Discussion 4 After reading Jeff Nixa's, "A Good Neighborhood," respond to the following questions: · What is Nixa's thesis, or message to the reader? · What “support,” through details and examples, does the author use to make his point? · In addition to his discussion on neighborhoods, what other societal issues does the essay address? What does the writer mean by "blindness and coded racism of privilege"? A Good Neighborhood Jeff Nixa - South Bend, Indiana As heard on The Bob Edwards Show, September 2, 2011 I live in a bad neighborhood. At least that’s what people said about it. “Cottage Grove Avenue,” said a friend. “That’s a bad neighborhood.” A co-worker said, “I wouldn’t buy there. There’s no resale value.” One mother was appalled. “Don’t you want your kids to go to a good school?” Even our real estate agent sat me down and said, “Think about your wife’s safety.” Soon the fear began to sink in. I called friends who lived there and asked, “Do you feel safe?” They laughed. “Have you been talking to real estate people again?” They invited us to dinner, in the bad neighborhood. As we drove up, I scanned the streets as if on a recon mission in Fallujah. But our friends welcomed us in, poured wine, gave thanks, and passed homemade bread. After dessert they brought out crime statistics on a map from local police. Sure enough, in the blocks surrounding us a vacant house had been vandalized. Drugs confiscated from a woman. A man passed out in a yard. This was as bad as—college. Then I noticed the same symbols dotting the rest of the city: robberies, rapes, domestic violence. That month burglaries and auto thefts were worse in a wealthy suburb. That’s when I realized that all of those warnings really weren’t about crime, real estate values, or schools. They were code words white folks like me use to signal “low-income people of color”—a perfectly concealed racist weapon, hidden deep in the anxious beliefs of my own friends and colleagues. I believe sometimes the truth does set people free. So we bought the house on Cottage Grove. That was seven years ago. No one told me that the day we moved in, a pack of joyful kids would run over to meet our kids. That our historic house cost less than a minivan. About Demetrius, raising his nieces while their mother is doing time. About Jose and Maria’s burrito place. And Mike, the ponytailed Harley biker who one day stepped out directly in front of a speeding car and yelled “Hey,” to the startled driver, slamming his fist on the hood, “there’s kids around here!” In my “bad” neighborhood, we sit on front porches, hear the neighbor girls’ jazz double-dutch jump rope riffs, and buy snow cones on hot days out of an old guy’s shopping cart. Sure, there are nuisances here: litter, alley dogs, clutter in yards. But danger? I’ve learned that stupid behavior is color blind, and bullets prefer alcohol and drug deals over law-abiding citizens any day. I love my new neighborhood—it balances my life, shows me real colo.

1. Discussion 4
After reading Jeff Nixa's, "A Good Neighborhood," respond to
the following questions:
· What is Nixa's thesis, or message to the reader?
· What “support,” through details and examples, does the author
use to make his point?
· In addition to his discussion on neighborhoods, what other
societal issues does the essay address?
What does the writer mean by "blindness and coded racism of
privilege"?
A Good Neighborhood
Jeff Nixa - South Bend, Indiana
As heard on The Bob Edwards Show, September 2, 2011
I live in a bad neighborhood.
At least that’s what people said about it. “Cottage Grove
Avenue,” said a friend. “That’s a bad neighborhood.” A co-
worker said, “I wouldn’t buy there. There’s no resale value.”
One mother was appalled. “Don’t you want your kids to go to a
good school?” Even our real estate agent sat me down and said,
“Think about your wife’s safety.”
Soon the fear began to sink in. I called friends who lived there
and asked, “Do you feel safe?” They laughed. “Have you been
talking to real estate people again?” They invited us to dinner,
in the bad neighborhood.
As we drove up, I scanned the streets as if on a recon mission in
Fallujah. But our friends welcomed us in, poured wine, gave
thanks, and passed homemade bread. After dessert they brought
out crime statistics on a map from local police.
Sure enough, in the blocks surrounding us a vacant house had
been vandalized. Drugs confiscated from a woman. A man

2. passed out in a yard. This was as bad as—college.
Then I noticed the same symbols dotting the rest of the city:
robberies, rapes, domestic violence. That month burglaries and
auto thefts were worse in a wealthy suburb.
That’s when I realized that all of those warnings really weren’t
about crime, real estate values, or schools. They were code
words white folks like me use to signal “low-income people of
color”—a perfectly concealed racist weapon, hidden deep in the
anxious beliefs of my own friends and colleagues.
I believe sometimes the truth does set people free. So we bought
the house on Cottage Grove.
That was seven years ago. No one told me that the day we
moved in, a pack of joyful kids would run over to meet our kids.
That our historic house cost less than a minivan. About
Demetrius, raising his nieces while their mother is doing time.
About Jose and Maria’s burrito place. And Mike, the ponytailed
Harley biker who one day stepped out directly in front of a
speeding car and yelled “Hey,” to the startled driver, slamming
his fist on the hood, “there’s kids around here!”
In my “bad” neighborhood, we sit on front porches, hear the
neighbor girls’ jazz double-dutch jump rope riffs, and buy snow
cones on hot days out of an old guy’s shopping cart.
Sure, there are nuisances here: litter, alley dogs, clutter in
yards. But danger? I’ve learned that stupid behavior is color
blind, and bullets prefer alcohol and drug deals over law-
abiding citizens any day.
I love my new neighborhood—it balances my life, shows me
real color, and saves me from things far worse than litter or a
stolen Subaru—like the blindness and coded racism of privilege.
Jeff Nixa has lived with his family in South Bend’s Near
Northwest neighborhood since 1996. He has a law degree, and
his careers have included hospital chaplain, massage therapist,
and counselor. His interests include sea kayaking, bike
commuting, running, woodworking, and landscaping. He is
currently completing an apprenticeship with a Cherokee healer
and plans to offer classes on urban shamanism to help people

