On Gentriconfrontation in PH ...

alafairnadia

from http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/73-gentrification

In general, white people love situations where they can’t lose. While this does account for the majority of their situations, perhaps the safest bet a white person can make is to buy a house in an up-and-coming neighborhood.

White people like to live in these neighborhoods because they get credibility and respect from other white people for living in a more “authentic” neighborhood where they are exposed to “true culture” every day. So whenever their friends mention their home in the suburbs or richer urban area, these people can say “oh, it’s so boring out there, so fake. In our neighborhood, things are just more real.” This superiority is important as white people jockey for position in their circle of friends.

They are like a modern day Lewis and Clark, except instead of searching for the ocean, they are searching for old properties to renovate.

In a few years, if more white people start moving in, these initial trailblazers will sell their property for triple what they paid and move into an ultramodern home.

Credibility or money, they can’t lose!

When one of these white people tell you where they live, you should say “whoa, it’s pretty rough down there. I don’t think I could live there.” This will make them feel even better about their credibility and status as neighborhood pioneers.

silverager

Thanks for posting this. It is important that people understand that all white people think the same and all have identical motivations. One day we can send all the white people to an island so that the reast of the country may flourish again.

I am really getting sick of the race baiting around here - If a similar blurb was printed about "what blacks think", people would be put off and disgusted - and rightly so. But hey, since its the evilevil white people, anything goes!

mr. met

i'm pretty sure it was a joke

silverager

mr. met wrote: i'm pretty sure it was a joke

Maybe she posted it as a joke but the blog she got it from is serious about it.

stacey

silverager wrote: Thanks for posting this. It is important that people understand that all white people think the same and all have identical motivations. One day we can send all the white people to an island so that the reast of the country may flourish again.

I am really getting sick of the race baiting around here - If a similar blurb was printed about "what blacks think", people would be put off and disgusted - and rightly so. But hey, since its the evilevil white people, anything goes!

Just a quick explanation - "gentraconfrontation" is kind of an old joke around here so once I saw that in the title I knew it was meant as a joke or as a "can you believe this" type of post. Knowing Alafair personally it is definitely not a "baited" post.

*Edit - found the post I was referring to : http://tinyurl.com/ywzwqq

fjord

I concur re: the joke. quite funny.

alafairnadia, according to what I've read on DH, seems quite level headed.
and I live in PH and love the suburbs (!) am i a confused one or what!?!

now let's cut out the talk of race/class/gender and get to what's real: How fu**ing creepy are the dudes at Met?

abs276

silverager wrote: [quote=mr. met]i'm pretty sure it was a joke

Maybe she posted it as a joke but the blog she got it from is serious about it.

actually, no, i believe the site is a joke as well. i must say that i'm a white person and i find it hilarious (been reading it since last month), and, for a certain group of white people, which i fit in to, it is also very true!

drano

Heh, I posted the link to this site in the Lounge before I saw this here. Sorry for any redundancy.

oneasternparkway

silverager wrote: [quote=mr. met]i'm pretty sure it was a joke

Maybe she posted it as a joke but the blog she got it from is serious about it.

No again.

silverager

OnEasternParkway wrote: [quote=silverager][quote=mr. met]i'm pretty sure it was a joke

Maybe she posted it as a joke but the blog she got it from is serious about it.

No again.

Well that is a relief - when I checked the site, the responses didn't seem to be in on the joke, they were agreeing with the sentiments - which is why I took it as serious... but I will take your word for it.

silverager

I still maintain that if there where an equivalent blog with "What Black People Want" with dozens of posts chiming in saying, "So, true! Black people also think THIS way..." it would be met with derision and not the chuckles that this site gets. But I am used to the double standard by now.

pensodyssey

I am considering legal action against this website for failure to pay royalties on Gentriconfrontation (tm). With the proceeds, I plan to open a Williamsburg-themed bar between Weatherup and Barrette. Not a bar like those on Bedford, but an actual theme bar based on pegged jeans, novelty hats and Buck Hunter.

alafairnadia

silverager wrote: I still maintain that if there where an equivalent blog with "What Black People Want" with dozens of posts chiming in saying, "So, true! Black people also think THIS way..." it would be met with derision and not the chuckles that this site gets. But I am used to the double standard by now.

most likely you are right. that site *is* a joke site. according to a friend of mine, the guy that writes it some bored marketing drone. it actually reminds me of some of the jokes that chris rock used to make about "that white guy."

comedy, unfortunately, can sometimes be stereotypical. I totally see your point, though, and think it's completely valid. and I agree - a site about blacks/asians/hispanics/whoever-not-white would definitely not garner that following.

oh, and I've found that almost anyone commenting on any blog that is in any way supposed to be funny is generally not in on the joke.

in any case, the post was a pathetic attempt at sharing something amusing on a topic that generally is a big deal on this board. as can often happen with comedy, I was immediately misunderstood.

silverager

Yes, I understand now - sorry I jumped the gun a bit on you Alafairnadia.

bobbybrummel

aren't there countless standups of the non-white persuasion who have made entire careers off doing routines that are a mixture of "my ethnicity is so crazy, we do this..." with "...but don't get me started on white people!" it's not always a bad thing, and it's not always offensive (it's also not always funny). i wouldn't be surprised if we saw the black, hispanic and AZN parodies of this blog in the next few months. there's already one for that most maligned ethnicity: film critics

pensodyssey

bobbybrummel wrote: aren't there countless standups of the non-white persuasion who have made entire careers off doing routines that are a mixture of "my ethnicity is so crazy, we do this..." with "...but don't get me started on white people!"

I don't ever remember Yakov Smirnov starting in on white folks.

