NIMBY….it is a concept that rears it’s ugly head too often in the American social culture.
While many will agree, in theory, certain things need to be accomplished for the betterment of society as a whole; too often those same people will complain and argue profusely IF that public good or social program will actually be in their own community.
I raise this subject today, because this morning, when I opened my morning newspaper, The Buffalo News, the headline which greeted me was “NOT in My Backyard”. The story went on to detail a report conducted by the University of Buffalo about suburban economic segregation and discrimination that is going on in the region where I live, and I suspect goes on in other areas as well.
According to the report many Erie county suburbs are “rife with discrimination and segregation”. The number of stereotypes about the poor, minorities and the disabled of many suburban residents and their leaders creates an exclusionary atmosphere which makes providing affordable housing projects and objectives difficult to enact and thus makes it difficult, if not outright impossible for many of modest means to improve their living situations and gain access to safer communities and schools.
It doesn’t take much to make the leap that if there are such barriers in housing they extend to other areas as well, such as employment opportunities, which in our region, as well as many others in the nation, ALSO moved to the suburbs.
While there are small enclaves in the region that buck this trend, those are not the norm and are unusual. Finding these few enclaves and gaining access to them is also difficult, as they are small and not very transitory, thus people in those areas don’t tend to move often and thus available housing in those areas is limited.
It is rather covert form of discrimination and unless someone lives in the area and understands how things work they may not realize this truth to be reality. Things are often said behind closed doors or when not in mixed company that tell the TRUE story of what is behind much of these policies and actions of the people in the communities involved. Unless one has access to those closed door or behind the scenes discussions, one would not realize the extent of the ingrained social racism that is evident to those who DO have such access.
There is a local ‘joke’ in some circles, that if one lives in one tony suburb in WNY ( where our pro football team’s stadium resides) one should not be driving or living in that town IF one is of color WITHOUT a Bills jersey on…sadly, there is too much truth to that statement. Very few African Americans or other minorities live in that town other than professional football players. It is well known in the region, that if one is a minority, they probably shouldn’t be driving through that town unless it’s game day, especially at night or risk being pulled over for ‘driving while black’.
Recently, I was talking with a new professor at my school, who is NOT from the area. She recently moved here and has never lived in the region before. She is obviously not ‘lily white’. When she moved to the region she chose to live near the school she is teaching at, due to weather and driving concerns. That would be a logical step for her to take, however, when some local people asked her WHY she chose to live in that town…she didn’t understand the question or why it would be a problem. She actually told the story herself and was the one who mentioned that she herself didn’t understand, at FIRST, what they were trying, nicely to tell her. As she is a cultural anthropologist, it took her a minute, after asking some pertinent questions, to figure out what was REALLY meant. She, who is well educated and understands cultural biases and social issues very well, didn’t realize that the area she moved into is not known for it’s acceptance of those of different ethnic backgrounds, imagine how it would be for someone without such training!
The concepts that lead to such social and cultural exclusions, are ingrained in many within our American culture and the election of a Black man into the White house has done nothing to alleviate these problems, in some ways it’s actually brought these issues back to the forefront and has shed more light on the subtleties of discrimination and how it creates different classees of people, both socially and economically.
These social and economic class issues are at the heart of many of our national problems and probably are a contributing factor that keeps the likes of the Koch brothers and Sarah Palin able to continue their divisive tactics that simply keep us from uniting as a people and seeing one another as human beings first, Americans second and whatever else one maybe should be a far third or fourth on the list.
WE are all human beings, regardless of sex, social class, state and town of residence, economic status, educational or ethnic background or religious affiliation. As residents of this nation we are ALL Americans…again regardless of the above subcategories. The subcategories should not matter as much as the TWO primary categories. When we allow people to divide us along these subcategory lines and create barriers based on these lines we do a disservice to ourselves, our nation and our progeny.
I urge everyone to take stock of their own divisions and make an effort to try and recognize them and address them for the betterment of us all.
The concept of NIMBY in most cases, is just not justified and actually hurts the whole for the benefit of a few.
