Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: New diversity statement

[Tiffany Lee Brown (magdalen23]

Thanks for responding. From your personal perspective, would it be welcoming, 
nice, or useful if a mostly white community specified something like, "Our 
residents come from many backgrounds and ethnicities, but overall we are not as 
diverse as the population of our city. We would love to change that and are 
actively recruiting applicants in communities of color." Or is that ugly 
tokenism?

Pardon my cluelessness... I'm pretty darned pasty white in all sorts of ways. 

Crystal, thank you for taking the time to educate and share with people like 
me. I really appreciate it.

Tiffany 

Sent from the far shores of a distant land

> On Sep 20, 2016, at 2:56 PM, Crystal Farmer <crystalbyrdfarmer [at] 
> gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> I'm responding to Tiffany's request to respond to the new statement as a
> person of color. I've already said a lot on this topic. The statement says
> to me, "There are no black people here. If they are, they certainly aren't
> 'black' black." Despite the statistics, and even after reading that other
> groups have had it bad, I still believe diversity should be spelled out and
> actively welcomed. Instead of addressing the lack of racial diversity,
> Takoma Village wants you to know there are early birds in their community.
> 
> I'll add a new thought: when people are not used to addressing something,
> it feels like "too much" or stating the obvious when you say you welcome
> all races and backgrounds. It may feel tiresome to acknowledge that you are
> open. You think, "I've never had a problem with another race." But we in
> the minority have met many people with a problem. Reading a statement that
> is clear and explicit is like a breath of fresh air. I'll still reserve
> judgment until I see if their actions reflect their words, but at least I
> feel acknowledged.
> 
> Crystal Farmer
> Charlotte Cohousing Community
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