Thanks, Katherine and Nadia--

I think sociograms are fascinating--people in class could draw them, I 
suppose--but if they did it with class members there might be havoc.

Me, I'm WASP on the outside, a WASJ on the inside, as I converted and 
became a Jew in 1987.  So I can work both sides of the street, and I 
do, moving from culture to culture.  With both groups of people, when 
the subject of 'otherness" comes up, I can say--"Hey, you can't say 
that, I'm X [or Y]."

If I pop the identification on the unknowing, there are lots of remarks 
like:  "Oh, my children's teacher is Jewish and she's wonderful" etc. 
etc.

In northern New England I just fade into the woodwork and this "fading" 
is very relaxing.

I lived in a Moslem country for a year, and my admiration of Islam 
comes from there--sincere religious devotion without the interjection 
of mullahs is powerful.  I know not only from my experience, and having 
a Moslem student live in my home, but from "3 cups of Tea."

Andrea

On Feb 29, 2008, at 8:26 AM, Katherine wrote:


> Hey thank you for the overview! I used to live in New England and 

> attend

> school in the city where there were huge mixes of ethnicities and

> immigrants.  I loved it!  (Culture fests were great!)  I also lived in 

> some

> smaller towns where "older money" marked the affluent (and sorry to 

> say,

> stodgier side of New England). I never fit in there, either, but I 

> liked

> looking at the old houses : )

>

> In my current Northern VA neighborhood, we have many more people from

> different countries and areas moving in.  My children's school is much 

> more

> diverse than when I first moved here five years or so ago.  I like 

> that.  I

> perceived their first school as too white, homogenized and upper 

> class.  It

> made me uncomfortable (especially because my kids have disabilities).  

> I

> always wanted to move to a different part of the county or even a 

> completely

> different area.

>

> Most of the houses here are new town homes or "McMansions." (Very 

> "Over the

> Hedge" if you have seen that movie.)  There's a kind of class 

> distinction

> there which is also uncomfortable (even though the townhomes are

> RIDICULOUSLY expensive which prices people like us out of the housing 

> market

> even now).  However, the HOA is putting in more trees, and some of the

> wildlife is coming back to the area, which has vastly improved our

> subdivision.

>

> That rhetoric of "our people" divides and segregates.  As you point 

> out with

> what is being done to Obama, it turns into the "us" vs. "them" 

> mentality.

> Prejudice, bigotry, closed-mindedness, hatred and ignorance feed and 

> grow on

> this mentality.  The only way to overcome it is via education, which as

> we've discussed, has not been a national priority....which is why we 

> have

> these forums.

>

> Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt

> www.luxuriouschoices.net

> ----- Original Message -----

> From: "Andrea Wilder" <andreawilder at comcast.net>

> To: "Women and Literacy Discussion List The Poverty Race"

> <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov>

> Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 8:10 AM

> Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 1779] My Neighborhood

>

>

>> Hi Katherine--

>>

>> I live in a very mixed city--some ultra rich who live in big houses on

>> the oldest city street.  I doubt that many of these people are "white"

>> as you describe, they are likely to be people who made a lot of

>> money--sometimes gigantic amounts--and bought in this area.  Other

>> areas are Portugeuse, Irish-Italian, Black--American and Haitiian.

>>

>> I sat behind our state governor, Deval Patrick, at the Bob Moses 

>> speech

>> I talked about, and I KNOW he sees 'his people" first in a crowd;  I

>> could feel it.  He blended right in to an audience of about 85%

>> "black."

>>

>> The big farms with very "white' people (as you describe) owning them

>> are up on our north shore.  Farms + horses = "very white."

>>

>> There are many many different markers that help me "place" people in

>> our local culture.

>>

>> I don't use terms like "neo-Marxist" because it clouds the picture I 

>> am

>> seeing--I feel it is like putting an obscuring lens in front of my

>> eyes.  I can tell where people come from and often approx. how much

>> money they have simply by observing, I don't need this label.

>>

>> The old line Yankees in New England often live very modestly, 

>> actually,

>> even if they have large bank accounts.  I am used to asking (as are

>> others) 'What was her maiden name?"  The woman's birth name is a

>> gigantic marker.  Oh, and "What school did you go to?" is also a

>> gigantic marker--it usually means what private high school.  Deval

>> Patrick went to Milton Academy, which I think accounts for much of his

>> election victory--he was a "safe black" candidate, even if he came 

>> from

>>  poor in Chicago.

>>

>> Andrea

>>

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