Althouse: Those "progressive" cities white people like?

October 22, 2009

Those "progressive" cities white people like?

They're really white.

(Via this diavlog.)

106 comments:

Kevin said...: Not true - we are very diverse! I see a black person in my centrally-located Portland neighborhood almost every week!

Multnomah County (Portland's county) voted 77% for Obama! We're very, very, tolerant! Truly!; 10/22/09, 5:23 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: And let's not even talk about how much progressives love Scandinavia...; 10/22/09, 5:28 PM
former law student said...: Hey, I know Aaron.

His Chicagoism is showing though -- he assumes "not black" = white. The cities he cites with high percentages of African-Americans are all east of the Mississippi, the northern ones magnets for unskilled labor from WW I through the sixties, except for Kansas City, (Missouri by the county named) which was part of a former slave state.

In contrast, western cities tend to have high percentages of Hispanics and native Americans. This does not make them any whiter, and Renn should recalculate his percentages. Further, Portland and Seattle have high percentages of Asians, as do other West Coast cities. World War II labor shortages did pull Southern blacks to Los Angeles and Oakland, neither of which show up on Renn's rankings.; 10/22/09, 5:36 PM
quilbill said...: I lived in Madison in the early 80s. Perhaps my memory fails me, but I recall my belief then that the city leaders wanted more diversity and had been trying to import minorities.

The local evening news often began with stories of Cubans stabbing other Cubans downtown. I think these were imported minorities from the Mariel Boatlift.

Anyway, apparently Madison has failed in creating the diversity it seeks. Shame.; 10/22/09, 5:36 PM
Fred4Pres said...: There are at least a 1000 black people in Portland, maybe even more. Jimmy Hendrix came from Seattle. Now that is some diversity.

Hey, from what I hear, Portland has more lesbians than most cities and more strip clubs too. Progressive in a Maxim sort of way!

For a view of not so old, old Portland, this film will do it.

And for a view of Portland's politics, this image pretty much sums it up. Read the comments for a great laugh.; 10/22/09, 5:49 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @Fred LOL on the second link. The comments there cracked me up.; 10/22/09, 6:06 PM
Kevin said...: In contrast, western cities tend to have high percentages of Hispanics and native Americans. This does not make them any whiter, and Renn should recalculate his percentages. Further, Portland and Seattle have high percentages of Asians, as do other West Coast cities.

Portland's still pretty white- from Wikipedia: 78.6% white, 6.7% Asian, 6.6% black, 8.5% Hispanic, 1.3% Native American.

The Latino population is growing, and the black population is declining - the traditionally black area in Portland is gentrifying, and blacks are moving to an adjacent suburb.; 10/22/09, 6:14 PM
mariner said...: And that's a problem why?

The underlying assumption here is that if a place doesn't have "enough" black people, the people who live in that place are anti-black racists.

That's straight-up racism.; 10/22/09, 6:17 PM
chuck b. said...: Are black people living in Portland acting white?; 10/22/09, 6:23 PM
Kevin said...: And that's a problem why?

It's not a problem - it is much easier to be "progressive" in places like Scandinavia or Portland where people generally share the same politics, the same world view, and view their neighbors as being much like themselves.

On the other hand (from the Boston Globe):

Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam -- famous for "Bowling Alone," his 2000 book on declining civic engagement -- has found that the greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. The study, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings.; 10/22/09, 6:24 PM
Angst said...: I remember a radio station in Boulder CO. that held scavenger hunt one weekend.

One of the listed items needed to win the prize: A Negro.

This was in the 1980's.; 10/22/09, 6:24 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Maguro said...
And let's not even talk about how much progressives love Scandinavia...

reminds me of that great Friedman progressive quote:

A Scandinavian economist once proudly said to free-market advocate Milton Friedman, "In Scandinavia we have no poverty." And Milton Friedman replied, "That's interesting, because in America among Scandinavians, we have no poverty, either."; 10/22/09, 6:28 PM
jimbino said...: That's nothing: the national parks and forests are 99% white, and even national monuments like the liberty bell in Philly is largely white.

This represents an even more serious problem than the whiteness of the fair cities and suburbs, because minorities throughout the counrty share in the wealth and in paying the bills for these white country clubs, what they don't do in Portland.; 10/22/09, 6:28 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Some progressive mascots are annoying.; 10/22/09, 6:29 PM
Peter Hoh said...: The graph shows Minneapolis at 10.6 percent African American, but that's not the city rate. That's the "core county" rate, whatever that means.

According to wikipedia, African Americans make up 17.7% of Minneapolis.; 10/22/09, 6:30 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Sorry the Liberty Bell looks like an object of color to me...namely brown.; 10/22/09, 6:30 PM
Cedarford said...: FLS - "In contrast, western cities tend to have high percentages of Hispanics and native Americans. This does not make them any whiter, and Renn should recalculate his percentages. Further, Portland and Seattle have high percentages of Asians, as do other West Coast cities. World War II labor shortages did pull Southern blacks to Los Angeles and Oakland, neither of which show up on Renn's rankings."

