JP 'Buy Nothing' Facebook Group Revolts Amid Racial Bias Concerns

JAMAICA PLAIN, MA — There was an uprising over the weekend in JP. And in the end, one of the most popular Facebook groups, "Buy Nothing Jamaica Plain," with nearly 5,000 members, was shut down after national administrators took control and local moderators "walked out."

But this is not just drama over who is controlling a group social media page: It's about the future of a group that since its creation about three years ago has come to be a vibrant part of the fabric of Jamaica Plain.

Members are following the events and creating timelines, and taking screen shots of comments that have been deleted so that others can keep up with the twists and turns of the controversy, which has involved accusations of racism and classism and has angered and startled many who participate.

The "Buy Nothing" groups are part of an international project (based in Washington state) that has the goal of creating community through hyperlocal "gift economies." The JP group had dozens of posts daily and was considered one of the most active in the state. It was a place where folks came to donate everything from leftover cake or latkes to offering support for a woman and her family who had to choose between rent and groceries.

Before last week project leaders had discussed breaking up the group, which was headed toward 5,000 members, and dividing it into smaller neighborhood groups. Breaking up groups larger than 1,000 jibes with the overall mission of the project and is common practice, according to the project's rules.

But some members had concerns, chief among them that breaking into smaller groups could divide the neighborhood by race and class lines. For a time local administrators hesitated, but last week announced that the change was inevitable and they were ready to help facilitate a smooth transition.

But all four resigned 24 hours later after someone referred to founder Liesl Clark as a "spelling Nazi." Clark responded by posting in a regional Buy Nothing Group about how upset she was by the local group's behavior. She did not respond Sunday to emailed requests for comment.

In absence of local administrators, regional administrators took over. They deleted posts that appeared to raise issues about classism or racism. A number of people were banned from the page, including a person of color who posted an article about white fragility. Some members asked them to stop deleting comments and questions made by people of color.

When questions about a racial or classist divide in an already divided community went unanswered, posters started accusing the administrators and Buy Nothing founders of racial bias and ignorance of the issues at hand.

When the founder came online to post a Q&A to get at some of the questions, members continued to express dismay, disappointment and outrage. A number said they felt administrators were just weren't understanding the group's concerns.

Others asked admins to let the online community that had outgrown Buy Nothing's guidelines just be a new thing.

Saturday, a regional volunteer administrator from Sharon took to the group to post an explanation.

"Although BNJP is part of the greater Buy Nothing Project, what we are hearing you tell us is that its value, for you, is not primarily in relation to the BNProject but more a result of the unique nature of the JP community. Something incredibly beautiful has grown from the original intent of having a BN group here," said Ann Gerrietts.

Many hoped she would hand over the "keys" to the page and let the new community group continue on its own, but regional administrators said they didn't have the technical capability to do that. Gerrietts asked folks to stick around.

"We very much hope that dual memberships can, at least temporarily, ease some tensions as we continue to address concerns," she wrote. "We have been trying to listen this week, and what I hear the most ... is that you are an extremely connected community."

This was an understatement for many and didn't get at the heart of the issue that was increasingly upsetting to regular posters.

Enter a new group run by local JP folks called Jamaica Plain’s Gift Economy Page. The splinter community is forming and is already climbing to near 2,000 members.

As of Sunday the original Jamaica Plain group was archived so no new members could see it even existed. It did not show up in a search on Facebook and a number of posts that were once visible to members were deleted, including the Q&A that a number of members told Patch they felt didn't help matters. In the Q&A with founder of the Buy Nothing Project, Clark explains why she implements a 1,000 person cap in the Buy Local groups and why the admins deleted so many posts:

Ani DeRuvo joined the group to make it easier to give things away that generally don’t make it to second hand stores. One of her first postings was for a set of kitchen knives that she had for a few years. It got more than 20 responses. DeRuvo said it was a great feeling to give something a new life outside of a landfill.

"BN was my happy place on Facebook. It showed me that good people are out there. That my community cares. It became even more important after our election," she said.

The takeover and what appeared to be a regional moderator who was only answering some people was frustrating, said DeRuvo; "They refused to take our thoughts on race, gentrification and the reality of our community into consideration. It became exceedingly frustrating."

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Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff. Contact Fisher at Jenna.Fisher@Patch.com or reach out over Twitter @ReporterJenna