Racial Diversity in Coeur d'Alene and North Idaho??? (Sandpoint: schools, quality of life)

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by City Boy

Whats funny about it? If you dont know the difference you need to take a sociology college course. I dont recall any blacks enslaving whites in america and disinfranchising them. Nobody is stopping you from calling blacks the Nword. Feel free. if you want to use it so bad. Come to Oakland and question some blacks why you cant use it but they can. The only whites who make that ridiculous statement are whites who want to use it but are scared to use it.

It's apparent you're from the "no black person can be a racist" school of thought. In my time in police work, I saw the most racism from black people toward whites, hispanics, and asians (Koreans, mostly). My partner was black and I think he resented it more than anything. He got tired of being called "uncle tom" for wearing a police uniform, when he earned everything he ever got in life from merit. In fact, the worse cases of racism I saw in my 10 years in that job was black-on-brown, which jumped off most of the jail riots in LA County's system.

I actually agree with you to some point about black people calling each other "*****". I know that white guys can call each other "cracker" and it's not the same as if a black guy says it to them. And I used to work at a restaurant where hispanic guys called the illegals "*******s" but if a white guy calls ANY hispanic "*******" it's a huge slight.

So I'm not that hung up on that point of yours. But you bringing "enslaving" into the conversation is a very weak argument. Not one person in my family or lineage had anything to do with slavery, and I owe nothing to a race that was slighted by others in this country of 300 million people. Bringing this up in conversation is like Jewish people being mad at Germans for the Holocaust. It was people's great-grandparents if anything. Are you still hating the Japanese for Pearl Harbor? Should native americans still be pissed about the Wounded Knee massacre (1890) and a trail of broken treaties and second class citizen treatment? Those people are long dead. The civil rights movement happened before I was even born, and my parents both supported the movement since we were raised in church that we're all equal in God's eyes.

So I'm not trying to jump your case too much over this, but if there's going to be some productive discourse on the subject, let's steer clear of hyberbole and things so long ago that they're not relevant to a modern discussion on social structure. Yes, racism exists in this country. But don't look for racism behind every tree...you won't find it....

[CBaillo]

I love you Sage.

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

Originally Posted by CBaillo

I love you Sage.

He did have a real good way of putting it. I am just not edumicated enough to please people online, but I do pretty well in person I really do get along with most everyone.

[Dwatted Wabbit]

Originally Posted by LIDALA

Wabbit:

Your little racial diversity speech must have taken years to perfect. Good job! Anyhow... My post regarding racial diversity in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho has nothing to do with histrionics, it has to do with the very real hatred that exists in Idaho and that has clearly existed for many, many years. Call me naive, but until I began doing research for a possible move to the area, I truly had NO idea that people like this still exsisted in the United States of America. That terrifies me and I am as white as white can be.

And yes, Silly Wabbit, I do understand racial diversity of ALL cultures (and colors) and it's laughable that your only example of "racial diversity" in Idaho is spouting off a few European ethnicities. Nice try. The fact is, you want your lilly white bubble to remain intact, but there is a big fat elephant sitting on your weakening little bubble. POP!!!!!!!!! You need to wake up and step out of your time-warp machine. America represents every culture, color, and religion and you can either accept and embrace that or move to a different planet. Oh, I hear Mars is beautiful this time of year.

Thank you. Actually it was extemporaneous.

Well, you've convinced me. I am now an avowed PC leftist.
Bus everybody. FIX the natural order by quotas, ignore all people's own wishes--except the Chosen Ones. The Born Rulers.

You really misunderstand my comments. You diversity PC polizei take offense at facts and human nature. Everyone who disagrees with you is a racist. Good work.
Now for reality.
Races tend to collect in groups. Not always, but often.
Neighborhoods are like that, regions are like that. Even nations are like that!
At one of the very integrated army reserve units I served in, at lunch time most blacks collected to eat together, most whites did likewise. Just the way it was, it's not a big issue unless you're chafing to be outraged.
When I moved up from my position, the two people I recommended to replace me happened to be black. One was a female, both were quite skilled. I picked them for their leadership and management qualities, not for an affirmative action delusion of the ideal world.
Detroit is about 80% black. LA is becoming majority hispanic. France has a mideastern invasion going on.
Keep up the PC diatribe. The self righteous are always correct. Ask Algore.
ps The sky is falling.

[mejaka]

Okay...I'll give this a shot.

Here's Lidala:
"I have read that Coeur d'Alene and North Idaho (in general) is behind the times in regard to racial diversity, but I had NO idea how serious the problem was. I recently read an article in the CDA Press about the city's first African-AMERICAN firefighter. I was shocked that this could be a newsworthy event!"

