Racial relations in Atlanta (Smyrna, Duluth: work, college, trailer)

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by johndoeboy

No i meant jealousy because when it comes to the music and sports industry usually its black males who are the most popular. Nothing about bill cosby not agreeing with some rappers. I no bill cosby is not jealous, of nobody. I was just saying in popular culture black men tend to be portray as cool or hip compared to the white dude. And alot of ppl dont like that, the want the black dude to be portrayed as bad nothing good.

(sports) lebron james and other black athletes have shoes, clothes, even sprite commericals.

(music) when britney or justin need a beat, or somebody to rap on their song they go get a black male.


I was just saying alot of ppl dont like that black men are the popular culture mostly.

I don't want to sound controversial, but I have had this on my mind.
I am starting to notice even more than it isn't just whether or not one is black, but the type of black man one is. There is often a rule that if a black person acts, dresses, and does things that are considered "white", that he/she is more likely to be accepted. I am finding that to be almost(but not quite) a myth. I am noticing that the young black men who are found to fit the stereotype of a "typical black man"(i.e. the way blacks are portrayed on BET, MTV,etc.) are more likely to have girlfriends(or at least fit in) then a black man who doesn't fit the stereotype(I am talking mainly men between age 18-25). There are exceptions, but I do see this in Atlanta a few times.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by stormy39

Wow! I've been here for 16 years and have never noticed the racial tension. I mean I've seen reports on TV regarding Paulding county, but my family and I haven't experienced it. We live in West Cobb which is very diverse and I hate to sound like a broken record, but... we have a lot of white, Latino and Asian friends.

I used to live in Paulding County and I have experienced it. I was threatened by a few students to my face that they would hang me by the end of their rope.
After the confederate flag was declared not allowed to wear in school, racial tensions were really bad. There were alot of fights. The ban on the confederate flag was eventually unenforced because of this.
The racial tensions are there.

[Angelheart1023]

Pirate,
You seem like a very sweet person. Thats a horrible way to be treated no matter what race a person is. I guess being Italian or maybe just the way I was raised or maybe I just lived a sheltered life, I just don't understand treating someone a certain way because of skin color no matter what race you are.

I think it happens both ways and its a SHAMEFUL!

I haven't read anything from you that I would consider biased to either side. Thats says something to me. I think thats important.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

I used to live in Paulding County and I have experienced it. I was threatened by a few students to my face that they would hang me by the end of their rope.

Wow, what *******s. Sorry, but there's no excuse for that.

After the confederate flag was declared not allowed to wear in school, racial tensions were really bad. There were alot of fights. The ban on the confederate flag was eventually unenforced because of this.

I do understand that some people have a legitimate pride in the history of this region, and that sometimes includes showing the Confederate Flag, but some of the idiots who use that particular symbol have completely degraded its meaning. In my opinion.

The damage that those people are doing to Atlanta's (and Georgia's) long and storied history is a sad, sad thing.

The racial tensions are there.

Yes, although I've seen far more tension here in these forums than I have offline. And I believe that some racial tension is justified. Over history, some peoples have been badly stomped on and then had their faces rubbed in it afterwards. There's nothing positive in that, at all. Again IMO.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

I don't want to sound controversial, but I have had this on my mind.
I am starting to notice even more than it isn't just whether or not one is black, but the type of black man one is. There is often a rule that if a black person acts, dresses, and does things that are considered "white", that he/she is more likely to be accepted. I am finding that to be almost(but not quite) a myth. I am noticing that the young black men who are found to fit the stereotype of a "typical black man"(i.e. the way blacks are portrayed on BET, MTV,etc.) are more likely to have girlfriends(or at least fit in) then a black man who doesn't fit the stereotype(I am talking mainly men between age 18-25). There are exceptions, but I do see this in Atlanta a few times.

I have actually heard this complaint from other black people. In other words, black people who come from other areas of the country have said to me they've been told they "don't act black enough" by local black people when they're in clubs, etc. Or the parents of kids who get very good grades in school will say that the other school kids tease their kids saying they're "acting white" because they use good grammar and make good grades. This is why a lot of these parents intown try to get their kids enrolled in the few magnet schools that are around - so they can be around kids who actually want to learn and who won't tease them for doing well.

There seems to be a certain level of discrimination by blacks against other blacks here. Not being black I haven't seen it first hand, but I've heard enough stories and accounts to raise an eyebrow or two. The theory by some is that like certain other large urban areas like Baltimore or Detroit, Atlanta has a larger "stereotypically" uneducated urban black community, compared to other areas like San Fran, Washington, Denver, or Seattle, where you tend too see a highly educated black community.

