Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: "Like-Minded"

[Elaine (itchyink]

Sometimes i think being 'like-minded' (although not in the racist sense you
bring up) is a detraction for me in cohousing. In my community everyone is
white, highly intelligent, middle to upper class, very lefty/green, etc.
Sounds like a dream come true to live with people like me but lately i've
been missing my old neighborhood in Oakland, Calif. Are there any genuinely
diverse communities out there? Would they work?
Elaine 
-- 
Natural parenting products for conception through weaning:
www.uniquebabyboutique.com/?elainefawcett


> From: Sharon Villines <sharon [at] sharonvillines.us>
> Reply-To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2003 10:57:35 -0400
> To: "cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
> Subject: [C-L]_"Like-Minded"
> 
> 
> On 8/22/2003 1:49 PM, "The CoHousing Company" <coho [at] cohousingco.com> 
> wrote:
> 
>> There will be an opportunity to ask questions and to meet like-minded people
>> considering cohousing.
> 
> "Like-minded" was a code word in the 1950s for segregation. It was used to
> identify those who politely but firmly protected the rights of whites
> against crude black interlopers who did not know their station in life. It
> was used by people who avoided the words "white Christian supremacy" but
> that was what they believed and meant. For many of us who were old enough to
> experience such things in the 1950s, this is not only an immediate red flag,
> but a stab in the heart and a slap in the face. "Like-minded" does not feel
> like a good thing.
> 
> I mention this here because I see the phrase so  often on cohousing
> websites, etc.  While many people are not familiar with this history and
> certainly do not intend it to mean "restricted -- no blacks or Jews
> allowed", it still conveys a kind of thinking most of us do not want
> associated with cohousing.
> 
> Perhaps we want like-mindedness in the desire for community or in the belief
> that living in an old-fashioned neighborhood is a better way to live. Or a
> like-mindedness in the design of residential architecture. Or
> like-mindedness in wanting to live in an ecologically responsible community.
> 
> But cohousing is not really about "like-mindedness".  Even if we remember to
> use this adjective more carefully and precisely, the point of cohousing is
> not to ferret out those who think like we do and exclude those who don't.
> While we could use this language more precisely, it still gives the wrong
> impression of what "we" are all about.
> 
> Sharon
> -- 
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
> 
> 
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