FLS, I don't know of many progressive whites that would have any problem being assigned to take a good-paying job in Tokyo, Madrid, Singapore, Abu Dubai, Lima, or an Indian Reservation.

However, plenty of those progressive whites would have serious problems accepting a job that required them to live and work a year in Haiti, Detroit, Compton, or Lagos Nigeria.

The joke: "Where does a good progressive white Gentile growing up in LA go to fight for social justice? Portland or Seattle.
Where does a good progressive Jew growing up in LA go to fight for justice? Studio City. Maybe Malibu or Beverley Hills after that if they really make it big in the media or in real estate.
Where does a good black progressive fighting for social justice go as soon as they get a good job? To a better neighborhood, the whiter, more Jewish or more Asian, the better.
Where do Asians growing up in LA go?
Wherever hard work and study takes them, hopefully a better place than their parents had, and then they can move their parents in with them."

And, where do Mexicans growing up in LA go?
Hopefully to a neighborhood that is as close as possible culturally to the Mexico they fled."; 10/22/09, 6:35 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: Progressive? Progressive people? Live in "white" cities.

NIMBY was covered by Phil Ochs-
"Love me, love me, love me, I'm a Liberal."

Oh those great unwashed progressives bear the leprous goat stench of hypocrisy!!!; 10/22/09, 6:35 PM
ricpic said...: Progressives like the idea of blacks.; 10/22/09, 6:37 PM
Fred4Pres said...: jimbino said... That's nothing: the national parks and forests are 99% white, and even national monuments like the liberty bell in Philly is largely white.

As for the former, only when it is snowing, glacial mountain tops, some national seashore beaches, and possibly White Sands, New Mexico.

Although if you look closely at sand you will find they tend to be quite diversified in color.; 10/22/09, 6:40 PM
ricpic said...: If I read the insane jimbino correctly the fact that whites make use of our national parks and blacks and hispanics make less use of them means that those magnificent tax paying blacks and hispanics are subsidizing those national park going layabout whites. And to that sublime (if it were only true) fantasy I say, "About effing time!"; 10/22/09, 6:52 PM
paul a'barge said...: Austin, Texas here.

The article is spot on. [grinding teeth] gotta love the truth when it smacks you in the face like a mackeral[/grinding teeth]; 10/22/09, 7:05 PM
traditionalguy said...: When the local governments here were taken over by black politicians there was first a long feeding frenzy of graft and corruption, justified by the lousy discriminatory treatment intentionally given to all white people they served for a cover. African American control was a disaster, until the educated younger blacks decided that actually doing their jobs was a better way to live. The time this transition takes depends upon the leadership of the black churches in teaching "servanthood " as a virtue and then electing those politicians in place of the first generation of racist pirates.; 10/22/09, 7:08 PM
lucid said...: It is SOOOO past time for African-Americans to get over themselves.; 10/22/09, 7:29 PM
Donna B. said...: lucid and traditional guy have spoken the Truth.

Therefore they shall be condemned.; 10/22/09, 7:51 PM
Michael Haz said...: @Fred - The drawing at the link is hilarious, though I note that he was emerging from the water, as opposed to having parted it or merely striding atop it.

So there's work left to do.

I'm waiting for him to call us all into the big sweat lodge. I'm throwing up in anticipation, and also to avoid the line later on.; 10/22/09, 7:51 PM
Michael Haz said...: the national parks and forests are 99% white

Baloney. The national parks are filled with brown and black bears, well above the national average.; 10/22/09, 7:54 PM
jayne_cobb said...: I wonder what the birth rates are for these cities.

I can't imagine that they're at replacement levels.; 10/22/09, 8:02 PM
Michael Haz said...: Interesting how Atlanta isn't listed as a progressive city white people like. Hmmmm.; 10/22/09, 8:19 PM
Michael Haz said...: Those happy Portland progressives probably don't know that Portland was once known for capturing and enslaving unsuspecting innocents.

More here.; 10/22/09, 8:26 PM
themightypuck said...: I don't understand the argument. Is it that black people are poor? Black people need to fight their own battles? Black people stand in the way of Eurotopias? Race war on the horizon?; 10/22/09, 8:34 PM
Michael Haz said...: Chris: It's this. White progressives like to hang in cities that are mostly white with other white progessives, except for the one black guy about whom every white progressive says is one of 'my closest friends.'; 10/22/09, 8:46 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Chris said...
I don't understand the argument. Is it that black people are poor?

