Full disclosure. I am white and don’t live in Philly. In
some people’s minds these two facts alone disqualify me from saying anything
meaningful about race in Philadelphia. I very
much would like to live in Philadelphia, but for various reasons my wife and I have decided to live in the western suburbs. The fact that we are white and middle class gives us the freedom to make
choices about where we will live that others do not have. I fully recognize
these realities and recognize that these alone could discredit anything I might
say on the matter.
However, let me also point out that while I do not live in
Philly, I spend a great deal of my time in West Philadelphia working on issues
of racial reconciliation, economic justice and gun violence prevention alongside
people of many of races and cultures. I am part of city wide groups like
NewCORE (New Conversations on Race and Ethnicity) and POWER (Philadelphians
Organized for Witness, Empowerment and Rebuilding) multi-racial groups
addressing issues of racial and economic disparity in the city. I also teach
courses on race and ethnic relations and social justice at a local college. So
I have some credibility; yet the very fact I must list these credentials betrays
the delicacy with which issues of race and class must be approached in our society.
Having said all of this, I have been somewhat surprised by
the controversy created by Philadelphia
Magazine’s recent article “Being White in Philly.” The article largely
focuses on the experiences and perspectives of middle class white folks in a
section of the city known as Brewerytown. Last fall one of my students wrote a
community analysis paper about Brewerytown and concluded that there was clear
divide of race and class that existed on either side of the Poplar and Girard
Avenues in the neighborhood. “Being White in Philly” largely illustrates the
accuracy of my student’s analysis. If there was a flaw in the article it was
not the stories of white experience, but rather that the article should have
been entitled “Being White in a Part of Philly” or better yet “The Experience
of Some Whites in One Part of Philly.” Nonetheless, Brewerytown is not the only
neighborhood in the city experiencing the division of race and class that is
described in the article.
The negative reaction to the article seems to imply that the
author, Richard Huber, was presenting the white perspective (and therefore the definitive
perspective) on race relations in Philadelphia. I must confess that I did not
read it that way. The article does not capture the experiences of all whites in
Philly, but it does describe the perspective of some whites. This perspective is
often not voiced precisely because of the reaction like that of Mayor Michael
Nutter, who in a public letter to the Philadelphia Human Relations Commissionaccused the Philadelphia Magazine of “[sinking]
to a new low,” propagating “disparaging beliefs, the negative stereotypes, the
ignorant typically and historically ascribed to African Americans citizens” and
putting forth “a collection of these despicable, over-generalized, mostly
anonymous assumptions.” The mayor ‘s reaction lends weight to Huber’s observation
that “Everyone might have a race story, but few whites risk the third-rail
danger of speaking publicly about race, given the long, troubled history of
race relations in this country and even more so in this city.” In response to
the criticism put forth by the mayor and others, Philadelphia Magazine’s editor admitted that the article had flaws and
did not provide enough context, while at the same time pointing out, “We by no
means were trying to do a definitive take on race relations in Philadelphia. We
set out to do this from one particular point of view.” To mention the issue of
race in an article does not make either the author, the magazine or the people
who shared their experience racist. Rather it is to share their perspective
regardless of how skewed or limited it might be.
My point is this: bringing up the issue of race does not
make one racist. Sharing one’s perspective does not make one racist. Racism is
not only about the words one uses, but also the way in which power and
resources are disproportionately allocated along lines of race and class. Racism
is built into the very fabric of our society and city, such that those who are
often most often marginalized and disadvantaged by public policies and
practices are people of color. Racism is built into the policies and practices
of government, business, education and health care regardless of the race of
those who happen to be making the decisions or speaking out on those issues.
The fact of the matter is that in Philadelphia the
disparities that exist often do fall along race lines. At the same time both some
of the most privileged as well as the most victimized citizens in the city are
people of color. While black on white crime may be a problem in places like
Brewerytown, black on black crime is a far greater issue in many parts of the
city. While persons of color occupy the offices of the Mayor, Police Commission,
Superintendent of Schools, and many of the major city, state and national
political offices, those who suffer the most from the recent tax reassessment, unemployment,
school closings and gun-related incidents are also persons of color. Racism
goes far deeper than the experiences of a few white people in one section of
the city.
While my experiences do not reflect the experiences of those
depicted in the article, I know whites who share the perspective of those cited
in the story. At the same, those same white folks whose houses have been
vandalized or who have mugged by persons of color will often in the next breath say that they wish that the
assailant had not been a person of color. They recognize that often the crime
and violence they experienced is more about poverty and lack of opportunity
than race. They recognize that persons of color are victimized as much or more
than they are.
Talking about being white in Philly for many folks is a
delicate and sensitive issue. However, if there is to be meaningful discussion
about race and racism in Philadelphia or in the United States in general, all
voices and all perspectives must be allowed without being disparaged out of
hand.
