Remember: Racism in America is dead

[womzilla]

I spent most of my early life in central Ohio. I like to think that Ohio is relatively free of the racism which plagues the rural south and the urban north and coasts. On the other hand, I know I'm fooling myself.

A New York Times article on indoor plumbing in small town Ohio reminded me of how much I'm fooling myself.

ZANESVILLE, Ohio--In January, a strange thing happened when people along Coal Run Road turned on their taps. Drinking water came out. Not the sulfur-tinged, bug-infested stuff that collected in their cisterns or swirled in their wells. Cool, clean, straight-from-the-pumping-station city water....

In 2002, two dozen residents filed a complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, asserting that they had been denied water service because of racial discrimination. Last summer, the commission agreed.

The commission found that on Coal Run Road, none of the 17 black or mixed-race homes had city water service, while two white homes did. On nearby Langan Lane, all of the 18 white homes on top of the hill had city water, while five of the eight black or mixed-race homes in the hollow did not. (The other three families had connected to the municipal lines by themselves.)

The commission concluded there was probable cause to believe that the city, county and local water authority had "failed to provide the complainants with access to public water service because of their race."

Comments

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

Well, there just isn't much to say about that story ...

So I dropped in to say that I recently was blown away by the degree of real integration one finds in Shaker Heights (which I know is famous for such things). I was simultaneously impressed and infuriated, because what they have could so easily be available all over the country.

Re:

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

One of the first friends I made at Duke was a black fellow from Shaker Heights. Very nice guy.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

I know a lot of Midwesterners and from-the-Midwest-erners who like to believe that racism is not native to their climes. But some of the most virulent Klan activities took place in Indiana, and the article you cited (on Zanesville, OH) notes that the Klan was active in that area into the 1990's.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

The only thing I find surprising in that story is the obviousness of the racism. I thought today's bigotry was generally more subtle.

water service

[(Anonymous)]

The article in the New York Times about water service discrimination is somewhat misleading. I have lived in zanesville for 30 years and have never had public water service. 38% of the people in the county do not have public water service 4% of the population is African American. This is not unusual in rural America. There are 416,640 acres of land in the county and 85,000 people. The infrastructure is expensive and takes time and money to complete. We also do not have city sewers, trash collection, cable TV or DSL. I am in a pocket of homes without these services surrounded on all sides by homes that enjoy them. We pay ample city taxes, but have not yet received city service.

This community is about much more than racism. It was a major stop on the underground railroad, which is a gigantic component of the rich history of Zanesville. Rev. William Beecher (brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe) was the abolitionist minister of our historic Presbyterian Church. We do have problems, and racism should never be ignored, but sometimes there are more accurate explanations to social problems. This is an infrastructure problem of rural america.

Re: water service

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

The mere fact that black people in semi-rural and rural Zanesville lack water service would not be indicative of racism in and of itself. The facts given in the article indicate, though, that the lack of water service is disproportionately high among blacks, which points towards a racist explanation.

I am not holding Zanesville out as a uniquely abominable place; I don't believe it is, which is part of my anger and upset about this occurance. I will point out that if one is making a point about whether racism "is" present, bringing up evidence less than 140 years old might be helpful.