Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
place in Newton. I was open to a place in either Brookline or Newton but this
time I found one in Brookline, which is even better for her I think.
LaterJoyexpandsuponherdecisiontomovetoapredominantly,whiteuppermiddle-
class suburb:
I know housing [Section 8] is a big deal for me. I like to testify about housing
because I don't want them to take it away. You know it's critical for me. It has to
do with me being here and educating my kid in Brookline, which is important to
me. Education is important to me.
Like the other welfare dependent white women mentioned, educational access was a
primary motivator. Joy understood that while she may never have wealth or upward so-
cial mobility for herself, raising her children in a white, upper middle-class community
with a superior public education system would provide her children with upward social,
economic, and cultural mobility. In fact, her elder daughter graduated with honors from
theUniversityofMassachusettsatAmherstandcurrentlyworksasaMontessoriteacher
in Hawaii.
Despite being a welfare recipient and welfare rights activist, for the past few decades
Joy has been able to use her whiteness, specifically her Jewish ethnic identity, to gain
access to racially segregated and class exclusive communities. She states,
ThisisaSection8apartment.Iam
very
resourceful.TherearenopeopleinNew-
ton or Brookline that really want to rent to “us” [poor] people. You know….
Even though it's multicultural, the money part, the class part is actually worse
because they [Brookline] are starving everyone who wants their resources just a
block away. So there is a bigger wall that gets put up. Whereas in Newton, they
areatownover,sotheyhavethesuburbanmentality.TheydriveintoBostonbut
theyreallywanttodotheliberalthing.Sotheywouldmaybebussomefolksinto
their schools or maybe some affordable housing or something and “Let's be nice
to those people” orwhatever but, don't have too many come through. But Ithink
it's just a little bit different. In Brookline it really is quite a strong feeling: The
classist feeling here. [Pauses] But I think other aspects of my background help
in ways. I'm Jewish. I was raised in a Jewish community. I'm educated. So I can
connect in other ways.
Unlike her first experience raising her daughter in Newton, Joy feels that she has de-
veloped strong friendships with other parents and a community in Brookline. Compar-
ing the experiences she states,