3. open their hearts and honor the earth.
David,
Leonhardt's main point of this news analysis is that the united
states' economy is going downhill and is not improving.
Leonhardt supports his thesis by including that wall street in
New York is under regulated. Wall street is not under control,
so they are able to do as they please. He also states that our
businesses are over regulated, so they have no room to improve
themselves. The "fizzing of the great consumer bubble"
impacted me and my life in a big way. Goods that i once
enjoyed are harder to afford now. Goods such as food, gas,
electronics, and vehicles which were once in reach of all
consumers are now hard to get. The prices are far higher than
most people can afford. One point from this news analysis I
agree with Leonhardt's point when he said "We are feeling
the deferred pain from 25 years of excess, as people try
to rebuild their depleted savings”. I agree with him because
over the past 25 years Americans have been spending an excess
amount of money. Now that products are overly priced, and out
of reach from most consumers. They are not willing to spend
money and are trying to rebuilt the saving they lost. Another
point I agree with is when Leonhardt said “We are living in a
tremendous bust”. It’s the truth our economy is a bust. Prices
are high and wages are low. At the rate that our country is
going we will be complete in the hole in a matter of years.
Clifford,
Leonhardt's main point of the article is about the decline of
Americas economy and the huge deficit we are currently in. His
different examples are the declining purchases of new cars and
the over all housing market decline. The way Leonhardt
describes "a fizzling of the great consuming bubble" has not
directly affected me in my life. I have not bought a house and I
was able to buy both of my vehicles cash. When "If you’re

4. looking for one overarching explanation for the still-terrible job
market, it is this great consumer bust." I do not agree with this
statement, the job market is not terrible. People just do not have
any marketable skills or go to college for a degree that has no
practical application to job market in todays society. "Now, the
economic version of the law of gravity is reasserting itself. We
are feeling the deferred pain from 25 years of excess, as people
try to rebuild their depleted savings".I do believe this is correct.
So many people try and live above their means and buy cars
they cant afford to drive and houses they cant afford to live in
and this causes them to constantly live in a debit that will be
nearly impossible to get out of.
Devonte,
Leonhardt’s main point is the society has been in recession for
so long and we have not improve on it over time like we should
have. “Going back decades, such spending had never fallen
more than 3 percent per capita in a recession. In this slump, it is
down almost 7 percent, and still has not really begun to
recover”. “We are feeling the deferred pain from 25 years of
excess, as people try to rebuild their depleted savings”. “
Surveying hundreds of years of crises around the world, Ms.
Reinhart and Mr. Rogoff conclude that debt is the primary cause
and that the aftermath is “deep and prolonged”, with “profound
declines in output and employment”. The way “a fizzling of the
great consumer bubble” that Leonhardt refers to have not
impacted me yet, but I fell down the road it will be because the
economy relies and in a sense revolves around consumers.
Especially when I start to get into the stock market this can
either make me or break me. I agree with two points the author
makes. The first one is “Business are overregulated”. I think the
government is to involve in the businesses. Second on is “Both
consumers and executives are easily frightened by the latest
economic problem, be it rising gas prices or the debt-ceiling
impasse”. They are easily frightened because consumers
sometimes don’t have the money to bring in more supply so
they borrow it but it’s only so much they can borrow. Gas prices

5. just a devastating thing to us all overall.
Michael,
After reading the article by Leonhardt, I believe the main point
of his thesis is the continuing decline of United States economy
is the main cause of the lack of jobs in the United States. A
couple examples he listed to support his thesis were that the
auto industry is on pace to sell 28 percent fewer new vehicles
this year than it did 10 years ago — and 10 years ago was 2001,
when the country was in recession, and sales of ovens and
stoves are on pace to be at their lowest level since 1992
(Leonhardt, 2011).
In his article We’re Spent (2011), David Leonhardt referenced,
“a fizzling of the great consumer bubble,”. This particular
reference has impacted me the most by just staying in my
current profession, due to the uncertainty of the current job
market.
There are many points that Leonhardt made in his article that I
agree with, but I will only list a couple. The first point I agree
with in his article We’re Spent (2011), David Leonhardt
remarked “A more promising approach could instead offer a tax
cut to businesses — but only to those expanding their payrolls
and, in the process, helping to solve the jobs crisis,”. The
second point I agree with in his article We’re Spent
(2011), David Leonhardt mentioned “Politics, of course, makes
many of these ideas unlikely to happen anytime soon,”.