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As an Ivy League educated Attorney, who is Black (parents are Jamaican) and has chosen to be a stay at home mom to my children, until they are at least 3 years old, I too am bothered by the plethora of Black Nannies pushing White babies down the street. I live in a very wealthy area, and I am tired of the constant stares and looking into my canopy stroller, to figure out if I am a nanny or not! I have even gotten comments at the park like "you are so good with those children"...my response is, "really, that's because I am their mother, not a nanny!" It is such a jarring image, seeing black woman after black women pushing expensive strollers with white blonde hair blue eyed children! One child even said to me at the park "are you that girls nanny?". I said, "No, I am a mommy". He then responded "are you sure you are not her nanny!". His mother, hearing this conversation, came over to me and apologized. It bothers me because I think that we as a people can do so much more than domestic work and should take advantage of the educational opportunities that are in this country. What is even more sad is that generations of white children will view black as "the help". That is their day to day interaction with black people. They do not see black lawyers and black doctors, so their view of black people is limited!
I understand your original view, but as another poster pointed out, it could be done with ANY culture...
That being said, another big word being circulated on this post is CHOICE...these women make a choice, whether they think of the cultural/historical implications or not...
I have to say, if you are opening the "changing the world" can of worms, I think that any minorities (or anyone in "impoverished areas") would better suit themselves working than not to improve their lives and those of the future..I think people who are working (in general, no matter what color, etc.) are better role models than those that hang out all day collecting welfare, etc. and not even TRYING to go to school, become educated in any way, work at all..I think that's where the REAL holding back is occurring...in families where NOTHING is going on vs. parent/s working and showing that work will get your bills paid, etc.
I thought long and hard about how I wanted to approach this topic because it affects quite a few people in one way or another. Some of you may be employers to these nannies. Others may have family member who are nannies, and quite of few of you may have grown up in the care of a nanny. With that said, this is not a personal attack on anyone. This is simply my opinion based on history. In NYC, it’s impossible to not to see it… first you notice the stylish expensive stroller, then the rosy cheeked child, and then often you look up to find the women pushing that strolling is not the mother. The woman is clearly Black and the child clearly isn’t, and some people might not see this as problem, but I do.
I’m bombarded by this image on a daily basis and it’s a just too reminiscent of the past for me. The questions that go through my mind are: Does this woman not know what she looks like? Does she care? Does she even know her history? Does she care?
I’m not so absorbed in my own feelings to disregard the fact that being a nanny is a job, and sometimes a well paying job to someone who may not be able to obtain other employment opportunities. However, I still view it as a position of servitude, and nannies no matter how much they’re “like family” they are still The help.
At one point in time Black women had to resort to these types of domestic positions because they had NO Choice. There were few opportunities for Black women back then, but now there is no excuse for anyone to resort to this now. I’m not only seeing older women nannying, there are college age women who could be in school, building a real career!
In further investigating this issue, I have noticed that a majority of these Black women are Caribbean and so this led me believe that perhaps it isn’t so reminiscent for them. Maybe the legacy of Aunt Sarah and Mammy wasn’t on the islands. At any rate, if you’re in the United States and are recognizably of African descent then you are assumed to be African American until you say otherwise.
I don’t like the idea of Black women taking on roles that our ancestors were forced to, and jobs that our grandparents gave up 40 years ago. Black women have been the Mammy’s, wet nurses, cooks, maids and plenty more since landing on this continent (and the Caribbean). They are setting us back several decades and I refuse to have domestic servant added to their list of “Things Black People are Good for”, along with playing sports, and entertainment.
I know that nothing I say can change it, but hey I’m just saying….
Thats a note I wrote resulting from the frustration of seeing so many of my sisters looking like, modern day mammies. I obviously know that these women are getting paid, but I cant help but to view them in positions of servitude. It just reminds me way too much of the past. They spend their entire day away from their own family, cooking, cleaning, and raising some wealthy (usually) White family kids. For the record, I have no issue with the families employing these nannies. They need childcare/housekeeping are are wealthy enough to pay for it, end of story. To be even more clear, I have no problem with people of African descent working for White people. I have a problem with nature of the work. How long will Black women be regarded as "the help"? When will my sisters stop being domestic servents?
Comments, thoughts, questions? Dont go too hard on me.
Most of the Black women are Caribbean immigrants a significant number illegal. The Upper West Side crowd prefers them because they speak English as a first language.
As an Ivy League educated Attorney, who is Black (parents are Jamaican) and has chosen to be a stay at home mom to my children, until they are at least 3 years old, I too am bothered by the plethora of Black Nannies pushing White babies down the street. I live in a very wealthy area, and I am tired of the constant stares and looking into my canopy stroller, to figure out if I am a nanny or not! I have even gotten comments at the park like "you are so good with those children"...my response is, "really, that's because I am their mother, not a nanny!" It is such a jarring image, seeing black woman after black women pushing expensive strollers with white blonde hair blue eyed children! One child even said to me at the park "are you that girls nanny?". I said, "No, I am a mommy". He then responded "are you sure you are not her nanny!". His mother, hearing this conversation, came over to me and apologized. It bothers me because I think that we as a people can do so much more than domestic work and should take advantage of the educational opportunities that are in this country. What is even more sad is that generations of white children will view black as "the help". That is their day to day interaction with black people. They do not see black lawyers and black doctors, so their view of black people is limited!
Look the bell curve is real not everyone is smart enough to go to a good school and get a 6 figure job. Should they be led out to pasture? These women are making a living and not asking for hand outs. So they are pushing white kids around in strollers what's big deal. Whites are the ones who can afford them for the most part.
I'm surprised as a child of Jamaican immigrants that you would be so negative about this many of the nannies in question are of Caribbean extraction.
It's one of those many things about living in a big city that will bother you if you're a certain type of person. I think it's kinda annoying too that rich (typically white) yuppies can pay their way out of raising their trophy children, but, it is what it is when you live in a densely populated environment containing drastic amounts of inequality, and New York has always been the poster child for this. You're going to see things that bother you on deeper levels than "hey that guy drives a nicer car than I do" like out in the suburbs, where wealthier people tend to keep their lifestyles more contained and hidden from public view.
But regardless of what comments can be made about society in the broader sense, the nanny is just trying to get paid, and maybe she thinks the work or the pay beats folding towels at a hotel or working some crap retail job. hey as long as everybody's happy right?
It is a shame to see these proud Black women stoop down to being domestic help to these whites.
If a black person can not be a ceo, a ballplayer or a pimp, or TV entertainer he or she should not work as that work is beneath them. They are too proud to work and too good. These proud people follow the English gentleman/Jew model that work with the hands is for beasts. If you can not secure a glamor position just capitulate and collect that welfare.
Collecting large amounts of money and showing it off is the paramount of cultural achievement; the worship of mammon. A culture that worships Mammon does not change diapers, repair engines or fix plumbing. These are jobs for beasts. These jobs taking care of white children should be left to poor minorities, ethnics like the Mexicans, Irish or Polish. This is not a job for a black person.
In a more perfect world, yes, every underprivileged working poor woman would be proud enough to say "raise your own damn kids, ill go work at Target!" But we don't live in a perfect world--we live in a practical one where getting paid is what matters.
In a more perfect world, yes, every underprivileged working poor woman would be proud enough to say "raise your own damn kids, ill go work at Target!" But we don't live in a perfect world--we live in a practical one where getting paid is what matters.
Exactly. And they certainly wouldn't be able to raise their families on the $7/hour that Target and other similar positions pay. At least as a nanny, you're making at least $700/week and the work isn't all that difficult.
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taking care of little white children
