prejudice
It's always there, those innate habits of categorization mixed with learned antipathies. I head out to Memphis tomorrow morning with some trepidation. It's the unfamiliar tinged by the unknown, and what's known is not what's real.
I was thinking about reports I'd read about Memphis; only a few of which were complimentary. I have a love/hate relationship with the South in general. But so much of what I dread is based in prejudice. I try to be aware of my prejudices and fight the suck of giving into them, but I don't always prevail. Sometimes I don't even see them as prejudices unless the kaleidoscope shakes and the pattern is revealed.
I've been looking at school systems in particular and it's the usual pattern of concentric rings: inner city blight with a few high-performing private schools, suburban adequate to good, then rural areas poor to adequate. This is largely by reputation and test scores and college admission rates. Wholly inadequate rating systems but all we've got. I hate how it correlates with the degree of minority representation.
But this is nothing new. It's like everywhere I've ever lived. The composition of the majority/minority population changes but I've always lived in the next ring out from center. I live outside of cities, not in them. This was least true in NYC where everything is packed tightly together. It was less true in Boston although my forays into the city were mainly cultural. Absolutely true in Cleveland and Baltimore where I almost never went into the city except to work.
So would Memphis be any different? Or New Haven? Or Lexington? Maybe Colorado--but then I know very little about Colorado and the western US in general. Open mind, open mind. Pry it open with a crowbar if necessary.
When younger, and especially when on my own, a few years someplace novel and different would have been an adventure. Where did that spirit of exploration go?
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I was thinking about reports I'd read about Memphis; only a few of which were complimentary. I have a love/hate relationship with the South in general. But so much of what I dread is based in prejudice. I try to be aware of my prejudices and fight the suck of giving into them, but I don't always prevail. Sometimes I don't even see them as prejudices unless the kaleidoscope shakes and the pattern is revealed.
I've been looking at school systems in particular and it's the usual pattern of concentric rings: inner city blight with a few high-performing private schools, suburban adequate to good, then rural areas poor to adequate. This is largely by reputation and test scores and college admission rates. Wholly inadequate rating systems but all we've got. I hate how it correlates with the degree of minority representation.
But this is nothing new. It's like everywhere I've ever lived. The composition of the majority/minority population changes but I've always lived in the next ring out from center. I live outside of cities, not in them. This was least true in NYC where everything is packed tightly together. It was less true in Boston although my forays into the city were mainly cultural. Absolutely true in Cleveland and Baltimore where I almost never went into the city except to work.
So would Memphis be any different? Or New Haven? Or Lexington? Maybe Colorado--but then I know very little about Colorado and the western US in general. Open mind, open mind. Pry it open with a crowbar if necessary.
When younger, and especially when on my own, a few years someplace novel and different would have been an adventure. Where did that spirit of exploration go?
This entry was originally posted at http://vjs2259.dreamwidth.org/387635.html. Please comment there using OpenID.