Aside from the people, .....
I HATE IT HERE.
Amherst is just one of those places that you don't go for any extended period of time. For a summer? Sweet. A weekend? Even better. A month? Doable. Any length of time longer than a month is just pushing it.
Several factors may contribute to my disillusionment with this area. I'll just begin with one.
I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan - one of the blackest cities in America, purposely. The white flight of the 1950s-1970s basically robbed me and my generation of any real meaningful interactions with middle-class white Americans and those ethnic/"racial" others that they let into their fold. Unless we crossed 8 Mile Rd., or drove west on Michigan Avenue long enough to be engulfed in suburban whiteness, my family and I (outside of my parents working) had little to do with any groups of people outside of city limits when I was a kid. I appreciate those interactions with people of different ethnicities because, with prime-time television and local news outlets telling you, an impressionable 10-year-old, or what have you, that all non-black people fear and hate you and
here's why.... , those real-life instances with diverse connections across cultural and imagined racial lines gave me a chance to learn about and love people unlike me and more importantly correct and be corrected about false assumptions about race.
Amherst is a different story.
This place touts itself on diversity and liberal politics and, most importantly, "tolerance" - the worst kind of 'ism (though it grammatically isn't an "ism", it is). Everyone here protests something, even if they have no clue about the people, thing, or concept that they are protesting for. It seems to be the "en vogue" thing to do. And it is not always just white people here - though, since people of color make up less than 10 percent of the population, it almost always is. Do not get me wrong: I love when people are willing to learn about other cultures and jump in whole-heartedly to explore what it means to be a part of someone else's world. I love genuine interest and diversity of thought, habit, and interaction from people who are shaped by their environments. Voyeurs and posers, however, piss me off. People who rock dashikis, lock (not "dread") their hair, are regulars at salsa and reggae nights, learn how to play the talking drum, rock the mic from time to time at the local hip hop shows and still, STILL have the nerve at the slightest opportunity to call out "you people" (of color, not always black) for simply being. More than once have I observed or heard first-hand the instance of "tolerance" being tested by a simply suspected person of color by a "liberal" white person here. First and foremost, the concept of "tolerance" implies inadequacy of the group being tolerated. So, though these people are interested in dressing as I dress, embracing the cultures of my African, Latino, Hispanic, and Afro-American brothers and sisters, and dancing as we dance, we are still just to be tolerated?
Get the fuck out of here.
Amherst has the potential to be a great place to raise a family and have a quiet, prosperous life - if you can overlook all the bullshit. Detroit has its issues - major issues - but everything is out in the open, has been for more than half a century. Amherst is in denial. The Jason Vassell case and the local reactions to it speak volumes to that point:
. When this place gets over itself, maybe I'll get over being here.
Until next time....
