When I first took a job in Louisiana, several white liberals in Berkeley, California, accused me of racism. “You must be truly racist if you can go there. It would be too racist for me.”
These people, of course, had never been here. I had never seen them hanging with any nonwhite people in California, or reading any books by such persons. They lived in white neighborhoods and visited white countries.
In graduate school one of them had made rather racist statements about my emphasis on Spanish and Portuguese: these were not intellectual languages; those were not original cultures. I would have been better off staying in Scandinavian. Another was a strong proponent of a constitutional amendment to make English the official language of the United States, and was sure bilingual education hurt students’ chances for success.
That was years ago and in the intervening time, several white people I know from elsewhere have taken jobs in Louisiana. Every single one has freaked out about “the racism” before or in the early stages of their stay.
I have not had as hard a time as they because I have never had the luck to live in a non-racist place. Differently racist, yes; but you figure out by experience how to navigate in each area. Part of handling things is to realize that stratification is a fact. You as a white person will be placed in a certain position by this stratification, and it is vanity to deny this. You have to find a way to deal with it realistically.
I once actually moved across a country – 2,000 kilometers to a huge city where I knew virtually nobody – so that I could live where there were more middle class people and things were somewhat less stratified racially, because I was too uncomfortable in daily life where I was. For several years in Louisiana, I commuted over a hundred miles a day so that I could live in a less segregated town than the one I worked in. I do understand what it is to find places that are “too racist for [me].”
There is also the white man from Virginia I know well and whose opinions I trust, who says he was shocked when he first moved here because things “were so much more blatant” in 1980’s Baton Rouge than 1980’s Blacksburg. So I do understand that there are places where things are less blatant.
Still I do not trust the motivations of white Americans who cry that it is “too racist for them” in, specifically, Louisiana. Too often it has been because they are not getting fast enough lifestyle service from Black Louisianians. “She is reticent to show me Black music venues.” “He is not sure he should sleep with me.” “They do not want to sell the building out of the family. I think they should take the money. I want the building!” “They should just be glad I am here and invite me over. Can they not tell I am not racist?”
Sometimes I think “it is too racist for me” really means “it is going to bring my racism out, and I do not want to look at that.” I am also interested to see that the only “other” race these Americans seem to see is Black. And I am queasy to see how many of them expect Black people to be impressed with and grateful for their efforts at non-racism. Still, I am here to help and I do have two South Louisiana-specific tips for anyone moving here this academic year.
First: people may not “be” what they look like to you. There really are Black people who look white, and so on. Do not assume you know the race or background of the person you are speaking with.
Second: Especially in French speaking areas, let people tell you about their family backgrounds on their schedule, not on yours. People may have interesting racial mixtures and some of this may have to do with slavery, “second families” and illegitimacy. In French culture family information is private. That may be a gender issue even more than it is a racial one. But you are not from here, so do not pry. Sit back and observe. Be polite. You are not better than your interlocutors, and this is not an anthropological display.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
great post!
New York City is more residentially segregated than most places in the South. (but people wouldn’t know it because everyone takes public transportation leading people to believe they actually live around POC when really POC are coming in to do work…). But, no, in NYC people are sooo much more open. blah, blah, blah.
“Sometimes I think “it is too racist for me” really means “it is going to bring my racism out, and I do not want to look at that.”” –yes.
I have a feeling I am going to have more conversations like the ones you speak of when I return to calif. I’m looking for a place in Oakland. It is surely the only still liveable place in the bay–for many reasons.
Oakland rocks, and Gertrude Stein was measuring it with the wrong stick!
These people are white “liberals”? Geez, even the white “liberals” I know wouldn’t say something that ridiculously messed up! I agree with you that it seems more about their own unwillingness to confront their own racism and white privilege than about where they will or will not live. And by pretending that a place like Berkeley is racism-free (or less racist than other places) they are being racist and perpetuating racist structures.
Sometimes I get the feeling that a lot of Cali folks buy into the idea that places like the bay (or LA) are “multicultural,” without challenging the kinds of (sometimes very stark) racial boundaries here. And if there is such a thing as a non-racist place, I’d like to visit that place one day! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your experience, profa!
Yes, liberals, like they voted for Jesse Jackson for President, and so on. Liberal (even lefty) in theory, but in practice, still not good on race.
Another Berkeleyite freaked out one time because he was afraid it would be racist if he disagreed with a Chicano (on something really neutral, like how to fit pipes). I said it wouldn’t, not to worry, and he said, “But it is easier for you to tell … you have had the chance to discuss race with people of other races, and I have not.” I was like, hunh? You’re from Berkeley too, and you went to majority non-white S.F. schools, which I did not, so exactly when is it that you have *not* had the chance to discuss race with people of other races?
I really enjoyed this post.
I’ve been working in New Orleans (commuting from Boston) for the last 18 months and find that the city really forces me to confront my own prejudices. I’m pretty reflective to begin with, but NO (and the Gulf Coast) has demanded a critical self analysis far beyond that.
The main reason I haven’t relocated is because my post-disaster lens on my work makes it too damn depressing for me to be there day in and day out.
Great post. You’d think that they would do the math: if more nonracist people (as they consider themselves to be) would move into the area, wouldn’t that then “improve” the area?
I especially like your second tip for newcomers.
I’ve become known for being rather unapologetically confrontational about institutional racism and negativity toward those of minority ethnicities. I’m very sensitive to it, name it, and refuse to participate in it. I’ve been doing this everywhere I go for decades. Sometimes it startles people, but I just put it out there. Typically, the situations that develop are more likely to be about White people. You’re focusing primarily here on relations between the newcomer and people of color. Could you speak to issues that might come up for a European-American anti-racist as they come into contact with White people in, say, Louisiana?
“Sometimes I think ‘it is too racist for me’ really means ‘it is going to bring my racism out, and I do not want to look at that.’ ” You’re so right on there. Facing racism on a daily basis as I do (both by me and against me) has you constantly on guard, and it can be exhausting to ‘make a difference’. No one is free of an opinion on race, no matter how highly they think of themselves. Taking yourself away from the problem isn’t noble, it’s cowardly.
I’ve lived in New Orleans most of my life, but for one year after Katrina I lived in Seattle. The locals’ perceptions of my people were similar to those of your Berkley friends. Yet when I’d ask them what their experience was living in poor cities made up of mostly minorities, they usually had none.
Anyway, I wonder, if your ‘liberal’ friends think it is racist to move to a racist place, then how do they feel about people who join the Peace Corps and go to Africa?
Minnesota, where I live, is just as racist as anywhere else in this country, but many people are more hypocritical about it. Others are pretty damn up front.
Thank you, whoever you are.
This post was breath taking and definitely something that should be passed on. I really learned a lot.
Wild Child, thanks – although your comment is vague enough that I am not sure whether it is really for this post or whether it is from a .bot, so I delinked the Space City Rollers website (the interested can find it) – forgive me for thinking your message might be from a .bot if I am wrong. –Z