Author Archives: jeckman

No one has more of a claim to a neighborhood than anyone else. Saying that some should be entitled to a certain neighborhood because of any criteria is like arguing that one nation belongs to one group of people and … Continue reading →

In his description of his anti-abolitionist riot, Anbinder does not highlight race itself as the main instigator of the tensions. Instead, she puts forth the case that this riot was—as the label “anti-abolitionist” implies—about abolitionists versus anti-abolitionists. In doing so, … Continue reading →

In Washington Heights, near the A train’s 181st Street station, there is a complex of apartment buildings that stretches for a few blocks. Running along the back, there is a driveway for residents and guests, and beyond that a garden … Continue reading →

Most people would agree that Queens’ Willets Point is not a pretty place. Located alongside Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, it is full of auto repair shops and junkyards, along with the Mets’ Citi Field and the 7 train’s Mets-Willets Point station, … Continue reading →

After reading Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco’s piece, “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Assimilation but Were Afraid to Ask,” I was incredibly intrigued by his critique of the “clean break” assumption. I think his basic premise that our ideas of … Continue reading →

Although it was not necessarily to be more Anglo or less “ethnic,” I have in the past felt pressure to be more “American.”  In fact, it didn’t really have much to do with ethnicity or race at all.  It was … Continue reading →