Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Racial Diversity in Cohousing

[Kathleen Lowry (kathleenlowrylpcclmft]

Yes, as a white person,  I would love to live in a largely or entirely  black 
community- great culture in my mind. I know many whites who would like that. 
But white peoples  haven’t exactly earned the trust of people of color. 

> On Feb 18, 2023, at 8:55 AM, Kathleen Lowry <kathleenlowrylpcclmft [at] 
> gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Yes, that is my understanding. And the white culture lacks the”I have your 
> back- don’t have to ask” norm and other nice-to-have cultural norms that 
> cultures of color often have (or so I’ve witnessed and been told.). Small 
> sample though. 
> 
>> On Feb 18, 2023, at 8:46 AM, Zev Paiss <zevpaiss [at] gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Friends,
>> While I applaud the desire to have racial diversity in our Cohousing 
>> communities, what is required for this to happen is typically far beyond the 
>> ability (or comfort level) of most current residents or development 
>> professionals. I do not say this lightly as diversity is something I have 
>> worked to achieve for the past 30 years.
>> 
>> Racial diversity appears to be a desire of the mostly white upper middle 
>> class college educated residents. Why is that?
>> 
>> I worked on a Denver Cohousing project many years ago where low income 
>> residents were the primary demographic. A comment from a black pastor 
>> highlighted the challenge. When white folks think of diversity, they imagine 
>> having at least one black, Hispanic, and Asian household in their community 
>> to help satisfy their desire for racial diversity. From the perspective of 
>> the black community they would begin with 50% black households and go from 
>> there. I am curious how us lilly white residents would feel living in a 
>> cohousing neighborhood where 50% of your neighbors are black, use language 
>> you might consider offensive. (Yo nigga wass up?) and sharing meals where 
>> vegan and vegetarian options are nowhere to be seen?
>> 
>> As much as we would like to add this kind of diversity I do not see existing 
>> coho residents being up for the task. My opinion only.
>> 
>> Zev Paiss
>> Nomad Cohousing, Founding Member
>> Boulder, CO
>> 720-232-3826
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>>