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article361047.ece
The Divide and conquer strategy that has now become part of the normal American culture and used by our politics and corporates for selling us candidates and products seems to me the core of the problem..
We have a clear prejudice against the poor..Our bankers target and prey on the poor. Keep us divided and mistrustful of our fellow citizens because they are “different” therefore the company store is the only place left to go… Add that to the Banking Mafias engineered culture that states if you don’t have a credit score (been in dept to the banks) you are barred from doing business or even left homeless.. The system actually goes as far as to punishes anyone not a serf to the system..
Its been cleverly designed this way purposefully. And many people fall into the hole for no fault of their own. loos a job or get sick. We have a full out criminal class running governments and these financial institutions that are engineering all of this…And in the 60’s when some of our last great leaders knew what was wrong and had dedicated themselves to fixing it i am convinced the power and control people ruthlessly put a stop to it.
[img]http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af131/Chazmania2/images-1.jpg[/img]
On the other hand there are developers who have mixed low income and previously homeless people with wealthy people who pay top dollar to live with them.
Not in these parts. Truly. I don’t know how prevalent that is in other areas. Do you have any links to areas where that has been accomplished?
Thanks.
Ques – that is the goal, it seems to work, but you have to pull teeth with some (most) developers to get this done. Our county just voted to ELIMINATE what had been a mixed-income requirement from the housing code. Another part of class warfare.
Abby – you aren’t going to believe this, but I lived in Buffalo, too. You are very correct about the issues that divide the suburbs and city. I lived in the city, Elmwood corridor, and the area around Linwood, Delaware, Main were where ALL the services for those in need were located. I must say that people who opted to live downtown or south of Hertel were pretty good about it all – part of the urban fabric etc. But we all knew we were top heavy because – gasp – you could not put “those” people “out here with US” in the upscale burbs. Oh there were some thing – homes for people with developmental disabilities – but always along Sheridan etc. which were commercial districts.
I was near the state college and thus the psych center. It was not uncommon to find someone passed out on the front lawn, overdosed on Thorazine and released for day walks. Day walks meant walking around and around and around our block for hours – or falling down. Whatever came first. The day release people had a little money and often headed for a beer they carefully carried in a brown bag. And with years and years of all this, you know how much trouble we had? None.
In the whole time I lived in the city, I never had ANY problems with anyone at all except in the first neighborhood where we had two shootings. (Lower West Side, for your geographic orientation.) Why did we have the shootings? Because suburban white kids came into our neighborhood and tried to steal stuff. So my NIMBY attitude became – you white people stay out of our neighborhood, and we wouldn’t HAVE these problesm! BTW – I’m white.
Yes, the burbs are pretty, especially the ones north and south. I’d love to have lived there for the houses and trees, but NOT for the people. People who run away from racial diversity have NO idea what a good neighbor really is. The reason I got my house was because a bi-racial couple moved next door. Then another down the street. The family fled, I got the house, and it was 16 of the best years ever. The neighborhood was entirely diverse, had lots of kids of all races, and in all that time – ALL that time – I never heard a fight or even argument save one. That was when my little neighbor loftily told a new girl, “If you want to play with us, you have to play NICE.” That was it. The older kids looked after the younger, the games were non-stop and fun, and my front porch in the summer was littered with children of various ages, ethnicities, backgrounds who just came over to talk with me. I’ve never been happier. We had block parties, moveable feasts, and work parties. It was a joy. That is a sense of belonging you will never get in the burbs.
The university has no public transit because people fear “they” will come out from downtown, steal things, and flee by subway. Uh huh. “They” don’t have cars? OK – I do know of one dimwit who once stole a TV and got arrested waiting for the bus, but that was ONE.
Race as a fear factor mystifies me. I volunteered for a campaign years ago for a sitting city councilman from Masten (the one before Byron) and was often the only white person in the room. I’ve never had more fun or laughed harder than the nights we’d be wrapping up, and the people would start telling stories from their past. It was right out of August Wilson – and I’m honored to have been part of it. It was sheer joy.
