Talking with my mom
I've been moving into my new apartment this past week and a half. It's been a long slog but as of yesterday I am all unpacked finally. Just a few finishing touches and the place will be complete.
As the title says though, we're gonna talk about my mom who helped me move into this new place and an interaction I'd had with her that kind of shocked me. We were taking a break from moving stuff into the new place the week before last and sitting at the dog park. Earlier in the day, I'd mentioned how the neighborhood I'm moving into is not majority white like downtown is. I was mentioning it in the sense of "I have to be conscious about gentrification because it is a huge privilege to buy a place in these trying times let alone in this neighborhood." I think I cracked some half-jokes about getting looks on the street.
While we were at the park just sitting and relaxing, my mom brings the topic up again out of nowhere. One of the things she asked me was "are you going to be okay being the only white person in the neighborhood? I just don't want you to be alone out there." When she said it, I was shocked. Nevermind that she would be wrong in saying I'm the only white person here, it was incredibly uncharacteristic of her to say such a thing. She'd made it seem like I was somehow in danger just because I would likely be in the minority. I called her out on it but the moment still sits in my mind.
It felt like one of those situations you hear or read about but aren't quite sure if it could happen to you. I thought maybe my parents or at least my mom was more above that kind of thinking. But maybe I thought I was above it too and the whole thing just put things into a greater perspective.