Excluded

"Excluded is an American book on zoning issues.  We Canadians have some of the same problems--a heavy housing inflation, homelessness and undoubtedly discrimination.  A better understanding would help people on both sides of the border

A previous blog about "Caste" (2020) did away with the idea that racism was the basic prejudice and decided that the more basic prejudice is caste.  Check  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/02/caste-origins-of-our-discontents.html  In "Excluded" (2023) we learn that poor whites are only marginally ahead of poor blacks, but behind in many ways to middle class blacks.  So some blacks have emerged stronger from their past, but many have not, while poor whites have found barriers to upward mobility.

The author states "...increasingly today it is class discrimination that explains America's growing inequality".   This is evident in housing.  The zoning laws have mostly been to suit the wealthy.

Donald Trump bragged that he was able to reverse zoning that had allowed lower income people into higher income zone stating his base would not have to be contaminated by poor and criminal elements. 

For many people their house is their most important investment.  The value of a house normally appreciates during a working life.  It turns out at least these days that the more expensive houses appreciate more.  To protect their investment, home owners want to keep out undesirables.  They seem to feel if poorer people inhabit their neighborhood services will deteriorate and crime will increase.  Some zoning decisions such as allowing multi family housing would allow people who can't afford more expensive choices.  There have been changes, but the concept of deducting the borrowing costs of buying a home give an edge to those who are able to make the crucial down payment.

Kahlenberg points out "...it is not poverty per se, but concentration of poverty that can accelerate social ills such as crime.", but many of us want to avoid any poor people in our neighborhood fearing bad things that might follow.

Kahlenberg points we all benefit from diversity whether it is racial or ethnic or class.  He quotes Martin Luther King Jr "All labor has dignity."

Investment is a strong motive but ultimately it boils down to a caste system where people feel a superiority to others that deem different.  Often that is tied to race.  American whites have demonstrated a willingness to vote against their personal self interest  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/06/dying-of-whiteness.html

Environmental concerns need to get higher priority.  Multi family housing leaves less of a footprint than single family homes.  They are also easier for municipalities to provide infrastructure.  Sprawl diminishes what is left of natural habitat.  Snobbery and NIMBYism hurt us all. 

Education is a factor.  A major complaint is that minorities are unable to get equal education because of where they live.  Education, regardless of location could also be more equal giving minorities a better opportunities to get better jobs and make more money.

A few months ago there were some tents pitched in a nearby park.  Homeowners were complaining, and when a proposal was made to add in some of what were called tiny houses, but catering to the homeless with drug problems the situation heated up.  At a local meeting our counselor trying to explain was drowned out and later threatened.  I don't know what happened in the background, but there are no longer tents in the area and the tiny houses, meant to alleviate the problem are no longer scheduled.  This is not a wealthy neighborhood.  More on my personal perspective:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/10/dream-house.html

Martin Luther King Jr and Robert Kennedy campaigned with Blacks, Hispanics and poor whites and it worked.  After they both were assassinated the poor whites were mostly attracted to the Republicans and were replaced by the wealthy white liberals to the Democrats.  The Republicans have successfully used divide and rule separating poor whites from Blacks and really representing the wealthy.

The author's last sentence is a plea, "It is time to recognize the walls that separate us and then proceed to tear them down".  

There is a lot more to be found in these pages and many of you will not want to read such heavy reading, but I hope I have conveyed that equality is nebulous at best, but something to strive for.

As we evolve there does seem to be a trade off of humanity striving for equality and those who want to maintain themselves at a privileged status.  Whether we fully understand this or not we are each part of it.  I hope I can include a greater part of mankind as friends and equals.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Caste was thought to be another form of racism, however the author points out that caste is more basic.  Caste is society's way of classifying and ranking humans and it can be done in many forms.  Racism is a common factor in caste.  Racism is a tool that fits with caste, but other tools are available. Human psychology is more basic.

Wilkerson focuses on three examples of a caste system, the United States, India and Nazi Germany.  Martin Luther King Jr. had formed the idea that the caste system of India had similar characteristics to Jim Crow America.  On a visit to that country he was surprised to learn that he was considered an "untouchable."  At first he thought it strange, but later agreed.  To the Indian that term, "untouchable" was the lowest of the low.  

Bhimrao Ambedkar was born an untouchable, but as an educated and politically active man he was able to change the official designation  to "Dalit" which translates to "broken".

