Race Relations

Kitsune · 02-08-2007, 01:07 PM

"Nothing but a bunch of racist rednecks down there. You'll hate it."

When I was nine years old, this is the line my family heard many times as we packed up our belongings and prepared to move from a tiny town in eastern Ohio to Atlanta. It is amusing to look back on this, considering that my pale skinned family was singled out in that town for simply having a non-English last name. It was so bad, in fact, that my father told me I should change my name once I turned 18 in order to improve my chances of getting a job, to generally make my life easier, and so that I wouldn't have to endure the treatment he did. In that little town, there weren't enough blacks/Asians/non-whites for people to be prejudiced against, so they discriminated against the next best thing: people who didn't have last names similar to "White", "Brown", or "Wilson".

Atlanta was worlds different. The area I lived in was extremely racially diverse and amazing in its acceptance of it. I was nearly a minority at my high school, which had a large population of Korean, Chinese, and Indian students. I simply couldn't treat it seriously the one time I saw intolerance in my neighborhood: I was refused service at a Waffle House for being white.

How does your area fair?

Cloud · 02-08-2007, 01:16 PM

I live in a town that's 80% Hispanic, 17% Anglo and 3% Other. I get teased sometimes for being the "white girl" and looked at funny if I speak Spanish.

King · 03-05-2007, 11:45 AM

It's actually pretty good here. There's ALWAYS a race related story in the news, I mean every day; you would think there were massive problems, but in my experience, that isn't the case. I understand that some areas have bigger problems than others, inner cities and such, but its alright around here.

03-05-2007, 12:42 PM

I live in a very racially diverse town in Central FL. What has always amazed me is how racially intolerant and segregated places like NY, LA and other "more enlightened" Northern and Western places are, as opposed to their reputations. The South has far more integration, more women and minorities in management and ownership positions in business than in the North and West... we are far more diverse than the North.
The new KKK, the Order and other major racists movements have all started North of the Mason Dixon. Just because your racism is less vocal does not mean it is less prevalent, quite the opposite apparently.

TheMercenary · 03-09-2007, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkzenrage

I live in a very racially diverse town in Central FL. What has always amazed me is how racially intolerant and segregated places like NY, LA and other "more enlightened" Northern and Western places are, as opposed to their reputations. The South has far more integration, more women and minorities in management and ownership positions in business than in the North and West... we are far more diverse than the North.
The new KKK, the Order and other major racists movements have all started North of the Mason Dixon. Just because your racism is less vocal does not mean it is less prevalent, quite the opposite apparently.

Well I know that most of rural Fla is still white/mixed, but Miami is South America Lite. You don't speak spanish and you will not find your stay as nice as when they all spoke english.

bluecuracao · 03-09-2007, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Well I know that most of rural Fla is still white/mixed, but Miami is South America Lite. You don't speak spanish and you will not find your stay as nice as when they all spoke english.

They've never all spoken English in Miami...the Spanish were the first Europeans there.

xoxoxoBruce · 03-12-2007, 05:48 AM

Florida's not the south. So many people from so many places, makes it a casserole.

elSicomoro · 03-12-2007, 07:12 PM

I dunno...race relations improved during my 6 years away from St. Louis, but the area still is--and feels--racially segregated to a degree. Rhoda (who was black) and I had very few problems in Washington, DC or Philadelphia. Each city has its own racial issues, but not as bad as St. Louis, IMO.

If you don't like other races or races co-mingling, fine. Just leave me and others that don't have issues alone.

03-12-2007, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Florida's not the south. So many people from so many places, makes it a casserole.

Central FL and the coast are totally different nations.

piercehawkeye45 · 03-13-2007, 01:41 AM

Minneapolis- very diverse and very tolerant. I go to college here and I find that it is mostly white (70%) then asians (20%), then middle easterns and blacks make up (4.5%) each and then the last 1% is everything else. Those are all estimates. The city is a lot more diverse but I usually don't go there unless I am going shopping. I like the diversity. I haven't seen any racism.

Suburb of Milwaukee- all white. I grew up here and didn't have many experiences with other races. You won't see any open racism here but it will usually be hidden. Minorites will be stared at, mistrusted by some, and other little things like that. I hate it.

Ibby · 03-13-2007, 08:45 AM

Oh, man. I'm always the 'whitey' here. Like, I'm the ONLY white kid going on the paris trip, the ONLY white kid in half my classes...

