A guest post by supermarket obsessed Brendan Mckenna:
Over the course of less than two hours this evening (July 31), I witnessed two "charming" Queens moments...first, I went to a local discount store situated at the Stop & Shop shopping center off of 48th Street and Northern Boulevard. While making my purchase, an unusually talkative sales clerk rung me up. I asked where she was from, and she said, "Maspeth." I noted it was a nice neighborhood, and she noted it was beginning to decline. She was not pleased with the new elements moving in, "I'm not prejudiced, but I am not happy with some of the new riffraff." She then proceeded to talk of her father witnessing a mugging set up underneath an overpass in that neighborhood - seemingly equating it with ethnic change. She was not happy one bit about the "new" Maspeth. It is always amazing what strangers are willing to share!
I then headed over to Stop & Shop and picked up some groceries. While in the check-out line, I witnessed another, even more vivid incident. An African-American woman was shouting at an Asian couple and young daughter. She didn't like how they were staring at her, and began to yell, "You really should go back to that trashy country you came from, go eat some rice." She continued with this tirade for the entire time I was in line, even as the management tried to calm her so that she would stop yelling. Meanwhile, the approximately seven-year-old daughter was shouting in defense of her parents (who barely spoke English), telling the lady to shut up. She was protecting her parents and their right to be there (and it seemed like she was accustomed to doing this). It was a truly sad thing to witness. All very disturbing, and I get the sense that Queens may not be handling its diversity particularly well.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Race & Queens
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12 comments:
The tearing down of one- and two-family homes with replacement by multi-family homes, combined with the city looking the other way with regard to illegal conversions, combined with a sanctuary city policy leads to an increase in riff raff. As you well know in Sunnyside. As for the second incident, it proves that Archie Bunkers come in all colors.
Experiencing both these events in one day is truly a bummer. Thanks for letting us know about these incidents though. They're a reminder of how important it is to make positive contacts with people who are different than us. In this way we help "Stamp Out Archie Bunkers".
Queens Crapper considers ethnic minorities to be "riff raff"? I don't understand that comment. Is Crapper trying to defend ethnic bigotry by blaming development in Maspeth?
So apparently if you put 2 million+ people from all over the planet in a 110 square mile land mass, things don't run quite so smoothly. Who saw that one coming?
Put a Sikh, a German, a Kenyan, a Korean, a Catholic, a Trinidadian, an Irishman, a Turk, a Catholic, a Hindu, a Peruvian, a Russian, a Jew, an Eskimo, and maybe even an Archie Bunker in a room together. Ask them what kind of food they would like for dinner, and watch them murder eachother over it. Then try to run a government which accomodates all of their needs and cry for the rest of your life as you get nothing done.
ANONYMOUS: Queens Crapper considers ethnic minorities to be "riff raff"? I don't understand that comment.
Check out his/her/its own blog. "Riff raff" is only the beginning.
JASON IN KEW GARDEN: Put a Sikh, a German... and Archie Bunker in a room together. Ask them what kind of food they would like for dinner, and watch them murder eachother over it.
Using your metaphor: Why is it necessary that they all eat the same thing? Can't they bring their own food and share? Potluck! And even if you don't like a particular dish you can still be part of the dinner party; just don't insult the cook. I’d say that Queens is, in fact, a remarkably successful dinner party. Sure, there are bores at the table and occasionally the conversation gets a little sharp but no one’s flung a drink in anyone’s face or stabbed their neighbor with a carving knife. It's a Platonic symposium!
Actually, I never equated riff-raff with ethnic minorities. The passage from the supermarket junkie stated: "seemingly equating it with ethnic change." He determined that the term "riff raff" meant ethnic minorities.
When you have city officials encouraging the disregard for laws (allowing illegal apartments and adopting sanctuary city policies), then it's natural to get an influx of people who break the law, no matter where they come from.
"I’d say that Queens is, in fact, a remarkably successful dinner party. Sure, there are bores at the table and occasionally the conversation gets a little sharp but no one’s flung a drink in anyone’s face or stabbed their neighbor with a carving knife."
You're kidding, right? There are racial incidents in Queens all the time. Like how you equated it with a successful dinner, though. That's what a good Queens blogger always does.
Did you say anything to the second lady? Or better yet, the family?
Queens Crap is a forum for the meatheads and bigots that are still running around Queens. Fortunately, their numbers are declining. You can't take that site seriously.
To Forest Hill 72,
Good point. That family could have used some support.
Agreed. It's much better to take the Queens blogs dedicated to bike lanes and restaurants seriously than one about overdevelopment and the reasons for it that will impact our quality of life.
Rhe supermarket guy seems to have injected ethnic B.S. into a story about a mugging. Sounds like he has guilt over something. What the black lady did is unacceptable though.
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