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Its a bit of a stretch to say long island is racist because of " white flight". Study a bit of social history of the post world war two years and you will see that the growth of the suburbs were the result of the need for housing newly married returning servicemen. Housing was in severe shortage in nyc at that time.
I understand your thinking that way because minority revisionistic history has been in vogue for quite some time
I wouldn't say 'racist', but there are areas that are relatively xenophobic. Some communities tend to just lock themselves in to their community so tightly and they're so afraid of interacting with outsiders, and people often end up with contorted views of others. I blame the 'gated communities' that run rampant around here.
I wouldn't say 'racist', but there are areas that are relatively xenophobic. Some communities tend to just lock themselves in to their community so tightly and they're so afraid of interacting with outsiders, and people often end up with contorted views of others. I blame the 'gated communities' that run rampant around here.
I totally agree with your assessment of Long Island racist situation, however that does not explain the West Islip's or Kings Park. I think some areas have had such a negative perception that people don't even bother to change those perceptions. A lot of middle class minorities (i know a dying bread) have been moving to Long Island in the past few years from the city and they have avoided those areas in particular. ( I had a white co worker tell me to avoid (W**te Islip or Kings Park). I have also seen post on this board of people wondering about the Indians and Asians moving into their neighborhood. The best was the mom that asked if her kid would be a minority in his own school because of a few Asian American moving into the neighborhood.
It exist but it's not screaming in your face overt racism it's just there.
A lot of middle class minorities (i know a dying bread) have been moving to Long Island in the past few years from the city and they have avoided those areas in particular. ( I had a white co worker tell me to avoid (W**te Islip or Kings Park).
Make up your mind dude, is it "a lot" or is it a "dying breed"? Beyond your own experience, how many folks do you know avoided those particular areas?
And if we were to assume what you say is true, couldn't you say groups who choose to avoid such areas are using a similar thought process to those who choose to live there (i.e. they'd rather live where they fit in?)
Fitting that a two year old thread is resurrected just days before Easter...
Did you consider yourself to be a member of that VERY tolerant majority?
No. He fled to the sticks of Michigan (the part where it's unusual to see a non-white), a veritable bastion of racial diversity and tolerance I'm sure!
Yes, Long Island is comparably more racist than most other suburbs throughout the country. That's because Long Island is a 'white flight suburb' so it was built off of racism and fear of other race's. It's in this place's history&blood just like how racism is ingrained in the history of the American South. It just is what it is.....Not to mention that LI has heavy influence from NYC which also is extremely self-segregated.
I'm a very visible minority and I never personally "been victim" to any racism on LI; which is mainly b/c I grew up in a mixed school system where everyone got along reasonably. I observe a lot of racism when befriending most people and getting deeper into a "friendship" (true colors always eventually come out) and most ppl believe&say racial things and the funniest/weird thing about it is that most are oblivious to that and have no clue; it's ingrained in a lot of ppl since birth.
I witness a lot of racism from anonymous users on online forums such as this which is proof that a lot of people put on fake smiles but truly harbor racism&hatred deep inside. And the racism from anonymous LI users isn't "blatant" but disguised in codewords and political correctness (likely to avoid repercussions from moderators).
On a side note, LI isn't really as segregated as it's made out to be. Garden City is almost all white but Hempstead is now a very mixed community with almost an even mix of Blacks and Hispanics (same goes for neighboring Uniondale); there are quite a few mixed communities/neighborhoods on Long Island. In the northeast, most minority groups have no problem getting along and living amongst other groups.
But hey, it's what you make of it. The pro's have heavily outweighed the con's here, at least for me. I'm a visible minority and I love Long Island. The reality is that there's racist people everywhere so whatever. Just enjoy your time here and pay the ignorant people no attention: misery loves company.
You make a lot of good points. However, I hate to tell you but ... yes, Long Island IS really as segregated as it's made out to be.
A study has found that Long Island has gotten slightly worse over the past decade in its standing as one of the most segregated metropolitan regions in the United States ...
As for what you mention about the south, well LI is WORSE. For instance, I live in a place on LI that is viewed with much suspicion by white LI'ers because there are blacks living here AND because people of all races, colors and creeds come from "the City" to shop at the mall (Green Acres) on the outskirts of town right on the border with Queens. Valley Stream. We used to be 20% black. (I just checked again and it's 17.4% black now.) On LI, being a white person living in a 20% black area is like saying you live in Harlem or Brownsville, Brooklyn to other white Long Islanders. So on LI, where I live is considered ghetto to other whites. Say we were plopped down in the bona fide south, Houston or somewhere in North Carolina, with the same amount of blacks? Nobody would care! As long as you're middle class, it is "okay" for blacks and whites to live in the same neighborhood. That's in the south. Not on LI.
Actually, crazy as it seems, due to the general influence of other white Long Islanders' opinions, I myself perceive where I live as more diverse than it actually is. I mentioned in another post we have asians here. It's 11.1% asian, smaller than my estimate. Bad to white Long Islanders because it's "like Queens." I wrote a post about our supposed great religious diversity. Well, epic fail to me. I actually checked and we are 68.5% catholic and 20.4% jewish. I probably gave other white Long Islanders the shivers when I mentioned we have a muslim temple. OMG! Just checked. We're only 1.1% muslim.
In conclusion, yes, much of LI is racist. I cannot lie.
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