A black man in New York (who was originally from South Carolina) once told me that he was far more comfortable in the "segregated" South than in the Northeast. I got the sense that for a lot of people in the South, segregation ran both ways -- where people were simply far more comfortable living "among their own."
Get the fuggoudaheah! Come back when you grow a pair!
(Not you, Hiram...them.)
When I attended Boston's city wide schools in the 1960's, blacks could attend if they passed the exams. Some did, albeit not in as great as proportion to their population, 12 percent. Now they are the largest single ethnic group in Boston, 40 to 45 percent, and the schools are about 90 percent black.
Racial segregation is alive and well. My liberal neighbors live in the white neighborhoods. who are they kidding?
but..but..the MSM insinuates that stuff only happens in the South since we're backwards and all...
No one will ever know if any of the incidents mentioned had race at it's base, but the Race Animosity Lobby has done a good job indoctrinating minorities into perceiving every trivial negative interaction with caucasions as a racial insult.
This has little to nothing to do with these people being black. This is exactly what I ran into in Boston.
In the south, outside of the larger urban areas, black people go back generation upon generation, in the same place. They've been here as long or longer than anyone else has, centuries in fact. As a result, there is a sense of place and belonging that transcends any war or past transgression, real or mythical, which is the very same sentiment that the white (and native) residents share. We've settled back into live and let live, that is, where the professionally aggrieved will permit. No place is perfect, but the reputation for racist attitudes is greatly exaggerated, for political purposes no doubt.
It's more relaxed here, for good and for not-so-good ... mostly good, in my own perception, but I'm more than a bit biased, because I'm proud to be a tenth generation southerner. In the same vein, it could be said that all the striving and concern over appearance that this couple witnessed and experienced in Boston has both positive and negative sides as well. They certainly kept their houses and farms groomed, painted and pretty, at least for the most part, while down here it was not exactly picture postcard perfect, other than the wealthy plantations. I've seen letters written by Union soldiers passing through the area, dismayed at the lack of paint or whitewash on houses and barns. They thought it showed a lack of civic pride at best, and was slovenly or lazy at worst.
Everybody has different standards and expectations.
I lived in the North for two years on the border of New York and Pa. I had moved from North Carolina and the culture shock was unbelieveable. For the first time in my life I saw a Klan rally. I saw racism run rampant and nobody saying a word about it. I was also a victim of that bigotry not because I am a minority but because I am from the South. I was treated worse than the minorities as the hatred for my kind was both evident and open. At work I was openly called "boy" and a "racist" (because we Southerners had owned slaves not due to anything I said or did) and was continually harrased due to my accent and place of origin. These attacks were open and hostile. (I even have a tape recording somewhere that I made secretly after my complaints were ignored) After two years of this and the horrible weather I had had enough and moved to Georgia. I haven't seen the kind of hatred anywhere like the hatred I experienced in the North.
Growing up on Long Island, where school districts were selectively redlined/gerrymandered to ensure that blacks and whites went to separate schools, I can tell you that what is described here in Boston is the norm in most suburbs in the northeast. I have always found that white Catholics (who make up the bulk of the white population in NY and MA) have been the most uncomfortable with integration, so maybe its a cultural thing vis a vis the South.
In short, Knightdale is home in a way that Boston could not be. Which is not to say that the Johnsons never want to see the Hub again. ''We can't wait to go back and see our friends," says Raymond. Adds Idella, nodding vigorously: ''A good place to visit."
Chr*st J*s*s no! After an article like that please stay the F! away from New England! We're well-rid of you two whiners and your get.