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Any jokes about the mafia are just that - jokes. It's not meant to be cruel most of the time. Since so many are Italians, they're joking about themselves and certainly not the minority. And in some cases, it's not even a joke…
My dad owns a small business (lives on Long Island) and interacted with an Italian "social club". They were very friendly, told him "if anyone gives you a problem, let us know!"
Lol, what major city is NOT segregated? Almost every large city in this country has suburbs dominated by whites, inner city neighborhoods dominated by blacks, and downtown living dominated by young white yuppies, couples, and 20 something's. Blacks dominate the projects, low income housing, and the more shabby apartment complexes in the inner city. There are well to do blacks also, but most of them have relocated to the suburbs, but they are very small in number.
Cities in the South are not as segregated as Northeastern and Midwestern cities, but I would agree most American cities have significant segregation between Whites and Blacks even if they city is relatively integrated.
Most blacks do not live in poverty or the inner city anymore, that is somewhat of a myth in 2014. Blacks are disproportionately impoverished, but only about a quarter of Black Americans live below the poverty line and the number drops to about 8% when it is a married couple, which is why I'm an advocate for traditional black families. The poverty rate is nearly 50% in single parent households.
My dad owns a small business (lives on Long Island) and interacted with an Italian "social club". They were very friendly, told him "if anyone gives you a problem, let us know!"
Not at all true. This is something I frequently hear from white people. Our family is mixed race (white, Asian, and Hawaiian) and the Asian/Hawaiian family members have experienced a lot of overt racism in Northern California and Oregon. We haven't had any problem in the south.
I honestly don't believe that. Mafia jokes? Really? Nobody in the Twin Cities would bat an eye at an Italian surname. They're not completely unheard of around here....
I work with a woman whose name is Farinella, and went to high school with a Scatterelli and a Panzavecchia. You certainly do hear a lot more Swedish, Norwegian, and German names, however.
Also, as a side note to add to this, racism in the south is nowhere near as bad as most people make it out to be.
It's common for white people to be jovial, friendly, and sociable with blacks when they are out and about. Inter-racial dating isn't even that rare anymore. Don't get me wrong, most of the south still has a long ways to go, and it's not perfect, but it is NOWHERE near as bad as so many people make it out to be.
Also, I've noticed that in areas of the country where black people are very rare there seems to be more of an aversion to blacks. Just like those people are ignorant of other areas of the country and go by the stereotypes, the same is true for races that they are not familiar with. I find that a lot of New England (yes, I said New England)people are extremely racist or prejudiced towards blacks.
It isn't just racism against Black people, other races matter too. I have known Latinos, Asians, and other races of people who experienced a lot of open racism from both Black and Whitepeople in the south.
You also can't say that areas with low black populations are all going to hate Black people. It might be true in New England but in other places like Minnesota it is rarely the case.
I also noticed that there was clear and open racism towards anyone that wasn't Black or White. One of my friends was an Arabic male who grew up in the south and weekly he heard racial slurs from both Black and White people. He still does when he visits but when he is at his current state (Wisconsin) where he works, he never hears it and has a lot of friends of other races.
This is ALL word of mouth though.
I can make a case and say that southern states in recent years have had issues with interracial marriages as judges have ruled against interracial marriage at times. Clearly there is an issue here.
It's easy to claim to be the "least racist" city/state/region when you have an overwhelmingly white population and a sprinkling of "model minorities" and never had to seriously contend with race issues on a broad societal level. That's like bragging that you've never struck out when you've never even stepped up to the plate. Race relations in Wisconsin, to choose one of your examples, seem fine and dandy because for the most part minorities are barely noticeable. But then go to Milwaukee and it's an entirely different story -- both in the racial balance and the contentiousness of race relations.
I think it helps that Wisconsin is a moderate to liberal state as well. Nebraska probably has the same demographics as Wisconsin in terms of white population, but most would say Nebraskans are more racist than those in Wisconsin or Minnesota. The moderate to liberal politics give people the impressions that race relations are okay. Even in Massachussetts (I know Boston is known for some racism) people think it's better because of how liberal it is. News flash, there can be racist liberals (not in the sense they hate minorities, but maybe in the fact they treat their help like crap if they are wealthy enough to have help, or they don't want to live next to certain minorities) and tolerant conservatives (plenty of conservatives where I live are more concerned about other things than race and are actually pretty tolerant)
The Upper Midwest to me seems like that perfect mix of politics. For some reason I have found that the minorities I met there were White-washed and never really thought about race. A liberal in Massachusetts would make friends with a guy of another race just to prove that he isn't racist while a guy in Wisconsin would not really care either way. There isn't any sense of elitism there and not any sense of "guilt" either. The elitism can be found in a lot of southern states while the guilt is found more in the northeast. In the Upper Midwest and the Northwest, you don't really have much of either, you just have indifference.
The Upper Midwest to me seems like that perfect mix of politics. For some reason I have found that the minorities I met there were White-washed and never really thought about race. A liberal in Massachusetts would make friends with a guy of another race just to prove that he isn't racist while a guy in Wisconsin would not really care either way. There isn't any sense of elitism there and not any sense of "guilt" either. The elitism can be found in a lot of southern states while the guilt is found more in the northeast. In the Upper Midwest and the Northwest, you don't really have much of either, you just have indifference.
It is more indifference. People don't really care because it's very much a prove it kind of culture. Even in Nebraska, which isn't progressive when it comes to race, most people don't really care. Sure they complain about Hispanics not speaking English, but those that do, people could care less. I would almost say the midwest as a whole embodies this except for places that border the south. People out here don't care as long as you work and pay taxes and lead a good life.
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Nobody in the Twin Cities would bat an eye at an Italian surname. They're not completely unheard of around here....
