Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: What is diversity really?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

One of the problems of incorporating minority populations in cohousing  
is that cohousing is a minority. For a minority to link up with a  
minority is a double whammy -- it doubles the minority status. It's  
hard enough to be the only one. To be the only one in a group of only  
ones is not what most people are looking for.

Years ago when as a parent of young children I helped start a  
cooperative school for children it was close to impossible to attract  
minority parents at all. Practically all of our recruitment efforts  
were directed at minority communities and we located the school near  
neighborhoods where there were large numbers of minority households  
with children. We finally got two, one Hispanic and one African  
American, both single parents.

The parent dropped out because the son wanted to go to a "normal"  
school and the parent wanted to be  part of a "real" PTA. The parent  
was very apologetic but that was what was important to a minority  
parent.

The other parent never lifted a finger to do any work as required in a  
cooperative, paid no tuition (we had a sliding scale with a  
practically zero bottom), and left as soon as the son was old enough  
for public school. The parent never appeared in the school. The parent  
of another child in the school picked the son and took him home every  
day, keeping him after school until the parent returned from work.

There were several other African American, Hispanic, and Asian  
children in the school but their parents were all from majority  
populations.

That experience taught me a lot about how much, or how little, is  
possible in building a culturally diverse organization of any kind.  
After all, being a European American would I like being recruited to  
provide diversity in a mostly Hispanic or African American or Asian  
organization?

Income diversity was much more easily achieved. People with widely  
varying incomes can be of the same social class and share the same  
values.

Education levels, as hard as cultural diversity. People with high  
school educations rarely want to live in a community of college  
educated people.

Political diversity? Forget it.

Social class? Forget it. Values and world view are too disparate.

Religious diversity? Only if people are not overtly observant.

Diversity is very hard to live with -- for everyone.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Sociocracy, a Deeper Democracy
http://www.sociocracy.info