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

[Lisa Kuntz (lisa.kuntz]

I appreciate these thoughtful replies, which are in line with what I've
learned in a bunch of different classes and study groups.

Notice, not first-hand from convos with POC, except when they are leading
groups!

If we could suddenly have a community that was 50% POC of color, it might
be easier for POC to feel that they were welcome and living in our
community would be a viable choice.

Trying to build racial diversity gradually means that we would have to hope
that someone who fit our ideal of diversity, racial or otherwise, were able
to purchase every unit that became available. As it is, we work hard simply
to attract potential buyers who genuinely understand and want to live in
cohousing and can afford it.

Creating a racially diverse community from the ground up, from the time of
selling the first unit, would be an interesting experiment, but as it is,
we have to be very mindful of Fair Housing laws.  We can't turn some people
away in order to wait for others who meet certain criteria. We have to
treat everyone the same.

Cohousing in general easily attracts people with diverse sexual
orientations, because cohousing communities can be a sanctuary for LGBTQ
individuals.  That is a different type of diversity that may not be obvious
and often happens word-of-mouth.

I think that building racial and economic diversity, and even age diversity
are big challenges, because they may be based on factors out of our control.

*Lisa K*
*Membership Team*
*Daybreak Cohousing*



On Sat, Feb 18, 2023 at 6:56 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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> >
> >
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