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since it is relative to this thread and the South; as in Florida. There were about 6 native Haitians where I used to work. ALL of them had come to this country as children, teenagers, or very young adults. The woman, who I actually worked with, came to the USA when she was in her early 20s when her parents, and all her other siblings, came. They moved to Ft. Lauderdale. ALL the Haitians I knew originally came to Florida before moving to NY. They all left Florida, and their family, to come to NY for better job opportunities. The non profit agency we worked for paid for employees college tuition and the majority of them were going to college at night and working there during the day. In fact, one young man had just gotten his BS and was just admitted to medical school.
They all cleared up many cultural misconceptions I had. First, there IS a middle class in Haiti. If they went to HS there, and the middle class children DO, they were required to learn English to get a diploma. This woman had a HS diploma and had worked in an office, which did business around the world, in Haiti for several years and it was required that she be fluent in English. All these Haitian people where I worked were fluent in English, if not from graduating HS in Haiti, or completing their eduction in Florida. Yes, they all had lived in Florida for some period in their lives.
Why did all these young people (all no older than about 30) leave Florida? They all said the same thing. Florida was where their parents had moved. Florida was for OLD PEOPLE. They all decided to leave the "old people" and try to make a better life for themselves (some with spouses and young children) up North.
Jobs and education. That was the main issues for all of them leaving Florida.
Hmm. I know alot haitians that did vice versa. I know alot of haitians that started in NYC then moved down to florida(not all of them old). Alot of Haitians that I know moved down to south florida to be closer to Haiti, and also because housing was less expensive. And because the climate was alot more similar to Haiti, another reason is because the Haitian community down there is alot larger. And there ARE places down in Florida that are sutible for the youth. Miami beach is always filled with some young hip happenings. Also in the Haitian community there is music called Kompa, and every Haitian flag day(May 18) there is a HUGE Haitian kompa fest down in Miami, that attracts PLENTY of young Haitians, including the ones from NYC, they fly down all the way from NYC to be down there. THIS my friends IS the south that so many people do not know about. This is just one of many different cultures of the south, that gets pushed to the side in favor of the same old tired stereotypes. I am a HAITIAN-AMERICAN, I am a FLORIDIAN, I am a TEXAN, and I am a SOUTHERNER.
Am I your typical southern stereotype???(this post is not meant as confrintational by the way)
As a southerner, I really don't give a rat's ass whether other regions like us or not. I live a good life, have everything that I need, and I'm happy, that's all that matters to me.
And for the northerners who say southerners are still fighting the civil war, it's usually YA'LL who brings it up, I almost never here southerners talk about it.
As a southerner, I really don't give a rat's ass whether other regions like us or not. I live a good life, have everything that I need, and I'm happy, that's all that matters to me.
And, I'm being "non-confrontational" because there's nothing legitimate to be confrontational about here. The arguments are pretty prejudiced here. I hate the whole concept of "oh the people from there are so friendly! oh those people from there are so rude and nasty!" People who have been around know that's not true and people who have traveled little or not at all are the ones who form those prejudices.
Last edited by BergenCountyJohnny; 04-21-2009 at 03:43 PM..
I can't believe that this notion of "quality of people" exists, but I guess it will abound as long as ignorance does.
Having traveled throughout the nation and stayed in many parts of the nation, I can honestly say that there is no such thing as a "quality of people" which is geographically connected. The "quality" of a person is an individual attribute which any person can decide for himself or herself.
In other words, there are jerks and nice people and everything in between EVERYWHERE. The notion that "Oh, people in ________ are so nice/friendly/rude/nasty/etc." is nothing more than a generalization rooted in some level of prejudice and bigotry. Everywhere I have been I have met really great people and real jerks. Everywhere. There is not a place that was immune to this.
What is different somewhat from place to place is the overall demeanor with which most natives carry themselves. I think some people confuse this with the "quality of people". In some small towns, I had to get used to saying "hi" to perfect strangers walking down the street, because in NYC I'm not used to that. But it's not a matter of "nice" vs. "rude". It's a matter of demeanor brought about by the nature of the places involved. In a small town, people often see other people when they're out and about and are happy to say "hi" to everyone they see. In NYC and similar big cities, you see people all around you, all the time, and have no care to say "hi" to everyone, let alone that it would be impossible to be so "friendly" to every single person. That's not rudeness or unfriendliness, that's just part of living in a much larger population.
I wish people would travel more and keep their eyes open more and not be so bigoted towards others just for being from one place or another. And that goes for people from everywhere, whether North Jersey or Fairfax County or San Francisco or Oklahoma... People everywhere are guilty of this mentality but I wish the ignorance that causes it would fade. It's old and played at this point. People need to get over themselves.
I know that part was addressed to me, so to correct myself: I'm referring to the "amount, propensity, and quantity" of people who are nice/rude/genuine/friendly/mellow/anal/cliquish/shallow. I realize that there are rude people even in laid-back places out West and there are laid-back people in the Northeast. The thing about it is that from personal experience, they're the minority when it comes to the general social attitudes. As for people saying "hi" or not, or some other small sign of courtesy, I'm not using that to determine how nice/rude an area is; I understand there are places where people are too busy and preoccupied to say a simple little "hi." Trust me, that's basically most of Northern Virginia for you! But it's when you run into a fast-paced environment where people make time to be arrogant and flaunt their egos off! That's how the environment is close to DC and a lot of places in Maryland.
I know everyone isn't like I described, but when one runs into certain behaviors constantly, it's pretty hard not to label an entire area. All I'm looking for are places where even though everyone isn't going to be instantly friendly or even respectful of one's space, there are enough people for me to actually have a healthy social life without worrying about having my worthiness being sized up by my job, income, parent's income, skin color, or other factors by the majority.
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(this post is not meant as confrintational by the way)