I’ve never understood the fear of “the other” that permeates so much of our society. Race and ethnicity mean exactly what height does in terms of whether I do or do not like someone. People ask me am I not self conscious with Black people? Sure – when I don’t know them. Just as I am in a room of men as the only woman or tall blondes as the only not-tall brunette. It’s unfamiliarity, not race per se, that makes things awkward. Get to talking with somone, it’s not an issue.
So when NIMBY dovetails with race, Abby – it’s just stupid and ugly. Having social services is not the same as having a fat rendering plant next door. And it’s not like having your quiet neighborhood trashed with a McMansion. It would be easier on everyone if we parcelled them out, did NOT concentrate them, made access easier for people needing those services who lived in the burbs.
But self segregation and fear are all we know. Because we never got to know “the others”. NIMBY is also loss.
Choicelady…thank you for your contribution on this subject!
I live in Eggerstville/Snyder…right on the city border near University Heights. I love it here because it is SO diverse, part of that is due to UB. Which I am very grateful to have as a neighbor.
But when I moved here 12 years ago, I kept hearing from people I know in Orchard Park, Clarence, Lancaster, etal. That my new neighborhood was ‘going down’. YOU know what they meant by that!
We have a lovely neighborhood, with street lights, sidewalks, children who actually PLAY in the neighborhood, ride their bikes and get this one…WALK! It was a great place to raise my children. My kids are in their 20’s now, as are their friends, who literally come from ALL walks of life. It’s fabulous.
When I graduated from High School, (I grew up in Lancaster) I moved to the Elmwood area myself, as I went to Buff State after high school. I LOVED it there. I also lived in Allentown for awhile and North Buffalo, near Hertel. I loved the people in all those areas. I then moved to East Amherst….gawd I hated it! I only lasted about a year!
I, too, never understood the desire to live where everyone and everything is the same. I couldn’t stand the town I grew up in…I felt trapped and like a fish out of water. I hightailed it, literally the week after HS graduation and never went back.
I agree that this is an ugly situation and quite honestly I really have no clue what can be done about it….other than trying to educate, bring attention to issues such as this and appeal to others to look within themselves to be open to others who are not the same as they…and see them as people FIRST.
I agree Abby – and I think younger generations, being so much more familiar with diversity, will bring some of that change. Younger generations know people from all over the world now, and it truly makes a difference. We in the (cough) older generations began the shift, especially those of us caught up in the civil rights movement, but change is not always something that we can make happen so much as it DOES happen. That does not rule out our voices and deeds as critical to keeping the momentum going.
@Choicelady, the younger generation does seem more astute and less susceptible to the ideas towards diversity that older generations often held.
I notice it with my children and my SO’s children. They are so much more open to others, and as you said, they know more people from different backgrounds, as such they have a different perspective, which I think is a great thing.
There’s one thing that binds a small town together and that’s because everyone knows everyone else. I went back to my hometown to care for my mother for three years and worked at the hospital because there’s no where else to work! I’m talking under 20K with one high school and no matter how long you’ve been gone people remember you. What you do have is a class structure but you’ve all been mixing it up since elementary school so the boundaries are blurred. You don’t see the lines as divided as you do in the city. You see plenty of problems with kids and drugs and drop out rates but there is some kind of bonding that takes place in that “hick” town in Indiana that I can’t explain.
I grew up in a small town and I agree most everyone knows everyone else. But there was a dark side to it as well.
As a teen, there was nothing to do but party. Ergo, why kids tend to have the problems with drugs and drinking. THEIR bored and have no outlet for their boredom.
In addition, they are removed from so much and sheltered from so much they grow up with unrealistic ideas and expectations about life and people.
I often equate my teen years to much of the concepts in the movie “Footloose”. Which came out while I was in High School. We too, were not allowed dances (except the prom at a banquet facility with tons of chaperones) until my Senior year in high school OR bon fires at Homecoming, as well many other normal high school activities. Our friggin High School was literally in the middle of no where, yet we were locked in with rent a cops. It was ridiculous. The school had a student body of close to 2000 students YET all the bath rooms were locked except for the girls and boys restrooms next to the principal’s office (4 stalls each), Imagine the lines at lunch time! AND there was a bathroom monitor whose job it was to sit in the bathroom and ensure students weren’t smoking.
