Race

Lately there's been talk in Cleveland about changes in the residency requirement for City employees - Plain Dealer columnist Regina Brett's 'Dirty Little Secret' column identified 'race' as one of the unspoken elements of this discussion. Many people objected to this, especially members of the police and fire unions.

Why is race a part of this? Or isn't it?

I guess I have to say that I think it is, but carefully - because I think it is more about class than race. And about black culture, and urban policy, and so much more than simple racism.

In a previous career, I was a teacher at an expensive private prep school. The student body had racial diversity - but very little cultural diversity. The students who attended all read 'white' to me, reflecting my own cultural bias; there was no perceptual difference for me between the kids of different races, no matter what their skin color was. Later I taught at a large, inner-ring suburb public school outside of New York City. The student body was 70% black and Latino; the other 30% were white, mostly Jewish kids who were college bound, and whose parents were alumni of the school. (It was very much like Cleveland Heights High. And like Heights, it had reached that critical ratio of 70% minority where white students tend to leave the school at an ever-increasing rate). The black kids at this school, many from middle class families as well as kids from poorer families, had much more pressure to 'act black' - to be 'authentic,' to 'keep it real,' etc. Ironically, a large subset of white kids (mostly boys) acted 'black' as well, wearing their hair in dreadlocks, low-slung pants, creating rap songs and graffiti art.

When I was 17, I wanted to be 'authentic' too. I was a white, suburban, middle class kid and I wanted to be tough, street-smart and sexy. I wanted to be cool. Part of being cool was being, well - black.

And since I had no hope of changing my skin color it meant listening to black music, reading black authors, and feeling at least, a sense of solidarity with an oppressed and talented people.
But in fact I had very little contact with actual black people.

I chose my college (Oberlin) mainly for the catalog, which depicted smiling, multiracial groups of students in beautiful black and white photos. The reality was that students self-segregated by dorm and cafeteria table to a degree that surprised me.

Studying for my education degree, I was struck by two statistical facts: one, no matter what new program you try, there is always a spike in test results; and two, the greatest predictor of academic success, by far, is socio-economic status. The first fact is pertinent because it indicates that many educational (and social) reforms have appeared successful, as long as they are carried out by enthusiastic, specially trained personnel who provide extra attention to their constituents - many reforms have then failed when carried out in real-world conditions. This is why educational strategies, especially in poor and struggling districts, seem disjointed, frantic, and ultimately futile. (Show me one urban district that demonstrates excellence, especially in the upper grades). The second fact is pertinent because it demonstrates that many reforms in poor districts will fail to provide enough 'juice' to overcome the many disadvantages that come with a lower socio-economic status upbringing. These are many and well documented from commentators who range from Jonathan Kozol to Bill Cosby.

The recent book 'Freakonomics' in one essay focuses on child rearing differences correlated to socio-economic groupings. For upper-class children, various studies demonstrate the statistical meaninglessness of spanking vs. non-spanking, TV vs. no TV, and other hotly debated parenting issues. No - the only thing that really matters, according to the data cited, is socio-economic status. My private school students had all the advantages, where my public school students had less. And it showed in the way they interacted with the world; those from relative wealth and advantage knew that they had much to gain from being a part of the dominant culture; those with less to gain saw their main chance in rebelling against it. "If your only power lies in saying 'no,'" as someone once said, "that is what you will do."

This is frightening to me, in a world where we are so segregated by neighborhood, cultural and social affiliations, and to a lesser degree, work. For many reasons, black women especially have entered the work force and excelled, and have risen to management positions in health, education, welfare as well as the corporate world. It is not unusual to have black colleagues, and bosses, but they represent a small portion of those who have entered the 'white' world, and may still be largely cut off from social interactions beyond professional affiliation. Of course there are exceptions, but even today, an inter-racial couple stands out, as does an inter-racial friendship.

Today kids, black and white, idolize Usher and Beyonce and whoever is current (pop culture changes so fast now that I will embarrass myself if I try to name too many); sports heroes from basketball, tennis and golf are black and multiracial. Many white kids want to be seen as being 'black;' while black kids from poorer families don't want to be perceived as being 'too white.' The higher the social status, the less this seems to be true, but it I think it still plays a subtle role.

