GROUP 5: Moderators - Andy Schaum, Melinda Scott

No "Why did you come here tonight?" statements recorded for the group.

Stories:

• Help/assistance without regard to race
• Police racial harassment and difficulty of getting case resolved because of race
• Ability to cooperate with neighbors and get community help even when economic times are tough
• Criminal assault
• Very happy to live in a diverse community; ability to value others - great support
• Lack of comfort with blaming diversity as a reason to accuse others
• Friends Select experience: different cultures, learning experience, effectively working together
• Due to diversity of economic background of community, created difficult living situation, e.g. loud radio playing at night
• Uncomfortable with hasty generalizations of different ethnic/ cultural groups - stereotyping
• Working with Americorps helping to introduce to various cultural experiences
• Moving to Mt. Airy welcoming experience and meeting new cultural groups
• Kelly Pool: false accusations because of race and racial harassment
• 54 years of living in community and really no problem
• Comfortable with living in a diverse environment, sense of freedom
• Economic diversity in Germantown threatens well-being and threatens previous positive experiences in other parts of the city
• Opportunity to meet different people
• License & Inspection problems and inaccurate use of power to target groups -> race baiting with approved ads for example
• Working with groups especially in Kensington
• . Having to answer to higher authority who may disagree with a decision because of racial issues, which may have economic implications
• . People can have a positive affect if you open yourself to the experience
• . Carjacking incident involving minorities who were juveniles and not charged
• Community joining together over a lost life
• . Because of economic and ethnic change in community - stores moved away hurting community; a shelter has been moved to the area jeopardizing quality of life
• Attacked by someone of a different race
• Protected by someone of the same race as the attackers
• . Neighbors didn't care much for a multi-cultural household
• Helping others without regard to race
• Reverse discrimination
• Economic situation has affected quality of life
• Actively promoted "white flight" aided by real estate agents for profit
• Announcements sent to community to announce the moving in of different groups (race) because of realtors
• Neighborhood pulling together to go against realtors tactics
• False assumptions of a school because of racial make-up
• Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered experiences of discrimination
• Favoring of certain groups by public/civil officials