Race or income? (Good and bad neighborhoods) (Jay: middle-class, apartment)

[Saccaros]

Is race or money more important in NY?

I saw the movie sex and the city. I saw Miranda looking for a good neighbourhood in Brooklyn. And to my surprise Miranda saw a White man, and said, "look a White man, lead us to your home." And she found a White, middle class, area.

I didn't think it was like that in America. I thought it was more about money and celebrities? Like.

Celebrities>Rich people>White People>Black People.

And if you where Jay-Z you where more preferable as a neighbour in NY, than an White man?

Am I wrong here? Is Sex and The city wrong? Are we both wrong? Is it about race or money?

[SobroGuy]

It's a little more complicated than that. In theory NYC is about money, regardless of race. However, the dynamics of the past 40 years have made it such that white = rich (or at worst middle class), and people of color = poor (or at best middle class).

The poor/working classes of whites left, and the middle class whites continue to leave, and are being replaced with wealthy whites. While the rest of the country (in general) has the different income brackets for whites, you will be hard pressed to find poor/working class whites in NYC these days, although they do exist.

People of color came in during the 50s and 60s, and after the collapse in the 70s, much of the middle class people of color left as well, leaving the least capable/least educated/poorest behind. That hasn't changed much except that the working/middle class people of color are slowly reclaiming the poor communities of color.

As a result, in NYC chances are if you see a "white" person, they will largely be of a higher income bracket because the poorer/working class whites fled a long time ago. And chances are if you see a person of color, chances are they are poor or lower class, because the higher class people of color left with everyone else and are only recently coming back to NYC.

NYC is a skewed reality because of how things played out, and continue to play out.

[AllenDullesMJ12]

People will feel more comfortable with those that look like them. A rich sophisticated black man in a middle-class white neighborhood won't get the same treatment as a middle-class white guy. But that same black man is better off there compared to an all-black hood, because he will be targeted or taunted for not fitting with the ghetto mentality.

But there are exceptions. Asians like Chinese and Indians, or Orthodox Jews are by far the most likely to leave you alone. Very few times do people complain about them because they don't have that sort of motivation for victimization or guilt. Unless when it comes to differences in politics, even twins can be divided with one single issue.

[tpk-nyc]

First of all, you're talking about a movie/TV show. It's also a comedy and, although many people take it seriously, it's meant to be a satire.

White people, on average, tend to be more affluent that other races. Thus, predominately white neighborhoods are wealthier than predominately black neighborhoods. That's not to say that all whites are rich and all blacks are poor, or that affluent neighborhoods are exclusively white.

There was a time when a black person would not have been welcome in an affluent, white neighborhood or building no matter how much money he had. That time is over.

[SobroGuy]

tpk that is true (except for Asians), but it is greatly exacerbated in NYC because of what I wrote above. You will go across the country and see a broad spectrum of poor/middle/wealthy whites, but not so in NYC. Which is why Miranda said "white guy take me to your neighborhood." That mentality would not apply in almost any other city in the US.

[All American NYC]

Originally Posted by Saccaros

Is race or money more important in NY?

I saw the movie sex and the city. I saw Miranda looking for a good neighbourhood in Brooklyn. And to my surprise Miranda saw a White man, and said, "look a White man, lead us to your home." And she found a White, middle class, area.

I didn't think it was like that in America. I thought it was more about money and celebrities? Like.

Celebrities>Rich people>White People>Black People.

And if you where Jay-Z you where more preferable as a neighbour in NY, than an White man?

Am I wrong here? Is Sex and The city wrong? Are we both wrong? Is it about race or money?

Race is something made up

Money is always important & keeping up with inflation here

[LadyR1990]

Originally Posted by Saccaros

I saw the movie sex and the city. I saw Miranda looking for a good neighbourhood in Brooklyn. And to my surprise Miranda saw a White man, and said, "look a White man, lead us to your home." And she found a White, middle class, area.

It's been a while since I saw that movie but I believe she was looking for an apartment in Chinatown and wanted to live in a building with other people who spoke english.

Don't believe everything you see in movies.

[1nevets]

Originally Posted by SobroGuy

It's a little more complicated than that. In theory NYC is about money, regardless of race. However, the dynamics of the past 40 years have made it such that white = rich (or at worst middle class), and people of color = poor (or at best middle class).

The poor/working classes of whites left, and the middle class whites continue to leave, and are being replaced with wealthy whites. While the rest of the country (in general) has the different income brackets for whites, you will be hard pressed to find poor/working class whites in NYC these days, although they do exist.

People of color came in during the 50s and 60s, and after the collapse in the 70s, much of the middle class people of color left as well, leaving the least capable/least educated/poorest behind. That hasn't changed much except that the working/middle class people of color are slowly reclaiming the poor communities of color.

As a result, in NYC chances are if you see a "white" person, they will largely be of a higher income bracket because the poorer/working class whites fled a long time ago. And chances are if you see a person of color, chances are they are poor or lower class, because the higher class people of color left with everyone else and are only recently coming back to NYC.

NYC is a skewed reality because of how things played out, and continue to play out.

Good points! With the exception of Middle Village, Greenpoint and a few neighborhoods in Staten Island where are the working class neighborhoods in NYC?

[1nevets]

Originally Posted by ohiogirl22

It's been a while since I saw that movie but I believe she was looking for an apartment in Chinatown and wanted to live in a building with other people who spoke english.

Don't believe everything you see in movies.

I'm glad you cleared that up because I was confused by the other person's version of what happened in the show. I remembered her living in Brooklyn well before the movies came out.

[LadyR1990]

Originally Posted by 1nevets

I remembered her living in Brooklyn well before the movies came out.

Yeah it's in the first movie. Because she says "Ya know brooklyn is the new Manhattan" then she finds out Steve (I think that was his name) cheated on her. And she moves to china town since it was the only area she could afford. She walks around and no one would talk to her then she sees a white guy moving and says "moving in or moving out moving in our moving out". I don't think she says "White man lead me home" She says something like "OOO a white person. Let's see where he is going". She just wants to be by someone else who speaks English!