How Does Black Identity In San Diego Differ From Other Cities?

Speaker 1: 00:00 Today we continue our spotlight on the San Diego union Tribune, social justice reporting project with a work entitled while black. It's a deep look at the topic of black identity and eraser and the city of San Diego where only 6% of the population is black through the testimonies of seven black San Diego wins. The project reveals subtle yet seemingly intentional discrimination that the participants have experienced while living in the city. Joining me is the author of this report. Some Moria Moseley, some Moria. Welcome. Speaker 2: 00:32 Hi, thank you for having me glad to have you. Speaker 1: 00:36 Your project looks at various social issues, including gender identity, education, and homelessness. All of it filtered through the lens of black identity in San Diego. What made you want to explore this topic? Speaker 2: 00:49 I moved to San Diego in July of 2019. When I got off the plane, I realized that I was about to go through a culture shock. I had completely forgot that black people were minority because I was surrounded by them so much. I had just graduated from a historically black college. Even my high school was demographically. I mean pretty mixed, but there was still a lot of black students, black teachers. So between going through the culture shock and all of the political nature that was surrounding black people at the time, I just started to realize that blackness is multifaceted even the lifestyle and everyone doesn't have the same plight of growing up as a Southern black person. So I really wanted to explore that and see what the everyday was like to be the 6% in a city that is just so much more populated than a lot of other places in the country. This report, it Speaker 1: 01:48 Looks into black experience and identity in San Diego compared to your own experience as someone from a Southern city with a much larger black population. Uh, what were your major takeaways in that regard? Speaker 2: 02:00 Wow, a lot of black expression is more accepted in San Diego than in the south. The oppression is just the same, if not crafted a lot differently. When you see that the people who are perpetuating racism and oppression are actually working over time to make it this invisible thing. That just makes you question how attached are the people of America's finest city to oppression and racism. And my biggest takeaway from that is these people have very much so their own style, their own flavor, but it's still very unique to them and it should be appreciated. And I wanted to do that. I want Speaker 1: 02:44 To dive into something that you said a little bit more about people are working over time to sort of make racism invisible here. If you will, you know, you write about how racism in San Diego can often take the form of something subtle or overlooked at first. Talk a bit more about that. Speaker 2: 03:01 You could see this a lot, right after the murder of George Floyd, when a lot of proteins picked up in San Diego, you kind of started to see overnight. A lot of these bumper stickers, a lot of these posters in the windows. A lot of, yes, black lives matter. A lot of t-shirts a lot of tote bags, but simultaneously I would still watch non-black people and non-minorities lock their doors. When black people walk past or still kind of, you know, turn their noses up or speak to them differently. I think it's more so of a thing of not wanting to be called out and not wanting to have to hold accountability for the fact that you have contributed to the prejudices and the oppression that some of these people feel. But to avoid that conversation, a lot of people just wear a t-shirt because then if it's on your chest, why would I say anything to you? A common Speaker 1: 03:56 Thread throughout your project is the importance of education. And many of the people you spoke to express that educational opportunity is lacking for black San Diego Speaker 2: 04:06 Throughout the country. We have people debating things like critical race theory, being taught in the classrooms. And if you are only 6% of the population, there's a great chance that you don't have black teachers. You don't have that many black mentors and the statistics are there. Black children are more likely to get suspended. Black children are more likely to be over policed in their schools, by their school resource officers. So again, like I was saying that acknowledgement of black existence, because even when they're in the classrooms, they're already looking for ways to get them out. They're already aren't enough black teachers. So if majority of the teachers are non-black or whites and they hold some type of prejudice or some type of racism, suddenly it's going to be very hard to not place that onto the children. And the statistics show that most of the times they do Speaker 1: 05:04 In your project, you also described what some residents call a lack of shared black experience in San Diego, as a result of there being such a relatively small black population compared to other cities. What are some of the ways the people you spoke to try to bridge that gap and create the kinds of safe spaces they hoped to see? Speaker 2: 05:23 A lot of people have been trying to unify through their art. A lot of people have also tried to unify by inserting themselves in spaces that I needed. So an example would be Ebony, who has worked in a child welfare system for almost 20 years. Ebony saw that in order to help black children, there needs to be someone who is black working in the child welfare system. And so I, I see a lot of people using their talents and their passions and what they're good at and inserting as oftentimes one of the only black people in those spaces to speak up for others who would most definitely benefit from that. So I think that a lot of black San Diego office are playing their part by being in spaces that don't otherwise permit them. And it's going to be hard, um, as the, as the only one or maybe one, a few, um, it's not going to be an overnight thing, but I do think people are currently putting their best foot forward. And how do you think Speaker 1: 06:27 Your project clashes with the existing narratives about the city of San Diego and its relationship to diversity and inclusivity? Speaker 2: 06:36 Well, you know, racism has always been argued. Oppression has always been argued. George Floyd murder had to go to trial. And so I think that we're in a climate where a lot of people are just making the choice to not understand, but simultaneously people like myself and the other people, a part of this project are also choosing to not pretend like you don't understand. So I think that some people in San Diego will take a minute to listen. Others will argue with, but everybody has free will. And you can only hope that people take the time to listen to other people's perspective, especially if it's their neighbor. I've Speaker 1: 07:18 Been speaking with some Moria Mosley author of wild black, which is part of the San Diego union Tribune, social justice reporting project. So Moria, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Speaker 3: 07:38 [inaudible].