renters

When we moved down to Conway, the first house we visited was in an obviously African-American part of town. The Realtor told us there were a lot of 'renters' around, and we assumed that was code down here for 'African-Americans'. As it turned out, more than likely, it simply meant 'people who rent', which translates into 'take care of their property less well' and 'lower your property value by association'. Now that I've been here a year, with rentals on every side of me, I understand better the qualms people might have about renters (especially in a college town). Then I read this article in the New York Times, and I discover that 'renter' can mean a lot of things to people. The article tells the story of St. Bernard, "a quiet, insular suburb just east of New Orleans", which has been fighting tooth and nail to prevent an influx of... something. And here's where things get murky. Maybe it's low-income families. Maybe it's rental units. Both would be something people might do to protect their home values. But maybe, in a parish which is ninety-three percent white, people are also concerned about keeping out someone else. It's hard to say - things get mixed up in these conversations, especially in the south, and there is certainly the possibility that classism, rather than racism, is the (main) cause. The article points out that "A development of 35 single-family, lease-to-own homes in the black middle-class neighborhood of New Orleans East was blocked by the New Orleans City Council in August. The arguments against it — that it would damage property values and quality of life — were similar to those heard in St. Bernard."