June 29, 2008

I'm not making this up

Here's an editorial from the Dallas Morning News that I swear I'm not making up:

Editorial: So much vibrancy to build on

The trick is getting diverse groups to building [sic] a community together

The beauty of the neighborhoods that run from Jefferson Boulevard toward Wynnewood Village is how they mirror Texas' future – and capture the state's biggest challenge. Plurality will become the new reality, creating an ethnic vibrancy but making it hard to build a community out of so many different kinds of people.

You see this reality writ large in this stretch of Oak Cliff, where middle- to upper-middle-income, mostly Anglo folks live alongside poor, working, mostly Latino families. You find tree-lined, prosperous neighborhoods like Elmwood and Wynnewood, along with blocks of proud working-class neighborhoods. The hodgepodge of backgrounds and incomes coalesces into a vibrancy that North Texas neighborhoods often miss.

Vibrancy is what happens when longtime Cliff dwellers bump up against the surge of gay couples fixing up their Wynnewood homes not so far from Latino families imbuing Jefferson Boulevard with a gritty mercado atmosphere.

Vibrancy is what happens when white-collar professionals and blue-collar laborers sit shoulder-to-shoulder at restaurants like the Charco Broiler, Tops Cafe and El Ranchito.

Bridging Dallas' North-South Gap: A campaign by The Dallas Morning News editorial board to lift the southern part of Dallas.

And vibrancy is what happens when agencies like Casa Guanajuato serve immigrant families a few blocks from historic, big-steeple churches like Cliff Temple Baptist.

The trick is building a community so everyone wins – rather than turning it over only to the poor or the affluent. Striking a balance will require smart economic strategies, improved schools and an attentive City Hall.

Consider Jefferson Boulevard, which many consider the spine of Oak Cliff. There are about 160 shops along its 11 blocks between Zang Boulevard and Edgefield Avenue. But 18 of those shops pawn merchandise, offer ready cash or loan money. Another 20 sell outfits for brides, quinceañeras or parties. And 15 stores provide styling for hair or nails – or, if you're in the mood, a tattoo.

Undoubtedly, a market exists for dresses for that big occasion, ready cash or looking nice. But a thriving boulevard needs a broad range of stores to attract a broader range of shoppers. Retail feeds off other retail. And Jefferson lacks that element. Along this stretch, for example, there's only one diversified department store.

In other words, the gays actually find Jefferson Blvd. to be not vibrant, but tacky.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

on

40 comments:

  1. Garland6/29/08, 11:20 PM

    I wonder if Rod Dreher wrote this. That's some conservative paper they've got down there.

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  2. Anonymous6/30/08, 12:43 AM

    I didn't know anyone still read the Dallas Morning News (they were one of the many city papers that faked circ numbers).

    I live in the part of North Oak Cliff they are talking about (n.b. South Oak Cliff is a DMZ of ghetto blacks). I am hoping that gentrification pushes back the working class Mexican tackiness. I am not interested in diversity, I'm interested in living near fewer poors. You can't imagine what it's like being waited on by surly, dumb-as-rocks Mexican peasants.

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  3. Anonymous6/30/08, 1:52 AM

    Im amazed. I had no idea anyone still used the word 'vibrancy' with a straight face anymore.

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  4. Black Sea6/30/08, 2:44 AM

    "The trick is building a community so everyone wins – rather than turning it over only to the poor or the affluent. Striking a balance will require smart economic strategies, improved schools and an attentive City Hall."

    Wow, that's some plan! You've got to love the level of detail and analysis. Can I try?

    The trick in Iraq is convincing the population to lay down their weapons and comply with the rule of law under a stable, democratic regime.

    The trick to curing cancer is to remove cancerous tumors while preventing further metastasis.

    The trick to economic growth is to increase productivity per worker while maintaining full employment.

    The trick to crime prevention is to persuade people not to commit crime.

    Etc.

    This is the kind of writing that I fail first year students for. Evidently, its no barrier to employment as a journalist.

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  5. Anonymous6/30/08, 3:35 AM

    ....And the Mexicans find the white neighborhoods snobby. And the whites find the Mexican neighborhoods to be down at the mouth. And the blacks find the white neighborhoods to be racist. And the blacks find the gay neighborhood to be disgusting. And everyone else finds the black neighborhoods to be scary....
    The joys of diversity.

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  6. Anonymous6/30/08, 4:57 AM

    You can't imagine what it's like being waited on by surly, dumb-as-rocks Mexican peasants.

    Your fellow voters, their numbers rapidly increasing.

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  7. Unknown6/30/08, 5:06 AM

    Damm!

    Sounds like the plot to an upcoming horror movie.

    Naw, not even the king-pins of movie making horror are that sick. Are they?

