Race Relations in Park Slope
Benjamin | Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 12:30AM 
Well, as usual I'm obsessed with Blognigger's latest post - It's all about the somewhat anticlimactic lack of everyday racial progress that has followed in the months since Obama's election.
At the end of the post, he asks a question which demands some pretty stern honesty, and which I think would be interesting to recontextualize in terms of Park Slope itself:
Walking around on a daily basis - the DMV, the subways, the Times Square jackoff booths - do you notice differences in racial behavior since the election? What kind of behavior do you wish would cease?
I know that on the surface, Park Slope is supposed to be this cestpool of understanding and tolerance; but I'm interested in knowing if this ideal matches your real-world experience.
What kind of racism have you experienced in Park Slope? What kind of ass-kissing do you secretly or subconciously engage in? Do you ever find yourself wishing that any one "race" would behave differently, you racist? Above all, have you noticed any changes since Obama's election?
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Reader Comments (11)
No, no changes...just a whole bunch of articles surfacing expressing how far we've come...personally I feel it is a false positive. This allows closeted racist to say, see black people, you are not discriminated in this country...The Prez is black and well, racism is over, all is well. It negates that real racism is still alive and those who don't recognize it have a safety net. I honestly feel that this could possibly have been a step back in the curing of undercover racism.
As recent as 2007 there was a study put out by the NAACP that has hard evidence that employers prospecting resume's did not call back applicants who had 'black sounding names.'
Drink the other Kool-Aid, look up Tim Wise (youtube) or read White Like Me.
Dudes,
For serious? You people make it sound as if you *really thought* Obama was the Magic Negro. Dead Prez taught me everything I need to know about race relations.
But, my favorite "racial behavior" has to be audience participation at movie theaters. And I pray it never changes. Friday the 13th was awesome at the Court St. cinemas.
I wish the jamaicans in Crown Heights would stop hating me because I am white.
I have lived in Park Slope for 2 years now. Not married, no kids and I'm not white. Race relations have NOT come very far in Park Slope, please don't kid yourselves. When my fine neighbors see my brown skin and my boyfriend's browner skin - people cross the street or stare. I haven't experienced this kind of mess before. Maybe if I was dressed crazy or looked homeless - but we're usually in business clothes or (if I do say so myself) some stylish get up. I've never felt so awkward in my life and I've lived in places where one would expect racism. I hate it here - I live here because it's safe and my commute is short but I haven't met a single decent person here yet and have given up on that thought.
Restaurants in PS have asked for our credit cards up front - I didn't see them ask any of the non brown folks nearby. In fact, I rarely see anyone besides white people. The lack of diversity is amazing. If i go a few block/avenues further in PS I start seeing more folks like me so maybe i can chalk this up to my 4 block radius. Who knows.
Is it just me or do young black women generally dislike young white women? I am a young white Australian woman and had no idea what I was doing wrong because I treat everyrone the same. But the number of times I have encountered young black women being openly aggressive with me on the subway or, more specifically, at the Atlantic Target (grrr) has been more than coincidental. I don't get it. Can someone explain? Or maybe Australians piss people off? Funnily, that's not usually the stereotype.
I was living in an apartment and had to get a new roomate , I interviewed a few people and wound up picking a girl of color. After she moved out a year later, my downstairs liberal, yoga going landlord, told me if she had to do it over again she never would have let her live in the building, "just didn't like her."
Yeah right.
the owner of grab is mad racist. i hate that place. and the sad thing is, she probably voted for obama too.
There has been an oversensitivity to racism since the election. In the news, 'black' has become an untouchable virtue.
The political cartoon of the chimpanzee became Sharpton's (et al) call for condemnation despite the fact the tie to Obama was weak at best and not relevant to race.
Eric Holder, our black Attorney General, said we are cowards with respect to racism.... of course we are, there is no way to have a real discussion about race without being labeled/publicized as a racist.
With no discussion, the closed-minded people are less able to be exposed to the truth and comfort. With no discussion the black community will not be held responsible for the the very things that give rise to the biased-generalizations that give rise to the prejudices to begin with.
I think everyone needs to cop to their racism -- all of us. It makes us uncomfortable because it screws up how we see each other and ourselves. And I mean all racism -- the institutional, the hipster version, the intraracial racism, the classism should be discussed too.
The idea that somehow Obama makes us post-racial is funny....
the real struggle is for all of us to work to get to POST-RACIST.
Where to begin? The next time you have a friend/relative engaging in BS simpleminded racist/sexist rhetoric -- tell them there's another way.
Yeah do it at the Thanksgiving table when you hear it. Quietly and firmly break it down for people who embrace such garbage.
This ain't on Obama -- it's on us to be viral about our shared humanity in our immediate circle of friends and family.
And if everyone isn't willing to do that or consider their role in keeping the craziness going...oh well.
Really, things were supposed to improve? I was never fooled. Good ole P. Slope is just like every other place in this city: racism is rampant.
But no need to whine about it. It is what it is, and it'll take centuries to override the institution. Until then, we have to choose our battles. I'm just fucking sick of white people who get all psyched about Black America from an academic perspective but flinch on the street.
I'm part Asian and white women still don't want to sleep with me.