On Lived Experience, Changing Demographics, and the Arc of the Moral Universe
This week, the Livonia (Michigan) City Council voted down, 5–2, a Non-Discrimination Ordinance (NDO) proposed by the mayor and the city attorney. Getting to this point has been a long, arduous path, with much acrimony between the mayor and the council, between Livonia residents and the council, and between distinct camps of Livonia residents in support and opposed. Last night, though, it felt particularly prickly.
The discussion of this issue startedout with an eight-minute soliloquy by Council Member Kathleen McIntyre, which doubled down on the acrimony and laid all responsibility for the impending failure of the ordinance on the mayor’s office. This was followed up by a much more brief statement in support of the NDO from Council Member Brandon McCullough. Then Council Member Scott Bahr took the microphone for about nine minutes, giving eight reasons he didn’t support the NDO. After this, there were 36 minutes of audience comments, followed by remarks from Council Member Rob Donovic (against the NDO), Laura Toy (against the NDO), and Council President Jim Jolly (for the NDO). Finally, the vote was taken, and the NDO was voted down 5–2.
Listening in the audience at City Hall, I found the meeting very unsettling. There was clearly passion on both sides, and there were some thoughtful arguments on both sides as well. But there were some themes that have really stuck with me a couple of days later.
One was *who* was arguing on either side. By my count, nine citizens spoke against the NDO. Of these, only three appeared to be female; six appeared to be male. None identified themselves as LGBTQ+; none appeared to be or identified as people of color.
On the contrary, of the twelve citizens who spoke in favor of the NDO, an overwhelming ten appeared to be female; only two appeared to be male. Four identified themselves as LGBTQ+; one identified herself as African American.
If we look at recent data from the U.S. Census, we find that Livonia’s population is just over half female (51.3%), 4.1% African American, and 3.6% of two or more races. We don’t know what percentage of Livonia is LGBTQ+, as the Census Bureau doesn’t track that, but we do know from Gallup that the percentage of Americans who identify as LGBTQ+ has been steadily increasing over the last decade, and in 2022 stood at 7.1%, the highest it has ever been in Gallup’s polling.
So it appears safe to say that the citizens who spoke in favor of the NDO at Monday’s council meeting generally overrepresent the population of marginalized groups in the city, and most of those who spoke against it generally represent the majority groups.
It seems obvious why this might be so — the marginalized groups are more likely to face discrimination in their day-to-day lives, and the majority groups are not. But the degree to which this played out, and the ways in which it was expressed, during the comments was surprising and disheartening.
Many (though not all) of the council members and citizens who spoke up against the NDO seemed to find it hard to believe that Livonia has a discrimination problem. Council Member Bahr, a white man, noted that he has never seen Livonia as unwelcoming.
“I’m fully aware that some continue to push the false narrative that Livonia is an unwelcoming place but as a lifelong resident of this community who has lived in four different Livonia neighborhoods — five, actually, but I was too young to remember the first one — I don’t see that narrative as accurate and I understand why many of our citizens reject that characterization. The Livonia I see is a friendly and a welcoming community — yet claims that Livonia needs this NDO communicate that we are not and I’m concerned that this proposal drives the very narrative that proponents claim to want to dispel.”
— Council Member Scott Bahr
He also conflated “bigoted behavior” with “rude behavior”:
“My view, and I know some will disagree with this, but my view is that rude behavior, including bigoted behavior, is best held in check by interpersonal accountability. It’s impossible for the law to predict all situations and preemptively address them without trampling on First Amendment liberties…”
— Council Member Scott Bahr
One of the few female citizens who spoke against the NDO also conflated discrimination and rudeness, and questioned the existence of discriminatory incidents by asking for data:
“During the past several City Council meetings, multiple people have asked for statistical data of discrimination accusations or lawsuits within the city. Where is the data supporting the need for this ordinance? This information doesn’t seem to be available. I can only concur that while rude behavior happens in the city — and I’ve seen and heard it in this room — an adjustment to the current ordinance is unwarranted and would not have any effect on rude behavior.
— Anti-NDO Livonia Citizen
Another anti-NDO Livonia citizen (who also appeared to be a white woman) noted she’d never seen “systemic racist activity or discrimination” in Livonia:
“In addition, and I believe importantly, I believe it can lead people to think that we in Livonia believe that we need this ordinance because we currently illegally discriminate against certain groups of people. And I do not believe that to be true. I have never seen nor heard of any systemic racist activity or discrimination in Livonia. While there may be people who harbor racism in their hearts, no law can eliminate how people feel about another person. We can only regulate behavior.”
