I apologize, upon further reflection I do not feel comfortable advising on this complex topic without proper expertise or context.

1. An Analysis of Neighborhood Dis(advantage)
Within Lower Merion Township.
Danielle Levin

2. Get into three groups and there are 3
sections on the poster board I am giving
you, please write down words that you
associate, define or link to the term at the
top of each column.

3. “I was taught to see racism only in
individual acts of meanness, not in
invisible systems conferring
dominance on my group”
-Peggy McIntosh

4. 1.What role does race have in your life?
2.How has it impacted you?
3. Please write down how you would define
racism?
4. What is white privilege?

5. The Random House Dictionary (1993) defines privilege as “a right,
immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages
of most.”
Peggy McIntosh (1995): Those of us who are white usually believe that
privileges are “conditions of daily experience... [that are] universally
available to everybody.” (pp. 82-83).
This power is institutionalized, granted to those who are of the
dominating group. Thus having greater access to power and
resources.
Seeing white as “normal”

6. Historical Context of LMSD:
Lower Merion School District serves over 62,000 residents within LM & Narberth
Historically white town, and known for being affluent.
Merion, Wynnewood, Ardmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Rosemont, Bala Cynwyd,
Belmont Hills, Wayne, Penn Valley, Penn Wynne, Gladwyne, Villanova and The
Borough of Narberth.
In 1980, the population was made up of 94% white residents, which has now
decreased to 83.5% white residents and the number of black residents living in the
township is now 5.9%. The percentage of white residents in the township is 6.1% higher

7. In LMSD, the student body population is :

8. VS
Median income per year: $53,482
Median value of houses: $175,700
Poverty Rate: 15.6%
Average Unemployment Rate: 5%
→ Unemployment rate for white population:
4.3%
→ Unemployment rate for black pop:
9.4%
Median income per year: $115,657
Median value of houses: $546,600
Poverty Rate: 4.9%
--> Black population poverty rate: 5.9%
Unemployment Rate for Black population:
14.9%
*Lower Merion calls itself a “First Class
Township”

9. Putting it into perspective:
A person working a minimum wage job would have to work approximately 108 hours per week
61 more hours than the average 47 hour work week, in order to afford a one bedroom rental apartment in the
township.
In order to rent a two bedroom apartment, an individual would have to make an estimated $43,000 per year which
according to the Census 2014 Population Reports, is $7,602 more than the median income for black
households.
This is still well within reach for white households who earn the median average of $60,256 annually.

10. Who lives where?
● Majority of the black residents in the district are clustered in two
neighborhoods: South Ardmore and Bryn Mawr.
● Gladwyne (96% white) and Haverford (95.9% white)
● it is important to question why this is, and to examine the cost of living in
those neighborhoods considering that blacks are making less than their white
counterparts; which likely impacts where they chose to live or where they can
afford to live within the district.

11. Employment
Of the LM residents, 87.3% of workers have white collar
occupations. Of the working residents in Lower Merion Township, the
highest percentage of white collar occupational representation is among
people who live in the less diverse areas in the district [Gladwyne and
Haverford]. Bryn Mawr and Ardmore have the highest representation
of workers in blue collar jobs or other kinds of occupations, therefore
it’s no coincidence that those towns also have the highest representation
of black residents.

12. Neighborhood characteristics have had a heavy impact on life chances
Taxes to live in the area are incredibly high
fund a very resource rich schooling system.
district is known throughout the Country as a top ranked educational
program
So what does this mean?
Not only are most of the youth in the district provided with a good
education, and a safe environment to grow up in, but they are
also living an extremely high quality of life.

13. What factors do you think have led to the lack
of diversity in our township?

14. What is the difference between Wealth & Income
Wealth
What you own minus what you owe
What you have in the bank and the assets that
you own
Used to ignite social mobility, create
opportunities and establish status
Can be passed down through generational lines
Assets:
1. Homes (Biggest indicator)
2. liquid assets like cash, savings, bank
deposits, insurance/pension plans
Income
your salary, wages or government benefit check
Money that continues to flow in

15. What is Economic Inequality?
Not only does economic inequality keep many black families
from being able to afford to live in Lower Merion, but systemic
inequality also likely causes them to lack a desire to live in
the historically white town.
So how can we understand: Advantage vs Disadvantage and Inequality vs privilege?

