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Aug. 25th, 2009 08:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pearwaldorfSo this guy wrote this article for the Seattle Times about the #7 bus route. It's pretty awful, in that "Oh look at the adorable multicultural population that won't switch over to the shiny new light rail, obvs. out of nostalgia and not because the train doesn't go where they need it to" kind of way. (For those who don't live in Seattle, the south end is poorer and historically black now all kinds of poorer immigrant, although I expect things to change a lot once people start using the light rail more.)
Erica C. Barnett at Publicola (and other places) wrote a scathing takedown calling him out on the coded racism, condescension, unexamined privilege inherent in the article and general "Gee whiz!" tone of it all. And the author showed up in the comments, invoking his race and South Seattle cred and the fact that he used to ride the 7 as if it meant anything besides the fact that you can grow up in such environments and still be completely fucking obtuse about how such things shape people's life experiences. But what the fuck do I know--I'm not from here.
Erica C. Barnett at Publicola (and other places) wrote a scathing takedown calling him out on the coded racism, condescension, unexamined privilege inherent in the article and general "Gee whiz!" tone of it all. And the author showed up in the comments, invoking his race and South Seattle cred and the fact that he used to ride the 7 as if it meant anything besides the fact that you can grow up in such environments and still be completely fucking obtuse about how such things shape people's life experiences. But what the fuck do I know--I'm not from here.
