The incredible whiteness of Sonoma

Why is my little town of Sonoma so white? That question has crossed my mind more than once, especially recently.

As best as I can remember, there were no African Americans at Sonoma Valley High School during my four years there. The residential neighborhoods of my childhood days in Sonoma were just as white.

There were no reported cases of redlining, but I remember one incident when I overheard adults discussing a petition to keep a black professional and his family from buying a home in the neighborhood. In those days, that kind of racism was apparently explained by economics. White folks feared that their property would decrease in value if black folks moved in next door.

For decades here, if there was any discussion at all about diversity or cultural and quality of life issues, they centered on preserving all the things that people liked about Sonoma when they moved here. Perhaps that included preserving our whiteness.

In more recent times, some people of Hispanic heritage have found places within our community, but no such inroads had been made by African Americans.

I take no pride in acknowledging that being able to afford a home in Sonoma is an especially white privilege, possibly due to some kind of redlining by previous generations. Perhaps we are not racists because we enjoy this privilege, but we may be blind to the possibility that we allow racism to continue in a more subtle way; such as in the way we support restrictions on affordable housing developments, urban growth boundaries and the like.

We cloak all that in the mantle of preserving the quality of our community, while ignoring the fact that it also preserves its whiteness. The declared intent sounds noble, even if the effect is something less so. Our streets are safe, our crime rate is low and we do not fear the people who serve us in our local institutions, including the police department. Therefore, we leave the walls standing and keep out those, especially those of color, who are not so fortunate.

Am I wrong to consider that possibility?

We can agree that something must be done to stop the violence against people of color, especially if it is coming from those who are supposed to protect and serve us. But I’m also certain that joining a protest march is not enough.

And that thought brings me back to my original question. Why are we so white?

Less than 1 percent of Sonoma’s residents are African American. Can we at least acknowledge that it can’t be entirely a matter of economics untarnished by racism? And if we acknowledge the possibility, can we do anything about it?

How about we tear down the walls and keep them down? Are local rules, ordinances, regulations, restrictions keeping people of color from enjoying what all of us white folks take for granted?

Fighting racism in all its forms requires self-examination and action from the point of view of people who are not automatically granted membership in the privileged class by virtue of the color of their skin.

I don’t know if we can do this, but we are obliged to try.