Mind you this was the 80’s and the school was in the middle of no where and was not at the time known for having any gang related problems or anything of that nature.
The overkill was ridiculous, all in the name of keeping us kids ‘safe’. AND everything was about sports…if you didn’t play sports you didn’t count. It was a weird way to grow up!
I agree the lines weren’t as divided, but I think that was because the town was pretty cookie cutter, in that all the people where pretty much of the same socio-economic background and there wasn’t much in the way of REAL income divergence or even ethnic backgrounds. Since everyone was pretty similar in economic status, religious beliefs (Catholic or Protestant) and ethnic background (mostly white and of European descent) there was a conformity that erased boundaries more or less.
About 15-20 years ago (or less, it’s hard to keep track) my neighborhood in the San Fernando suburb of LA suddenly seemed to have a large influx is Latinos. I was cool with that. And there were the occasional local news story about that in some regard or other—nothing panicky or even particularly racist. Probably it was about the schools and about English as a second language vs bilingual education. I was fine with either, more or less. And a little time went by, and there were small markets that sprung up catering to the new clientele, and some small shops that sold quinceanera dresses. I liked that mix.
And then, one day I was driving and I noticed a bunch of billboards for businesses like McDonald’s and Sprint and some public service announcements and whatnot—and they were all in Spanish. All of a sudden, I was not OK with that. As I drove, I was thinking, “Wait a minute. This is MY neighborhood. And this is America, and the language we speak is English!” I was upset.
But I didn’t like that I thought that. And then it came to me: what do I mean by MY neighborhood anyway? How did these few square miles get to be “mine.” And even America—how’d that become “my” country? And don’t even start about California! My grandparents came here from Russia—maybe they should have been turned away, since it wasn’t “their” country. Who was I, when you get right down to it, to declare anything “mine?” I mean, aside from some property (that the bank owns) and a few personal belongings, was I going to leave that neighborhood to my heirs? HAH!
To be honest, I wasn’t immediately all blissed out about the signs in Spanish. But over the years they have become as normal to me as any other billboards—which are a kind of a blight in any language.
@ Cher, I hear you about the billboards, they ARE a blight regardless of language!
I think we all have our times of bias, either cultural or have a protective nature about where we live and don’t want it to change or evolve. I think that is somewhat normal…but the trick is to recognize when we ourselves are not being rational or accepting of the changes going on in our communities.
We have a little different problem here.. about fifty thousand registered sex offenders- about half in Central FL.
Every month, in the US, another thousand are released,
and I swear they are given a bus ticket and a map to FL. There are strict ordinances determining where they live(proximity to schools, churches and parks.) But every week, we hear of bus monitors, custodians, fry cooks,theme park workers and transients attempting to molest or abduct children. Many live in tents in wooded areas behind subdivions and recreational areas. These camps are huge- not just a few tents.. If there are 50,000 Registered offenders, how many more are Really here?
I live just outside an upscale suburb, behind an elementary school; there are 26 Registered offenders within 3 miles of my house.
This is one of those issues that I think the law and media are wrong on…while I don’t disagree there are sexual predators…I think the issue is not as big as it is portrayed to be. I can’t speak for everywhere, but I happen to know for a fact, of many young men…age 19 who had age 16 girlfriends, where the parents found out the kids were sexually active and had the boy arrested for rape. 9 x out of 10, the boy coped a plea and WAS listed as a sexual predator and must go one of those lists.
I think the law is wrong and is too broad.
Abbyrose, at least 80% of these predators are in their 30s and up, and many are two or three time offenders…Every county has a link to the FDLE sex offenders map..
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=2&oq=fl+sex+offenders&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS383US383&q=fl+sex+offenders+map
I would like to see real reports from justice departments with the stats.
As I said, in our region of the country, many of those listed as sexual predators aren’t really a threat to the community.
