Westchester County is far from the streets of Birmingham and the lunch counters of Greensboro, but the super-affluent suburban swath just north of New York City may be the premier civil rights battleground of 2011. Westchester is defying a landmark federal court order to desegregate housing in its whitest and wealthiest towns, prompting civil rights activists to return to court. The federal government has allowed wealthy municipalities to keep the poor and black out for decades, and municipal leaders nationwide are watching closely to see if the Obama administration forces the county to comply.
Tony Westchester locales like Scarsdale and Bedford have long been bastions of limousine liberalism, home to Ralph Lauren, Glenn Close, Martha Stewart, Bill and Hillary Clinton, George Soros, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and many others. Super-rich "entrepreneurs" like Donald Trump live here too, and it's a haven for Wall Street bankers -- from Jay Gould in the late 19th century to hedge fund pioneer Michael Steinhardt today.
Meanwhile, working-class black and Latino residents remain overwhelmingly concentrated in a handful of municipalities, most of which hug the Bronx border.
6 comments:
The county doesnt want it because they dont want the crime and trash that is going to come along with it .... everytime you integrate these people be it poor black or latino it eventually becomes a ghetto. Just look at any city and that all the proof you need. I say Kudos to the people of the county and standing up for whats theirs. Its their property and their money that paid for it. Not the Poor Thug from the city
When you get to the level of super rich money doesn't hold the same meaning as it does for the rest of us. Billionaires are ok paying way too much for their housing and social functions- country clubs, night clubs, etc... because the price keeps us unwashed masses out. They are paying for exclusivity. However, I highly doubt if Obama or Oprah or any of a thousand very wealthy minorities wanted to move into these white areas that they would keep them out. The prejudice here isn't about race, it's about money. Also, there is a tendency for races to live lumped into the same areas. Look around here. Are there "black areas"? Of course there are. Are blacks able to purchase or rent homes anywhere they want around here if they can afford it? Of course they can. Same with Latinos in Georgetown. People just TEND to live in groups based on racial affiliation.
That said, I have Asians, whites and blacks on my block and we have zero problems with race or anything else.
this happened in the early 90s in baltimore.they destroyed several high rise project biuldings that the blacks had destroyed and made unsafe to live in.so the govr gave these people money to relocate and they were able to move into nice single family homes in baltimore county and surrounding suburbs.needless to say crime went up these neighborhoods now look like baltimore city and most of the decent poeple either moved out or got stuck with a bunch of trash.its kind of hard to sell a house you bought for a couple hundred thousand dollars when you have crack houses all around you.
The liberals want everyone to live in integrated neighborhoods EXCEPT themslves.If they could not tuck their kids into private academies,schools would still be segregated.Believe it
The real problem here is that affluent people have paid to live in a certain area and will drive up the price to keep what they consider the problems or unwanted's out... the stupid liberals hate this and think that even the poor should be allowed live there... ok yes they should but only after they are able to afford to not because the govt says so. Personally i dont want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home only to have Cracky Mcpoorass that wont keep up their home and will run things into the ground.... Way to think Stupid Liberals
Salon is a liberal looney magazine.
I find it kind of funny that the libs in Westchester are screaming racism for putting affordable housing in or near minority neighborhoods while here in Salisbury, the looney lib mayor Ireton and the council minority rep scream racism at council members for not putting affordble housing in minority neighborhood.
Those crazy libs can't make up their minds.
I'm white and I could never afford to live in the towns they named. Maybe if the federal government weren't constantly coming up with program after program to keep minorities poor, some of them could get ahead enough to live in some better housing.
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