Time to drop defenses, listen to county’s people of color
A new University of California, Berkeley study shows that Marin County has six of the ten most racially segregated municipalities in the Bay Area. The news prompted reaction among Marin residents.
One letter published in the Independent Journal Reader’s Forum section stated that these demographic reports are “an insult to all Marin residents who fight discrimination.” One author posited that she and her children have “never seen one iota of racism” in our schools. Both expressed concern that our communities are being mischaracterized as exclusive, homogenous and discriminatory.
As a White liberal living here for 27 years, I get it. The impulse to defend is strong. We are people of goodwill who want to believe the best about ourselves and Marin. Most of the White people I know openly wish that Marin was more racially and culturally diverse. But the truth is, it is not.
I think it is important for those of us who are White to continue to step back and acknowledge some of the reasons why, historically, Marin is the way it is. How does it feel to people of color who work, visit or live here? What might we do in the future to make positive changes?
Just because Marin is politically liberal, doesn’t mean we are immune to racism. Market forces, historic patterns of open discrimination and segregation by default all have contributed to the demographic conditions we see today.
Racism is embedded in the systems framing our lives and in the stereotypes all of us have been exposed to for many years. Advantages for White people are codified by law, enforced by tradition and buttressed by unconscious bias.
We have a greater degree of trust that the police will safeguard our neighborhoods, or that we can legally drive without being stopped. Our teachers believe in our potential. Employers don’t doubt our capabilities. Landlords don’t suspect our trustworthiness. Because these systemic advantages are expected and “normal” for White people, they are almost invisible to us. These same systems have obstructed opportunities and thwarted the hopes of many people of color.
Some forms of racism and discrimination in Marin are embedded in law. When my partner and I bought our house in San Rafael 5 1 / 2 years ago, we found out there were restrictive covenants in the grant deed prohibiting “Jews, Negroes and Asians” from purchasing the property. After World War II, these same covenants prevented Black Americans who had worked in Sausalito shipyards from becoming homeowners and building wealth the way their white counterparts could.
Today, we still witness overt assaults on the dignity of residents, workers and businesspeople in Marin. In August, Black shop owners were assailed and suspiciously questioned by the Tiburon police for being in their own store. In the same month, a Black male letter carrier was handcuffed and held by San Rafael officers during a traffic stop — even though he had done nothing wrong. Other people of color say they endure daily microaggressions at work and in their own neighborhoods. Black and Indigenous people repeatedly tell us that flags, statues or images engender painful reminders of ancestors being taken from their land, enslaved or even killed.
During this powerful time of racial reckoning many activists, writers and public intellectuals of color are generously educating the general populace about race and racism. These leaders have laid out roadmaps outlining ways in which White people can be authentic, trusted allies in the quest to dismantle racism. At the top of the list is open, non-defensive listening. They stress the importance of deeply witnessing and absorbing lessons from the lived experiences of people with Black, Indigenous, Latino and Asian heritage.
All of us can continue to take action to minimize the impacts of racism in our community, and to reduce psychological stress for people of color. Acknowledging, rather than denying that racism still persists help us move forward to rectify hurtful realities that many people experience every day.
White people have much to gain by cultivating our own capacities to be honest, empathetic and compassionate as we strive to create a more welcoming and equitable Marin.
Racism is embedded in the systems framing our lives and in the stereotypes all of us have been exposed to for many years.