I would describe it using an old, and I think southern analogy. It was said that:

Southern Whites hated blacks in general, but loved the blacks they knew personally, while

Northern Whites loved blacks in general, but hated the ones they knew.

This story is of that vein. Progressive cities are that way and like it that way, because they have fewer of those people of color to make things less homogenious.; 10/22/09, 8:47 PM
LonewackoDotCom said...: In L.A., the wonderful mayor does indeed have the full progressive slate, caring about in order:
1. Race-based power.
2. Sweetheart deals for RE tycoons.
3. Encouraging IllegalImmigration in order to obtain race-based power.
4. Light rail.
5. Did I mention race-based power?
6. Seeking out weathergirls.
7. And, of course, race-based power.; 10/22/09, 8:52 PM
rcocean said...: Maybe we could bus Black people all around the country so even Portland would have "Enough" Blacks.

I'm sure the liberals would be in favor.

BTW, there's nothing white liberals who live in Lily-white cities love to do more than talk about race and call people racists. Its SWPL.; 10/22/09, 8:53 PM
Unknown said...: ricpic said...

Progressives like the idea of blacks.

Progressives like the idea of people.

Fixed it.; 10/22/09, 8:54 PM
Anonymous said...: White progressives like to hang in cities that are mostly white with other white progessives, except for the one black guy about whom every white progressive says is one of 'my closest friends.'

They also like having some Asians around, enough to have interesting ethnic restaurants. And also so any of their sons who are pathetic Beta nerds have a chance of sex and marriage.

Peter; 10/22/09, 8:59 PM
Kevin said...: Maybe we could bus Black people all around the country so even Portland would have "Enough" Blacks.

We tried that. After Katrina, liberal Portland prepared a closed high school (in a less affluent neighborhood, of course) to be an evacuation center for New Orleans refugees.

The refugees refused to go to Portland.; 10/22/09, 8:59 PM
Shanna said...: The refugees refused to go to Portland.

Heh. And why wouldn't they? Cold and rainy is what I think of when I think of Portland. I never realized how much I hated rain until it rained like 3 times as much as seattle this year here. Gah!; 10/22/09, 9:03 PM
Fred4Pres said...: ricpic said...
If I read the insane jimbino correctly the fact that whites make use of our national parks and blacks and hispanics make less use of them means that those magnificent tax paying blacks and hispanics are subsidizing those national park going layabout whites. And to that sublime (if it were only true) fantasy I say, "About effing time!"

10/22/09 6:52 PM

Yes jimbino is insane and yes I understood what he meant. It is of course wrong. I see people of color at National Parks and Monuments all the time. And as for paying for those parks, that is done by those tax payers who actually pay taxes (beyond social security and Medicare) and yes those payers probably use the parks in numbers similar to their racial percentages (not that it really matters).; 10/22/09, 9:04 PM
J. Cricket said...: Guess which city has a LOWER African-American population than all of the cities that Althouse is mocking?

Madison, Wisconsin.

5.8% African-American.; 10/22/09, 9:14 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: Progressives love the idea of Blacks? Nah, they love the idea that they can talk about race. They love to tell stories, relate how liberal they are- all for equal outcome and all that. Oh, Blacks should get preference in everything, bring back welfare, elect them to office in large urban areas, even make one a President.

Live in a city with Blacks? Numbers of Blacks? No way Jose. It is one thing to have noble ideas, but please do not impose them on the progressives. Freedom from imposition and all that.

BTW- I have never known a progressive who likes people or the idea of people. People leave those messy carbon footprints all over the place.; 10/22/09, 9:18 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: I don't understand the argument. Is it that black people are poor? Black people need to fight their own battles? Black people stand in the way of Eurotopias? Race war on the horizon?

It is just kind of interesting that all the places that liberals like to point to as examples that rest of America should follow - Seattle, Portland, Scandinavia - happen to be full of white people.

You never see anyone pointing to Detroit or East St Louis as exemplars of progressive governance.; 10/22/09, 9:22 PM
David said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/22/09, 9:22 PM
David said...: "Tell us how you really feel, Dave."

Being liberal or--as seems to be the trend--"progressive" is a fashion statement. It's just very unfashionable in certain circles to be a Republican. Libertarian? Well, maybe, if you are really cool about it.

The acid test for me is education. "Progressives" would not for a second allow their kids be educated in the dysfunctional schools that have arisen in cities since Brown v. Board in 1954. Busing, various pedagogic fads, the unions in whose pockets the liberals reside, the housing projects liberals built, the false promise of affirmative action, decades of welfare, soft on drugs policies, systemic failures in discipline, the absence of standards, the inability to fire bad teachers (see unions) and a variety of other stupid policies have turned the promise of desegregation into a nightmare prison for millions (yes, millions!) of black children.

