Wrestling with Fort Greene's Transformation
In a first-person piece in The Times this weekend, artist Nelson George laments how Fort Greene has changed since he and his black artist contemporaries put down roots in the leafy brownstone neighborhood more than two decades ago. We’re interested to hear how the essay struck readers. What we thought was missing from the article…
In a first-person piece in The Times this weekend, artist Nelson George laments how Fort Greene has changed since he and his black artist contemporaries put down roots in the leafy brownstone neighborhood more than two decades ago. We’re interested to hear how the essay struck readers. What we thought was missing from the article was an acknowledgment of the current generation of black artists and intellectuals in the neighborhood and how they feel about the composition of the neighborhood. A mention of a place like Madiba where the diversity of the area is on full display, for example, would have added some valuable context for his discussions of the clientele at the Brooklyn Moon. Then again, this wasn’t meant to have been anything more than one man’s coming to terms with the changes around him. Thoughts?
Fort Greene: Strangers on His Street [NY Times]
Photo by niznoz
Yeah Boofer, isn’t all about assumptions and as you say perceived experience?
Gentleman A assumed you didn’t want to sit next to him because he was black. Had this happened to him before? who knows?
Woman B clutches her purse when I walk by because I look black/latino blah blah blah and might mug her. Has she been mugged before? who knows.
How about we all just get over it and move on.
I liked Nelson George’s piece in the Times and think, as others, that it was as much a commentary about aging and sense of place, as about race specifically. In the Philadelphia of my childhood, I remember a distinct Jewish community that had little to do with anything except my family and relatives and the places they inhabited. And yet when I walk in some areas of that city today, I’m overwhelmed by a sense of Jewish life that is completely at odds with what I see on the street. In any place we’ve lived in, we overlay our past in a way that skews the present reality. That said, I have lived in Fort Greene since 2000, Park Slope for a decade before that. The changes here are bewildering and so fast. I sometimes feel caught between the outsider I felt myself to be 9 years ago–for completely racial reasons, and in a way I never expected (and perhaps I was naive)–and the outsider I feel today–where did all those expensive strollers come from? I have never lived in a place that is so conscious of racial issues, a place in which I’m constantly testing my reactions to events to make sure I’m not seeing them through an overly race-conscious lens.
But still–I am one of those white women who does glance at the people I see on the street. When I see someone who looks like Nelson George, I relax. If I see a group of teenagers who are using intimidating body-language, I don’t relax. It’s natural to check out the people we see on the street–it’s why crime victims are often those who are using ipods/phones; they’re not checking out the people they see.
As for the topic of race in the neighborhood, I don’t know. Keep talking?
Ok quick anecdote to illustrate my point and I’m out.
A few months ago I was on the G train. A group of people get on and sit next to me. They happen to be black. A woman also gets on who is very pregnant so I get up so she can sit down. When she gets off I don’t sit back down cause I’m getting off at the next stop. The man I had been originally sitting next to starts loudly talking about how I don’t wanna sit next to him because he’s black and how every time he gets on the train it’s the same thing. White women afraid of the black man blah blah blah. I was infuriated because it was obviously untrue but I did not give him the satisfaction of a response.
Sometimes these feelings do come from experience but can also come from a perceived experience.
I worked with this Haitian architect for several years. At one point his family got a cat from the pound. He said he thought the cat was racist because it kept running and hiding when they came near it. I think he was dead serious, too.
no need for sympathy, many others have dealt with much worse and everyone goes through some sort of issues, especially during childhood/adolescence.
Boofer brought up a great point-
“I’m just saying if you have the idea in your mind that white women are afraid of you…any reaction they have to you can be perceived as a sign of fear whether it is or it isn’t.”
I did get to a point where I was starting to see “the fear” everywhere. Then I just couldn’t be bothered worrying about it all the time. OK, all done now
Pierre, please translate
“la vie la est toujours dure “
FSRQ, I agree strangers are entitled to their opinions. However, these behaviors extend to local shop keepers as well. I remember going to Thirst a few weeks after it opened. We were having a party and my wife sent me for wine. There were a half dozen patrons and 2 people working the store. I was greeted as I came in and proceeded to walk around trying to find a wine I was familiar with. By no means am I’m not a wine expert, in fact all i could remember was Yellow Tail and I walked around looking for the label.
Walking… Walking.. Walking I don’t see Yellow Tail anywhere. All the while the 2 workers can’t take their eyes off me. Half dozen patrons, some looking for assistance, and all the workers could do was fixate on me. By now I realized something else. My wife sent me to the store saying that I shouldn’t have to spend more than $30 for 2 bottles of wine. However, there was a problem, none of the bottles or racks had prices on them. Lots of fanciful descriptions, but no prices.. At no time did they ever ask to assist me and frankly left potential customers waiting unnecessarily while they keep a watchful eye on me.
Now I’m guilty of being a cheapskate, but I’m no criminal. Forgive me for not wanting to spend $40 for a bottle of wine for a bunch a of folks that will be too sloshed to know the difference. But, I don’t think that should have warranted the level of negative attention I received from the a new business trying to make it in Fort Greeene. That was a huge turn-off for me and I took my business over to the liquor store on Vanderbilt where they gladly let me behind the glass. It seems they have no problem telling the difference between the good guys and the bad guys…. And they actually had the Yellow Tail I was looking for.
You repeat these types of experiences over and over, and it’s easy to see why some people don’t feel welcome.
True bxgrl – but if the only manifestation of racism is that solo women are scared of random strangers on dark streets then it wouldnt be – IMHO
Troy thanks and our sympathies as well..la vie la est toujours dure 🙁
racism is a real issue and a real problem, fsrq.