Is Diversity Over Emphasized By Some? (Atlanta, Smyrna: appointed, crime, house)

[Motion]

I've seen various people post on here and on the other forums about how disappointed they are that a particular city,town or area wasn't that diverse. Now I think diversity is a good thing but I wonder if too many people over emphasize it sometimes? It seems like some people want to hold it against a town or city because they lack diversity. People need to realize that it's not possible for every town,city or state in America to have the perfect mix of diversity that they think they should have.

[gt6974a]

Originally Posted by Motion

Now I think diversity is a good thing but I wonder if too many people over emphasize it sometimes?

...yes they do, especially here in Metro-Atlanta, and I don't know why.

...My feelings....

1) someone comes on here and wants a racial specific area then it's fine, as long as it's not 'White'. If you ask for a 'White', non-Jewish area you're crucified....
...if you respond with suggestions you're crucified...

2) if you look for a 'Red' area you're crucified

3) Every sterotypical term, whether deragatory or not, is banned and stricken by the mods, and crucified by others................while no one seems to have any problem (including mods) allowing 'white trash', 'crackers', 'rednecks', 'hillbillies', 'trailer parks', 'trailer trash', etc.....(although I have seen 'uncle tom' allowed)

....yet listen to the Hip-Hop music on the radio (yes they have radio edit versions) and wonder where the 'Political Corrrectness' is......

4) I'm 29, born and raised in Acworth, I had a handful of black kids in elementary (literally a handful), a few more in middle school along with a handful of Philapeno and less than that Hispanic, and maybe 10% @ North Cobb. I graduated in 1996.......

...Today (via greatschools.net):

The schools I attended as a kid, TODAY:

North Cobb High School Awtrey Middle School Acworth Elementary
White: 55% 56% 49%
Black: 28% 27% 28%
Hispanic: 8% 8% 15%
Asian/Pacific: 4% $% 2%
Undecided: 5% 3% 6%

....looks like everything is diversifing fine but you won't get that here, especially when they start referring to Cherokee and Bartow schools, which the most popular areas are closes to North Cobb than most any other Cobb County School.........

...now in my area, people do tend to stick to their n-hoods, i.e. middle income blacks tend to live in 'black' n-hoods, haven't seen too many 'hispanic' n-hoods but the 'White' n-hoods are not 'White', they are diversified..........

..........49% of all Cobb County Schools is 'White', here's an example of South Cobb Area:

South Cobb High School PebbleBrook Middle School Campbell HS
White: 28% 12% 46%
Black: 57% 70% 27%
Hispanic: 10% 14% 20%


.........so minorities are moving out into the suburbs from downtown/other states/ or hopping the border..........

...very rapidly....we're talking the last 12-16 years..........

5) With all the data I mention above, now people are biotching about gentrification of the downtown n-hoods b/c it's forcing 'Blacks' out...............................

................WTF, they....just like 'Whites' and everyone else keeps moving out be 'cost' of living......

....and these other counties that people cry about are not far behind....they're just a few mile North.........THAT IS ALL!!!


6) My last comment....it is clear that the majority (not all) of 'Blacks' still see 'Racism' as an issue here in Metro Atlanta...i.e. the Democratic Race right now (I'm Libertarian/Conservative) and the current 'City of Atlanta'/Dekalb politics........

....and I think Gwinette is more diverse than Cobb, but according to the stat (i.e. above)......I don't see how people can biotch and complain about diversity.......

.....WTH else do you want?....in 16 years Cobb has gone from 90%+ White to 49% White in schools.....

As far as the state (wikipedia)


Demographics of Georgia (csv)
By race White Black AIAN Asian NHPI
AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native — NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
2000 (total population) 68.34% 29.38% 0.66% 2.46% 0.12%
2000 (Hispanic only) 4.82% 0.39% 0.10% 0.05% 0.03%
2005 (total population) 67.00% 30.29% 0.67% 3.01% 0.14%
2005 (Hispanic only) 6.57% 0.43% 0.12% 0.07% 0.04%
Growth 2000–2005 (total population) 8.65% 14.23% 11.72% 36.02% 25.41%
Growth 2000–2005 (non-Hispanic only) 5.43% 14.12% 7.43% 35.82% 21.99%
Growth 2000–2005 (Hispanic only) 50.99% 22.30% 36.34% 45.53% 36.55%



.....................I don't think this perception of diversity and racism will ever change, no matter what....

....today was MLK Day and I watched the parade, leaving my office for an hour in the cold, and it was more politics than remeberance.......

....it's hard to look at so-called Black leaders (not including Obama here b/c I think he's a smart guy) but looking looking at Shirley Franklin, Maynard Jackson (friend of MLK), Dekalb Sheriff, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson...........and the blunt racist (reverse racist, anti-white) comments they make and not held accountable for, makes me sick as a 'White' person if I'm supposed to be 'Equal' to the 'Balck' or 'Hispanic' guy...........

