Ethnic Displacement/Replacement

As it happens, I've lived in many ethnically mixed neighborhoods.

The first neighborhood I can remember living in was public housing. My family got the heavily subsidized converted barracks in Lakewood, OH, thereby breaking my family's tradition of living on the East Side.

It was basically all-White (as was Lakewood at that time). When the projects were torn down to make room for a new city hall/police station, we meandered over to the west side of the city - again, in a cheap area of town to live.

We moved into the townhouses of McClure Courts, on Edwards Ave. We were surrounded by other families, most of them with children (hey, it was the Baby Boom years!).

I lived in a multi-ethnic haven, surrounded by many immigrants - Yugoslavian, British, Irish, German, Middle European, hillbillies from TN and KY - to name just a few. My classmates were likewise a mix of nationality origins.

A few years later, my parents occupied a single home, formerly owned by my grandparents. We rented, with the idea that we would eventually buy. Our near neighbors were mostly long-term American residents, with the exception of Mr. Nadar and his family - they were Muslims from Egypt. It was my first experience with peoples from the southern Mediterranean - but not my last.

In school, I had 1/2 dozen friends from Lebanon and Syria - at that time, Christian immigrants. That pattern held until I left Cleveland, after my marriage.

We returned when I was expecting my second child.

At that point, the Arabic influx had increased - most of them Muslims. They were generally accepted by their neighbors, if they cared to associate with them. Some did not, preferring to avoid contact with infidels.

Until the number increased significantly, there was no problem. Once they hit sufficient numbers that their presence in the neighborhoods become noticeable (the veils, hijabs, nakabs, and floor-length dresses), there began to be some conflicts. Most had to do with young men - on both sides - hitting on "their" women. That caused more than a few fights.

Resentments grew. Both sides took an Us vs. Them position, and interactions just about vanished.

Something similar has happened in the formerly Black areas of CA. The formerly dominant Black populations have been replaced by Hispanics. And, the Hispanics have made it VERY clear that they will not tolerate predation in their neighborhoods by outsiders.

It's not generally White people gentrifying the area. It's Spanish-speaking immigrants and their families (some resident, some illegal, some Americans).

So, now, the Black community is trying to flex their muscles to regain control of the business projects. They chased the largely White developers out, and are quite annoyed that they were not able to do the same with investors from NYC.

Read the story here. It's a story that will be repeated, over and over, as Black people - eventually - realize that not all POC are their allies.

The rise of Aggressive Blackness runs hand-in-hand with Black Americans reaching a paleness that makes them virtually indistinguishable from other Americans. If someone doesn't specifically TELL you that they are Black, you would have no way to know it.

I'm wondering if there is a connection - the LESS Black people are, the MORE they seem to be driven to insist on their Blackness. It's like the last grab for identity, at a time when their identity is blending into the Melting Pot. Virtually ALL of the "Black Leaders" have significant portions of their DNA from European and/or Asian ancestors.

It's a little like a woman, angrily insisting that she is NOT MAD, even as her face gets red, her veins pop, and she is getting hoarse form screaming at you.

She's gaslighting you. Trying to persuade, not just YOU, but also HERSELF, that she is right.

Which, she is not.