Re: A very moving portrayal of the diversity element most difficult to include in cohousing | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Crystal Farmer (crystalbyrdfarmer![]() |
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Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2016 10:10:45 -0800 (PST) |
Hi David, Though I represent Charlotte Cohousing, I live in Gaston County which was used by Five Thirty Eight as a picture of the white working class. It is certainly possible to connect and build relationships with them, and even to understand their perspective! I do that just by listening. It may be hard not to interject and argue about facts, but you even have to realize they operate from a different set of facts. So you won't get very far if you have the intention of having a discussion about politics or policy. Where you will connect is learning about their family, where they work, and how life has been for them. Do they like their kids' schools? Have they been laid off again? (We have a local auto plant that goes through the cycles). If you want to talk about cohousing, ask about their neighborhood. Do they live in a particular part of town that your Realtors avoid showing? Have you ever been there? But do they like their neighbors, do they feel a sense of community, and are they happy? I think the answers to those questions will make you think. For me it has inspired a lot of wondering about "affordable" housing for people traditionally excluded from the real estate market. Crystal Farmer Charlotte Cohousing Community Message: 5 Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2016 13:30:48 -0500 From: David Heimann <heimann [at] theworld.com> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org Subject: [C-L]_ A very moving portrayal of the diversity element most difficult to include in cohousing Message-ID: <Pine.SGI.4.61.1611301311310.4390983 [at] shell01.theworld.com> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Hello Everyone, Recently we've been having a thread about diversity in cohousing and understanding people not in our own culture. A lot of the discussion has centered around diversities such as people of color, LGBT, immigrants, disabled people, etc. However, there is one diversity we in cohousing haven't mentioned much and whom we ignore at our peril -- white "working-class" without a college education, especially those in the Midwest, Appalachia, and the South, and especially men. Nathaniel Rich has written a book reporting on an extensive study he has conducted of this group of people. He has not only investigated them but also has lived among them, gaining incredible understanding. I read the following article about Rich's work in the New York Review of Books, www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/11/10/american-right-inside-the-sacrifice-zone , and am floored by the haunting picture he draws. Haunting not just for white rural working-class people (especially men), but also for the rest of us, considering the way the election and its atmosphere has gone and what that portends. >From what Rich describes, it is possible (at least by my mind) to really understand and connect with them, but gosh is it difficult! It requires a totally different mind set than I have and that I assume most on this list have! Do you, dear readers and fellow cohousers, have thoughts on how best to do so? And especially those on this list who are white working-class rural folks or have such among your family and close friends, can you share your perspective? Not only cohousing depends on bridging this diversity, but the health of country does as well! Yours in *full* diversity, David Heimann Jamaica Plain Cohousing
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A very moving portrayal of the diversity element most difficult to include in cohousing David Heimann, November 30 2016
- Re: A very moving portrayal of the diversity element most difficult to include in cohousing Tiffany Lee Brown, November 30 2016
- Re: A very moving portrayal of the diversity element most difficult to include in cohousing Mary Baker, Solid Communications, December 4 2016
- Re: A very moving portrayal of the diversity element most difficult to include in cohousing Crystal Farmer, December 1 2016
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