....I don't think anything will change....the 'Hate White America' (not all feel this way) isn't going to change in the next 25 years, sorry, it just isn't, and the perception of diversity is just non-existent in most people's eyes!!

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Motion

I've seen various people post on here and on the other forums about how disappointed they are that a particular city,town or area wasn't that diverse. Now I think diversity is a good thing but I wonder if too many people over emphasize it sometimes?

I ended up being pleasantly surprised to find that our neighborhood was relatively diverse, but we found out after the fact. That sort of thing didn't even cross my mind when we were looking for a house -- we were mainly interested in a house that met our cost/location/quality criteria and that we really liked; the nature of our neighbors (outside of crime information) wasn't all that relevant.

It seems like some people want to hold it against a town or city because they lack diversity. People need to realize that it's not possible for every town,city or state in America to have the perfect mix of diversity that they think they should have.

I'm not sure that measuring the diversity in a town or city is all that meaningful, at least in suburban or urban areas. Those areas are too large, and the more meaningful measure is how diverse your neighborhood and/or subdivision are.

I'm sure there are many towns like Smyrna which vary quite significantly depending on which area within the City of Smyrna you're talking about.

[charolastra00]

Diversity only is not important to you if you are not the minority in an area :P I'm from Forsyth County which even NOW is shockingly undiverse though it was 100 times worse growing up. I was the only Jewish person most people- both children AND adults- had come in contact with in my community. When a black girl came to my class, no one would speak to her. And this was 1996! When I graduated in 2006, there was maybe 5 black kids in my class of 550.. and that was not due to drop outs.

I just don't think it's a healthy environment. Racism is still a huge problem there, even if it's not overt.

[Motion]

^

I wouldn't necessarily equate a lack of diversity to racism like with Forsyth County's case.

Not all non diverse places are that way because racism. Demographics will always vary from town to town city to city. Detroit will always be mostly Black like Seattle will be mostly white. This shouldn't take anything away from both cities. In some ways I think people not accepting a city or town for it's lack of diversity is a kind of close mindedness. As a Black person if I visit Maine I have no problem with the state being mostly white. Blacks simply can't be everywhere in America.

[JKendrow]

African Americans are only 12 or 13 percent of the population in the US, although the percentage is higher in the south. Expecting diversity everywhere in this country is unreasonable, just based on numbers.

[atlantagreg30127]

One thing I find funny is how people who come here from other countries feel differently about opportunities when compared to people who are already here. Article: Asians, Hispanics believe in the American dream more than blacks - News - MSNBC.com (broken link)

As far as number go, as of this article dated in 2003, Hispanics outnumbers blacks in the U.S., and it's logical to assume the number of Hispanics has increased since: USATODAY.com - 39 million make Hispanics largest U.S. minority group

[Motion]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

As far as number go, as of this article dated in 2003, Hispanics outnumbers blacks in the U.S., and it's logical to assume the number of Hispanics has increased since: USATODAY.com - 39 million make Hispanics largest U.S. minority group

I find it interesting how Hispanics and Black-Americans are often linked in the media as if were're similar groups when were not. Latino numbers and Black-American numbers don't represent the samethings because Black-Americans belong to a single racial group and Latinos belong to a diverse cultural group that includes people of various nationalities/cultures and races such as whites,Blacks,mulattoes,Indians and Mestizos etc. I mean just compare the cultural and racial makeup of Mexico to Cuba's.

[Bookwolf]

My own personal opinion goes like this: people are people, regardless of the pigment of their skin, religious choice, where their ancestors lived, etc. and all deserve to be treated with the same courtesy, respect, and compassion. When my sons ask me why other people look different than us, I tell them that God made us, and God made them, and that's all that matters. When they ask me why people believe different things than we do (for example religiously or politically), I tell them that God gave all people the same freedom to choose what to believe and that we are blessed to live in a country where that freedom is allowed. That we can agree to disagree agreeably with others.

So, as far as diversity in a neighborhood, <shrug> The only thing I care about is that my neighbors treat me and my family with the same courtesy, respect and compassion that I treat them with, and that if I offend them, that they tell me so we can work it out.

[willdufauve]

"America." for simplicity, genocided the native Americans and Hawaiians, stole the southwest at the point of a gun, built the country with slavery, unfairly enriched themselves with Jim Crow, and has meddled in the legitimate affairs of brown people around the world from the Philippines, to Nicaragua, to the middle east.

In America, white people have always called the shots. Some white people resent that they're not calling the shots unilaterally anymore. There are laws now that hope to prevent segregation, discrimination, and lynching, so all the white people can do is give dirty looks, gossip, complain and trash diversity.

The world is mostly non-white, non-English speaking, and non-Christian. It's better to get used to it. Adapt and ride the wave, or watch your children and grandchildren fall further and further behind, and out of the loop.