Quote:
Originally Posted by xirt8
I see two threads in 1 page asking about living in an area based on its racial makeup...
So..
How bad is it...
I'm from the East Coast...
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I might be dreaming here, but I'm hoping that during my children's lifetimes ... at least ... that we become a people who are so racially mixed that nobody has to ask a question like "How bad are race relations in Atlanta?"
Race relations are what you personally make them.
I am white, but I am not your typical white man. I served as a drill sergeant in the Army during the late 1980s, and my platoons of soldiers, of course, were diverse. Imagine young people (some of them even a little older with college degrees) all entering the same workforce, for the same reasons, never having dealt with each other before. That is what military life is like -- you must adapt to the various races, religions, genders, lifestyle choices, and cultural backgrounds of your fellow soldiers, or you will not be able to function in the military.
In the military, you even have to acquire a taste for everybody else's music.
As a military leader, I always took the time to teach people about myself and others, and I developed effective methods of dealing with those who were mis-informed or mis-guided about another race. I never considered anyone as "ignorant." Most prejudice people have "learned" their prejudices, and whatever is learned can be re-learned, although there exist some folks who are just plain stubborn -- but that's their personal problem, not mine.
I remember the first time I stepped before my platoon and noticed that the soldiers were not as happy as they were the day before. I asked them what was wrong. Nobody answered. They were always open and honest with me, but that morning, it was different.
Later the same day, one brave soul approached me and explained that Susie was dating Johnny, and their new relationship was causing problems for everybody. For a brief moment, I wondered how that could be possible. How silly I was not to notice that Susie was white and Johnny was black.
For the next few weeks, we intentionally focused on this problem. I paired these soldiers by purpose in everything they did. I did things like re-arrange roommates and also arranged breakfasts, lunches and dinners accordingly. I told each of them that each day they had to tell me a dozen things they learned about their "new friend."
This was my own creative method as their leader. I owed it to them. I owed it to myself. I owed it to their parents. I owed it to my country. It was fun and effective.
I did this because I was not satisfied that my parents taught me all their prejudices. When I was a boy, my parents would always change the TV channel when a black face came on. For example, the only TV programs my father watched were "The Jeffersons" and "All In The Family." I knew that whatever made my parents was not going to make me -- I did not feel the same way they fealt.
While I understand your question, you have to ask yourself why race relations are so important to you.
If you are stubborn about such things, then please re-educate yourself and get re-programmed before introducing yourself to Atlanta.
The magic word is "please."
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How bad are race relations in Atlanta?
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