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Old 11-12-2007, 01:36 PM
 
Location: Eagan, Minnesota
751 posts, read 1,171,374 times
Reputation: 151

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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDeacon View Post
The amount of racism you find in Minnesota is a direct correlation between where you're originally from and how aware you are of your surroundings.
I am not going to discredit your experience but I think you are exaggerating a bit. It is easy to go into a mindset where "everything bad is happening to be because I am Black" but that might be only in your my mind. I have never seen so many interracial(Black-White) couples like I have seen here in the Minneapolis-St Paul area. I went to high school in a small town in Texas and I do not remember ever seeing an interracial couple there. There is definitely racism here as there is everywhere but overall Minnesota is very open minded compared to other places.

 
Old 11-12-2007, 04:42 PM
 
8 posts, read 81,261 times
Reputation: 14
I agree. My husband and I lived in Nebraska for a year and a half and we DID get looks there. So, I know what it is like to get the looks. We never experienced that when we lived in Minnesota. My husband noticed people in Nebraska looking at us more often than I did. I believe he was more tuned in to noticing than I was since I am not a minority and, therefore, he noticed more subtle things that I was not even aware of. That said, you can't be bothered by things you don't even notice I think that if you are expecting people to treat you differently you will notice things and those things may or may not be related to your skin color or your interracial marriage.
 
Old 11-13-2007, 12:49 AM
 
1 posts, read 2,639 times
Reputation: 10
Thumbs down I would not move here

Well i don't know about the rest of MN but the twin cites is a nightmare i would not move anywhere near the cites speaking for myself i have had to fight for my life here many many times if i did not have the devil in my fists i might not be posting this today people here are very racist or at least here in saint paul they are i never had these problems in texas again my own exp. I used to be afraid but now they fear me i have been made into a monster up here i used to be a nice caring person but being up here for about 7 years now has changed me into an angry supercharged venom i am a white man but i don't think it makes a difference because my best friend is black but anyway good luck....
 
Old 11-13-2007, 02:18 PM
 
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 26,013,777 times
Reputation: 3990
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDeacon View Post
From day one, we've had people stare at us constantly, not even trying to be surreptitious, just openly gawking.
Strange. I'm sorry some folks seem to be such idiots.
 
Old 11-13-2007, 02:38 PM
 
72,845 posts, read 62,260,541 times
Reputation: 21795
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDeacon View Post
The amount of racism you find in Minnesota is a direct correlation between where you're originally from and how aware you are of your surroundings.

I've lived all of the country, but most recently I'm from Las Vegas, NV. I've lived in Minnesota 1.5 years and in January I'm returning to Las Vegas....January cannot come soon enough.

I'm a biracial man (african american and caucasian) married to a white woman and the reception we've received since moving here has shocked me to no end.

From day one, we've had people stare at us constantly, not even trying to be surreptitious, just openly gawking.

My defense mechanism was to smile and say 'hello' to them. Their reaction is always to turn away and pretend they didn't hear me say anything. Honestly, in most of the places I've lived, if you stare at someone for 10-15 seconds without saying anything, you're inviting a fight.

I've held doors for people only to have them rush silently past me as if I wasn't there.

I've tried striking up conversations or ask for directions and have them either ignore me or speak to my white wife.

Even in restaurants, when I pay, they often hand the change to my wife.

Lot of rude drivers...if you're not driving 80 mph in a 55mph zone, you WILL be tailgated, chased (that part's happened to my wife a few times, but not me) and flipped off.

In 1.5 years we've been pulled over 5 times. The first was my wife. The cop pulled her over and refused to tell her why she was being pulled over. Then he did something unusual: He asked her who *I* was, even though I wasn't in the car at the time and both of our names are on the title!!!

So he ran the plate, pulled my driver's license up, saw I was black and then pyulled her over.

His explanation for pulling her over was "I thought your license plate looked strange"...

I've been pulled over for speeding....but only after the cop saw my face. When I asked to see the radar gun, he let me go with a warning...because I wasn't actually speeding.

I've had a random sobriety check in the middle of the day....on a Wednesday.

Last night we went to a karaoke bar and immediately upon entering, *every person* in the establishment was staring at me. I'm 32, I was wearing clean blue jeans and a white dress shirt with glasses; hardly a "gangsta". They kept staring suspiciously until I started smiling and saying hello......then in true Minnesota fashion, they turned and looked away, ignoring me.