Recently we have seen the liberal in chief, the first black President, a man who benefited from an outstanding education, show the true path of white liberals everywhere. (He is half white.) Obama moves to Washington, and sends his kids to private school--one of the best private schools in the nation.

I do not blame him for sending his children to Sidwell. It was the right thing to do for his children. I would do the same.

I do blame him for spending virtually no time and energy on educational issues since he became President, and for undermining Charter Schools in the District of Columbia. And I blame the people who elected him and the people who have elected liberal democrats for the last 50 years for permitting the scandal of poor education for black children to continue.

In white progressive Whole Foodsey non Wal-Marty cities, in the private schools of the Washingtons, in the suburbs of New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Memphis, Baltimore and countless other cities, white "progressives" congratulate themselves on their liberality. They care about the polar bears. They want better health care (as long as they can keep their own terriffic benefits). They know that war is bad, very very very bad even against sadistic killers like Saddam Hussein.

But fix education for African Americans? Realize the true underlying promise of Brown v. Board? Naah, it's too complicated. Too nasty. Requires the abandonment of too many nice notions.

The legacy of slavery is still with us in education, and the liberals of America are Simon Legree.; 10/22/09, 9:24 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: David,
You left out the slavery that the progressive liberals created- welfare otherwise know as the war on poor people. Then they created a plantation system called housing projects. Then they all moved to the Lily white suburbs and talked about how noble they are.; 10/22/09, 9:30 PM
Methadras said...: It's where all the white women are at. Cause white womenz iz da bomb!!1; 10/22/09, 9:47 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Speaking of white,

The balsamic is better on the vanilla side than on the chocolate side but neither one is great. Since it's an Italian idea, maybe gelato would be better. I haven't given up.; 10/22/09, 9:49 PM
David said...: "the housing projects liberals built" was supposed to include that.

My main point, though, is the here and now, a time when "progressives" have abandoned the issue almost completely. No Child Left Behind had its flaws, but the left bashed it without proposing any alternatives--because they have none. Meanwhile the Obamas and the lesser Obami have Sidwell and Punahoe and Larchmont and Winnetka and all those other places to flee to.

So go ahead and flee. I can't really criticize you for getting the best education for your kids. But stay committed to doing something about the poor bastards who can't join you in these little paradises. Or stop making fun of people--like beaten up old George Bush--who actually tried to do something.

If you have no new ideas of your own (you don't have any, do you), give someone elses ideas a chance, no matter how unfashionable that might make you feel.; 10/22/09, 9:51 PM
Once written, twice... said...: I employ a fair number of young people. (I am in my early 40s myself.) I notice that they never talk about race. It seems that it is now only older people like Ann Althouse and Al Sharpton, people sixty and older, who obsess about race. That bodes well for race being used as a divisive issue fading in the next few decades.; 10/22/09, 10:02 PM
David said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/22/09, 10:10 PM
David said...: Well, not in the workplace, Lee. They know what shaky legal ground is.

Hang around young black people sometime. They talk about race all the time.

Do your employees talk about education? Probably not, if they are young people without children. But when they get to talking about where to send their kids to school, they will be talking about race, if they live in a place where the black race has been miseducated for several generations.

Did Barack and Michelle talk about race when they considered whether to send their kids to Sidwell? I doubt they did. But the issue they were talking about was racial. Washington DC schools are overwhelmingly black and they are a mess.

So maybe these pristine young folks should talk about race a little more.; 10/22/09, 10:11 PM
Methadras said...: L. E. Lee said...

I employ a fair number of young people.

I'll be you type that while you had a stick up your ass to keep your posture erect and proper.; 10/22/09, 10:14 PM
Once written, twice... said...: David,

First, I am sure that when the President and the First Lady were talking about were to send their children to school the main topic was the Secret Service. BTW, when conservatives bring this up my B.S. detector goes off.

Also, I am around young people in other settings as well and it is clear that they do not view the world through a racial prism like older people like Ann Althouse. There clearly is a generational shift going on here. I would be interested in knowing if Ann's son's blog focuses so much on race as this one does?

It is some what understandable that older people like Ann think about race more than younger people. Their life experiences were different after all.; 10/22/09, 10:21 PM
Once written, twice... said...: Methadras wrote
"(vulgarities)"

Why do you insist on bring the level of discourse down Methadras?; 10/22/09, 10:23 PM
knox said...: I employ a fair number of young people.

Also, I am around young people in other settings as well.

"In fact...some of my BEST friends are young people!!!!!"

Young WHITE people, I bet.

[Just teasing, don't have a hissy]; 10/22/09, 10:36 PM
David said...: Lee--

You can avoid talking about race if you ignore the issues. Or if you live in some dreamy world where black kids are getting an education that gives them a shot at employment, where young black girls are married when they get pregnant and young black males are not doing crime and going to jail at an alarming rate.

