# I would prefer to live in a homogeneous neighbourhood, am I evil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 1, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605 "2009-04-01T18:36:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/21 "2009-04-02T00:16:11Z")
I’ll tell you a story. Once in more financial secure times I was about to take on a couple as roommates. They were gonna take the the other room and we were gonna split the bills. I was being nice and helping them pack when: Her:“Oh it’s a great neighborhood. A nice White neighborhood.” Me:"…" him:“yea nothing like a White neighborhood” me:"… uh I know I look kinda white but technically I’m half Latino and Inuit, and a trace of Shawnee" _awkward silence_ me:“So don’t ever say that again.” ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/22 "2009-04-02T01:00:12Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Well, since this does appear to be a real thread (I’m sure this will end well), can you tell me which minorities living in suburbs …don’t trim their lawns? Around my area, that’s the Greeks. Once you’ve concreted and pebblecreted every speck of greenery in your yard, there’s no need to trim a lawn. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/23 "2009-04-02T01:24:50Z")
Plenty o’ diversity on the Discovery Channel ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/24 "2009-04-02T01:53:56Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > ::d&r:: [Minor Hijack] What does that mean ? [/Minor Hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/25 "2009-04-02T01:56:35Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > [Minor Hijack] > > What does that mean ? > > [/Minor Hijack] \*Ducks \*and _Runs_. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/26 "2009-04-02T02:00:25Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > \*Ducks \*and _Runs_. waterfowl and diareaha? I still dont get it. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/27 "2009-04-02T02:08:00Z")
> [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](#): > > That is a good point, but where have you seen a diverse affluent suburban neighborhood (bonus points for actual names and locations)? When I said homogeneous I meant the houses looking the same, the lawns being well trimmed, a sort of strength giving and inspirational conformity. The inhabitants of the houses can be from wherever, but usually they are not. Stepford Village? Kidding, of course. Maplewood, NJ is pretty diverse, pretty affluent, but the houses aren’t all the same since it’s a pretty old town. For houses all being the same, you’d probably have to go to some new developments, maybe in the Phoenix or Indianapolis suburbs? Not much diversity there, I guess, though, but I bet the houses are pretty cheap now. Central NJ has a lot of new housing developments that seem pretty generic to me, Cranbury or Robbinsville maybe. Central Florida? Maybe one of the Levittowns – I think they were designed to be pretty generic towns. Good luck with the search. Most developers try to add some diversity in the housing so people aren’t turned off by the conformity. ---
**Author:** ![jakesteele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jakesteele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakesteele)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/28 "2009-04-02T11:40:29Z")
Ethnocentrism - Ethnocentrism is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one’s own culture. The term was introduced in 1906 by William Graham Sumner, a Yale professor and anti-imperialist, in his book Folkways. Ethnocentrism often entails the belief that one’s own race or ethnic group is the most important and that some or all aspects of its culture are superior to those of other groups. Within this ideology, individuals will judge other groups in relation to their own particular ethnic group or culture, especially with concern to language, behavior, customs, and religion. These ethnic distinctions and sub-divisions serve to define each ethnicity’s unique cultural identity.[1] Nothing wrong with what you want to do at all. Minorities, especially in big cities, have their own enclaves to be ‘around their own’. Music, food, cultures, traditions, religions, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/29 "2009-04-02T15:28:37Z")
> [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](#): > > By familiar I mean I’ve seen them around the place, I prefer not to have too many strangers wondering around my house. They can be any ethnicity/nationality but there can’t be a stream of strangers constantly passing through, that’s why major cities are right out for me. Okay, so what would potentially be “evil” about this? > [@](#): > > Go to DC or NY Points at location. > [@](#): > > I want my interactions to be limited to a howdy and a nod, I don’t want to become an unwitting concert patron on my way back from work. Again, not sure what would be potentially evil or immoral about this. When you bring discrimination into it, morality is an issue. Otherwise it’s just a lifestyle choice. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/30 "2009-04-02T15:36:31Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Who wants to exist in the same cookie-cutter existance day in day out with no diversity to experience whatsoever? Well, you’re still allowed to leave your house and stuff. Even if you live in a gated community. Personally, I’m happy to go out and find diversity throughout the day and still come home to my quiet homogenous neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/31 "2009-04-02T15:46:26Z")
Another vote for boring. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/32 "2009-04-02T16:22:10Z")
Does “homogenous” refer only to race? Or do other things come into play? I ask because, admit it or not, MOST of us prefer to live among people who are very much like ourselves. That’s true whether you’re a married, religious conservative or a gay, liberal atheist. If a white Baptist engineer with a stay-at-home wife and four kids buys a house in a suburb filled with other similar white Christian families, a liberl SDMB regular is likely to sneer at the lack of diversity in that neighborhood. But I’d wager the liberal SDMB member doesn’t have a very diverse group of friends at all. If white, Christian families with numerous kids started to move into downtown brownstones, do you REALLY think the childless (oops, I mean “child-free”) liberal bohemians living there now would be thrilled about the “vibrancy” and “diversity” the new neighbors are going to bring? Guess again! I’m betting such people would roll their eyes and groan, “Where did all these Bible-thumpers and their brats come from? I HATE what’s happening to this neighborhood!” Are THOSE people evil to prefer living among people just like themselves? ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/33 "2009-04-02T17:15:31Z")
