By Nikki Silverstein
Last week, rather than running both a Hero and a Zero, we devoted our entire space to a brave man who deserved the full column. This time, we have a Zero, Amber, whose blatant racism qualifies her for all of the ink. This Sausalito resident’s ugly display occurred on Nextdoor, a social network for neighborhoods, which typically includes posts about community meetings, fundraisers and local traffic. It began when T, a young African-American woman from Marin City, announced that she had worked hard and saved money for a backpacking journey across Europe and asked neighbors to contribute to her trip fund. Some people encouraged T to follow her dream, but Amber berated the young woman, stated that her post was inappropriate and asked whether she lived in Section 8 housing and received food stamps. A few jumped to T’s defense, while others accused T of being dishonest. One man wrote that he never sees illegal immigrants asking for hand-outs; instead they are looking for work. Amber posted a missive with the racial breakdown of Marin City and statistics that she misinterpreted to conclude that “most people who live in Marin City live in Section 8 housing.” For the record, T said that she works three jobs and doesn’t receive subsidies. Even so, Amber, can’t people who receive assistance take a vacation? Geez. We have to wonder what the response would have been for a young white woman from Mill Valley trying to raise money for her post-college backpacking trip.
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