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  8. Unknown6/30/08, 7:07 AM

    "Vibrancy is what happens when longtime Cliff dwellers bump up against the surge of gay couples fixing up their Wynnewood homes not so far from Latino families imbuing Jefferson Boulevard with a gritty mercado atmosphere."

    "I had no idea anyone still used the word 'vibrancy' with a straight face anymore."

    RIMSHOT!!

    But seriously folks, when do you think that editorialists will see this juxtaposition of (white) "gay couples" with fecund non-whites as reconciling the white race to its extinction?

    How about never?

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  9. Anonymous6/30/08, 8:27 AM

    From the article:

    You see this reality writ large in this stretch of Oak Cliff, where middle- to upper-middle-income, mostly Anglo folks live alongside poor, working, mostly Latino families.

    I like it how the writer implies that the Anglo families are non-working, as if they have trust funds to pay their bills.

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  10. Anonymous6/30/08, 8:40 AM

    The phrase "polishing a turd" immediately comes to mind. Diversicrats are experts at this dark art...

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  11. susanna6/30/08, 8:46 AM

    Wow, Oak Cliff! Hadn't thought about that place since I left Dallas 20+ years ago.

    The neighborhood has been down at the heels for a long time. Now Hispanics are adding their own unique brand of tackiness. Ah, the joys of diversity!

    By the way, Oak Cliff was where Lee Harvey Oswald was living when he shot JFK. Oswald had rented a cheap room in a boarding house there. Here's a picture of the Texas Theater, where he was captured after the assassination: http://www.pbase.com/rangefinderrick/image/60726117 As you can see, it's now mighty "vibrant."

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  12. Anonymous6/30/08, 9:14 AM

    Actually, I think that editorial is a perfect definition of what left-wing liberals mean by "vibrancy."

    Even though we may disagree over whether vibrancy is desirable, or scalable, does anyone disagree that this article perfectly captures the liberal zeitgeist?

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  13. Anonymous6/30/08, 9:15 AM

    This editorial HAD to have been written by a woman. I am guessing possibly a so-called "cupcake"--and no I am not referring to her sexual appeal,by cupcake I mean one who is brown on the outside,but white on the inside! :) An educated latina, prob 2nd or 3rd generation,maybe mixed white/hispanic. She may be married to a white guy-tho I'd say her unusual place in life as a relatively elite female from a culture that she has to have lots of "issues" with may result in her being devoted to a career and eschewing the men and babies life of her sisteren(is that a word?). Perhaps one day she will become famous for having a love affair with a brutal Chicano gang leader,which comes to light after she helps him escape during his murder trial.("Deep down,I know he is good...)Anyway...its that goofy breezy writing style that,upon careful reading,is totally menaingless,like"the beauty of the neighborhoods...is how they mirror Texas' future" Uhmmm...huh? The style seems feminine and the constant use of "vibrancy" sounds like someone who is not as well read or bright as his/her position would imply. A striver who hooks up with Affirmative Action. Lot of those folks around! :) Then again,the tone is so condescending you wonder if the writer could be a whitie:"...longtime Cliff dwellers(cute) bump up against...gay couples(ouch! :0 )not so far from Latino families imbuing Jefferson Boulevard with a gritty mercado atmosphere." Gritty?

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  14. Anonymous6/30/08, 9:23 AM

    "Vibrant" describing neighborhoods is the same as "strong" describing women: it means loud.

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  15. Anonymous6/30/08, 9:42 AM

    My guess is Dreher didn't write this dreck--he's been on vacation while it appeared. Besides, he's been reliably skeptical of immigration before, despite his penning the editorial about The Immigrant as "Texan of the Year"--that piece was as much a warning as it was a defense.

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  16. Anonymous6/30/08, 10:54 AM

    as a resident in metropolitan DFW area. I can honestly tell you that whenever u drive by Oak Cliff, keep on driving by.....unless u want some real bad shit to happen to you for no reason.

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  17. Anonymous6/30/08, 11:14 AM

    When people talk to me about "vibrant" immigrant communities, what I say is that I live in New York City, I've seen these neighborhoods, and you know what? For the most part they are really boring!

    "There's a bodega. There's another bodega. There's a hair solon. Oh look, another bodega!"

    I've found that when I put it this way people tend to sputter and change the subject. :-)

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  18. Anonymous6/30/08, 1:42 PM

    What's the unit of vibrancy? The vibron, I suppose. W contributes a microvibron, John Kerry a millivibron, but Senator Pajama a whole kilovibron.