People are always so suprised when they realize I speak chinese fairly well (if'n I do say so m'self), cause all the white folk here are too lazy to learn it and suffice themselves with shouting english very slowly in the strange manner that americans always have of assuming that the louder it is the more sense it makes.

Being a minority sucks.

freshnesschronic · 03-13-2007, 11:26 AM

Anybody heard of Naperville, IL? The 2nd best place to live in America?

Extremely safe (the only crime here is massive underage drinking), most familys make at least 100k, and people are still moving to Naperville (over 140k) because of it's excellent education (District 203 ranked #1 in the world in Math and Science in '99, ahead of freakin' China!).

But this city is a bubble. The values you learn in Naperville is "Oh, be a doctor or a lawyer or a businssman, anything else is below you." Kids inflate their GPAs to 4.6, 4.7 on a 4.0 scale by taking weighted classes and competition on grades is huge. When college kids leave they experience a huge makeover in their life-not everywhere is like Naperville.

Over 80% white in the schools, probably 88% for the city pop, with 7% Asian (mostly Korean, Chinese, Indian) and <5% Black & Hispanic (only Mexicans and Puerto Ricans). Even though most people are well off the communities are divided. The richest white people live together in huge million dollar mansions, the middle class Asians can be found sprinkled into middle class subdivisions not by coincidence and the apartments complexes house the blacks and working class. Then recently over the last 5 years Naperville has been shipping inner-city kids from Chicago to our 4 high schools and that creates an even more seperate community; inner-city blacks tend to stick to only themselves and not include the suburban blacks (or anyone else for that matter).

I guess it's a good city, but I would have liked to have been raised in a more diverse place, that would have prepared me for the real world rather than a "happy, safe" utopia that has city ordinances against strip clubs or limiting the number of bars in Downtown Naperville to 5.

I plan to live the rest of my life in a more integrated city like New York. Still diverse, but integrated

piercehawkeye45 · 03-13-2007, 03:52 PM

Damn Fresh, you basically summed up my childhood but mine was even more white, a lot more. Ten or so minorities in a school of 1,200.

freshnesschronic · 03-13-2007, 04:34 PM

And what city is this, pierce?

piercehawkeye45 · 03-13-2007, 06:29 PM

Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

It was close enough to Milwaukee to be considered a suburb but isolated enough to be considered a small town.

02-08-2007, 01:16 PM	#2
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	I live in a town that's 80% Hispanic, 17% Anglo and 3% Other. I get teased sometimes for being the "white girl" and looked at funny if I speak Spanish. __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

03-05-2007, 11:45 AM	#3
King Conquistador Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Everywhere Posts: 259	It's actually pretty good here. There's ALWAYS a race related story in the news, I mean every day; you would think there were massive problems, but in my experience, that isn't the case. I understand that some areas have bigger problems than others, inner cities and such, but its alright around here. __________________ "I've shot you, Jeff. With a bullet made of Scottish finance regulations."

03-12-2007, 05:48 AM	#7
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Florida's not the south. So many people from so many places, makes it a casserole. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

03-13-2007, 08:45 AM	#11
Ibby erika Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: "the high up north" Posts: 6,127	Oh, man. I'm always the 'whitey' here. Like, I'm the ONLY white kid going on the paris trip, the ONLY white kid in half my classes... People are always so suprised when they realize I speak chinese fairly well (if'n I do say so m'self), cause all the white folk here are too lazy to learn it and suffice themselves with shouting english very slowly in the strange manner that americans always have of assuming that the louder it is the more sense it makes. Being a minority sucks. __________________ not really back, you didn't see me, i was never here shhhhhh