— Anti-NDO Livonia Citizen
I find it worrisome that so many of our elected officials and fellow citizens seem to believe that “discrimination” and “rudeness” are the same thing, and don’t believe they have seen discrimination in our community. This feels like the statements of those who may never have experienced serious discrimination — and certainly have never studied the many well-documented ways in which marginalized communities face individual and institutional discrimination in all areas of life.
Many of those who spoke in favor of the NDO pointed this out. For instance, a former resident of the city who identified as LGBTQ+ responded directly to the statements of a couple of the council members:
“Councilmember Bahr, you mentioned that you saw a Livonia that was friendly and welcoming. Member McIntyre, you mentioned that you had spent a lot of hours discussing this issue. Well, my wife and I spent many, many hours wondering if we were safe and welcomed in this community. I hear many of you tonight saying that you don’t see a Livonia that is discriminatory or unwelcoming…. That is not the case for members of the LGBTQ+ community.”
— Pro-NDO Former Livonia Citizen
Another citizen speaker passionately echoed the same sentiment:
“I think that the council should really consider this. When I hear things like what Mr. Bahr said about how I’ve lived in four different addresses and I’ve been in the city for a long time and I don’t see discrimination…. That’s insulting to everybody who’s a minority in this city. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, and to just have basic common decency of saying hey, I might not have seen it personally but I’m not going to sit there and put blinders on and pretend that it doesn’t exist. Because I think people who are minorities in this city want their representatives to feel like we’re seen, we’re heard, and there’s a discussion to be had. I don’t need your personal opinion on your life experiences. I want you to go out and listen to the rest of us….”
— Pro-NDO Livonia Citizen
And again….
“My mind is swirling with all sorts of things. I’m very angry tonight with what I’ve heard. And I’ve heard a lot of privilege come from the members here and other residents speaking. And just because it doesn’t affect you or you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. So please do the right thing and just welcome your citizens. Make them feel safe.”
— Pro-NDO Livonia Citizen
An African American woman who spoke in favor of the NDO talked eloquently and touchingly of the challenges she has faced in Livonia, despite her love for the community:
“I’m a resident of Livonia. I have been here for almost 20 years. When my husband and I first moved here, some of my friends said, are you crazy? They’re not going to accept you because you’re going to be one of a kind. When we moved into our neighborhood, I was the only African American person there and it was very lonesome, but our neighbors were kind to us and we enjoyed it and we were determined to stay here even though people kept saying “Livonia, yuck.” But we love the city and we appreciate being here. Have I been discriminated against? Yes, I have, on a number of occasions. I have been treated like less than a human being but still I stick here because I love Livonia and I want to prove to my friends that I was right in moving here. But some of you have never experienced what I have experienced. You have not been talked down to. You have not had eyeballs rolled at you just because you enter the city or because you go to a store. You do not understand what it means to be discriminated against. And for you to live your life experiences — that’s wonderful. Try living mine. Try being a part of a community that you love but doesn’t always treat you right.”
— Pro-NDO Livonia Citizen
The last person who spoke in favor of the ordinance talked about her childhood experiences as a Jewish student in the city and concluded succinctly:
“I wanted to say discrimination does happen. If you haven’t seen it… congratulations on being the majority.”
— Pro-NDO Livonia Citizen
I find myself agreeing strongly with a statement from one of the speakers — a Korean War veteran who has lived in Livonia since 1965 — directed at the city council members:
“And I think that those of you who might deny passing this ordinance are out of touch with our community.”
— Pro-NDO Livonia Citizen
Though it was incredibly disheartening for the many citizens who have put time and effort into pushing forward this NDO that it was voted down this week by our elected council members, I think that it does indeed indicate how out of touch they are with the changing demographics of our community.
In the year 2000, not long before I moved to the city, less than 1% of the city’s population was African American. As of 2021, that had quadrupled to more than 4%. The percentage of Livonia residents who are Hispanic/Latino has doubled over the same period, from 1.7% to 3.4%, and the percentage of citizens who are Asian American has nearly doubled, from 1.9% to 3.7%. Even without having local stats on the percentage of LGBTQ+ people in the local community, we can assume based on the Gallup data cited above that it has significantly increased. In addition, the Census Bureau notes that between 2016 and 2020, 8.3% of Livonia residents (or one out of every twelve) was not born in the United States.
In short, Livonia is changing, becoming more diverse, becoming more representative of America as a whole.
This is a trend that many Livonia residents are celebrating — but others may find alarming. However, you can’t fight changing demographics, no matter how much you may try.
During a 1968 speech at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., famously said:
We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.
— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
So while I am dismayed by this week’s events, I remain optimistic. Even though Livonia did not pass a non-discrimination ordinance this week, I know it will. Because the arc of the moral universe is indeed bending.
POSTSCRIPT: You can watch the entire meeting for yourself below, courtesy the Livonia Television YouTube channel.
