the breakdown of community ray oldenburg ishmael reed

WR 121Paper #2The Breakdown of Community In Ray Oldenburg's
"The Problem of Place in America" and Ishmael Reed's
"MyNeighborhood" the authors express thier dissatisfaction with the
community. Oldenburgfocuses on the lack of a "third place" and the
effects of consumerism on the suburbs, whileReed recalls his experience
with prejudice communities. Their aim is to identify problemsin our
society that they find to be a problem. Although neither of these authors
offersolutions, the fact that these problems are addressed is enough.
Some basic similarities between these two authors is they are both
attempting toidentify problems in our society today. There are many that
are ailing our society at thistime, yet I agree with them in their deductions.
It seems that they have addressed two ofthe main ills today, prejudice
and consumerism. These keep our communities frombecoming unified.
Fear is one of the prevalent themes in both essays. In Oldenburg'sessay
the suburbanite fears the unknown, his neighbors. People feel
threatened by the sizeof the communities and they do not know anyone.
These is due partly to consumerism,which keeps people indoors. Reed
was feared because of the color of his skin. Dogswould bark at him as he
walked by, cops would enter his own home to harass him, peoplewould
yell racial slurs, and he was even watched closely to make sure that he
did notabduct a child off the street. These fears are a result of the media
and our society tellingus to fear certain types of people. Television often
portrays the black man as a dopedealing slander who hangs out on
corners with a forty of "Old E." Soon people begin tobelieve all that they
hear and begin to discriminate against others. One glaring difference in
the two authors essays is that they both address the sameproblem yet
they touch on differing aspects. Oldenburg talks about the deterioration
ofthe suburbs. One reason is that there is no third place. This is where
we come to gripswith our lives, relax, and reflect. This could be a
community center, a secluded spot in thewoods, or a coffee shop at the
corner. The problem is that these places simply do notexist in the

suburbs. One must get in their car, use gas, and drive to a place of
meeting. This means planning out the whole rendezvous point in advance
and making sure that theperson you want to meet can be there.
Consumerism also keeps the community fromtalking with one another.
The television, video games, and stereo equipment make uswant to stay
inside, thus ignoring our surroundings. Soon we have thousands of
houseswith no people that really know eachother because they are busy
attending to a screen. Ishmael Reed talks about the various
communities he lived in, and how each onevaried in its level of prejudice.
Part of his problems were due to the fact that his skin wasblack. People
were often cold to him and he was treated badly because he is a black
man. However, he finds the ideal neighborhood in Oakland. His
neighbors all look out for oneanother and care about what happens in
their area. Also, the people often meet at thierhouses to have dinner and
talk. He says that it was the ideal community where the peopleact
human. Now, while Reed is recalling a past experience of his, Oldenburg
is simplystating facts and observations. Neither of these are direct
warnings yet they attempt tomake us aware of common problems in
today's society.