Page 105 - White Lives The Interplay of 'Race', Class, and Gender in Everyday Life

98 Seeing, talking, living ‘race’
scene, rather than demographic statistics she may (or may not) have come
across. Presumably, Indian men also live in the area. Heather, who like Helen
lived in Camberwell having come from outside London (the south-west of
England), also had a narrative of wide-eyed learning on coming to London.
The way in which space is racialised has an impact on where she wanted
to live. She stated that she preferred living in Camberwell to Hampstead
(an area of London associated with the prosperous, liberal middle classes),
because of the stimulation and excitement that difference brings. In her ac-
count, however, there remained the concern that the difference should not
be too different, what she wanted is a ‘nice mix’ – in terms of both ‘race’
and class:

Heather: Camberwell is very mixed culturally, but it is still predominantly
white. It’s not like going to Brixton or Hearn Hill or something
like that, where the balance is quite different. [. . .] But Cam-
berwell is a very weird mix because there are areas up Crescent
Road and stuff which are incredibly professional middle classes.
You know, I mean the people that we back onto . . .
BB: That way . . .?
Heather: That way and that hill . . . people that we back onto, he’s a QC,
and then you can go down to the high street and it’s estates and
most of the people are on benefit. And they’re living within 100
yards of each other. You know, it’s very kind of, it’s very mixed
here. And that’s one of the reasons why I like it so much [. . .]
BB: What is it that you like about Camberwell, what is it about the
mix that attracts you?
Heather: Just because there’s nothing more boring than being with every-
body that’s the same. You know, it’s deathly dull. The thought
of living in Hampstead, yes, it’s beautiful and there’s great shops
and stuff, but everybody’s the same. You know, they’re all media-
based, they all earn seven-figure salaries, they all have a house
in France . . . it’s actually bloody boring after a while. I get to
meet lots of different people being here. Um, it’s just much more
varied. Life is more varied. It means that your choice is more
varied. You know, there’s a strong Greek Cypriot community
here as well, so there are great Greek delis. You know, the choice
of veg in the Greek greengrocers is very different from what I
would get in a greengrocers in my home town. Because they’re
Greeks so they specifically pick stuff that they know their Greek
clients know what to do with and enjoy eating. So that opens up
your mind to things. You know, most days I walk past there and
look at something, and think I have no idea what that is, which
is great, that’s very good for you. It makes life enjoyable. But
then there’s also in this area people that come from a very simi-
lar background to me. So there are also people that make me