Race & Housing: My Story

I moved into Cheektowaga NY, which is the suburbs when I was 10 years old in 2000. When my family and I got there there was only one other black family on the whole street. I also went to school at Cheektowaga Central and the school was about 5% black and the rest white. It always bothered me when I was always the only black person every class. Then over then next 3 years the neighborhood began to rapidly change, there were white families leaving it seemed like it was overnight and black families moving in. The neighborhood was no longer quite and clean, it seemed like it was starting to become just like the inner city Buffalo. No one cared about their laws being mowed because most people did not own their homes. School was even worse, there were Buffalo gangs that began to infest our school, which made everyone feel unsafe and cops were at our school daily. I once overheard a white kid say "Well there goes our neighborhood, time to go." after a black on black fight broke out in the hallways. I do not believe that it is all black people are "bad" or "poisonous" but some black families have been oppressed and treated unfairly for so many decades that it is a never ending cycle. It is hard to catch a break. Though there are no laws that forbid black from doing something there are loop holes and traps that make it virtually impossible for a poor black family to make it in our society. Our discussion last week was so accurate its mind boggling especially since I went through it and I watched white families move out and minorities move in.