Despite a widespread yearning for better cultural and ethnic relations, we too often only talk about problems and tensions. So let me tell you a different kind of story. I offer it not as anything special, but simply as an example of the sort of things we could be telling each other but rarely do
Sam Smith, 2001 - I'm a native Washingtonian and have lived in DC most of my life. DC is two-thirds black. When someone asks me where I live and I tell them, they sometimes look at my fifty-something white face and say, "You mean in the city?" What they mean is: with all those blacks?
I don't live in DC out of any moral imperative. I'm not doing anybody except myself a favor. I live here because I enjoy it. Beside, I'd rather be in the minority in DC than in the majority in a lot of places. Here are a few reasons why:
o I've found black Washingtonians exceptionally friendly, decent, hospitable, and morally rooted. They're nice folks to be around.
o Black Washingtonians will talk to strangers without knowing "who are you with?" White Washingtonians, especially in the political city, are often far more formal and distant. -- and more likely to treat you based on your utility to themselves. Not knowing anyone at an all-white event in DC can be pretty lonely; not knowing anyone at an all-black event in DC means you soon will.
o Black Washingtonians understand loss, pain, suffering and disappointment. They have helped me become better at handling these things.
o Black Washingtonians value humor; many white Washingtonians try, as Russell Baker once noted, to be somber under the illusion that it makes them serious. I like to laugh.
o Black Washingtonians value achievement as well as power. Teachers, artists, writers and poets are respected in the black community. As a writer, I like that.
o Living in close proximity with another culture provides a useful gauge by which to judge one's own.
oThe imagery, rhythm and style of black speech appeals to me far more than the jargon-ridden circumlocution of the white city.
o Many black Washingtonians are actively concerned about social and political change; much of white Washington is seeking to maintain the status quo.
o White Washington always seems to want me to conform to it; black Washington has always accepted me for who I am.