Here is a little information for the fine people of Coeur d'Alene:

a) This young man is an AMERICAN and his ancestors have been AMERICANS for centuries. White does not equate to being an American. Many African-Americans in the Untied States are firefighters, doctors, attorneys, teachers, etc. Yes, it's true!

b) Not all hispanics are "illegals". Many Mexican-AMERICANS are 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th generation AMERICANS. Millions of hispanic people in the United States are college educated, attorneys, doctors, nurses, realtors, teachers, etc. Not every hispanic person just hopped the Mexican border.

c) I could move on to another ethnicity, but you (hopefully) get the point...

I find this facinating and yet somewhat disturbing. Can anyone in Coeur d'Alene (or the vicinity) tell me if there is any racial diversity in the region or if it is truly like stepping back into the 60's???"

Here's what is made clear by Lidala's post:
1. Lidala has never been here.
2. The idea that the first local African-American firefighter makes news is shocking to Lidala, despite the fact that firsts of this nature are stock news stories. In North Idaho, which has been nationally characterized in the media by a small but very loud racist minority (who are mostly transplants from elsewhere), it's as noteworthy as the stories about the racists were.
3. "...fine people of Coeur d'Alene..." This common use of the phrase "fine people" is widely understood to be faecetious; Lidala is either ignorant of the conventions of rhetoric or really does feel superior to the people of Coeur d'Alene (where, let's remember, Lidala has never been, so these are people s/he has never met). The first two numbered points that follow the "fine people" comment make clear which of these possibilities is fact.
4. "Can anyone in Coeur d'Alene (or the vicinity) tell me if there is any racial diversity in the region or if it is truly like stepping back into the 60's???"
Again, Lidala has never been here and doesn't actually know what it's like here, despite the judgements raining down from the rest of the post. As I understand this question, Lidala is equating diversity with acceptance and relative homogeny with intolerance, which is absurd considering that the South in the 1960s was racially diverse but intolerant to the extreme, which is what really fired up the civil liberties movement in the first place. Racial diversity? No, there isn't near as much as you would find in some other areas of the country. We don't control who moves here; we have no power to make it more racially diverse and no interest in making it less. Racial intolerance, however, is an entirely different thing. Prejudice exists, here like everywhere--in small doses, viewed negatively by the locals in general. Tolerance exists here, also. Acceptance exists here. Bi-racial couples exist here, and mostly we don't even think about it.

Okay, back to Lidala:

"I am exactly what some people in North Idaho do NOT want in their region. I am a lilly white person that TRULY believes that ALL people are created equal. I believe that ALL people deserve a chance at a better life. I believe illegal immigration is wrong and there needs to be something done about it. BUT, I still feel for these people and I choose to treat them with respect. I believe that ALL races have good and bad apples and I can admit that white people commit crimes and cause a great deal of the problems in this country. With that being said, I could never blame a certain race for all the woes in our country, when that is a FAR from accurate statement. I don't feel that white people are superior, nor do I feel they are more deserving. I have recently come to realize that I cannot tolerate ignorance or hatred. I realize people in North Idaho worked hard to get the W.S. out, but that does not mean they would be thrilled with their children marrying a Mexcian-American or an African-American.

Maybe you should read the local newspaper and the feedback (from locals), so you can fully understand what I'm talking about."

I agree with the first sentence here, but not for the reasons that follow it. Actually, the description that follows sounds a lot like me and most of the people I know. In addition, I and most of the people I know are not prejudiced against people sight unseen in regions we have never visited for reasons we am inferring from a newspaper article about the first African-American firefighter in the area. THAT is a good description of prejudice, and yes, I would prefer not to have prejudiced people move here.

I don't read the local newspaper. I AM a local, and I know a few things about the paper that maybe Lidala doesn't. It's run by a powerful local family, the Hagadones, and while they're generally decent people, their slant on the news is almost funny sometimes. The paper is kind of a rah-rah rag for all the good they do and a forum for them to try to promote this area (such as making a big deal with a stupid news story about a non-white doing well up here in an attempt to counteract other stupid news stories that make us all sound like rabid cross-burners). I don't read it because it's not a good enough serious news source. As for local comments--Letters to the editor are never a good measure of the spectrum of views in a community. Extremists write too many of them.

I did find the article. Yes, the headline uses the word "black" rather than the word "African-American." You can find African-American/Black people on both sides of that one--some prefer one, some prefer the other; I have friends of both opinions who refer to themselves by their preferred terminology when they have a reason to point up their race.

