What's interesting to me about reading this article from the NY Times about Kodak and Racism--what they've copped to as a company, what they've admitted about the environment there, what they've done to help make it better, and what most recognize still goes on there if to a lesser degree--is that I've lived in that town, I've worked for that company, and I have some pretty strong thoughts on the matter.
You see, I understand as I read this article something I didn't quite understand before: You can't separate a corporation from the community in which it operates, because, the people who live in that community are the ones who are tossed together to make your products. Stay with me now. The people slurring and being slurred upon exist within a larger context. Got me so far? So, my real angle of interest would have been--Western New York Racism and Its Destructive Legacy--Should Kodak Alone Pay The Price?
Seriously. Shit, what about Xerox, and Kinney's shoe store and McCurdys and who the hell is it that makes Fudgie the Whale? Oh yah, Carvel Ice Cream, and is Baush and Lomb still there? And what about that shit woman at the pizza parlor that refused to hang up the phone and take our order? They all need to cop.
I read the article and I'm thinking, I remember the only black employee we had at Edicon. Super nice guy. Cared at some point. Was always in the brochures/videos (wonder why). Learned not to give much of a shit. Fell asleep often while at work. These are facts. I saw them.
But the guy didn't LIVE at work. We lived together in a city, a community, that by its geography, history, economic and cultural mindset are separatist when it comes to racial mingling of any kind. May sound weird, but Western New York, my dear readers, and Rochester in particular, was never integrated. Or should I say re-integrated after white flight split the city (or as nor'easterners like to call it: the inner city) off forever from the "acceptable" places to live.
Thanks to Another George for sending the representative graphic. I'll call this Exhibit A. FYI, the little squares are shopping centers.
In the land of Kodak, white people live in the suburbs. Black people live in the city. You have some crossover--hip youngsters and first-time homeowners who brave small pockets on the edges of the city because an area is "coming up" and is affordable. You have some UofR Professors of color, some black business owners, a Strong Memorial Hospital doctor of color here or there who lives in Brighton or Pittsford, maybe Webster.
But guess what: They still, yes in this day and age, make their neighbors nervous about their property values.
And if you're out there Dr. This and Professor That, you tell me I'm wrong. I'm not.
So Jeneane, what are you saying, that everyone in kodak territory is racist? No. Not that. But I am saying that a whole lot of white folk in Rochester, NY, some without knowing that there's anything particularly offensive about what they believe (that's the northeast way) ARE.
What hope do corporations have to retool their workers' consciousness when every day as they head out the door, their community reality tells them differently? Their local media, their news anchors--all white when I lived there--report on events that reflect the context of the community. Crime=City=Black. Worthy=Suburbs=White. How can you change a community ecosystem that relies on an air of separatism to function properly? And what comes first--the fried chicken or the egg?
At least Kodak put their checkbook where their racist employees' mouths were. That's more than you can say for the remaining 99.5 percent of the city.
And I hope Tom got a big check.
Thanks to All About George's George for pointing out the story to me. He got my ire up.
