..about the Neighborhood Project

August, 1997

I have seen your posts regarding demographic information on the Usenet newsgroups and was wondering why you were interested in such information. There are not too many people who have reviewed such demographic and census information as thoroughly as you have and it seems that your work is still continuing. Curious minds want to know. Take care and stay focused.

There are a number of reasons but I'll try to be succinct.

#1. Publicizing this information helps people get a feel for the actual depth of the diversity of african america. it has only been about 12 years since most folks were seriously questioning the myth of the monolithic black community. but there is still not a clear recognition about what that diversity is. this is important for several important reasons.

a. the supreme court has essentially disbanded minority districts. the republican party has used computer analysis to discover how, in the south, they can use this to their advantage in redistricting. they did in the last congressional elections and democrats lost seats (they didn't do the analysis far enough in advance - they were counting on the supreme court to uphold majority minoirty districting). noboby really knows, other than from a knee-jerk reaction whether or not the black folks in those constituencies have been hurt or helped.

b. the question of 'black leadership' is still an open issue. as a national community we here only about a dozen names (with perhaps a half dozen ideas) tossed about. what is needed is a closer awareness about who is leading whom in what communities.

c. closely related to (b), some gansta rapper wrote that everyplace is just like compton. and certainly if you ask conservatives about black communities, they'll agree. but they are not the only ones. on the 'bread and butter issues' of crime, education, poverty, employment, health care, policing and municipal services, we need some way to understand what communities have actually made progress. in the wake of rodney king, for example, i discovered that houston has had a great deal of success with community policing. an officer can lose his job for shooting at a car, no matter what the intent of the suspect. i learned this years before the incident in st. petersburg. it's easy for apologists to say 'black people need..' we ought to be able to say, 'well, black people in houston did this 5 years ago...' today, for the most part most americans don't distinguish between the ghettoes in st. petersberg and those in the 5th ward of houston. but on the issue of police brutality, i *know* there is a difference in accountability. since the beginning of the republic, african americans have relied on the office of the president to literally 'make a federal case out of it'. but a national network of black communities could make a difference if they are informed.

#2. I have a theory which goes a little something like this. policy perscriptions made for white poor folk are no good for black poor folk. that is because white poor folk live close to white and black middle class folks - they can easily follow their leads. black poor folk, on the other hand are more isolated from any middle class folk. they have no immediate role models. furthermore, "go check in with the employment agency" may be good advice In 90008, however in 11238, it may be worthless. in both infrastructure and role-modelling, many policy prescriptions made may not work. getting the details is all worth it. in every argument where the 'colorblind' point of view seeks to minimalize race and speak strictly in economic terms, the question of geography nullifies their arguments. why? because america is still profoundly racially segregated residentially.

#3 there is also some work necessary in understanding the economics and politics of every community. for another example - recall the saying 'nigga please, you work for ups'. (that was biz markie). it turns out, by dint of some research that i just did that ups is the largest employer in cerritos california, with about 5500 jobs. cerritos is the hometown of tiger woods, and the median household income is about 47,000 bucks. cerritos is about 7.5% black. this is a town that didn't exist in 1950. now i know something about the town and it ain't paradise, but i often shake my head and wonder why some black folks would remain in a town with a 300 year legacy of racism knowing full well that they have the skills to drive a ups truck.

#4 I was personally curious to know where the most affluent black neighborhoods are in america. it's a big country, and i've lived a few places, but there are limits....

#5 i was personally elected finance chair of the national society of black engineers in 1984, and it was my duty to create a solicitation package for corporations. i discovered that our organization was considered a 'charity for poor black kids struggling to learn science' in some corporations and a 'braintrust for fast-track high quality management potential employees' by others. in fact they were both right - we had both types. i have *lived* the political horrors of serving and representing the 'talented tenth' and the 'underclass'. it's no picnic. i have always been curious to know how anyone might bridge the gap - and by extention how this gap is represented in the real world.

m.bowen august, 1997