Europeans in North America at first tried to use indigenous people as slaves, but found they were too subject to European diseases, but learned that Africans were not.  Many Americans think slavery is old history, but in fact it formed a key factor in the American economy that has impacts today.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/12/the-half-has-never-been-told.html

Wilkerson notes 8 pillars of a caste system.  It has a divine justification.  Your rank is inherited.  Endogamy meaning marriage and sex only within the caste.  Purity must be maintained with very restricted contact.  A division of labor which dictates your occupation is dictated by one's position in the hierarchy meaning the most distasteful jobs are done by the lowest.  The lowest are dehumanized in a variety of ways.  Rules are enforced by terrorizing.  Superiority of the dominant caste is demanded on every occasion.

It is common for the dominant caste to use the the subservient caste as scapegoats.  The Nazis famously blamed Jews for their loss in the Great War.  Confederates blamed their former slaves for their loss.  Today blacks are blamed for high crime rates and drugs.  Whites with money commercialized marijuana and CBD.  Blaming blacks for economic problems overlooked that they had very little influence on the economy and were more often the victims.  

The 2008 financial crisis had its roots in abuse of blacks.  They had been targeted for subprime loans that were misleading, leading to ever greater debt.  Proving successful, the financiers moved to whites.  The end result was houses were abandoned and investors found themselves with declining assets.  

Black American men have relatively high blood pressure compared to white men.  Sub Saharan men actually have lower blood pressure.  Prejudice does have an impact.  Black women die at higher rates when giving birth.  Life expectancy is less for blacks than whites.  However it should be noted that the overall expectancy for Americans is the lowest of all the major industrial countries.  Education results are also poorer for relative lack of financial support. 

Albert Einstein, the great physicist had fled Germany just before the Nazis had taken over.  He identified blacks as oppressed and spoke up.  He had provided housing for famous singer Marian Anderson when she had been refused hotel accommodation in Princeton, New Jersey.  Einstein joined the NAACP and spoke out against lynching.  He felt "I can escape the feeling of complicity in it <lynching> only by speaking out."  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/03/einstein-by-walter-isaacson.html

By 2042 non whites are predicted to be in the majority of Americans, creating fear and repulsion among whites.  Wilkerson points out that whites are not likely to lose their dominant financial powers.  In South Africa whites have maintained a strong economic position.  It may also turn out the definition of "white" might loosen a bit.  

Wilkerson points out that Germany has no monuments to Nazism, but has for the victims.  Displaying a swastika was a punishable crime.  The government pays restitution to the Nazi victims, including to the state of Israel.  By contrast the American government paid restitution to the former slave holders rather than to the former enslaved. 

Black movie stars and athletes have moved up in class, but not caste .  They could still be humiliated and reminded that they are part of subordinate caste.  Slave owners often listened to their slaves singing and liked to see their smiling faces and as a demonstration of their power, encouraging their underlings to entertain as a show.  Hattie McDonald won the first Oscar for a black, but had to play a very subordinate role to Vivian Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara.

Barrack Obama was supposed to herald the post racial era.  Isabel offers contrary evidence.  Both Barrack and his wife were both Harvard grads and good speakers.  They were up against John McCain who made a few mistakes, including picking Sarah Palin as a running mate.  To tip the scales further towards Obama there was a financial disaster just before the election.  Despite these advantages Obama lost the white vote, with only 43% of the white vote in 2008 which fell to 39% in 2012.  Not only that but hate groups increased membership.  

In 2016, white women preferred Donald Trump, a fraudster and womanizer to Hilary Clinton, a champion of women"s rights.  Wilkerson maintains that unlike the Republicans the Democrats didn't support their base enough.  Evangelicals, the base for the Republicans wanted a ban on abortions, restrict immigration, protect gun rights, a denial of climate change and these desires were reflected in the Republican platform.  Wilkerson feels the Democrats don't support their base which is blacks and other non whites to the same degree, taking their votes too much for granted.

About the same time while reading this book I also watched a satirical film "Watermelon Man" (1970) written and directed by Melvin Van Peebles.  A bigoted man is transposed to be a black man and we see a lot of payback, but some insight.  Apparently as a white man the Godfrey Cambridge character had sold one sided insurance policies to black families, but as a black man he advised them to change their policies to something fairer.  Neighbors wanted him to move to protect their house values--but "it's not personal."  His wife was upset and said he was taking advantage of their "friends" by being a negro.  At least one woman finds him sexier, but in the end he feels she doesn't appreciate him as a person.    http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/02/three-films-of-melvin-van-peebles.html

Isabel Wilkerson's last words sum up what could be our future, "A world without caste would set everyone free."