For the Cincinnati Newcomer
This is a letter to a friend of a friend who's moving here. She's concerned about what kind of racial climate they'll face, and is nervous about leaving an idyllic situation. I wrote this, and based on some feedback, decided to turn it into an essay. But here's the raw:
Dear Rock Star Friend (and her friend),
Welcome to the Cincinnati area. I hear you've got some concerns. Hopefully, this helps a little.
First, let me say that the area is absolutely beautiful. There are hills, and the river, and pretty parks and some interesting architecture in some areas. Aesthetically, it's great. And the weather can be icky on the hot and cold sides, but it usually doesn't last all that long, so we just kind of grit our teeth and wait it out.
Now the social politics of the city, I'm afraid, leave a lot to be desired. But things aren't impossible. I consider myself an outcast (the white-black girl) because I seem to have developed very few post-collegiate friendships with black people (and I'm a native). I don't know what it is exactly. I'm 32, and I have had both non-profit and corporate jobs. I am heavily involved in the arts, but I have never felt fully welcomed by the native "black community," and all of my native friends have moved away. Newer residents, shipped here by jobs, seem to be focused on career advancement and leaving town, so they primarily network with each other.
Cincinnati is an interesting city, in the sense that it has never dealt with issues of race. Never. It sits minutes away from Kentucky, and has been painted by American history as the site of Freedom, which it has taken no steps to correct. The truth about Cincinnati, though, is that it has always been conflicted by it's proximity to slavery, its economic investment in the slave system (meat processing, soap, etc), and the burden being a border city in a "Free State" put upon its politics. So this resentment towards black people has existed for a long time, and has simmered and occasionally, burst forth (see 2001 civil unrest, aka "riots"). But within all this is a deep-seated politeness. We don't talk about the hard stuff. it's unpleasant, and may cause us to tell the truth and be labeled "not nice" people. We have a saying here: Cincinnati- the most Northern City in the South.
So solutions. First, I have found several pockets of Really Good People. I don't get to see them as much as I would like, but they exist. I found them, mainly by finding one and then unabashedly stalking them to see who their friends were, and so on and so on. With kids, this could be easier or harder, depending (I'm single and most people my age are married with kids)...People here clump around race (first), class (second), geography (third), and interests (fourth). For example, I am black, but live downtown. Not a lot of black young professionals live here, and fewer artists. So I default to artists who happen to be the same age-ish, in the same neighborhood, as poor as I am, but are white. And that affiliation tells other black people that I "hang with white people," so therefore must prefer them, so they stay away, and I'm too shy and used to rejection to approach, so vicious cycle ensues. But we're talking solutions.
Get involved. I can't say that enough. In the neighborhood, in the schools, be present and active and relentless in gaining a foothold in, and understanding of, and a voice in, your new community. I am not a suburban girl, so I know little about the true nature of Blue Ash, but there is a huge downtown vs. suburbs ethical debate going on that makes them a red state and us a blue state and never the twain- but I know that's not all the way true.
No one I know who has been relentless about getting involved hates this place after six months. They may see how wacky it is, may be highly concerned, but they don't hate it.
As for racism- ok. It's here, and there's no escaping it. That's the truth. Some of it is ignorance- benign ignorance of people who just don't know better. Most of it comes from being an insular community that doesn't have any experience except for here, and no critical thinking skills to discern bias in news coverage, nor any inbred curiosity to self-investigate. "If the news says it, it's true." So there is a lot of bias in education. Kids can, and do get tracked if they don't fit in. People ask stupid questions, and they say hurtful things without knowing it. I survive by being an educator. I talk to people and explain things. I study so I can explain things. And I model their desired behavior until I can subtly incorporate myself without being a threat. It's a model I've practiced for years, and it hasn't failed me yet, except to alienate me from the black community. But I pick my battles.
I am not saying this is right (actually, typing it, I feel a little sick); it just works for me better than the responses others have taken in being hostile, and I don't currently have the option to just move. When it gets too hard to keep educating, I retreat and bask in the love of my family, and in my precious books. And then I go back out and keep teaching.
I think Friend overheard me saying last week that Cincinnati was a hard place to be black in. I say that because I see such rigid boxes that black is supposed to fit into here, enforced by both sides. You can be lower-class and black, and epitomize the prison industrial complex and welfare system, or you can be corporate and black, and participate as a silent middle class, separate from the lower class and eager to join the establishment and play by their rules, as long as you can wear kente cloth in February. I am neither- I remember welfare cheese and projects, but was bussed to school and attended an Ivy, and now I'm an artist- I don't fit the boxes. My ambition is to create beauty, not to get a job with health insurance (I have one) or make a million dollars (it'll probably never happen).
What I don't see, that I have seen in Atlanta and New York, is an intelligentsia, a group of thinkers and artists and bohemians, lovers of art and music and language and education, who bond together in their own community. People here are very work-ethic Midwestern, and only use those things for the sake of advancing their material lives and getting more productive. Culture is "so optional." But because we are polite people, and we ave a duty to keep up appearances, we have an opera, a symphony, a ballet, and many museums and other theater companies. An oversupply of great art, but we hold on because there are benefactors who have the age and wealth to take on pet projects. Again, all is not lost.