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  19. Anonymous6/30/08, 2:39 PM

    This is beautiful:
    "Vibrancy is what happens when white-collar professionals and blue-collar laborers sit shoulder-to-shoulder at restaurants like the Charco Broiler, Tops Cafe and El Ranchito."
    ergo, evidently vibrancy = one person thinking 'I wish you'd disappear' and the other thinking 'I'd like to rob your house.'

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  20. Anonymous6/30/08, 2:58 PM

    I didn't write this. I was on vacation last week when it was written. Had I been in the office, I would not only have opposed the editorial, I would have warned that "vibrant" and its iterations is not the word to use.

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  21. Anonymous6/30/08, 4:01 PM

    Wonder where the writer of this piece actually lives, or if he goes out much.

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  22. Anonymous6/30/08, 6:27 PM

    Dearieme - Love the vibron concept.

    Which leads to the inevitable question. How do we measure diversity, what is its fundamental unit?

    Divon, diversiton, diversicle?

    Is there a unified theory that marries the two concepts.

    Can a vibron be expressed in terms of diversicles and vice versa?

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  23. Anonymous6/30/08, 6:41 PM

    Hey, Susanna's wrong. Whole blocks of crappy, "migrant" apartments in the 'Cliff have been leveled courtesy of Phil Romano, demi-billionaire founder of Macaroni Grill and a host of other restaurants. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/industries/commrealestate/stories/053108dnbuswestdallas.3ce4cd8.html

    Steve Sailer can relate.

    It's being gentrified.

    In other words: It's come full circle, since the 'Cliff used to be majority white. It's where Stevie Ray Vaughan and his brother are from. They attended Kimball High. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Ray_Vaughan

    And don't criticize gays. They are usually the vanguard of gentrification, since they could give a damn about the marginal public schools.

    With gas at $4 a gallon, and probably going higher, more such redevelopment will occur in inner cities. That's why inner city D.C. is changing so quickly.

    The same thing happened a few years ago to my Old East Dallas neighorhood. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/081007dnbuseastside.35a6aa0.html

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  24. Anonymous6/30/08, 6:44 PM

    "David Davenport said...
    You can't imagine what it's like being waited on by surly, dumb-as-rocks Mexican peasants.

    Your fellow voters, their numbers rapidly increasing."

    Technically only US citizens should be voting Mr. Davenport.

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  25. Anonymous6/30/08, 6:58 PM

    @ anon: I like "diversicle". Clearly
    D = m V^2.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous6/30/08, 7:06 PM

    I suppose that Southern California is your Large Vibron Collider?

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  27. Anonymous6/30/08, 7:54 PM

    re: "Can a vibron be expressed in terms of diversicles and vice versa?"

    This deserves further study. Perhaps we can build a Diversity Superconducting Supercollider. I propose we accelerate Obama to 99% the speed of light and crash him into some Mexicans to see what flies off.

    Of course there are dangers: the accidental production of black holes, dark matter, and such.

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  28. Anonymous6/30/08, 11:35 PM

    Black Sea said...

    The trick in Iraq is convincing the population to lay down their weapons and comply with the rule of law under a stable, democratic regime.

    Actually your "trick" is totally un-American.

    It is not coherent that we would tell any civilian population on the planet to disarm. I thought we were exporting our values?

    And there is no such thing as a "stable, democratic regime." The American Founders warned against democracy for good reason.

    The word "democracy" doesn't appear in the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. Franklin D. Roosevelt actually talked up the Republic in his public addresses. Fat chance of that happening today.

    Today we have the "conservative" GW Bush extolling Wilsonian Make-the-World-Safe-for-Democracy rhetoric. Democracy sucks. Democracy is a necessary precursor for socialism.

    This leads to braindead democracy uber alles comments like those of "black sea" even on dissident websites.

    The Left has won. Not only this nation, but the entire world has been intellectually lobotomized and disconnected from historical facts that might lead them to the light today.

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  29. Anonymous7/1/08, 12:37 AM

    Josh:

    Fred Reed expresses it "brethren and cistern."

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  30. Anonymous7/1/08, 1:12 AM

    The biggest mistake Americans ever made was granting citizenship to immigrants, or at least to the diverse variety of immigrant. The diveristocracy is so thoroughly uninterested in America, the historic nation, or America the 'Big Idea,' that if they hadn't been given citizenship they would have been happy to just remain in the country and carve out livelihoods for themselves. This is essentially what happens when westerners go off to live in countries like Thailand. They don't imagine for a minute that they'll have a say in the running of the country. They're just happy to be there. Thais are happy to take their money so they don't mind if the foreigners never learn their language. The foreigners don't bother the Thais -- they don't beat, rob or taunt them -- so the Thais don't mind their presence. If America [i]absolutely had to have[/i] diversity, this model is obviously far superior to the nuttiness now envoloping the country.