Yes, I know, I'm probably saying that wrong so I get the heehaw peg on me, but I think you know what I mean. That you're much more likely to find a "ghetto mentality" in places like here, New Orleans, or Baltimore than you will in many other cities. So when black adults come here on their own or with kids, they see the differences and aren't happy - and, the locals will make fun of them as well. Same thing in the white community though - move some folks from Buckhead out to a trailer park and see what happens. Or people from L.A. move to Baton Rouge.

Like any other group of people regardless of race, color, income, or religion, there will always be an educated class, and a stereotype class - and neither will be thrilled to be around the other. So while you see tension here between whites and blacks, you will also see tension between blacks and blacks as well, depending on background, where they came here from, etc.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

I have actually heard this complaint from other black people. In other words, black people who come from other areas of the country have said to me they've been told they "don't act black enough" by local black people when they're in clubs, etc. Or the parents of kids who get very good grades in school will say that the other school kids tease their kids saying they're "acting white" because they use good grammar and make good grades. This is why a lot of these parents intown try to get their kids enrolled in the few magnet schools that are around - so they can be around kids who actually want to learn and who won't tease them for doing well.

There seems to be a certain level of discrimination by blacks against other blacks here. Not being black I haven't seen it first hand, but I've heard enough stories and accounts to raise an eyebrow or two. The theory by some is that like certain other large urban areas like Baltimore or Detroit, Atlanta has a larger "stereotypically" uneducated urban black community, compared to other areas like San Fran, Washington, Denver, or Seattle, where you tend too see a highly educated black community.

Yes, I know, I'm probably saying that wrong so I get the heehaw peg on me, but I think you know what I mean. That you're much more likely to find a "ghetto mentality" in places like here, New Orleans, or Baltimore than you will in many other cities. So when black adults come here on their own or with kids, they see the differences and aren't happy - and, the locals will make fun of them as well. Same thing in the white community though - move some folks from Buckhead out to a trailer park and see what happens. Or people from L.A. move to Baton Rouge.

Like any other group of people regardless of race, color, income, or religion, there will always be an educated class, and a stereotype class - and neither will be thrilled to be around the other. So while you see tension here between whites and blacks, you will also see tension between blacks and blacks as well, depending on background, where they came here from, etc.

Hello...decent post.

The bigger issue is that blacks don't benefit from being in a distinct educated class like whites do. Society as a whole generally lumps all blacks together...regardless of income, education-level, etc. Middle-class+/educated whites are never grouped with their trailer park brethren...
whites don't have to worry about the "trailer-park burden."

[RuralCoastalGuy]

After reading many of the posts in this thread it reminds me of what an old, Korean man once told me, "Racism is a double edged sword". I sure am glad that I don't live in Atlanta.

[Britishintown]

It seems some people see a couple of isolated incidents and all of a sudden Atlanta is a KKK hole, for me, I have never seen any racial tension and have friends of many races, Atlanta is a great place as far as I have experienced it.

Maybe it's because I am color blind.

[dens]

I agree with the last post...don't get discouraged about Atlanta...the "tensions" are not as widespread as it may appear...it is a wonderful place to live.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Hello...decent post.

The bigger issue is that blacks don't benefit from being in a distinct educated class like whites do. Society as a whole generally lumps all blacks together...regardless of income, education-level, etc. Middle-class+/educated whites are never grouped with their trailer park brethren...
whites don't have to worry about the "trailer-park burden."

I partially agree with that, but not 100%. If you go to other parts of the U.S. (North, Northwest, West, etc) and ask people what they think about people who live in the deep South, you'll hear the trailer park reference far more than you think. Southerns are pretty much seen as intolerant, uneducated, and religious zealots by many in other areas of the country. It doesn't matter if that Southerner never graduated from school, or if they're a multi-degreed college grad, they're pretty much clumped in that same cast.

I have briefly done some work in other parts of North America here and there in the past, and when I told folks where I lived I would hear things like, "Oh, I'm sorry - that must be a difficult place to live", and, "Are the people there really like you hear about - I mean, like, so backward?" I could go on, but in Washingston State I was even told by a group of people that they had heard babies who were born to interracial couples were "snuck out and sold overseas" by some parents - they had heard it on the news! Uhhhh huhhhhhh. And they were mostly refering to the whites when they had these "notions".