This post is going to get me in trouble.
Last week I had an email exchange with a blogger of a different ilk, whom I consider a friend. He had asked me about my impression of the accusation that racism was a factor in the Anti-WFH movement in Southern New Castle County.
I told him that I knew for a fact that Penrose Hollins thought that racism was the motivation of many of the people at the Workforce Housing meeting last month. I know this because Penrose told me. I said that I agree that there were certainly people at that meeting that expressed concern about “those people” moving in.
Then this weekend I had a conversation with a friend of a friend that I saw at the meeting and he buttonholed me for a few minutes to discuss the current goings-on in workforce housing, namely that my prediction is coming true, that there have been several new applications since that meeting, that will not be effected by a moratorium. Out of this conversation, I saw the future.
The guy I was speaking to (we’ll call him Bernie) was discussing the unfortunate issue that there are only 2 Councilmen in Southern NCC, and the other 11 are largely in areas that will be minimally effected by the program.
“Exactly,” He said. “And when that…” and he looked around to see who was behind him.
I knew what was coming, but I couldn’t say anything. I hoped that I was wrong. I hoped that he would veer off course, or that someone that would moderate his behavior was in sight. “That nigger…”
I am certain that he completed his sentence, but I couldn’t hear it, because some part of my brain was spasming. I stopped him. “Bernie, never use that word around me again. It is not OK.
“Furthermore, everytime you use that word or a substitute for it, like ‘those people,’ you lose another battle in the war to stop Workforce Housing. When you say ‘those people’ it doesn’t matter if you mean African-Americans or not, that is what people will think you mean.”
He seemed to understand for a second. Then he said, “It’s not just black people, I don’t want the Spanish coming in either.” It was then that I understood.
You see, the old adage that it only takes a few bad apples to ruin the whole batch is true. There only have to be a few people that have racism as a motivation to stop this poorly implemented program. After a few meetings with racist overtones, people with valid, rational and legal reasons to oppose the program will stop going to the meetings. They won’t want to be branded with that label, so they will let it go.
And the developers will live happily ever after.