News
Moya Lothian McLean
Oct 01, 2020
A lesson to remember: the internet never forgets.
Which is why a resurfaced clip from 2017 is currently causing waves.
It features a Texas woman explaining why she doesn’t want affordable housing in her neighbourhood.
And surprise, surprise, her reasoning is highly controversial.
A Texas woman explains why she doesn't want affordable housing in her neighborhood. I think this clip is @jbouie an… https://t.co/65h9NDUxiC— Almaqah (@Almaqah) 1601524948
Originally from a 2017 NPR and Frontline documentary about affordable housing, the clip circulating shows a Texas woman being interviewed about why she doesn’t want low-income housing options in her neighbourhood.
When asked about her ‘concern’ regarding low-income housing, she immediately makes some incredibly shocking statements, saying:
The lifestyle that goes with Section A is usually working single-moms or people who are struggling to keep their heads above water.
I feel so bad saying that… but it’s not people who are of the same class as us.
It sounds bad but I don’t mean that in a bad way.
The reporter then asks her if she feels like kids who haven’t been given opportunities her children have should be able to share in the privileges that come from living in more upmarket neighbourhoods.
Her answer is telling.
The problem is, I hear a lot of the unfair ‘Oh we haven’t been given this or that’ or ‘We haven’t been afforded things you might have been afforded’.
I don’t look at multi-millionaires and think ‘Why don’t I have a yacht?’
It’s a mindset.
The woman – who is white – is then asked if she’s stereotyping people who need low-income housing.
“Oh I totally am!” she cheerfully replies.
“100 per cent. I’m definitely not a racist or a bigot but I hold a little bit of a stigma against people who are different.
“We don’t want nomads, we don’t want people who don’t have roots.
“I just don’t want that to be what my community is about”.
Her claim that she’s “definitely not” a racist has been seen as telling – given that neither she, nor the reporter, specified the ethnicity of the people they were discussing.
And the clip has quickly spread on social media, with people reacting in shock.
It’s been described as the perfect example of how “hard” people struggle to “dress up racism”.
a pretty good example of how hard people struggle to dress up racism https://t.co/iKn1nd1m8y— Gerry Doyle (@Gerry Doyle) 1601525616
Others have said that she is voicing a lot of prejudice that others hold but don’t say aloud.
This woman says out loud what a lot of people think but are too scared to say when protesting new development in th… https://t.co/nA2nt3liCG— Oliver South (@Oliver South) 1601530987
People analysed the not-so subtle subtext behind her words and were flabbergasted.
So, to her, Black ppl who want good schools for their children are exactly the same level of unreasonable as wantin… https://t.co/yqQ7RHv7rU— Shana (aka MQ) 🚀, vaccinated in Wakandan Outposts (@Shana (aka MQ) 🚀, vaccinated in Wakandan Outposts) 1601545389
The clip neatly displays the “banality of bigotry” as one commenter put it.
THIS is what racism looks like. It's this banality of bigotry which makes it so perverse. This woman denies her i… https://t.co/XIIMkYI2jj— Mr. Friday Night (@Mr. Friday Night) 1601531535
Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump has repeatedly tried to stoke fear into voters that Joe Biden is looking to "destroy" the suburbs by promoting affordable housing.
This narrative has been labelled as classist and racist for obvious reasons, yet the president continues to repeat it every chance he gets.
The video is a worrying indication of why it might actually work out for him.
Top 100
The Conversation (0)
x