I hate Bellaire ...
I hate Bellaire because I like the concept of egalitarianism. I think that egalitarianism is something that every society should aspire to. Of course, I don't think true egalitarianism is possible - at least not in this day and age.
Also, I think that our nation's current efforts to create a more equal society (affirmative action, quotas, etc.) are misguided and nearly total failures. But I do believe in the ends of those programs, if not the means.
But in truth, I haven't thought of a better idea, an idea that would really work. No one has. That's why we will not see egalitarianism in our time. But that does not mean we should abandon the concept. I mean, the problem of crime will never be solved either, but that doesn't mean that we should stop arresting people. The idea of egalitarianism must be promoted even if it's doomed to failure simply because it's the right and moral thing.
Now, back to the point, the reason I hate Bellaire is because it is the personification of the rejection of the egalitarian ideal. I'm writing this column while waiting to be arraigned in Bellaire's court for a minor traffic violation. Waiting with me is a sizable crowd (the Bellaire cops are nothing if not busy) that is, curiously, about 70 percent minority in composition.
This is curious, because the minority population of Bellaire is something less than 7 percent. Clearly there is an imbalance here in the halls of Bellaire justice. It would seem that nonwhites are far more likely to be stopped, harassed and ticketed by Bellaire cops than the rest of the population. The message is understood, loud and clear: "We don't want anyone but whites passing through."
And the good citizens of Bellaire couldn't be happier with such a policy. After all, the vast majority of them have moved to places like Bellaire in order to escape growing minority communities in their original neighborhoods. And those people who can't afford to relocate to such posh places simply move out to the suburbs and swallow a long commute to work. But the result is the same - "white flight."
"There goes the neighborhood," in the words of Ice-T, mocking the popular sentiment of white America today: Minorities move in, we move out and take our tax base with us. And with the tax base goes the money to properly maintain schools, police and other public goods. All the money is poured into sheltered little communities like Bellaire while the rest of the city goes to hell.
This is a subtle racism. Overt racism would be to not let minorities move into your community. Subtle racism is moving the whole community someplace else where there are no minorities instead of making an effort to share it. And the Bellaire police are there to make sure you don't have to move again.
Of course, all of this is legal. You can live wherever you want. And I'm sure the Bellaire cops had legitimate cause to haul all of these people into court. But just because something is legal doesn't make it right, doesn't make it fair.
And like I said, I don't have the answers, but nonetheless, I know that the effort must still be made towards egalitarianism. It's wrong to abandon the cities and create little white forts like Bellaire to protect ourselves from those who are different.
And it's dangerous, too, playing right into the prophecies of Marxist class struggles. When whites move away from poverty, they don't solve the problem - they just sweep it under the rug, out of sight. But only so much can be swept under the rug before you begin to trip over it ...
Ginsburg is a senior
political science major.