Culture Clash

I almost titled this blog "Rich Girl in the Hood", since it's really about class, not race. But "rich girl" just didn't have the same ring that "white girl" did. And since I only rank as the world's 31,849,353 richest person, it wouldn't really be true. Actually, I'm richer than 99.47% of all human beings on earth. Go to www.globalrichlist.com if you want to see where you stand.

Even though I speak fluent Spanish and know how to dance salsa, I am undeniably a white girl. For nearly six years I've been living in a mixed, "transitional" neighborhood in Oakland, CA. Oakland is many things, from upper-crust Montclair and Rockridge to downscale Fruitvale and East and West Oakland.

But my hood really is the hood. The barrio. It's a place where people know how to celebrate the Fourth of July. Why bother with those wimpy sparklers and whistling Petes when you can so easily buy a trunkload of professional-grade aerial fireworks and shoot them off in the middle of your street for all to enjoy? If you got to the black-market fireworks sale too late, just pull out your gun and shoot it in the air!

Don't get me wrong. I like most of my neighbors. They're out and about on their porches. Their kids ride bikes (not a helmet in sight, more about that later) and play baseball in the street. They've lent me tools and taken care of my daughter and inquired about my boyfriend. They've openly wondered how it can be that just two people (me and my 8-year-old daughter) live in a three-bedroom, one-bath house.

My block's a microcosm of the hood, with African Americans and Latinos and Asians and Caucasians and stray cats and dogs and, I think, one duck, all living together in noisy harmony, most of the time.

Mi barrio is a place that has driven progressive, recycling, non-littering, yogic, compassionate, sugar-free me crazy. It's made me wonder whether or not true diversity is possible. And it's confirmed my belief and strengthened my understanding that on a daily basis, I am lavished with extravagant privileges just because I was born with fish-belly-white skin.

If you're reading this and you're not white, you know exactly what I mean. If you are Caucasian, you should go here to unpack your invisible knapsack of white privilege. Please pay close attention to the "Daily effects of white privilege." And tell me what you think.