[romack]

Does anyone have any info on recent hate crimes i.e.(white on black, black on white, straight on gay) in the NW Alabama (Madison, Harvest, Huntsville) area? My question is have people regardless of differences in skin color or beliefs learned to live together in the South? Are interracial dating and marriages and bi-racial children still cultural taboo?

[AndyG]

For the most part, people are left alone in Alabama. This isn't the old south. There are still rednecks around, but for the most part as I said, people are much more accepting in the south these days.

Hate crimes occur nationwide, all the time, not just in the south. I'm a gay man living in Gadsden, and have never had a single incident here from anyone.

[DaddyJ]

The south is very heavily maligned in the media. All that crap you're talking about hardly exists and definitely less than in most of the rest of the country. Most people in the south are very offended by that kind of thinking....it shows alot of ignorance. For one, I was very offended at Will Ferrell for his portayal of the south in Talladega Nights. I'm a red neck, proud of it, and don't have those kinds of feelings or problems. I'm not opposed to black friends visiting in my home. I do not go out looking for gay buddies and do not want to be approached by a gay person but I still treat blacks and gays and people with birth defects as humans and give them all the dignity and respect they give me. I don't go to gay parties and I don't go to black cultural events simply because I'm not in those cultures... I was born and raised as a southern baptist and that's why I do not attend a jewish synagogue...

[femalej77]

Originally Posted by romack

Does anyone have any info on recent hate crimes i.e.(white on black, black on white, straight on gay) in the NW Alabama (Madison, Harvest, Huntsville) area? My question is have people regardless of differences in skin color or beliefs learned to live together in the South? Are interracial dating and marriages and bi-racial children still cultural taboo?

someone wrote in pink and blue.. not a a childs writing... " GAY house" with a arrow pointing at my house...

[HipLib]

There is some cultural enlightenment in the cities. The southside of Birmingham and Huntsville are as tolerant as anywhere I've been. The bigger college towns like Tuscaloosa and Auburn aren't too bad. All bets are off in the small rural towns. There are places in Alabama that aren't any different than they were in the 1950's.

[CountryGal05]

Hey yall.
I live in IN and there are hate crimes here all the time. I mean Indianapolis is all over the news all the time. Its everywhere...

[stingraynm]

I agree. Racism and other forms of bigotry are worldwide epidemics. You're pretty much going to find narrow-minded people and open-minded people everywhere you go. If you find a place where the narrow-minded people are too aggressive or rude to ignore, get out of dodge. I can't think of any of those places off-hand, but they unfortunately do exist.

[Alatex]

I live in Tuscaloosa. Although most of my neighbors are white, my next-door neighbors are black, the neighbors up the street are Chinese, and I've had Jewish, Arab, and lesbian neighbors. We all get along fine, as far as I can tell.

[RangerDuke08]

Romack, yes racism can occur anywhere but you may be surprised when you read the FBI Hate Crime statistics, to find out the least amount of hate crime were states in the Deep South.

In 2006 Alabama (1 incident) recorded and Mississippi (0 incidents recorded) compared to Michigan (653 incidents) and California (1297 incidents). It may be politically incorrect to state but the matter of the fact is due to the Civil Rights clashes in the deep South 4 decades ago, Southerners are better able to communicate cultural/racial differences openly, much of the same social clashes later brewed in the rust-belt region due to what was called "black-flight" and "white-flight" resulting in some of the most segregated cities in the North today such as St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, etc. Often racism occurs from not a lack of understanding but a lack of communication.

Hate Crime Statistics in the United States - Hate Crime Statistics - Esquire

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by RangerDuke08

Romack, yes racism can occur anywhere but you may be surprised when you read the FBI Hate Crime statistics, to find out the least amount of hate crime were states in the Deep South.

In 2006 Alabama (1 incident) recorded and Mississippi (0 incidents recorded) compared to Michigan (653 incidents) and California (1297 incidents). It may be politically incorrect to state but the matter of the fact is due to the Civil Rights clashes in the deep South 4 decades ago, Southerners are better able to communicate cultural/racial differences openly, much of the same social clashes later brewed in the rust-belt region due to what was called "black-flight" and "white-flight" resulting in some of the most segregated cities in the North today such as St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, etc. Often racism occurs from not a lack of understanding but a lack of communication.

Hate Crime Statistics in the United States - Hate Crime Statistics - Esquire

The key word here is "recorded". Just because there was only one incident recorded doesn't mean there weren't others. You might also consider that the definition of a hate crime can vary from place to place. What I have noticed is that alot of crimes can go unrecorded. I wouldn't doubt that alot of hate crimes occur in places like Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Milwaukee, etc. With that in mind, I often notice that places with liberal politics are more inclined to call something a hate crime. In more conservative places, the definition of a hate crime might be different. Also, MS and AL have smaller populations than Michigan and California. A larger population usually has higher raw numbers of crimes.