I was in a meeting of community neighborhood councils and city officials (via Zoom) and one of the presidents of a neighborhood council while posing a question to the City's Director of Public Works, made the comment that there are a lot of fallen trees in his area from the storm and it's making his neighborhood look "kind of ghetto."
(insert deep breath)
The neighborhood in question is comprised largely of blue collar White people. There is also in my city a large contingency of presidents from minority neighborhoods that are largely overlooked when it comes to receiving city services.
I waited for the Director of Public Works to answer (giving him time to say something to let me know that perhaps the city is investing in diversity training). After he finished, I raised my hand and said that something the questioner had said didn't sit well with me. I asked the Director of Public Works (who is new to the job and city and made a point of saying how he was really taking a backwards step in his career by coming to our city, after having worked in affluent towns in California.
He answered by saying that it means to him "it needs to be cleaned up." I noticed a Jewish man who was shaking his head in disbelief. Simultaneously, I was getting a private chat message from another member saying how she was sorry for the President's stupid choice of words.
All the other Black people on the zoom, looked at me like "we aren't with her."
And therein lies the problem.
