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Just to clarify one of my earlier comments: the Bay Area has lots of black residents; the city of San Francisco doesn't (although there are still plenty of black residents, and some neighborhoods with long-established black communities). The city itself is still very diverse, though, and as noted, the Bay Area as a whole does indeed have a rich African American history. It always bugs me when racial diversity is framed primarily as being white/black exclusively, as it so often is.
Your right about everything you stated, but you can't deny that white vs blacks is on a different level of racial tolerance than these two versus other races.
I was speaking about SF. I do know SF has its black areas though. I wouldn't really put it in the same category as Seattle or Portland when it comes to lack of Black culture.
Yeah Portland and Seattle and Denver are pretty lacking, not Bay Area or California though. Maybe lacking compared to Atlanta or Houston but there is a pretty big black presence in the Bay.
Denver is a very socially liberal area. Even moreso when you add in Boulder, Fort Collins, and the high mountain towns - the latter of which are so liberal (more socially than fiscally) it's borderline ridiculous.
The city of Denver might be liberal, but the suburbs are very conservative--fiscally and socially. On balance it probably leans more right than left. And Colorado Springs, the epicenter of evangelicalism in America, more than outweighs Boulder's "ridiculousness."
True....extreme right OR left can be downright irritating. Stay near the middle people!!
To add to this subject, I tend to find MODERATE areas as the most accepting towards those of other races, granted that the races don't act completely stereotypical. This specifically goes for areas that are socially liberal/libertarian and fiscally conservative like the inland regions of the Western US, and gradually increasing spots within Appalachia (a surprise, I know)
But I will side with jluke's hypocritical tolerance and lack of acceptance of blacks within the extremist liberal community. A lot of hipsters, yuppies, and other liberals tend to be more proponents of gay rights, abortions, and other "chic liberal" trends. And to prove my point, the said black person doesn't even need to be a self-proclaimed part of the "black culture/community," as many liberals I run into tend to categorize minorities into cultural groups, a la diversity and multiculturalism. You may have a token black dude in a clique of yuppies and hipsters, but ask the dude if they're dating any of the white/Asian girls in the circle, or better yet, ask them their sexual orientation. Nothing against gays, but this is to prove the point about liberals being more accepting of gay couples vs interracial couples involving blacks, it doesn't cross certain boundaries many yuppies/hipsters would be intimidated by. And the black person who tends to be Americanized can possibly face more hatred from liberals than a stereotypical one due to how they don't fit into the "multiculturalist image" of what a black person is supposed to be, and can prove to be a threat to their standing in the merit department.
At least this is my observation dealing with the liberal whites who have flocked to DC. Many of which have transplanted from other "liberal" areas in the east like NYC, Philly, Chicago, and Boston.
But I will side with jluke's hypocritical tolerance and lack of acceptance of blacks within the extremist liberal community. A lot of hipsters, yuppies, and other liberals tend to be more proponents of gay rights, abortions, and other "chic liberal" trends.
This has changed over time. Back in the 1960s and early 1970s blacks and black causes were more chic or cool with liberals, yuppies, et. Tom Wolfe wrote a good essay on this, entitled "Radical Chic".
I think there's an assumption being made that a city without a huge black population is not "accepting" of black residents. A lower percentage of black residents generally is closely related to historical migration patterns.
And anyone questioning interracial relationships would do well to look at Minneapolis as an example; although long a majority-white city, it's also historically been a place where many white/black couples lived, even when it was banned in some parts of the country. Certainly in my classes going up many of my friends and classmates had parents of different races, and many of us have dated or married people of different races/ethnic backgrounds as adults. I know there are annoying "liberals" out there who hold closeted racist views, but I don't think "many" yuppies or hipsters would be bothered by interracial dating in this day and age. It's not exactly ground-breaking.
In Minneapolis I'd say that the biggest historical and contemporary issue has been religious, and not race-based. While historically pretty open about things like black/white relationships, the city was once one of the most anti-semitic in the country, and in more recent years the city (or at least metro area) has had some tensions as the Muslim population has greatly increased.
I wouldn't make too many generalizations based on liberal white transplants living in DC. DC is just a weird place, very different than the cities in the Midwest or West, and besides, any white person, liberal or not, who is quick to stereotype people into little multicultural boxes presumably comes from a rather sheltered background. I don't think that's a "liberal" or "conservative" trait, although I do agree that it's probably self-defined liberals who are more apt to proudly wave their token friends of other races or ethnicities as "proof" that they themselves aren't racist.
I guess my main point is that being liberal doesn't mean one can't be racist (even if unintentionally), but a majority white liberal-leaning city doesn't translate into its residents being unwelcoming to non-white residents, black or otherwise.
If the complaint is more against the obnoxious smug "I'm more liberal than you" (and therefore all-around cooler and hipper) vibe that some people give off, I'm in total agreement that those people are hypocritical and annoying. I also do agree that some cities have more of that aura than others. Portland and Seattle come to mind, and perhaps Austin; I don't know if Minneapolis does because I don't think it has the hip factor that the other places do. San Francisco definitely attracts some of those people, but it's relatively easy to avoid them if one simply chooses not to live in a trendy/hipster neighborhood.
I've seen naked people walking around waving at cars downtown portland in the middle of the day. Never seen anything like that in any other city I've lived in (Minneapolis included). When I first saw that I was like "what kind of a city is this?.."
Hey, I was at the LOA show at First Ave : ) I don't really remember that, but I liked first ave for a lot of events.
I've seen naked people walking around waving at cars downtown portland in the middle of the day. Never seen anything like that in any other city I've lived in (Minneapolis included). When I first saw that I was like "what kind of a city is this?.."
Hey, I was at the LOA show at First Ave : ) I don't really remember that, but I liked first ave for a lot of events.
Hmmm.....I can't say I've necessarily seen that in Waco besides PETA outside of restaurants naked. I've had random naked people walk down my street though.
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