I bought a house in Cleveland's near west side 13 years ago in a mostly stable, working class neighborhood - or so I thought. I was naive enough to believe that the many somewhat run-down homes on my street would be snapped up by young professionals ready to move back to the 'Comeback City' - in fact I had been told by a local housing specialist that the street was, 'a candy store for redevelopment.' In fact, though there was some of that activity, what actually happened was that unscrupulous mortgage loan officers and appraisers took advantage of the rapid appreciation of housing values in the late 90s to strip value from many of the homes, which are now vacant and abandoned, and in foreclosure. Other homes, left by their owners who have died or fled to the suburbs, have become part of the portfolio of poorly maintained rental properties, complete with absentee ownership and/or section 8 (voucher) tenants. This has concentrated poverty in an area that has no capacity to offer jobs, security or social services, that struggles with keeping the streets clean and demolishing the back log of blighted and condemned properties, much less code inspection or redevelopment strategies. It has become 'affordable housing by default.' This in spite of efforts of organizations like the Cleveland Housing Network to provide safe, secure and affordable housing.

Many of the new residents are young black or Hispanic men, evidently without jobs or daytime activities, beyond drug sales and loitering. They have no hope of entering the daily life of mainstream, middle class America - the government, union and working class jobs that once offered stability are not found in sufficient numbers for people of any race. The public education system for many has become a stop on the way into the prison system, challenged by vouchers and No Child Left behind to demonstrate competence when few resources are provided, and demands are high.

Meanwhile our 'ownership society' has glorified consumption and macho posturing, winner-take-all strategies and hopeless preening, empty faith and contempt for the meek, who are supposed to have a special place in our hearts. Young men brag of their sexual conquests, which now include impregnating as many young women as possible, who themselves have fallen sway to the culture of arrogance and oppression which engulfs them.

I look for a way out, a place for my idealized, multiracial society that includes people from a broad spectrum of economic life. One that includes tolerance, respect, and humility, and concern for common humanity. Instead I find an urban culture that has abandonment and disintegration on the one side, with a growing wealthy class on the other - and very little left for those in the middle. Ironically, perhaps, the wealthy class has come to include people from other cultures and colors, and is somewhat representative of the people who live in America (visit the Beachwood Mall and you will see it evident) - but assimilation for the middle class and the poor is more difficult.

Trying to provide for a healthy, safe and multicultural environment in which to raise a child is a real challenge for me, my wife and others who have chosen urban living over the outer suburbs. Settling in a few small areas of downtown, Tremont, Ohio City, and greater parts (though shrinking) of Lakewood and Cleveland Heights, are people who have been committed to living in a multicultural, economically diverse world. They are more than outnumbered by the many poor and struggling people who would like to leave the city but lack the resources. And as Cleveland shrinks, economically and in population, opportunities, resources and funding diminishes for education, health and safety. Housing becomes rundown, neighbors less engaged, schools poorer.

The options are to become a 'colonist' in these small oases of the urban fabric, using personal resources to network and find services and schools that the public sphere fails to provide. Feeling a social connection with neighbors who may not engage with the culture, or are actively hostile to it, and feel betrayed by it, is difficult and problematic. So, people self-segregate in enclaves - just as they did at the lunch tables and dorms at my college.

If you want a feeling of safety, of clean streets and neat lawns, of regular trash collection and good schools, you might start to look at the suburbs, as so many have before you. Ever further out there, pulling back from the urban core, in the expanding 'doughnut' ring of growth, or sprawl. Homes built in cornfields, 'power centers' and faux urban 'lifestyle centers' leave behind the empty storefronts and collapsing malls that serviced previous generations. And this is to say nothing about the environmental cost.

Efforts to restore and maintain the urban core are underway, and in fact, I have spent some years as a part of it. But as I watch opportunities move outward, and a Federal and State government that seems hostile to urban communities, I wonder. Should I, too, move to Lakewood or Cleveland Heights, or onward to Westlake or Solon? Assuming I could afford it, would I? As it is, I drive outward for activities for my child, for a lot of day-to-day shopping, for a bookstore to browse in - although I try as much as possible to spend my dollars at local urban shops, the selection is scattered, limited and niche driven. It takes a dedicated person (though I do know some) to completely avoid Trader Joe's, Borders and the Gap.

I have tried, through living in the city and being a part of it, to help to grow it, and to contribute to it. I am also committed to speaking the truth of my experience, no matter what the outcome may be. Race plays a role for some in the push to flee the city, while for others it is a reason to stay. It plays a role with the safety forces and fire unions, no less with residents and shoppers. But it is less about race than about culture, about comfort, convenience and safety, and also about assimilation, pride and opportunity.

Oh, I do wish that this mess had been cleaned up by a previous generation. That Martin Luther King, JFK and Bobby, Malcolm X, had lived, that the Vietnam War had never happened, that George W. Bush never sobered up enough to win - or steal - an election. But this is the world we do live in, and we will have to figure it out. I really don't know what to do at this point. Will I leave, too? Or stay and fight what sometimes feels like a losing battle?