My hometown of Rockville Centre, NY, which is on Long Island, is a fairly wealthy town with very little diversity. There are some families who are of different races, ethnicities and nationalities but the majority of the people I grew up with are of white, Irish, Catholic dissent. Many people associate my town, and other towns nearby Rockville Centre with living “in a bubble”. Not until people actually move out of Rockville Centre, I feel, they will really understand that there is a much bigger world outside of the people and places we grew around.
I currently live about 10 minutes from the closest beach. There are many different beaches that people can go to, including private beach clubs. More than half of the families living in my town belong to one of these private beach clubs. My family has never belonged to a private beach club, but with certain guest passes, I would always go with my friend’s families in the summertime with them to their beach. Every time I would go to a particular beach club, and I have been to quite a few, all of them seemed to be pretty much the same. There is the same facilities and activities, outdoor swimming pools, and of course the beach at every beach club. But the one thing I began to notice was that all the people who belonged to the beach club were essentially the same. I came to realize that for the most part, with the exception of maybe one or two families within these private beach clubs that contained several hundred people, that everyone who belonged to these clubs were Caucasian, usually larger families with kids. Some of the private beach clubs are also more directly towards a certain nationality, such as Irish families, again always Caucasian.
At home, although most of my closest friends are Caucasian, one of my best friends, Steph, is African American. One time over the summer we all decided to go to our friends beach club. Knowing that Steph is African American, my friend who’s family owned the beach club was always a little hesitant to invite her. When we got to the beach club and we walked inside, I could tell that although Steph did not say anything or act in any way differently, I could kind tell that she felt left out. I could sense that people were staring at her, and wondering why she was at this beach club just because of the color of her skin.
The private beach club’s that are “supposed to be” public space are in actuality really not fully open to anyone. Although the beach club does not actually say or inform others that certain people (ie: people of a certain race) are not allowed to enter or become a part of the beach club, it is clearly obvious that the people or families who are minorities are looked down upon.
January 21, 2010 at 10:33 pm |
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