If that is the world our young people have in their minds, they are doing a good job at screening out the unpleasantness. The world we live in has these problems.

IReluctance to talk about race is not a positive development. It's dream worlding.; 10/22/09, 10:41 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I defy any of you to find a better example of the form than this.

The post is your main dish, the comments your dessert.; 10/22/09, 10:43 PM
paul a'barge said...: TraditionalGuy:African American control was a disaster, until the educated younger blacks decided that actually doing their jobs was a better way to live.

Um, ok. So like when does this state commence and like where are examples of it?

Because every place I've been where African-Americans have a large percentage of the population and where the rulers are second, third and fourth generation, young blacks the cities are hopelessly mired in corruption, nepotism and neglect.

And I don't see any young blacks anywhere who are doing anything remotely similar to a good job of governing.

Sacramento, CA and Newark, NJ come to mind.

They don't call it "White Flight" for nothing.; 10/22/09, 10:49 PM
Once written, twice... said...: Obviously David I am referring to older people like Ann who obsess on the issue of race as a topic on to itself. Ann does not posts about race in relation to education, crime, and teenage pregnancy. (BTW, all of those issues also affect white people in great numbers. It is pretty clear that the antecedent issue is poverty.) She, like a lot of older people, has made race the central narrative in their lives. I am just pointing out that young people have "moved on". That is probably a good thing.; 10/22/09, 10:51 PM
knox said...: undermining Charter Schools in the District of Columbia.

This broke my heart when I heard about it. Kids who were lost in the horrible public school system finally had a chance, and he took it away. While sending his his own girls to private school.

...the scandal of poor education for black children to continue.

It's not just black children, but they certainly seem to have it the worst. Just an added insult that it comes from the party who claims to be helping them.; 10/22/09, 10:57 PM
former law student said...: Portland gets the same amount of rain as Chicago, and has as many days of precipitation as Pittsburgh.; 10/22/09, 10:58 PM
knox said...: Since we are on the subject of race, I went to my high school reunion a couple months ago. My class was about 50/50 black/white. The reunion went great, tons of people showed up. We even scheduled an event for next year, instead of waiting another 5 years to get together.

Anyway, a couple weeks later, on Facebook, I noticed on the right margin there were some photos of some friends of mine, so I followed the link. Apparently, there had also been a "Black Only" reunion for my high school that had taken place recently.

That really hurt my feelings. I'm serious. I felt like, "why is that necessary?" Was the mere presence of whites in the room such a hindrance or a drag? Sort of off-topic, I guess, but I kind of felt a little down about it all ever since I saw that. Oh well.; 10/22/09, 11:05 PM
Penny said...: This is a great topic, but not because it appears to show progressives in some cities to be hypocrites. So what.

There are, however, underlying themes of discussion which will become central to our continued prosperity as a nation. One of those themes is managing and planning for increasing diversity, not only because it WILL happen, but because it NEEDS to happen.; 10/22/09, 11:19 PM
former law student said...: One of the key advantages of sending your kids to private schools is that their peers are all children of people who value education so highly they'll shell out big bucks for it.

If, instead, your classmates are there only because the law mandates so many years of education, and because it costs their parents nothing out of pocket, the classroom atmosphere will be lacking in zeal and zest for learning. Any studious kid who happens to end up there will be marginalized as an Urkel (or present-day equivalent).; 10/22/09, 11:29 PM
bagoh20 said...: Am I missing something or is this whole thread really asking: Why do white people create things that white people want?

Living in LA (a diverse incorporation of cities) we have cities run by blacks, some by Hispanics, some by Asians, and some by Whites.
They are mostly the same except for the White run ones. Only the White ones are interested in stuff like bike paths and art districts. When the others develop, they usually build new town halls or police stations. Things that satisfy public employees and provide contracts for unions. The White run areas seem to build what the average citizen wants. I don't know what it means but, that's my observation.

It may be due to where city officials get their power. In minority areas it's usually from connections with public employee unions. In White areas it's business connections and nonunion interest groups.; 10/22/09, 11:55 PM
Methadras said...: L. E. Lee said...

Methadras wrote
"(vulgarities)"

Why do you insist on bring the level of discourse down Methadras?

Well golly darn gosh. I'm just livin' up to yer althouse hillbilly low-class stereotype, hyuk hyuk.; 10/23/09, 12:01 AM
Penny said...: Lee, young people aren't "past" what you consider to be racism. They were TAUGHT to be "colorblind", which is all well and good, providing none grow up to be electricians. Then, of course, colorblindness would be a massive FAIL, and even a life or death issue.

My point is that all of us need to know when it is in our own and our nation's collective best interests to NOT be colorblind.; 10/23/09, 12:34 AM
Titus said...: I live in Cambridge Mass. The most progessive cities in the US.

