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14 I f A Personal Narrativ e gender stereotype s an d custom s restricte d employmen t opportunities . Black me n di d th e dirties t manua l labo r fo r th e leas t pay . A few worke d in better-payin g blac k job s lik e sanitation . Blac k wome n wer e domesti c servants fo r white s o r wer e cook s i n part-time , low-wag e jobs . Loca l banks di d no t operat e branche s o r make man y loan s in black Columbus . In their absence, alternative lending businesses flourished, chargin g small fortunes fo r standar d financial services . Fe w supermarke t chain s opene d stores in black Columbus, and thos e tha t di d eventually close d o r moved away. As a consequence, th e grocery stores and othe r businesse s tha t di d operate there sold their wares at inflated prices , knowing their clients had few choices . Why, then, woul d anyon e choos e t o live in the ghetto ? Th e answer is that no one would. Some decision s tha t disproportionatel y affec t blacks—suc h a s th e location o f a new schoo l o r library, public housing , o r a waste incinerato r or whether t o locate a supermarket o r bank branc h i n a particular neigh borhood —might appea r o n th e surfac e t o b e rac e neutral . Bu t i f on e looks mor e closely , whit e privileg e emerge s a s a significan t facto r i n decisions b y whites to place new businesses, shopping malls, and school s in white communities and to locate waste sites or prisons in or adjacent t o black communities . Becaus e few—an d ofte n no—black s hol d decision making position s an d becaus e black s ar e a numerica l minorit y i n mos t American cities , white s i n Columbu s an d elsewher e hav e bee n fre e t o arrange governmenta l an d privat e policie s t o favo r themselve s an d thei r interests. Black s hav e gotte n Columbus' s leftovers . Fe d o n scraps , tw o large black ghettos emerged . RACIAL POVERT Y In Columbus, rac e is largely a proxy for economi c status . Some black s in the city belong to the middl e class and hav e gone to college and perhap s graduate o r professiona l school . A handful o f blac k doctor s an d lawyer s have practices , an d som e black s operat e smal l businesses , o n Moun t Vernon, Long , Main , o r Livingston . Other s includ e teacher s an d minis ters . But most blacks live in one of the ghettos. It is hard to separate rac e and povert y i n blac k Columbus ; the y hav e blende d int o racia l poverty . By contrast, man y white s belon g t o th e middl e o r uppe r class , livin g i n essentially all-whit e communities lik e Bexley, Upper Arlington, Berwick , or Westerville. Thus , i f yo u ar e black , yo u aren' t expecte d t o b e there , A Personal Narrativ e \f 1 5 especially after dark , and the local police see to it that suspicious (that is, black) people are questioned . For mos t o f m y childhood , m y famil y require d Ai d fo r Familie s wit h Dependent Childre n (AFDC) , o r welfare. Bu t i t was no t nearl y enoug h for food , housing , an d clothing . Par t o f th e welfar e mone y wa s spen t immediately o n foo d stamps . Unde r th e foo d stam p program , a welfar e recipient ca n bu y a n allotment o f food stam p coupon s fo r les s than thei r face value. For example, one can buy $200 in food stamp s for about $125. That may sound lik e a windfall, bu t anyone who has lived o n AFDC an d food stamps...

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