The feedback I've heard in the street from locals is...pretty much nothing. The story in the paper isn't being talked about one way or the other among the people I know. Both the event that produced it and the story itself just aren't significant enough to make our conversational radar. New fire recruits--shrug. Colors of new fire recruits--shrug. C d'A Press' coverage of same--shrug.

You're way more worked up about it than most people up here are.

[mrkool]

I wonder if the original poster, with all his anti-racist posturing, can show me any staistical or subjective evidence that racial diversity is a positive thing for any city or state. I don't want slogans or bumper sticker, feel-good quotes... I want proof that racial diversity makes communities, schools, or industry better. I need facts and statistics. If you can't provide them, then your implication that we "need" racial diversity is hollow.
Also, what is so bad about there being a few areas of the country left that are mostly white. What is so bad about us whites that we can't have a few of our own little peaceful enclaves left? Heaven knows, non-whites have become a very substantial presence in just about every mid to large city I can think of. And wherever that happens, crime goes up and school performance goes down. Isn't that weird?
And northern Idaho needs that?

[scirocco22]

Where's the headquarters of the "Let's keep Northern Idaho White Society?"

I thought the Hayden Lake compound closed up years ago?




--'rocco

[Sandpointian]

Fighting Stupidity with stupidity is a losing proposition.

The statemennt asking for "...proof that racial diversity makes communities, schools, or industry better..." is as assinine as is the the query "what is so bad about there being a few areas of the country left that are mostly white?"

What NID needs is the maintenance of our very good common sense. Racial diversity should not be a policy variable. If it happens and we absorb these folks well into our corner of the world, then great. Racial quotas and purity drives are two sides of the same coin of ignorance.

What I care about are friendly neighbors, safe streets, low traffic, calm drivers, friendly shopowners, sensible community participation, peace, and a chance to reflect on our natural beauty. Last time I checked, no race had the corner on these things.

We are like any other community: a core of good solid Americans sprinkled with a few kooks, nuts, and evil as outliers. My faith in the region stems from knowing that the kooks, nuts, and the evil are a genuine minority. If anything we should pull together to make sure that this will always be the case.

If NID were all black California equity locusts or all white libertarian self-employed, I could careless provided they enhance the quality of my time on earth.

S

[scirocco22]

Nicely put, Sandpointian ...thanks for being the voice of reason here ...reps to u.

--'rocco

[pimit2]

I'm sorry. I can't keep quiet any longer. LIDALA started this miserable thread with this dissertation:

Originally Posted by LIDALA

I have read that Coeur d'Alene and North Idaho (in general) is behind the times in regard to racial diversity, but I had NO idea how serious the problem was. I recently read an article in the CDA Press about the city's first African-AMERICAN firefighter. I was shocked that this could be a newsworthy event!

Here is a little information for the fine people of Coeur d'Alene:

a) This young man is an AMERICAN and his ancestors have been AMERICANS for centuries. White does not equate to being an American. Many African-Americans in the Untied States are firefighters, doctors, attorneys, teachers, etc. Yes, it's true!

b) Not all hispanics are "illegals". Many Mexican-AMERICANS are 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th generation AMERICANS. Millions of hispanic people in the United States are college educated, attorneys, doctors, nurses, realtors, teachers, etc. Not every hispanic person just hopped the Mexican border.

c) I could move on to another ethnicity, but you (hopefully) get the point...

I find this facinating and yet somewhat disturbing. Can anyone in Coeur d'Alene (or the vicinity) tell me if there is any racial diversity in the region or if it is truly like stepping back into the 60's???

LIDALA, I can't - for the life of me - understand how a harmless article in the CDA Press set you off. I didn't read the article, but if I had....my thoughts would have been different. I would have thought about how proud the African-American firefighter, his family and friends, and the community must be!

For some unknown reason, you go on to tell us about how some African-Americans and Mexican-Americans are well-educated and are working in professional occupations. We knew that. We didn't need to be "informed". What you left out of your biased thesis is the other side of the coin. There are African-Americans, Mexican-Americans - and whites, for that matter - who are losers, dopers, gang members, criminals, welfare recipients and more....non-professionals with NO occupation.

Are we in Northern Idaho for racial diversity? The vast majority are, but there are a few here, and in Cleveland, and in Santa Fe, and in Paris, and in Tokyo and every other place in this world who are dead-set against it. There are even some in Orange County, California who are against it!

If you are questioning our values because you are thinking of moving here, let me set you straight. We're like everybody else, everywhere. You are welcome here, LIDALA, regardless of your race. But do us a big favor.

Leave your soap box in Orange County.


pimit2