You can't swing a cat without hitting a black, asian, indian, latino, lezbo, fag, etc.

Yes, there is Harvard and MIT and all the Ivy shit but once you leave those paremeters you are in the United Nations.; 10/23/09, 12:35 AM
Titus said...: I saw two lezbo couples and to mo couples-black holding hands in the supermarket today. I almost puked.

Oh lots of headscarves in my hood.

My husband and I got in a fight tonight but we reconciled. We fight quite a bit.; 10/23/09, 12:38 AM
Titus said...: My husband and I had phone sex tonight.

Tomorrow we are going to Plymouth to see a friend of his from the bank. We are staying at the Danielle Webster Inn. Our honeymoon sweet costs $495.00/night. Plus mannies/peddies/stone message seperate costs natch.

Did I tell you we are gay society?

Plimoth Plantation, the stupid rock, etc.

We are going on a ghost walk-I am scared.; 10/23/09, 12:42 AM
Brian Doyle said...: If you don't count the major cities where liberals like to live, and only count the overwhelmingly white smaller cities, you would still have an idiotic point on your hands. But Austin doesn't even qualify for the latter, being only 65% white.; 10/23/09, 12:46 AM
BJM said...: @chip

Try drizzling a scoop of rich chocolate ice cream with a fruity olive oil, add a dollop of creme fraiche or whipped cream on the side and a sprinkle of flake sea salt for crunch.

The Bi-Rite Creamery in SF created the concept with bergamot flavored olive oil, whipped cream and Maldon salt on their chocolate ice cream...insanely good.

I thought about my immediate neighbors: black, white gay, Vietnamese, black, white, Indian, white, interracial lesbian, Japanese, white. Mostly mid-40's to 60's age demo, which reflects the median home price. Pretty typical for the Berkeley & Oakland Hills so I guess it depends on the city.; 10/23/09, 12:46 AM
Michael Haz said...: @Chip Try a few squirts of fresh lemon juice on vanilla ice cream. Tastes much, much better than the idea sounds.

I drizzle balsamic vinegar on ice cream, but only after reducing the vinegar by 2/3rds, then cooling it.; 10/23/09, 5:53 AM
Roger J. said...: New Orleans, Memphis and Detroit--what do these cities have in common?; 10/23/09, 5:57 AM
Michael Haz said...: @freemanhunt - the comments were hilarious! Such incredible guilt!; 10/23/09, 5:59 AM
Peter V. Bella said...: Andrew Sullivan will probably post something about this thread. You know, "Ann Althouse should not be allowed own a major league curling team because she does not delete "racist posts."; 10/23/09, 6:49 AM
campy said...: Angostura Bitters are also very good on vanilla ice cream.; 10/23/09, 7:00 AM
jaed said...: Portland gets the same amount of rain as Chicago, and has as many days of precipitation as Pittsburgh.

Portland is foggy and overcast even on days where it doesn't rain. (Where I went to school, the student body funded the "Sunny Day Keg", which was brought out whenever the sun showed itself during the school year. It was not all that large a budget item. When the sun comes out between October and May, you notice, because it's not the normal state.)

The number of inches of precipitation isn't the half of it.; 10/23/09, 8:12 AM
Michael said...: I know, I often think that if Obama visited my strongly for Obama north side Chicago neighborhood, he'd be the only black person who wasn't the adopted child of lesbians on the block.

That's the new diversity....; 10/23/09, 8:58 AM
Strayhorn said...: I'm proud that Chapel Hill is catching up with Austin, Portland, et al, by the simple expedient of taxing out the last remaining black neighborhood, Northside.

Who knew that the taxman could be more effective than the Klansman? Progress!; 10/23/09, 9:00 AM
TosaGuy said...: LE Lee said:
"Obviously David I am referring to older people like Ann who obsess on the issue of race as a topic on to itself. Ann does not posts about race in relation to education, crime, and teenage pregnancy. (BTW, all of those issues also affect white people in great numbers. It is pretty clear that the antecedent issue is poverty.) She, like a lot of older people, has made race the central narrative in their lives. I am just pointing out that young people have "moved on". That is probably a good thing."

I am in my late 30s and I largely agree with you. I have some very liberal middle-age white friends who insert race into everything and drop the racist charge instantly in a debate. They do not comprehend that there are lots of younger folks, who because they have been around after the Civil Rights movement, don't see the need to inject race into everything. These older folks do not buy that argument and proceed along with the myopic worldview.; 10/23/09, 9:17 AM
TosaGuy said...: You can break down the White City thing with regard to many Midwestern cities also. The northern part of Milwaukee is divided by the Milwaukee River and the east side of the river is trendy, hip. "progressive" and white. They also like the concept of black people....they like them even better when they stay on the west side of the river.; 10/23/09, 9:25 AM
Colorado guy said...: Most progressive city in Colorado: ASPEN; 10/23/09, 9:50 AM
C R Krieger said...: Is this about being "white" or about being WASP-like? Wasn't there a book out about 15 years ago titled How the Irish Became White? I find myself interacting with first and second generation people from India—my primary care physician, the chap that runs the local convenience store and the manager of the motel I just stayed at. In my mind they all have those attributes we might associate with WASPness. And, in my community, with 20% Cambodians, the same for the Asians.