I’ve seen many local studies that show that most are NOT really ‘predators’ in the true sense of the word. Some were spouses who’s spouses claimed rape for reasons of divorce and getting all the property. Some were as I said 18-20 year olds with young 15-17 year old girlfriends.
I’m just saying, I think we have to be careful on this one, because many times ANY ‘crime’ such as statutory rape, or spousal ‘abuse’ can be included in those listed as sexual predators.
And sometimes the ACTUAL stories behind the conviction paints a completely different picture than the convicted offense actually was. I think sometimes in our culture, we are too quick to judge based on flimsy evidence.
As I said, I’m not saying there aren’t dangerous people, I’m just saying the information isn’t always right.
We had a case locally, where a man was in jail for 17 years for sexual crimes, that DNA evidence proved he never committed.
We need to be careful to ascertain the legitimacy of our criminal justice system.
K Abbyrose, here ya go.
When I queried FL- the disclamer was too many offenders to list..
http://www.nsopw.gov/Core/Portal.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
Thanks jkk…but that just gives me google sites and offers no analysis.
In the links I provided the stats are laid out clearly along with analysis.
And the issue isn’t as cut and dry and the google query makes it appear.
@ Abbyrose- I fixed it.. try the new DOJ link.
Thanks>
Here is another interesting study…this one WAS done in Florida and is specific to Florida…as it appears Florida has the most stringent sexual predator law in the nation and the registry is larger than most other states
http://www.ccoso.org/library%20articles/PublicPerceptions%20ASAP%207.pdf
@Abbyrose
Watchdog says 55,859 registered sex offenders lived in FL in 09. (Any convicted sex offender who moves here from another state also has to register..these are registered adults.)
FDLE does not publish totals by state-only county.
@jkk…I think we might be talking about two different concepts.
My complaint with the sex offender registries are two fold;
1. I think in many areas (and one of the links I provided, suggests the same) the criteria used to place people on the list is much less rigid than in others. For example, in some states the criteria for being placed on the lists, is the person had to have been convicted numerous times and for certain offenses, where in other areas, such as Florida, any sexual offense, even if committed only once, places someone convicted of that crime on that list. So in the examples I gave of a 19 year old boy, convicted of statutory rape with his CONSENTING 15 year old girlfriend IS listed as a sex offender.
2. I also think that the justice system is VERY flawed in how these cases are tried. Too often it’s a he said, she said and pleas are made OUT of court with the DA that may or may not be accurate or justified based on the evidence. THAT is a problem.
As a woman, I know many unscrupulous women who sadly DO use the criminal justice system for less than honorable intentions.
Is that always the case? NO, hell no. But most of the time REAL rape and sexual offenses are NOT reported and the stats actually do BEAR that out. Also, most sexual offenses the victim knows their attacker, which is part of the reason that many go unreported.
MY problem with this law and the registries is it does NOTHING to protect anyone and may be more of a ‘smoke screen’ and may cause more damage in the LONG run to both potential victims and those who were unjustly accused.
I searched the first five zip codes in my county, and came up with 298 hits.
I have 42 more zip codes to run..someday!
Here are some interesting articles on the subject
http://www.livescience.com/776-predator-panic-reality-check-sex-offenders.html
http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/how-likely-are-sex-offenders-to-repeat-their-crimes-258/
http://www.csom.org/pubs/mythsfacts.html
http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/cache/documents/1045/104551.pdf
This is one of those subjects Jkk where the emotional irrational fear of the danger often doesn’t mesh with the actual statistical data and analysis.
I fear that this is another one of those issues that has been over played by well meaning and well intentioned people, that has turned into an almost ‘witch trial’ type of thing, that has morphed into something else entirely from it’s original intent and as caused many new problems as a result.
I actually know personally 2 women who falsely claimed rape. They both admitted later AFTER the damage was done, that they lied, the one TRIED to fix it and the court would not listen, as the jury verdict had already been issued and her ex husband in jail. She did it for the money and felt guilty after HE was convicted. She didn’t realize his life would be completely ruined FOREVER by her accusation…she just wanted to win custody of the kids and all the assets they owned. She really did feel bad, and it’s too late. He’s branded for 25 years.
