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

[Elizabeth Magill (pastorliz]

> I find that queer communities often create a strong support system  
> in the midst of a majority culture. Perhaps this leads to less  
> diversity in co-housing? Perhaps people of color are less likely to  
> seek co-housing community for these
>  reasons?

In my efforts to find out more about diversity in cohousing this is  
the most common reason given for the largely absent racial diversity.

And there may be some truth to it. However, I'm uncomfortable as a  
white person pronouncing a guess as to why "they" don't join "us". I  
do believe we've created a society where white people and people of  
color don't often travel in the same circles, so creating a racially  
diverse community requires more than a group of whites saying "you  
are all welcome". It requires reaching out into places we don't often  
hang out.

One data point I DO have is that the friends I have that are people  
of color are actually just like me in the striving to find community.  
The stereotype that all people of color have a strong support system  
among other people of color is just that... a stereotype. It may  
indeed be true for more people of color than for whites, but for each  
individual person it may not be true.
And the stereotype then becomes a barrier for us... keeping us from  
inviting the people of color we know to join us, because we assume  
that they already have community.

So I guess I'd say, I don't know. Perhaps we should ask more people.
-Liz
(The Rev.) Elizabeth M. Magill
Mosaic Commons
A few more homes available!
Join us!
www.sawyerhill.org



On Sep 5, 2008, at 1:00 PM, naomi meyer wrote:

> As potential cohousers our multi-racial family considers ethnic  
> diversity a priority as we seek out a community. While visiting &  
> researching communities we've been pondering some theories as to  
> why there is not as much diversity in cohousing.
>
> The general aim of cohousing is to create community.  I think  
> minorities in a majority culture , specifically people of color,   
> do a better job of creating and maintaining community out of  
> necessity. In my experience it's not uncommon to have multi  
> generational families or even extended family (cousins, kinship,  
> etc) as a part of a person of color's close family community. I  
> think it is a strong cultural aspect of minority communities. In my  
> personal experience as a member of a minority group as a queer  
> person, I find that queer communities often create a strong support  
> system in the midst of a majority culture. Perhaps this leads to  
> less diversity in co-housing? Perhaps people of color are less  
> likely to seek co-housing community for these
>  reasons?
>
> What do you think?
>
> Naomi
> (Still narrowing down our cohousing community choices)
>
>
>
>
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