Maybe the argument isn't over White and Black, or liberal (progressive) and whatever, but over acceptance of some WASP-like approach to life versus a rejection of that approach due to its flaws and failures. And those flaws and failures are issues that should not be swept under the rug.

I write this as an Irish descendent R/C with a Northern WASP-like view of the United States.

Regards — Cliff; 10/23/09, 9:52 AM
Balfegor said...: Re: L.E.Lee:

I employ a fair number of young people. (I am in my early 40s myself.) I notice that they never talk about race.

The fact that young people don't talk about race with their employer isn't really a good guide to what young people think about re: race. I mean, regardless of my opinions on race, there's a time and place for that kind of discussion, and the workplace is neither the time nor the place.

In general, I would guess young people -- at least those who grow up in places like California -- are hyper-attuned to racial differences, because they have been brought up to pay close attention to that kind of thing, to be attentive to what can be said to whom, in what way, using what words, in what situations. For the most part, I don't think they (Whites, at least) care much about racial distinctions in and of themselves, but they know perfectly well that they have to be careful about what they say and how they say it. They think about race all the time. They have to.; 10/23/09, 9:53 AM
Hey said...: Freeman - Love isn't enough is HILARIOUS!!!

From a commenter, explaining how her explicitly racist actions have good intentions "For sure, I sometimes wish we had more, because it does facilitate leaning moments, and I have made a choice to favour certain reference-able professionals (choosing the Asian dentists over the white ones in the practice, for example, and in fact choosing a multicultural preactice as opposed to an overwhelmingly white one). However, although I wish I had some Black friends, I wouldn’t go out of my way to make get some in my address book. It’s just too weird."

BEYOND parody. I though SWPL was a joke...; 10/23/09, 10:02 AM
John Richardson said...: The whitest person I ever knew in Chapel Hill was black. He was from Hattiesburg, Mississippi and put the frat boys to shame.; 10/23/09, 10:03 AM
Hey said...: As to Private School being racist - in DC, of course. But in most situations it isn't, since everyone's made the racist decision to move to the nice suburb neighborhood (i.e. very pricey and only Bill Cosby/Colin Powell blacks allowed). Private School is an explicit rejection of the fundamentally incompetent and corrupt Teachers' Unions even when they're running segregated schools.

Sidwell is for people who have to live in DC proper but don't hate their children. Hardly any Rs since they don't face the same stigma for living in suburban VA.

Lee - we ridicule Dems for Sidwell because they don't practice what they preach. Of course no President should send the kids to DC public schools, but they and their supporters should stop acting so self righteous as advocates for public schools when they select such tightly districted areas to happen to live in. New Trier being a great example of a school that's only nominally public, especially compared to Robeson High (1/7 girls pregnant! go Sluts!) a supposedly equally public HS in Chicagoland.; 10/23/09, 10:10 AM
Charlie said...: Race is secondary to this particular analysis. Has more to do with the way America is segmented by value/lifestyle cohorts. We're a lot more complex now than the upper-, middle- and lower-class breakdown of my youth, and the races are well distributed (not equally, of course, but well) among all the new cohorts.

Countless overtures by those of a progressive mindset to black communities, for instance, were rebuffed with Get yo' hippy asses outta here. We'll do it our way. Still, some blacks crossed over and fit right in to the culture of Amherst, Austin, Palo Alto or even Sedona just as in Ft Worth, Elko or Laramie you'll see black cowboys.

On the flipside, while most of the xenophiliacs I've known have been progressives, some of the progressive parents of my acquaintance were every bit as concerned about their kids' cross-racial contacts as the worst of the Southern parents I was raised around--only more awkward given that one of their values is to closely embrace civil rights.

If you analyze a vibrant scene like Austin, you've got 3% music/media/literary glitterati, 3% faculty, political and colorful types and 3% monied hangers on. Below that is an equally large group of those who make it work--club, restaurant and boutique owners and other entrepreneurial types. Then there's a group as large as the previous two that finances Sixth Street, Whole Foods, South Congress and other hangouts.

