more comments that deserve their own post
a comment added to the post that was added about the comment to a previous post cited a hypothetical example of an 80-year-old resident not being impressed with someone living in the same place for the last 25 years. skipping over the factual error also present in that comment, (that said hypothetical octogenarian might have recalled a time when this part of lowell was part of tewksbury, since i think it's fair to assume that no one alive was born more than 180 years ago), i'll focus directly on the fallacy implied in said hypothetical octogenarian's hypothetical opinion that the neighborhood containing such 25 year residents would have to be somehow less stable than his own.
first of all, many of those among and abutting the 25-year-club in this building were born and raised elsewhere in the city, hardly invalidating their "lowell cred". second of all, just because one cantankerous 80 year old feels somehow special because he or she has lacked the motivation to move house over the entire course of that time, it does not change the fact that his or her neighbors most certainly have, (you can check the assessors records to prove it), and that one cantankerous barnacle on the bottom of one boat hardly serves to exemplify the maturity of the entire regatta. (i'm curious if dick howe might be at liberty to cite statistics from the registry of deeds as to the ownership turnover rates for the various neighborhoods...)
there is an offense repeatedly committed by certain members of various neighborhoods against this one in particular, ostensibly in order to reserve certain political power for themselves, and deny it to others, and i'm calling 'em on it right here and right now. (i'm also calling out candidates who ought to know better for using the distinction to make another distinction). this is a city of immigrants, and it's always been a city of immigrants--almost every single cantankerous 80 year old included. as the new englander rightfully points out, some immigrations seems to be characterized as more equal than others, and though i do not mean to disrespect your (irish or insert name of nationality here) forebear who may have wielded a shovel in digging the canal that runs past my home, i DO mean to point out that his experience as an immigrant is immediately germane to mine as well.
look, i can track my children's line 10 generations back in this country, including revolutionary war, civil war, and almost any other historical war's veterans. and i don't think that means squat to my franchise here as a voter today. i deserve my one man one vote because i am a citizen, and i live here. PERIOD. as does the person who may have just moved in from asia, africa, europe, australia, or, even, and i can't believe i'm saying this, new jersey. PERIOD. if an individual cannot embrace another as a brother or a sister with the most important of citizenship things in common--we all choose to be here in lowell and not anywhere else--then that would be the individual with the problem, not the other.
whoever is next elected mayor of OUR city, i'm hopeful that their first words to the electorate, (which, coincidentally, conveyed upon them the privilege to serve without regard to tenure), and, indeed, all their words, will always lack pejorative distinction.
first of all, many of those among and abutting the 25-year-club in this building were born and raised elsewhere in the city, hardly invalidating their "lowell cred". second of all, just because one cantankerous 80 year old feels somehow special because he or she has lacked the motivation to move house over the entire course of that time, it does not change the fact that his or her neighbors most certainly have, (you can check the assessors records to prove it), and that one cantankerous barnacle on the bottom of one boat hardly serves to exemplify the maturity of the entire regatta. (i'm curious if dick howe might be at liberty to cite statistics from the registry of deeds as to the ownership turnover rates for the various neighborhoods...)
there is an offense repeatedly committed by certain members of various neighborhoods against this one in particular, ostensibly in order to reserve certain political power for themselves, and deny it to others, and i'm calling 'em on it right here and right now. (i'm also calling out candidates who ought to know better for using the distinction to make another distinction). this is a city of immigrants, and it's always been a city of immigrants--almost every single cantankerous 80 year old included. as the new englander rightfully points out, some immigrations seems to be characterized as more equal than others, and though i do not mean to disrespect your (irish or insert name of nationality here) forebear who may have wielded a shovel in digging the canal that runs past my home, i DO mean to point out that his experience as an immigrant is immediately germane to mine as well.
look, i can track my children's line 10 generations back in this country, including revolutionary war, civil war, and almost any other historical war's veterans. and i don't think that means squat to my franchise here as a voter today. i deserve my one man one vote because i am a citizen, and i live here. PERIOD. as does the person who may have just moved in from asia, africa, europe, australia, or, even, and i can't believe i'm saying this, new jersey. PERIOD. if an individual cannot embrace another as a brother or a sister with the most important of citizenship things in common--we all choose to be here in lowell and not anywhere else--then that would be the individual with the problem, not the other.
whoever is next elected mayor of OUR city, i'm hopeful that their first words to the electorate, (which, coincidentally, conveyed upon them the privilege to serve without regard to tenure), and, indeed, all their words, will always lack pejorative distinction.
posted by kad barma at 1:33 PM
2 Comments:
I think your mention about the old guard politicians in this city prefacing so many commentaries with their litany of "proof of longevity in the city" when introducing that person or this person they are lauding/naming something after/etc is the telling point.
I've been writing about this since 2006 (well, 2005, but this post was my seminal one on the subject - especially the last paragraph. Funny how things have and haven't changed in this debate since...)
Fact is, that the reason newcomers are sensitive to the charge is that it's levied, in a subtle and not so subtle way, a lot. Back when we were going through the Cox battle and a ton of drive-by comments which attacked us, the horse we rode in on, and the horse feed, too, that was a pretty common theme.
Kad and Lynne,
Points taken about the introductions and I'll try to pay better attention to that stuff (and Lynne, nice entry from back in the day, I just read it). I would have to watch more city council meetings in other cities to compare though..it seems if a "native Tucsonian" or "native Hobokenite" were being recognized at their CC meeting, it would be relevant to add..not to put down newcomers, but just because it would go along with the context of the person's bio..
..also, I would have to admit my own perception is skewed because I'm more likely to be around other non-natives when this comes up. I don't know what people say at the SAC club or in the the private homes of the best-pedigreed citizens because I don't have the company of those people. It's probably doubly-skewed because people who harbor resentment towards non-natives probably wouldn't say it to me, just like someone who had some old racist grudge wouldn't mention it in front of a member of the target group. A third type of bias I'll confess to is that everyone, myself included, probably sees things at least slightly skewed in the direction they'd like to.
All that said, my perception is still mine and I'll *own* it until I'm proven wrong and have to eat crow. I just feel like for all the rocks I've turned over here, and side-streets I've run down (literally and figuratively), I've seen this issue played out biggest from other non-natives.
And at the end of the day, I agree with the way Lynne concluded that 2006 post about answering the call to an affordable Boston alternative AND to Kad's conclusion about equality among people.
My bottom line: I'll be involved in this community in some way, shape, or form here (except when deployed or assigned away) for many many years to come. I'll never lie about where I'm from, or change the way I speak, but at the same time I refuse to do any apologizing or hand-wringing about it. I live here, I vote here, I pay taxes here, etc. I hope to raise kids here someday, and yes, we'll all watch the local teams together with the extended clan!
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