Ethnic Neighborhoods? (Cincinnati, Washington, Franklin: second mortgage, loan, attorney)

[Cincy-Rise]

What progmac and wilson are discussing is diversity VS. segregation. No one would say that Chicago lacks diversity, but it's one of the most segregated cities in the U.S.

[deg1114]

By the time I got here I forgot what the original question was but I have always thought that Cincinnati lacked definite ethnic neighborhoods. A lot of other cities have a Chinatown or an Italian, Polish, etc. neighborhood. Back in the day OTR was a German neighborhood but that is probably as close as it has come. There are pockets around town where you will find Hispanics, Italians, or Jewish residents but nothing that has a given label.

With that being said, I like Pleasant Ridge. I have several friends that live there and they love it. We considered moving there ourselves but just didn't see a house that we fell in love with.

[Cincy Rider]

^^
There are still neighborhoods that have an ethnic stereotype,

Roselawn = Jewish
Westwood, West Price Hill, Covedale = German, Italian, Greek
Carthage, Lower Price Hill, East Price Hill = Hispanic
Clifton = Indian, Asian

etc.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by Cincy Rider

^^
There are still neighborhoods that have an ethnic stereotype,

Roselawn = Jewish
Westwood, West Price Hill, Covedale = German, Italian, Greek
Carthage, Lower Price Hill, East Price Hill = Hispanic
Clifton = Indian, Asian

etc.

With the exception of Roselawn, I think you are stretching it.

[deg1114]

A stereotype isn't how I would word it, I was referring to more of a true definition like a Chinatown or Little Italy like some other cities have.

[Cincy Rider]

^^ To the last two posts, you are both right, I wasn't finding terms I was more comfortable with.

[Sarah Perry]

I think somebody already touched on this earlier, but Cincinnati never had the large numbers of settlers or immigrants of a specific ethnicity (as opposed to a specific race) other than Germans. That was a long time ago, and the Germans as a whole were pretty willing to assimilate, so we no longer even have German enclaves.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

I think somebody already touched on this earlier, but Cincinnati never had the large numbers of settlers or immigrants of a specific ethnicity (as opposed to a specific race) other than Germans. That was a long time ago, and the Germans as a whole were pretty willing to assimilate, so we no longer even have German enclaves.

Oh, wouldn't that be nice if that was true. Actually, Cincinnati's German history is far more intense that we really like to talk about today. Did you know that 2 of the 3 daily papers in Cincinnati were once in German? We had both civil and criminal courts in the courthouse that were totally conducted in German language?

But then in a disgraceful act of political expediency, Woodrow Wilson whipped the country into an anti-German fever pitch at the onset of WW1. A wiki article put it this way:

Upon the outbreak of World War I, anti-German sentiment quickly reached a fever pitch. Many Germans supported their (former) homeland's side in the war, in which America long remained officially neutral. The portrayal of Germany as "The Hun" in British pro-war propaganda inflamed existing tensions. The situation came to a crisis with America's entry into the war in 1917. The period from 1917 to 1919 is regarded as the time when German-American ethnic identity came to an end. Anti-German rioting was widespread. Many German-language periodicals, which had numbered in the hundreds, ceased operation (many were destroyed).

Here's a description of Wilson's role:

Woodrow Wilson’s administration was directly responsible for this anti-German-American hysteria. The government’s propaganda posters Hun”), encouraging Americans to dehumanize the enemy — to think of Germans as less than human. portrayed Germans as brutes and barbarians (”theHun")


In November 1917, former U.S. ambassador to Germany James W. Gerard made a speech in which he openly questioned the loyalty of German-Americans. Speaking to the Ladies Aid Society of St. Mary’s Hospital in New York, he demanded the complete devotion of all Americans to the war effort and threatened to hang German-American spies from lamp-posts. Twenty years earlier, Gerard’s speech would likely have been forgotten. But by 1917, the speech could be recorded, pressed onto records, and distributed. Gerard’s references to lynching were heard across the country.



Contrary to your assertion, German's didn't "assimilate" into the community. They fled leaving their German enclaves behind and hid their German heritage to avoid being lynched.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by wilson1010

Oh, wouldn't that be nice if that was true. Actually, Cincinnati's German history is far more intense that we really like to talk about today. Did you know that 2 of the 3 daily papers in Cincinnati were once in German? We had both civil and criminal courts in the courthouse that were totally conducted in German language?

But then in a disgraceful act of political expediency, Woodrow Wilson whipped the country into an anti-German fever pitch at the onset of WW1. A wiki article put it this way:

Upon the outbreak of World War I, anti-German sentiment quickly reached a fever pitch. Many Germans supported their (former) homeland's side in the war, in which America long remained officially neutral. The portrayal of Germany as "The Hun" in British pro-war propaganda inflamed existing tensions. The situation came to a crisis with America's entry into the war in 1917. The period from 1917 to 1919 is regarded as the time when German-American ethnic identity came to an end. Anti-German rioting was widespread. Many German-language periodicals, which had numbered in the hundreds, ceased operation (many were destroyed).

Here's a description of Wilson's role:

Woodrow Wilson’s administration was directly responsible for this anti-German-American hysteria. The government’s propaganda posters Hun”), encouraging Americans to dehumanize the enemy — to think of Germans as less than human. portrayed Germans as brutes and barbarians (”theHun")


In November 1917, former U.S. ambassador to Germany James W. Gerard made a speech in which he openly questioned the loyalty of German-Americans. Speaking to the Ladies Aid Society of St. Mary’s Hospital in New York, he demanded the complete devotion of all Americans to the war effort and threatened to hang German-American spies from lamp-posts. Twenty years earlier, Gerard’s speech would likely have been forgotten. But by 1917, the speech could be recorded, pressed onto records, and distributed. Gerard’s references to lynching were heard across the country.



Contrary to your assertion, German's didn't "assimilate" into the community. They fled leaving their German enclaves behind and hid their German heritage to avoid being lynched.

I was about to post the same sentiment, but you beat me to it. From everything I learned from my family, strong German/Austrian background, what you say is absolutely true. My wife's family actually modified the spelling and pronunciation of their name to cover up the German influence.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

I was about to post the same sentiment, but you beat me to it. From everything I learned from my family, strong German/Austrian background, what you say is absolutely true. My wife's family actually modified the spelling and pronunciation of their name to cover up the German influence.

Sorry that what I said was unclear. I'm of course aware of this history and didn't intend to suggest that the German immigrants' culture immediately disappeared or was absorbed within a few years after they arrived. My point was simply that you won't find a geographic area today that's noticeably "German."