she concerned that she might be raising self-haters?

Even if we assumed that everything the poster stated was correct and white children in DC are unintentionally being raised as racists (an absurd notion on the face of it given that generations of non-racist white children have been raised here), what is her proposed solution? Should all white people leave the city, relocating to the suburbs in order to avoid poor black people? Does that sound like a logical way to combat racism?

I agree that issues of race and class should be discussed. But starting the discussion based on false premises, especially false premises that directly promote racist stereotypes, is not a good idea. It is worth discussing the overlap of race and class in DC and how professional black families are often caught in the middle of these divisions. But the way this poster addressed the topic was more likely to increase those divisions than to provide any enlightenment. 
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