"In Russia, neighborhood gentrify you!"

homeowner

silverager wrote: I still maintain that if there where an equivalent blog with "What Black People Want" with dozens of posts chiming in saying, "So, true! Black people also think THIS way..." it would be met with derision and not the chuckles that this site gets. But I am used to the double standard by now.

Here you go

obamanut

The article is right on point. I have personally always wondered why the gentrification trails always seem march through semi-bad (but not too bad), largely minority neighborhoods. You simply never hear about a 'hot new nabe' which was already white to begin with. Places like Greenpoint, Maspeth, Borough Park, even Astoria, never seem to get the same amount of airtime as Harlem, Crown Heights, Bed Stuy, Washington Heights, etc. There must be some element of 'bragging rights' involved.

whatchuwant

Dude, I TOTALLY feel superior to my non-trailblazing friends when I say where I live. And even more when I say how long.

Its totally true- and all you white people know it. :roll: 8)

neene

in 1980 there was the preppy handbook (http://tinyurl.com/3b5r3m)
now there's stuff white people like

it's totally a joke
but like most things that are funny
there's a lot of truth in it too
(and i think most of those responses are pretty tongue in cheek)

carnivore

pensodyssey wrote: [quote=bobbybrummel]aren't there countless standups of the non-white persuasion who have made entire careers off doing routines that are a mixture of "my ethnicity is so crazy, we do this..." with "...but don't get me started on white people!"

I don't ever remember Yakov Smirnov starting in on white folks.

"In Russia, neighborhood gentrify you!"
I believe that's supposed to go," In Soviet Russia, neighborhood..."

sweet tea

Obamanut wrote: The article is right on point. I have personally always wondered why the gentrification trails always seem march through semi-bad (but not too bad), largely minority neighborhoods. You simply never hear about a 'hot new nabe' which was already white to begin with. Places like Greenpoint, Maspeth, Borough Park, even Astoria, never seem to get the same amount of airtime as Harlem, Crown Heights, Bed Stuy, Washington Heights, etc. There must be some element of 'bragging rights' involved.

i partly agree, but when i was moving to the city and hearing about "up and coming" neighborhoods, i heard a lot more about greenpoint and astoria than about washington heights. harlem was already considered too expensive by those we talked to.

sadly, i am not cool enough to have moved to a "up and coming neighborhood" for any real reason besides price (meaning price for value, where value includes transportation access, in case anyone wants to talk to me about bensonhurst). i'd be perfectly happy to live in greenwich village if someone else would pay my rent.

but i also admit to enjoying the look on some people's faces when i say i live in crown heights. it IS fun.

deedee

I think that the original post describes 90% of the people on this board.

alafairnadia

DeeDee wrote: I think that the original post describes 90% of the people on this board.

then ... they should have moved out by now.

neene

words out
looks like it's already 3rd wave
http://www.dailycandy.com/everywhere/article/35293/Also+Billy+Joel

sterling2000

My wife pointed me to the Stuff White People Like site a month or so ago, and it has quickly become one of my favorite online reads...hilarious!

It's fun to read the reactions of people on the site who get so bent out of shape and bunker up over social parody (i.e. comedy)

alafairnadia

there's another, similar site, or maybe it's an older version of this one, that just has random "white people" quotes. not quite as funny.

apollonia666

alafairnadia wrote: there's another, similar site, or maybe it's an older version of this one, that just has random "white people" quotes. not quite as funny.

Are you thinking about "Black People Love Us"?

http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/

liftandcut

silverager wrote: I am really getting sick of the race baiting around here - If a similar blurb was printed about "what blacks think", people would be put off and disgusted - and rightly so. But hey, since its the evilevil white people, anything goes!

As the dominant group in America, white people have very little at stake when it comes to stereotypes and jokes about them. That is why sites such as stuffwhitepeoplelike are funny, and jokes about white people by Black comedians are "OK." The reality is that at the end of the day, stereotypes about you are probably not going to keep you from getting a job, or cause a security guard to follow you around a store, or compel someone to cross the street when he or she sees you coming.

actually, no, i believe the site is a joke as well. i must say that i'm a white person and i find it hilarious (been reading it since last month), and, for a certain group of white people, which i fit in to, it is also very true!

Thank you!

silverager

liftandcut wrote: [quote=silverager]I am really getting sick of the race baiting around here - If a similar blurb was printed about "what blacks think", people would be put off and disgusted - and rightly so. But hey, since its the evilevil white people, anything goes!

As the dominant group in America, white people have very little at stake when it comes to stereotypes and jokes about them. That is why sites such as stuffwhitepeoplelike are funny, and jokes about white people by Black comedians are "OK." The reality is that at the end of the day, stereotypes about you are probably not going to keep you from getting a job, or cause a security guard to follow you around a store, or compel someone to cross the street when he or she sees you coming.



Nice little justification you have built in to perpetuate this double standard. As long as folks believe like you, nothing will ever change. When one form of predjudice is condoned, it implicitly condones all forms. Remember, there is no such thing as reverse-racism - it is al just plain racism.

liftandcut

Nice little justification you have built in to perpetuate this double standard. As long as folks believe like you, nothing will ever change. When one form of predjudice is condoned, it implicitly condones all forms. Remember, there is no such thing as reverse-racism - it is al just plain racism.

I'm curious what the double standard is. Assuming that you are white, explain to me how a site like stuffwhitepeople like is dangerous to a white American such as yourself. Though it does not necessarily make your position less valid, a lot of white people find the site funny. Also, you already admitted that you reacted incorrectly to the OP. If you refuse to understand what the reality of living in this country is to others, and have an inadequate understanding of why some inequities still exist well... You actually think ridding the world of something like stuffwhitepeoplelike would have an impact on the state of race relations in this country?