16. Different types of racism:
• Interpersonal: prejudices and discriminatory behaviors. Where one group makes assumptions about the
abilities, motives, and intents of other groups based on race.
• Internalized: In a society in which all aspects of identity and experience are racialized, and one group is
politically, socially and economically dominant, members of stigmatized groups, who are bombarded with
negative messages about their own abilities and intrinsic worth, may internalize those negative messages.
• Institutional: Assumptions about race are structured into the social and economic institutions in our
society. Institutional racism occurs when organizations, businesses, or institutions like schools and police
departments discriminate, either deliberately or indirectly, against certain groups of people to limit their
rights.
• Structural: Accumulation over centuries of the effects of a racialized society.
*Let’s think of examples of each type!

17. Understanding Privilege
Activity

18. I feel like I belong in the neighborhood that
I live in

19. I feel comfortable walking through any of
the streets in any neighborhood in Philly

20. I have felt pressured to alter my
appearance, mannerisms, or language to
avoid being judged based on my race

21. Supermarkets sell all the foods that my
family eats.

22. I have no problem finding bandaids that
match my skin color.

23. Sometimes I am the only person in the
room with my racial background.

24. Most of the people in charge (teachers,
employers, cops, politicians) have the
same racial background as me.

25. I have been told that I would be better off
with darker or lighter skin.

26. I am never asked to speak on behalf of all
the people in my racial group.

27. I can be sure that if I ask to “speak to the
person in charge” I will be faced with
someone the same race as me.

28. When I walk into a store, employees follow
me because they suspect I am going to
steal something due to my race.

29. Understanding our privilege: Exercise
Social Stratification
Social Class
Social Inequality
Social Mobility
Think about:

30. How does it feel to be marginalized based on
something that you can’t control?
Marginalization- pushes groups of people to the margins of society
(economically, politically, socially, culturally, etc..) It denies equal access to
resources and opportunities. It limits the chances for upward social mobility.

31. Experience of black students in white schools
Philly Mag and NY Times articles point out, black students, whose parents are paying the same school
taxes as their white neighbors, are still being denied access to some of the best academic resources that their
white peers are fully enjoying.
So...is it even worth it for a black family to pay higher school taxes and reside in white dominated school
districts if their children aren’t even benefitting from it?
→ Not only are the black students not benefitting from it, but they are being harmed by it, because the
experience is not socially rewarding either leading to feelings of isolation and/or exclusion.

32. How does social class/economic inequality/SES impact
a person's social mobility?
How does race/ethnicity impact a person's individual
identity, social identity and their social interactions?

33. Homeownership
*Low levels of black homeownership in LM might be a result of discrimination in employment, income and loan approval.
→ Black families income compared to white families income tends to be sixty-two cents on the dollar, and on top of that, white families
tend to have $73,000 more wealth than black families.
→ Black middle class families own about a quarter of the wealth that white middle class families own.
→ Blacks are being denied home mortgages at a 60% higher rate than their white counterparts, they are also given higher rates on
loans and are denied access because of housing appreciation/depreciation.
Considering these factors:
Cost to live in Lower Merion is significantly higher for black families than for white families.
A home's values decreases by 16% when it is located in a neighborhood that is more than 10% black.

34. Why is this socially significant?
Denied entry into white neighborhoods = Denied other resources
(i.e. higher quality of education).
→ Granted entry ≠ granted resources
*when black families do make it into predominately white communities, they are likely to experience hostility and
isolation from their white peers.
White children learn prejudices at a young age, but are typically socialized to believe that they “colorblind”.
Colorblindness in the school system further marginalizes black students and reinforces the inherent privileges of the white
students. One of the fundamental issues surrounding the idea of ‘colorblindness’ is that it was established as a result of
color-conscious racism.

35. How has your race helped or hurt you? Can
you give an example?

36. → School curriculum is strictly depictive of white interests and fails to incorporate black and/or
multicultural material into the classroom instruction.
→ By failing to acknowledge race in the school setting, is to essentially deny the historical and
contemporary contexts of white domination and the oppressive past that blacks have faced which have
shaped their lived experiences and play a role in their daily lives.
→ Thus reinforcing the colorblind attitude and normalizing the white experience.
The Lack of racially diverse content is causing the school curriculum to serve as a way to reinforce power
and privilege.
The curriculums racist undertone is protected by the claim that it is just part of the traditional curriculum
and therefore remains untouched and unquestioned. Past research has also found that black students felt
that they needed to prove themselves in the classroom setting in order to show that they were worthy of
being in the white dominated setting.

37. Race is simply just a social construct:
Do you think being “colorblind” – in other words, not “noticing” or acknowledging racial differences – is a goal
we should strive for, or is it “running away from racial differences?
How can being colorblind help or hurt our society? How can it help or hurt in the classroom setting? Is there
something that can be done? If so, what might it be?