political atmosphere

[Rudbeckia]

here is an article about it, Obama did actually win a good many white votes in jefferson county, i thought it was much less

Blacks, liberals key to Obama win in Jefferson County - al.com

[BamaTex]

Originally Posted by Rudbeckia

Alabama was one of three states with the lowest amount of votes for Obama. Obama did win jefferson county, which is what your daughter may be talking about, but the county is majority african american, so thats not really surprising.

the majority of non african american people living in Alabama did not vote for Obama. I think Al will forever be a red state

but i am 28 so maybe the 23 year old crowd is different and more liberal minded

"The racial makeup of the county was 58.10% White, 39.36% Black or African American"

Jefferson County, Alabama - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To the OP:

Although Alabama is a red state, there are pockets of blue, usually inside the larger cities. If you live in Southside, or other similar areas, people won't care who or what you are. Heck, people in my Shelby County neighborhood don't care.

[Rudbeckia]

Originally Posted by BamaTex

"The racial makeup of the county was 58.10% White, 39.36% Black or African American"

Jefferson County, Alabama - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To the OP:

Although Alabama is a red state, there are pockets of blue, usually inside the larger cities. If you live in Southside, or other similar areas, people won't care who or what you are. Heck, people in my Shelby County neighborhood don't care.

your right, im sorry i worded that incorrectly, i meant the majority of african americans in jefferson county voted for Obama, so its not surprising he won

but he did pick up the white vote in Jeff county too

i think its great he won the county

[bluebeard]

church and football is right. if you like football, you'll find something to talk to people about. and its extremely conservative. if not you're a bit SOL. i frequently have people talking to me assuming i care or even know about football. i also have people talking to me assuming i'm christian. nothing wrong with either, just saying its the norm to the extent its an assumption. other places have the same assumptions (in the bay area they'd assume you hate Bush or whatever before they knew you). and its right that there are plenty of people who don't fall into this category. but you tend to have to find them, rather than them being the rule. it just depends whether you care about being an exception rather than the rule. you'll find you niche eventually tho.

[AnyDayNow]

Originally Posted by Rudbeckia

....I lived in bham for 6 years and then moved to NY and when I come back to visit, it is much more obvious to me how everyone here seems the same

It may be more that in NY individuals feel more free to express their individuality in more obvious ways? I don't know about that, I'm guessing, because I do know that not everyone here thinks the same. They just don't necessarily feel the need to shout it from the rooftops. What, are they supposed to wear badges? Otherwise how do you know at a glance what everyone thinks?

[Rudbeckia]

Originally Posted by AnyDayNow

It may be more that in NY individuals feel more free to express their individuality in more obvious ways? I don't know about that, I'm guessing, because I do know that not everyone here thinks the same. They just don't necessarily feel the need to shout it from the rooftops. What, are they supposed to wear badges? Otherwise how do you know at a glance what everyone thinks?

you're right there is no way to tell someone political beliefs just back looking at them that’s why I used the word "seem"

but i think if you were to poll 100 people walking by you in vestavia, MB, homewood, hoover, i bet at least 90 of them would have similar backgrounds and beliefs

Obviously if you are on the north side of town it might be different

i live in NYC now, and everyone is so different from one another


dont get me wrong though i love birmingam, and will move back there one day, but to the OP, moving from NY, he should expect a different environment

[bluebeard]

In NYC you could surely express your individuality through unique dressing styles and contraversial themes and people would be less likely to be weirded out by it. That's just as much as a function of the size of the city tho. If there are tons of people, of course there a bit of every type and everyone is more used to different types.
That being said, and its just a personal feeling, nothing more, I definitely feel that as a whole people are much more socially conservative here. Eg, there is a decent proportion of homosexuals in the population, but you'd never know it, besides occasionally seeing a rainbow flag in Highland/Southside. And people who think they're open-minded will say "I'm fine with gays, as long as they don't rub it in my face", meaning they don't want to see two guys kissing or whatever (not just that they don't want to see buttless leather chaps and the such).
But like I said, your would eventually find a crew that doesn't think like this.

[RangerDuke08]

Cool thing about the Deep South is just be respectful of others and they will provide you hospitality, not so much up North unless you dress, walk or talk like them.

[EnvGraph]

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