People have an incredible need to belong. A need that has been exploited since the dawn of civilization. The easiest, most identifiable way to belong is race.
There is still debate as to how but we know that eventually we moved out of Africa and spread all across Europe and Asia. And from there to the Americas and many islands in between.
Different races evolved and there was never really any historical record to connect them to their beginnings. Ethnocentrism evolved as each race believed there’s to be the most important in existence. Their GODS ruled the skies,their customs were the norm.
It was still relatively cool when different cultures and races met. The evolution of racism can be tied closely with the evolution of organized religion. Just as race is the easiest way to identify and belong,it is also the easiest way to discriminate and divide.
Religion was closely associated with race back then and the demonizing of “foreign GODs” eventually led to the demonizing of the people who worshiped them. Stereotypes formed and prejudices were cemented along ideological lines.
Entire races of people were wiped from history by great empires who used these divisions to foment hatred and a perverted nationalism among their people. Religion became a justification to enslave people who “weren’t really people”. And on and on and on. Getting deeper and deeper.
Soon,groups with only slight racial distinctions began feuding with one another. Europeans. Asians. Latin Americans. Mostly on the belief that the “inferior race” should submit to the rule and customs of the other.
It’s so easy. We ALL want to belong. Caesar used it. England and America. Tojo in Japan. Hitler in Germany. Hussein in Iraq. Not always purely along religious lines but usually backed by them in some way. But always that idea of superiority.
I don’t know that it is reasonable to ever discuss “ending racism” until there are no longer any races. Or until we no longer create artificial divisions like religion,country, and wealth. It’s just so fucking easy.
Adonai, like George Carlin said, “We should all keep fucking until we’re all one color.”
KT, First off, great Carlin quote
And second, some scientists believe that is exactly what we’re doing!
Makes sense to me.
I could of sworn I made a reply A…but it disappeared. I must’ve not hit submit properly!
Anyway….I don’t know if we can end it but WE can stop making excuses for ourselves and start trying to make REAL attempts to look at our own biases, understand WHY and where they came from and make an attempt to correct our own bad behaviors in this regard.
A little off-topic because this isn’t about class or race, but when I was a small-town journalist, I felt like half of what I covered was NIMBYism.
Some NIMBYism is OK, like some wealthy asshat buying a parcel of land in a semi-rural neighbourhood and then attempting to build a helipad on the property, because he didn’t feel like landing his private helicopter at an airport three miles away. Or another guy who had a septic pumping business building septage treatment ponds on his property in a residential neighbourhood without any permits.
Some NIMBYism got pretty ridiculous. I’ll never forget some little old lady who wanted to convert her home into a two-bedroom B&B. The entire neighbourhood went berserk and made up a bunch of nonsense about traffic issues and not knowing who these people would be at the B&B. It turns out the homeowner’s association had the opportunity to prevent B&Bs through their CCRs, but explicitly declined to do so. So B&Bs were explicitly allowed by county zoning in residential zones. When they updated their zoning regs, no one — and no one from this neighbourhood — complained about B&Bs.
The county put conditions on her permit that she could only have four guests at a time and only two cars at a time. It didn’t appease the neighbourhood. This woman had to spend a couple of years in court because her neighbours all sued her. If it was such a big deal, why didn’t they insert something in their CCRs to begin with? It was just a handful of old farts fighting this woman because they didn’t want as many as (gasp) four “strangers” in their neighbourhood.
A couple of years later, a couple of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the little old lady filed an application for a B&B of their own.
I remember reading and seeing some history programs on the Green Bay Packers’ Black players experience in Green Bay. It was to say the least, surprising although probably not really.
I was told by more than one person in the legal system that I was fortunate to be white and male when I got in to a bit of a legal tangle many years ago. Raceism hangs on for deal life behind the scenes, and explodes when times get tough. This is another reason the American Taliban (Tea Party) is expanding.