Other White People

I have lived in my building for six months. My half of the sixth floor is exclusively white people and one mixed-race couple. The tenants who have been here longest- some for up to forty years (!) are all black. People here have been really kind and open in my six months. I have appreciated it.

It was difficult to move into this building. There were more documents required to move in here than I think should be legal. Pay stubs, letters from employers, credit checks, w-2s, print outs from the last three months of both of our savings accounts and more were required. I think the amount of paperwork required is a form of red-lining to keep lower income people out, who also here in Brooklyn are more likely to be people of color. 

These days, I only see other white people moving in, usually young heterosexual couples. I have mixed feelings about them. I want to say "stop coming here, you yuppies!" and I don't want to be as friendly to them as the long-time black tenants have been to me.  But, I'm exactly the same as them.