I hope this gives some perspective. I am just one (long-winded) person in a pretty large town, so take my insights with a grain, and experience this place for yourself. Welcome.
Dear Rock Star Friend (and her friend),
Welcome to the Cincinnati area. I hear you've got some concerns. Hopefully, this helps a little.
First, let me say that the area is absolutely beautiful. There are hills, and the river, and pretty parks and some interesting architecture in some areas. Aesthetically, it's great. And the weather can be icky on the hot and cold sides, but it usually doesn't last all that long, so we just kind of grit our teeth and wait it out.
Now the social politics of the city, I'm afraid, leave a lot to be desired. But things aren't impossible. I consider myself an outcast (the white-black girl) because I seem to have developed very few post-collegiate friendships with black people (and I'm a native). I don't know what it is exactly. I'm 32, and I have had both non-profit and corporate jobs. I am heavily involved in the arts, but I have never felt fully welcomed by the native "black community," and all of my native friends have moved away. Newer residents, shipped here by jobs, seem to be focused on career advancement and leaving town, so they primarily network with each other.
Cincinnati is an interesting city, in the sense that it has never dealt with issues of race. Never. It sits minutes away from Kentucky, and has been painted by American history as the site of Freedom, which it has taken no steps to correct. The truth about Cincinnati, though, is that it has always been conflicted by it's proximity to slavery, its economic investment in the slave system (meat processing, soap, etc), and the burden being a border city in a "Free State" put upon its politics. So this resentment towards black people has existed for a long time, and has simmered and occasionally, burst forth (see 2001 civil unrest, aka "riots"). But within all this is a deep-seated politeness. We don't talk about the hard stuff. it's unpleasant, and may cause us to tell the truth and be labeled "not nice" people. We have a saying here: Cincinnati- the most Northern City in the South.
So solutions. First, I have found several pockets of Really Good People. I don't get to see them as much as I would like, but they exist. I found them, mainly by finding one and then unabashedly stalking them to see who their friends were, and so on and so on. With kids, this could be easier or harder, depending (I'm single and most people my age are married with kids)...People here clump around race (first), class (second), geography (third), and interests (fourth). For example, I am black, but live downtown. Not a lot of black young professionals live here, and fewer artists. So I default to artists who happen to be the same age-ish, in the same neighborhood, as poor as I am, but are white. And that affiliation tells other black people that I "hang with white people," so therefore must prefer them, so they stay away, and I'm too shy and used to rejection to approach, so vicious cycle ensues. But we're talking solutions.
Get involved. I can't say that enough. In the neighborhood, in the schools, be present and active and relentless in gaining a foothold in, and understanding of, and a voice in, your new community. I am not a suburban girl, so I know little about the true nature of Blue Ash, but there is a huge downtown vs. suburbs ethical debate going on that makes them a red state and us a blue state and never the twain- but I know that's not all the way true.
No one I know who has been relentless about getting involved hates this place after six months. They may see how wacky it is, may be highly concerned, but they don't hate it.
As for racism- ok. It's here, and there's no escaping it. That's the truth. Some of it is ignorance- benign ignorance of people who just don't know better. Most of it comes from being an insular community that doesn't have any experience except for here, and no critical thinking skills to discern bias in news coverage, nor any inbred curiosity to self-investigate. "If the news says it, it's true." So there is a lot of bias in education. Kids can, and do get tracked if they don't fit in. People ask stupid questions, and they say hurtful things without knowing it. I survive by being an educator. I talk to people and explain things. I study so I can explain things. And I model their desired behavior until I can subtly incorporate myself without being a threat. It's a model I've practiced for years, and it hasn't failed me yet, except to alienate me from the black community. But I pick my battles.
I am not saying this is right (actually, typing it, I feel a little sick); it just works for me better than the responses others have taken in being hostile, and I don't currently have the option to just move. When it gets too hard to keep educating, I retreat and bask in the love of my family, and in my precious books. And then I go back out and keep teaching.
I think Friend overheard me saying last week that Cincinnati was a hard place to be black in. I say that because I see such rigid boxes that black is supposed to fit into here, enforced by both sides. You can be lower-class and black, and epitomize the prison industrial complex and welfare system, or you can be corporate and black, and participate as a silent middle class, separate from the lower class and eager to join the establishment and play by their rules, as long as you can wear kente cloth in February. I am neither- I remember welfare cheese and projects, but was bussed to school and attended an Ivy, and now I'm an artist- I don't fit the boxes. My ambition is to create beauty, not to get a job with health insurance (I have one) or make a million dollars (it'll probably never happen).
What I don't see, that I have seen in Atlanta and New York, is an intelligentsia, a group of thinkers and artists and bohemians, lovers of art and music and language and education, who bond together in their own community. People here are very work-ethic Midwestern, and only use those things for the sake of advancing their material lives and getting more productive. Culture is "so optional." But because we are polite people, and we ave a duty to keep up appearances, we have an opera, a symphony, a ballet, and many museums and other theater companies. An oversupply of great art, but we hold on because there are benefactors who have the age and wealth to take on pet projects. Again, all is not lost.
I hope this gives some perspective. I am just one (long-winded) person in a pretty large town, so take my insights with a grain, and experience this place for yourself. Welcome.