    As for the article, there's no need to read too deeply into. It's the kind of drivel liberals always produce to quell their own anxieties. As commentors have pointed out, essentially you take what has every appearance of being very, very bad, and breezily turn it around so that it seems very, very good; intractable differences become growing pains, the ominous becomes promising, the drab becomes gritty etc. After all, the liberal stares at you dumbfounded that you'd ask, the diversity is here now, what choice [i]is[/i] their but to pretend to enjoy it?

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  31. Black Sea7/1/08, 2:37 AM

    Dear one millionth anonymous,

    Thank you for the measured and insightful critique. I now see my comments, and the issues to which they relate, in an entirely new and different light.

    By the way, does the word "irony" ring any bells in there?

    I guess if you have to explain the joke . . . .

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  32. Anonymous7/1/08, 6:19 AM

    The editorial, I learned yesterday, was written by my colleague Bill McKenzie, a middle-aged white fellow, a liberal Presbyterian, and a good guy (though I disagree with him about a lot of things). He lives south of the Trinity river, close to some of the neighborhoods he's writing about here.

    I appreciate the commenter's observation about the illegal immigrant "Texan of the Year" essay I wrote. For one, I wrote it not in my own voice, but in the voice of the editorial board. My job, like any editorial writer's, was to reflect the board's opinion, not my own. The essay was widely read as a paean to illegal immigration, which it was not at all intended to be -- and I am puzzled that this was the reaction. Rather, like the commentator says, it was intended to be as much a warning as anything. Their are some on the board who think all this immigration is on balance a good thing, and some (like me) who adopt a more Saileran approach. We all agreed, though, that in 2007, the illegal immigrant was a Very Big Deal in Texas -- for better or for worse. That was the approach I took in writing the piece. I think if you go back and read it closely, you'll see that there's as much in that essay warning of the problems with illegal immigration as there is talking about the benefits of illegal immigration (of which I'm skeptical, but like I said, I wasn't asked to write my opinion, but assigned to write the collective opinion of the editorial board).

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  33. Anonymous7/1/08, 7:17 AM

    Anon sed:
    "Democracy is a necessary precursor for socialism."

    Yea, the latest "democratic" election was in Zimbabwe. Mugabe gunned down the opposition, shut down the country with his army and forced the opposition to resign. After the vote he is being criticized but still treated as a valid "head of state". What a joke. I just lost the meaning of that word "democracy". When the flipping NYT and other MSM papers write about the word with the usual thumb-sucking mindlessness I wonder what they mean? Is it like cookies, or toilet paper...?

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  34. Anonymous7/1/08, 9:51 AM

    Technically only US citizens should be voting Mr. Davenport.

    I would think even the most dedicated anti-immigration proponents realize that the majority of Latinos in the US are native-born.

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  35. Anonymous7/1/08, 2:49 PM

    And don't criticize gays. They are usually the vanguard of gentrification, since they could give a damn about the marginal public schools.

    Damn, I never thought of that!

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  36. Anonymous7/1/08, 2:58 PM

    I wasn't asked to write my opinion, but assigned to write the collective opinion of the editorial board

    Maybe warning labels should precede all such pieces, with words to the effect of your quote.

    I mean, I'd like to have something like that in hand if I was in your slippers, facing a torch- and pitchfork-wielding mob some dark and stormy night.

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  37. Anonymous7/1/08, 3:56 PM

    Thanks to Rod Dreher for identifying the author of the piece.
    I was becoming more and more convinced that Steve Sailer had started working undercover for Dallas Morning News.

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  38. Anonymous7/1/08, 7:14 PM

    Is it just mu region where the term "diverse" has become a euphemism for "unsafe?"

    Do you feel safe walking around your neighborhood at night?

    Well, it's kind of a diverse neighborhood....

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  39. Anonymous7/2/08, 7:45 AM

    "Lucille said...

    I would think even the most dedicated anti-immigration proponents realize that the majority of Latinos in the US are native-born."

    Native born, maybe. Citizens of this nation, never. If they are considered so, it is only because of the insane interperetation of the 14th amendment which now governs our immigration law. As far as I am concerned, any child of an illegal alien is himself an illegal alien.

    This is the view of most native born americans, and may once again hold the force of law when either 1.) the supreme court reverses itself, 2.) An amendment is passed that supercedes the current interperetation, or 3.) People in this country take matters into their own hands and wrest control of our future from lawyers and judges.

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  40. Anonymous7/2/08, 4:27 PM

    This is the view of most native born americans,

    Then said "native born americans" are rather confused about the definition of "citizen".

    Udolpho: By definition, anyone who works in a service job is not a "peasant".

    I have dealt with Mexicans, though. Never had any problems with them being "surly".

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