Word: whitopia
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Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America...
...recipe for a riot: an inquisitive black writer journeying into some of the most segregated neighborhoods in the country. But Benjamin, a journalist with a Ph.D. in literature from Stanford, pulls off his quest with good cheer. He is invited into the homes and churches of what he calls "Whitopias": melanin-deficient exurbs and towns that have grown at least 6% since 2000, as whites have fled more ethnically diverse areas. "They are creating communal pods that cannily preserve a white-bread world," he observes, "a throwback to an imagined past with 'authentic' 1950s values." Like Sacha Baron Cohen, Benjamin...
...there any places that are getting it right now? That serve as a model for what you'd like to see? There are communities around the country that get it right. Maplewood, N.J., has all the attributes of a Whitopia - high property values, great public schools, neighborliness - and yet it's also integrated and very diverse...
...were surprised by how much you enjoyed golf. I was. [Laughs.] I feel like golf courses are the seductive emblem of Whitopia, and I didn't think I could get the essence of the place without learning myself. What I thought was a chore turned out to be a labor of love...
...that tendency to divide ourselves into identity groups in places all over the world, it seems, whether it's by race or religion or political view. Is it simply human nature? I just reject that argument. People in Whitopia would say, "Hey, Rich, birds of a feather flock together. What's the big deal?" Our government and businesses across the country make decisions every day that perpetuate segregation. When you say homes need to be built on a 1-acre lot, when you say apartment renters can't live in your community - these concrete policies are what contribute to segregation...