Social housing
I just read this column about a social housing development in an area near where my mum used to live. It's an area that was developed probably 20-30 years ago, so it's still considered one of those 'posh' areas.
There is a housing crisis in New Zealand. There are families who cannot afford to buy, cannot afford the rents, so they are forced to go to social housing. Even then, there is a huge waiting list.
This column was about a petition not to build this social housing development for fear of gangs, and while it goes unsaid, affecting the property values. The columnist talked about classism and the prejudice she faced as someone of a certain ethnicity as well as coming from a 'poor area'.
The perception is that many of these families will be from other ethnicities, rather than those whose ancestry came from western Europe. And those that started the petition feared the development would lead to increased gang activity, for one thing.
Statistically, there are more of these families of other ethnicities, but I think I need to point out that not all of these families have gang affiliations, and not all poor families are exclusively one (or two) ethnicities.
I grew up in social housing. Back in the 1970s, my perception was that living in a house that was rented from the government was a big no-no. To use an American term, we would be considered 'trailer-trash', despite the fact that we were actually living in a fairly decent house, instead of a trailer.
Understand this is how I perceived things. Right or wrong. But even then, I felt if you were poor, you were lazy, uneducated, didn't care about trying to make yourself better.
My father would cycle to town to work. If we had to get groceries, we either used the work van or I think we would have walked if we didn't have a car. We used a local grocery store rather than the supermarket.
If Mum needed to go to town, she would take the bus (she never had her licence anyway). Again, there has always been the perception, at least in the city I grew up in, that if you didn't own a car and took public transport, you were lower than low.
Of course, now it's different, especially in Auckland. Public transport is more convenient and cheaper than paying exorbitant parking fees.
Yet what gets me is the thought that because I'm white, I shouldn't be in social housing. It's this idea that only certain people of a certain ethnicity are in social housing. Never mind circumstances. Or it's the idea that I'm uneducated. Or that my parents were stupid or something.
Or this idea that because someone lives in social housing and they're of a certain ethnicity, they're not to be trusted.
I just don't get it. How about we stop putting these sorts of labels on people and stop judging someone based on someone else's perception? A person may be poor, but they can still be polite, decent and educated. Just not in the way some people perceive is education. And some people can be rich and can be complete dicks and horrible people. No one is good just because they have a lot of money. And no one is bad just because they're poor.
There is a housing crisis in New Zealand. There are families who cannot afford to buy, cannot afford the rents, so they are forced to go to social housing. Even then, there is a huge waiting list.
This column was about a petition not to build this social housing development for fear of gangs, and while it goes unsaid, affecting the property values. The columnist talked about classism and the prejudice she faced as someone of a certain ethnicity as well as coming from a 'poor area'.
The perception is that many of these families will be from other ethnicities, rather than those whose ancestry came from western Europe. And those that started the petition feared the development would lead to increased gang activity, for one thing.
Statistically, there are more of these families of other ethnicities, but I think I need to point out that not all of these families have gang affiliations, and not all poor families are exclusively one (or two) ethnicities.
I grew up in social housing. Back in the 1970s, my perception was that living in a house that was rented from the government was a big no-no. To use an American term, we would be considered 'trailer-trash', despite the fact that we were actually living in a fairly decent house, instead of a trailer.
Understand this is how I perceived things. Right or wrong. But even then, I felt if you were poor, you were lazy, uneducated, didn't care about trying to make yourself better.
My father would cycle to town to work. If we had to get groceries, we either used the work van or I think we would have walked if we didn't have a car. We used a local grocery store rather than the supermarket.
If Mum needed to go to town, she would take the bus (she never had her licence anyway). Again, there has always been the perception, at least in the city I grew up in, that if you didn't own a car and took public transport, you were lower than low.
Of course, now it's different, especially in Auckland. Public transport is more convenient and cheaper than paying exorbitant parking fees.
Yet what gets me is the thought that because I'm white, I shouldn't be in social housing. It's this idea that only certain people of a certain ethnicity are in social housing. Never mind circumstances. Or it's the idea that I'm uneducated. Or that my parents were stupid or something.
Or this idea that because someone lives in social housing and they're of a certain ethnicity, they're not to be trusted.
I just don't get it. How about we stop putting these sorts of labels on people and stop judging someone based on someone else's perception? A person may be poor, but they can still be polite, decent and educated. Just not in the way some people perceive is education. And some people can be rich and can be complete dicks and horrible people. No one is good just because they have a lot of money. And no one is bad just because they're poor.