Many
of us have heard the saying, “There Goes the Neighborhood…” It is a common consensus that the saying
definitely generates negative connotations.
This statement was originated as an expression of resignation and
disapproval of racial minorities moving into previously all white
neighborhoods, It also means that
something has just happen that will damage the quality of life in that social
environment.
The
first time I remember hearing someone use the saying “There Goes the
Neighborhood...” I was a young boy of the ripe age of twelve and my family and
I was over my cousin house. The adults
were in the house talking and I went to sit outside on their porch. My cousin who was only two years older than I
told me that I did not need to be sitting outside on the porch, because their
neighbors did not know me and that they would be afraid. I did not totally understate what she was
trying to say, until I heard two of their neighbors implied that just because I
was sitting on the porch, it would not be long , before the whole neighborhood
was going to be filled with African Americans sitting on their porches and
bringing down the property value. Then
one of them said loud enough for both of us to hear, “There Goes the
Neighborhood!”
So,
what is it about certain people that causes other people to instinctually say
“There Goes the Neighbor…”, when they see or hear about them?