03-13-2007, 11:26 AM	#12
freshnesschronic Professor Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,555	Anybody heard of Naperville, IL? The 2nd best place to live in America? Extremely safe (the only crime here is massive underage drinking), most familys make at least 100k, and people are still moving to Naperville (over 140k) because of it's excellent education (District 203 ranked #1 in the world in Math and Science in '99, ahead of freakin' China!). But this city is a bubble. The values you learn in Naperville is "Oh, be a doctor or a lawyer or a businssman, anything else is below you." Kids inflate their GPAs to 4.6, 4.7 on a 4.0 scale by taking weighted classes and competition on grades is huge. When college kids leave they experience a huge makeover in their life-not everywhere is like Naperville. Over 80% white in the schools, probably 88% for the city pop, with 7% Asian (mostly Korean, Chinese, Indian) and <5% Black & Hispanic (only Mexicans and Puerto Ricans). Even though most people are well off the communities are divided. The richest white people live together in huge million dollar mansions, the middle class Asians can be found sprinkled into middle class subdivisions not by coincidence and the apartments complexes house the blacks and working class. Then recently over the last 5 years Naperville has been shipping inner-city kids from Chicago to our 4 high schools and that creates an even more seperate community; inner-city blacks tend to stick to only themselves and not include the suburban blacks (or anyone else for that matter). I guess it's a good city, but I would have liked to have been raised in a more diverse place, that would have prepared me for the real world rather than a "happy, safe" utopia that has city ordinances against strip clubs or limiting the number of bars in Downtown Naperville to 5. I plan to live the rest of my life in a more integrated city like New York. Still diverse, but integrated Last edited by freshnesschronic; 03-13-2007 at 04:05 PM.

02-08-2007, 01:07 PM	#1
Kitsune still eats dirt Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 3,031	Race Relations "Nothing but a bunch of racist rednecks down there. You'll hate it." When I was nine years old, this is the line my family heard many times as we packed up our belongings and prepared to move from a tiny town in eastern Ohio to Atlanta. It is amusing to look back on this, considering that my pale skinned family was singled out in that town for simply having a non-English last name. It was so bad, in fact, that my father told me I should change my name once I turned 18 in order to improve my chances of getting a job, to generally make my life easier, and so that I wouldn't have to endure the treatment he did. In that little town, there weren't enough blacks/Asians/non-whites for people to be prejudiced against, so they discriminated against the next best thing: people who didn't have last names similar to "White", "Brown", or "Wilson". Atlanta was worlds different. The area I lived in was extremely racially diverse and amazing in its acceptance of it. I was nearly a minority at my high school, which had a large population of Korean, Chinese, and Indian students. I simply couldn't treat it seriously the one time I saw intolerance in my neighborhood: I was refused service at a Waffle House for being white. How does your area fair?

03-05-2007, 12:42 PM	#4
rkzenrage Guest Posts: n/a	I live in a very racially diverse town in Central FL. What has always amazed me is how racially intolerant and segregated places like NY, LA and other "more enlightened" Northern and Western places are, as opposed to their reputations. The South has far more integration, more women and minorities in management and ownership positions in business than in the North and West... we are far more diverse than the North. The new KKK, the Order and other major racists movements have all started North of the Mason Dixon. Just because your racism is less vocal does not mean it is less prevalent, quite the opposite apparently.

03-12-2007, 07:12 PM	#8
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	I dunno...race relations improved during my 6 years away from St. Louis, but the area still is--and feels--racially segregated to a degree. Rhoda (who was black) and I had very few problems in Washington, DC or Philadelphia. Each city has its own racial issues, but not as bad as St. Louis, IMO. If you don't like other races or races co-mingling, fine. Just leave me and others that don't have issues alone.

03-13-2007, 01:41 AM	#10
piercehawkeye45 Franklin Pierce Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 3,695	Minneapolis- very diverse and very tolerant. I go to college here and I find that it is mostly white (70%) then asians (20%), then middle easterns and blacks make up (4.5%) each and then the last 1% is everything else. Those are all estimates. The city is a lot more diverse but I usually don't go there unless I am going shopping. I like the diversity. I haven't seen any racism. Suburb of Milwaukee- all white. I grew up here and didn't have many experiences with other races. You won't see any open racism here but it will usually be hidden. Minorites will be stared at, mistrusted by some, and other little things like that. I hate it.

03-13-2007, 03:52 PM	#13
piercehawkeye45 Franklin Pierce Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 3,695	Damn Fresh, you basically summed up my childhood but mine was even more white, a lot more. Ten or so minorities in a school of 1,200.

03-13-2007, 04:34 PM	#14
freshnesschronic Professor Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,555	And what city is this, pierce?

03-13-2007, 06:29 PM	#15
piercehawkeye45 Franklin Pierce Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 3,695	Cedarburg, Wisconsin. It was close enough to Milwaukee to be considered a suburb but isolated enough to be considered a small town.

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