10 Worst States to Retire In (AARP)

[N7YA]

The south was certainly very visible in its racism, and its still very strong there from both black and white people. Probably wont change. But i have to think that there are many in the south who, just like during the civil war, are completely against racism of any kind and are tired of the stereotyping that is constantly thrown on them. It would be wrong to label an entire region of our nation as racist.

At the same time, it would be a mistake to think that the entire north was NOT racist. Many of the Union soldiers were just as racist as they guys they were facing across the field, even Lincoln himself was an insecure racist. Peruse through some of his campaign speeches...

Abraham Lincoln Quote

“I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races – that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything.”

by:

Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865) 16th US President
Source:

Fourth Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Charleston, Illinois, September 18, 1858




Its best we step back from blanketing the south as entirely racist and the north, where im from, as non-racist. Assholes are everywhere and come from everywhere. Even Abe....asshole.

[KK4AMI]

The south was certainly very visible in its racism, and its still very strong there from both black and white people. Probably wont change. But i have to think that there are many in the south who, just like during the civil war, are completely against racism of any kind and are tired of the stereotyping that is constantly thrown on them. It would be wrong to label an entire region of our nation as racist.

At the same time, it would be a mistake to think that the entire north was NOT racist. Many of the Union soldiers were just as racist as they guys they were facing across the field, even Lincoln himself was an insecure racist. Peruse through some of his campaign speeches...

Abraham Lincoln Quote

“I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races – that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything.”

by:

Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865) 16th US President
Source:

Fourth Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Charleston, Illinois, September 18, 1858




Its best we step back from blanketing the south as entirely racist and the north, where im from, as non-racist. Assholes are everywhere and come from everywhere. Even Abe....asshole.

Amen Brother,
Most of the south desegregated in the 60s and 70s. Some northern cities resisted desegregation until the late 80s. For example, lets pick a random city like, oh lets say Yonkers.

http://www.citylimits.org/news/artic...kers-race-trap

[KC2UGV]

That's the part I like. Those that don't live in the South are so quick to point out how "bad" it is down here and where they live nothing of the sort occurs. They seem to turn a blind eye to the fact that it occurs in all 50 states and in their own towns/neighborhoods. With equal impact. And they fail to see the reverse racism that occurs. But what the hey, believe what you must.

I lived in Texas for 6 years. In Central Texas (Excluding Austin), racism is both rampant, and accepted openly. West Texas, only drove through and visited some of the sites, but from what I saw: Same thing. Northern Texas, same. Border towns? I can not count how many times "Wetback" and "Nigger" were tossed about in conversation without batting an eyelash.

[n2ize]

Amen Brother,
Most of the south desegregated in the 60s and 70s. Some northern cities resisted desegregation until the late 80s. For example, lets pick a random city like, oh lets say Yonkers.

http://www.citylimits.org/news/artic...kers-race-trap

The case of Yonkers "desegregation" is one I remember well.. I lived through it and it involved the area I live in, among others... First and foremost there is a big difference between unintentional segregation and deliberate racism and segregation. Yonkers never had the kind of racism and segregation of the old south. Black people were never told they cannot live in certain parts of Yonkers, they were never told they have to sit in the back of a bus or use the "colored only water fountain". In the case of Yonkers segregation was incidental to the overall economic makeup of the area. Or, said differently, if there was any segregation in Yonkers it was primarily due to economics as opposed to racial. Yonkers has a huge urban downtown area which is very racially mixed and has been for many many decades. In the very early days of the 20th century the downtown area was home to many relatively poor European immigrants who worked in the carpet mills and some of the other industries and they mostly lived in the numerous apartment buildings in the area. Decades later many of the white Europeans families left the downtown section, as their kids went to college and got higher paying jobs and moved to more affluent areas. At the same time large numbers of Black people, Hispanic and other ethnic minorities moved in and even a percentage of non-affluent whites remained or moved there as it was affordable to those without a large income.. The thing about Yonkers is, once you traverse northward beyond the downtown area the entire landscape abruptly and dramatically changes from urban to suburban. From concrete and apartment buildings to miles and miles of suburban tree lines streets and private homes. When you get to a fairly affluent area, such as the area where I currently live (and which also borders on one of the most affluent towns in the northeast) you find lots of expensive private suburban homes. There are a fair share of apartments in spots that are zoned for it but most of the apartments in the affluent areas are also quite expensive. The makeup of the area was, and still is almost all white people, although we always had a few ethnic minority families living in the area and, nobody was ever excluded on the basis of race or nationality. It was more a matter of economics. If you had enough money to buy a home or rent an apartment you could live here regardless of race, religion, etc. Nobody was turned away because of skin color. Unfortunately many ethnic minorities simply did not have the income to buy up the majority or even a fraction private homes in the area and, many others who could have may have felt they would feel out of place in what amounted to an all white community. Of course there were also exceptions. There were a few Black families living here who owned homes and they were always welcome and well received and none of the white people or white kids in the area ever showed any scorn, animosity or racism towards them whatsoever. Among children and adults they were welcome and treated just like anyone else. There was no deliberate racial exclusion.

When the NAACP demanded that my area (and others like it) be desegregated (the so called 1980's desegregation ruling you referred to) what they called for is that we place units of low income "affordable" housing so that families from downtown Yonkers may move into the area. Many of the Blacks folks from downtown Yonkers didn't go for the idea either. Instead they called for the city to spend some money and fix up the neighborhoods they were already living in and calling home as opposed to building a few units of housing in the "rich section" and relocating only a few families there. The other problem was that since this area is all private residential homes and expensive apartments there were few places to install low income housing units. They ended up taking the football field at a nearby Junior High School digging it up and building a few units of housing there. It is within walking distance of my home and is a nice community and is kept up quite nicely. There are also a large number of affordable garden apartment housing units nearby that have been ethnically diverse for quite a number of decades and long before there were any calls for desegregation. They also implemented a school busing program so nowadays the public schools are more racially mixed.

So now we are desegregated but, we were never really segregated to begin with because nobody was ever really excluded because of race, creed or nationality. If you could afford a home you could buy it and live here regardless of race. There were no blatant segregation laws here as there were in the old south. Nobody here resisted desegregation (except for a handful of uneducated white rabble with big mouths ). The area was always racially mixed, I went to school with and hung out with plenty of Black, Hispanic and Asian kids and I never heard any white kids or adults call them by the N word or use any racially motivated terms in association with them or their families who bought homes here.. If anything they were welcomed and treated just like anyone else. The only issue at stake was the lack of low income housing in some of the more affluent suburban areas which has since been fixed. The type of blatant racism of the old south was unheard of here. If there was any segregation here it was a matter of economics and not racial prejudice.

Furthermore with respect to the South I respect the fact that they have moved far away from the racial discrimination of the past. I also recognize that racism is universal and yes, there was and is still plenty of it up here in the north.