White skin, green living

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about living with 11 roommates in a Midtown co-op. The story also provided an excuse to invite myself over to other cohousing communities and meet likeminded people.

A pattern quickly emerged: Nearly everyone was white.

I hadn’t really noticed it before. I have one Latino roommate. I’m half-Chinese. Everyone else is white, and the vast majority of former housemates are also white. The folks I interviewed for the story were all white, as were most members of their respective communities.

Do co-ops have a diversity problem? It would certainly appear so, even though diversity is one of their core principles.

I asked some housemates for their theories. One said co-ops espouse white, liberal culture, so it’s natural that residents are mostly white. Perhaps, said another, more whites feel they can afford to drop everything and experiment with lifestyle.

One thought is that it begins in college. Co-ops are present at many universities. Universities are places of privilege. Plus, a lot of colleges have special housing communities designated for minority groups.

Another pointed out that other cultures are more familial than white America. A sense of community would more often be lost by white people who grew up isolated in suburban nuclear families, rather than in larger families for longer periods of time.

Has the absence of another Asian housemate detracted from my experience? No. Do I think these communities intentionally pick white residents over minorities? Definitely not. Why bring this up at all?

When I was a freshman at UC Davis, I looked at the student co-ops and thought they were amazing bastions of alternative culture. But I also couldn’t help noticing how white they were, and how much I felt like I didn’t belong. It was like looking inside a yoga studio and seeing only thin, affluent, white women. Images are powerful.

That ended up being silly of me. The people who lived there were wonderful, and I eventually felt like an auxiliary member of the community. But that original hesitation was real. I doubt I’m alone, and that very hesitation has probably stopped others from wandering in for dinner or responding to a Craigslist ad.

Maybe these cultural barriers and false perceptions will break down over time. Maybe they won’t. Until then, self-awareness can only help.