I live in a boring neighborhood, though not a particularly affluent one in an “inner” suburb. It’s reasonably diverse, I think–Korean Church on the corner, 4 or 5 ethnic grocery stores within a mile. But it is very boring–50 year old cookie cutter houses that are exactly alike. I never talk to my neighbors. And I’ll admit, I moved there because I like the space and the predictability. In the city proper, there isn’t any middle–either you live in a half-million dollar home or condo or you live in an area where you can expect to get your car or apartment broken into 2-3 times a year or you live in a handful of moderately-priced gated communities that are relatively calm, but have apartments the size of my living room–and I don’t have a big living room. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/34 "2009-04-02T17:45:50Z")
Across the street from me is an Iraqi poet who was jailed by Sadaam. Next to him is an Arab who marries a platinum blonde southerner. My neighbor to the left is black.He has 3 kids in high school and college. To the right is a white family. across from them are Romanians who send tons of goods back to Romania. They were visited by homeland security and cleared. But they questioned the neighbors and had a bunch of cars around that weekend. I know and talk to them all. The worst of the lot is the white family. They are quarrelsome. The rest are polite and kind. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/35 "2009-04-02T17:57:31Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > If you mean “people who look like you,” then yes, that would appear to be racist or prejudiced in a similar fashion. Good lord. Wanting to be with ones own “race” is racist now? You people have redefined racism beyond all meaningful use. How is anyone oppressed, threatened, harmed, or disenfranchised if I don’t want to live in their neighborhood? It’s ridiculous. I marched in civil rights marches in the sixties. Those people were protesting fire hoses, attack dogs, lynchings, voter disenfranchisement, segregation, crappy schools and the like. They would laugh their asses off at what passes for racism today. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/36 "2009-04-02T18:11:19Z")
> [@pope\_hentai](#): > > i think i want to move to your neighborhood, borrow a tool from ward cleaver, and be the guy who mows his lawn in hawaiian shirt with a pith helmet every saturday morning at exactly 8 o’clock. i think i’ve actually talked to my neighbors a total of 3 times in the last 4 yrs, and that was only when i got some of thier mail. i love it that way. wouldnt change a thing. Won’t you be my neighbor? As for the OP-is anyone else thinking “Pleasantville?” ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/37 "2009-04-02T18:14:54Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Good lord. Wanting to be with ones own “race” is racist now? . Only if you are white male not in prison with an education and a job. The rules are different for everyone else. Please try to keep up. Black child being adopted by white parents? Oh, the horror! (now usually expressed by black “rights” groups). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/38 "2009-04-02T18:35:44Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Good lord. Wanting to be with ones own “race” is racist now? If, and you’ll note I did say _if_, the decision is based on preferring one race over another, how isn’t it racist? Doesn’t it involve judging people based on skin color? It sure sounds like a categorical pre-judgment to me, which is why I said it sounds prejudiced. > [@](#): > > You people have redefined racism beyond all meaningful use. What do you mean “you people?” :mad: 😉 Seriously though, yes, this kind of thing can be racist. I’m sure you’ve heard of “steering,” the results of which are all over Long Island, where I grew up. If you haven’t, it’s the practice by real estate agencies of refusing to sell houses in certain areas to minorities, segregating them from the nice white folks who want to be with their own kind. Is anyone oppressed by this? Maybe, maybe not. It has “separate but equal” written all over it. Then again, people are still getting homes - just not the ones they want, if they had the bad taste of wanting to live near the white people, where the money and the best schools probably are. This kind of thing still goes on, although not as much as it used to, and the result is that Long Island is very heavily segregated in some places. I read once that I lived around the most segregated suburbs in the country. You might see where I regard this as a negative. > [@](#): > > How is anyone oppressed, threatened, harmed, or disenfranchised if I don’t want to live in their neighborhood? It’s ridiculous. Nobody’s oppressed, harmed and so on if I go home blog about how much I hate black people either, but you’d still correctly say I was a racist if I did it. > [@](#): > > I marched in civil rights marches in the sixties. Those people were protesting fire hoses, attack dogs, lynchings, voter disenfranchisement, segregation, crappy schools and the like. They would laugh their asses off at what passes for racism today. Good. So? Some problems in the world are mostly solved, some aren’t. I don’t think I’ve misapplied the term at all, though: ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/39 "2009-04-02T18:44:34Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Good lord. Wanting to be with ones own “race” is racist now? That is not really a big deal for me, I never thought that my living preferences made me racist like that. However there always seems to be a lot of implied resentment and racism charges to the term “White Flight”, as if though me using my resources to live a better life somehow abandoned the needy and left people uneducated or some such, but really I was just looking for a better place to live. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605/40 "2009-04-02T18:49:15Z")
> [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](#): > > However there always seems to be a lot of implied resentment and racism charges to the term “White Flight”, as if though me using my resources to live a better life somehow abandoned the needy and left people uneducated or some such, but really I was just looking for a better place to live. My experience is that “white flight” is when white people start leaving a neighborhood because minorities have started moving in. I don’t think that applies to what you describe in this post. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-prefer-to-live-in-a-homogeneous-neighbourhood-am-i-evil/491605.md?page=3)