That's the distinctive life of the town. The other 60% could be living in Oshkosh or wherever.; 10/23/09, 10:20 AM
John Fischer said...: Philly here. Perhaps limited exposure to black people explains why they fall for Obama's phony "black" accent. [My apologies to fellow native John McWhorter, who I contradict at great risk on such matters.]; 10/23/09, 10:54 AM
paul a'barge said...: As usual Freeman Hunt buries the ball in the net!; 10/23/09, 11:02 AM
Denny, Alaska said...: One should read Henning Mankell's "Inspector Wallender" police procedural series for a cut-to-the-chase view of modern Sweden/Scandinavia. The ideal of diversity gets stood on its head.; 10/23/09, 11:09 AM
Unknown said...: > cross-racial contacts as the worst of the Southern parents I was raised around--only

You seem to be implying that southern = bad, I can see bigotry is alive and well.; 10/23/09, 11:54 AM
Michael McNeil said...: Who knew that the taxman could be more effective than the Klansman? Progress!

Daniel Webster and John Marshall knew it. McCulloch v. Maryland: “That the power to tax involves the power to destroy [is] not to be denied.”; 10/23/09, 12:48 PM
M. Simon said...: David,

America is not soft on drugs. We have lots and lots of blacks, lots of Hispanics, and not to many whites (relative to population) in prison for drugs.

And yet using and dealing are relatively evenly distributed relative to race.

And why is that? Well if the Drug War was prosecuted equitably according to race white people wouldn't stand for it.

Police instinctively know that and act accordingly.; 10/23/09, 1:36 PM
Phil 314 said...: I can't wait for the day when this phrase is no longer used:
people of color

WV: casio. Yeah, what of it! It was cheap!; 10/23/09, 2:55 PM
Balfegor said...: I can't wait for the day when this phrase is no longer used:
people of color.

I hate that phrase myself, it's like fingernails on a sanctimonious chalkboard. Sounds entirely too much like "coloured people," for my tastes. I can't believe there are people who think that locution is appropriate.; 10/23/09, 3:03 PM
former law student said...: Perhaps limited exposure to black people explains why they fall for Obama's phony "black" accent.

Growing up in Hawaii, Obama likely learned to be a deft code switcher -- unlike his classmates, his grandparents were unlikely to be fluent in pidgin, right brah? Thus he would have learned early to adjust his speech to fit in.

Same when he hit Chicago. To avoid appearing as if his shit didn't stink, he would shade his speech to be more like his new associates'. Imagine Alistair Cooke joining your bowling team. "Hello chaps, shall we have a pint of ale?"

Fairly universally among English speakers, women tend to speak more poshly, properly, grammatically, while men talk less properly and with more of an accent, so that they seem one of the guys.; 10/23/09, 4:25 PM
jvermeer51 said...: I lived in Seattle for 30 years. The progressive racism is actually worse than portrayed in the article. While Seattle is majority white, its school are majority non-white. When progressive parents enlarge their carbon footprint with children, they either flee to the yuppie burbs (Montlake Terrace or Bellevue, not Renton or Tukwila) or use private schools. Bill Gates, for instance, went to private Lakeside High.; 10/23/09, 6:45 PM
George Bruce said...: I think black people who escape from Portland should be brought back in chains and forced to accept some type of affirmative action position. States like Texas or Georgia should be forced to cooperate with Oregon authorities in returning the escapees.; 10/23/09, 9:13 PM
George Bruce said...: "And yet using and dealing are relatively evenly distributed relative to race."

heheh, there is a made to order factoid. It doesn't matter if it is true, it feels right to think it.; 10/23/09, 9:20 PM
Kev said...: As usual Freeman Hunt buries the ball in the net!

When I first read that, I though of tennis instead of basketball, and I thought Paul was slamming Freeman, LOL.

BTW, Freeman, I thought the site was hilarious as well, even if unintentionally so.; 10/24/09, 1:25 AM
Kev said...: I can't wait for the day when this phrase is no longer used:
people of color

Agreed, for the reasons stated above, and one more: What does that make the rest of us--people of pallor?; 10/24/09, 1:29 AM
Charlotta said...: Don't you sicken of talking in terms of progressives and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, people if color and pale faces? We can go on in circles about this for decades, pointing fingers at what each side has done wrong. We call ourselves a Christian nation. Does this not mean that compassion should be highly regarded? Were we not instructed to love our neighbor as we love ourselves? Who is our neighbor? Only those who look, sound, and act as we do? I like to think that in the Christian spirit it means moving myself beyond my limits - expanding my notion of neighbor, my breadth and depth of caring for my fellow human beings. What does it mean that St Augustine says the order of priority is God, my soul, my neighbor's soul, my body? How do I move and talk in the world from a place of love instead of hate? How do we move the dialogue from what's in it for me to how can I be of service to my fellow human beings?; 5/6/11, 1:28 PM
Charlotta said...: I would like to retract the comment I submitted. I would want that we live in a world that is different but it is simply not so. Please remove my comments.; 5/6/11, 1:50 PM