No applause when I sang either, until the host MADE them applaud
Even she interjected "come on guys, you need to show a bit more enthusiasm!"

The end result is that I'm isolated, I don't go out very often (last night was the first time we went out for fun in weeks), I have no friends and I'm depressed all the time.

I'm a nice person with a good sense of humor that really cares about folks, too. I don't give off an angry vibe or push people away....well, at least I didn't used to. Lately I've been of the mindset that if people are going to stare, I'm going to take that as an invitation to say "what the f*** are you staring at?

It's horrible. In Las Vegas, you could be pink with plaid stripes and nobody would treat you differently. I could strike up a friendly conversation with almost ANYONE in vegas and will have exchanged numbers 10 minutes later. My customers were great friends (I repair/build computers, do websites, networking, etc) and we enjoyed a high measure of success.

We moved because living in a VERY urban place like Vegas makes you long for something a bit more simpler, some trees, etc. We thought we were making a good choice, but.

Minnesota is xenophobic to a degree that I've only seen in parts of Georgia and Milwaukee, WI. Is it outright racism? Sometimes, but not always.

If you're an outgoing person with a good sense of humor, you will hate Minnesota. The term "feeling Minnesota" is so very true.

If you're bland, boring and white, come on down, you'll love it

Sadly, that isn't the only place where that could happen. I happen to liive in GA and I have seen all kinds of racial prejucide here. Hidden and outright.
 
Old 11-16-2007, 02:56 PM
 
Location: Pine City
5 posts, read 17,146 times
Reputation: 11
Honestly, I have lived in both the north and the southern part of the state, known many people from both areas and can say that the south is generally more conservative and unnacepting than the north.

If I were you I might stay away from the southern part of the state (anything south of the TC metro) I knew a bunch of farm boys from down there and they were very racist. It made me sick most of the time...maybe I just knew a bunch of "bad apples"

Good luck
Clayton
 
Old 11-16-2007, 03:13 PM
 
Location: Land of 10000 Lakes + some
2,885 posts, read 1,974,000 times
Reputation: 346
Response to Deacon:

The problem is Minnesotans are this way to each other in large part. If you go to the small towns, where many stay and never wander out, they will gawk at anything different. It is indeed their way to not hold a door open, not look you in the eye, avoid confrontation of any kind, behave remote and isolated. I have lived in my neighborhood in Saint Paul for 15 years, and neighbors rarely speak to each other (with the possibly exception of the one right next door, and then not much is forthcoming) though I walk my dog around the same block all the time. If you dare to speak your mind or give an opinion, they either act like you've broken the law or just turn away and act like they never heard you.

I went into a small town bakery recently with a friend. There were two women behind the counter who stared and stared without saying a word. When I said, "Hi" I heard a very muted "hi." You would have thought we were in a ghost town and the only people left living there were the people behnd the counter. Oh, and they do stare at others here.
 
Old 11-16-2007, 04:05 PM
 
1 posts, read 2,598 times
Reputation: 10
i walked in a tavern or two here and got some pretty accuseing, intimidateing stares from people in there so i just used the restroom and left as it made me feel uncomfortable. also it happens in certain restauraunts i go in. i was pulled over at 6:00 am on a tuesday by a cop and givin a breath test and i aint had a drink in 15 years. also i walk through skyways and get alot of people stareing at me and giving me dirty looks and things too. walking purposely at me to try and get me to move out of the way when they got plenty of room to get by. sound familiar? if your white you will. i am white and all this concerns black people and how they treat me and other whites. distrust is what it begets. personally i could'nt give a hoot what color you are. it's the character i look at. a man once said he has a dream. as a white man i can say that 90 percent of the blacks i see out on a daily basis need a character check. now i'm not saying 90 percent of all blacks need a character check, just the ones i see on a daily basis. i'm sure(at least i hope) 90 percent of blacks have fine character. but those i see need an attitude adjustment. i'd say i'm tolerant but to say that means i think i should have to be. i judge a person how i see them and not just those of the minority. theres alot of white people that need special classes also. mabe me too, who knows. i'm not overly nice and i don't care about the rest of the world so much i go out of my way to help. i also don't try to make things harder on them either. i mind mine you mind your's attitude i guess. and so you know. i also believe breaking the law is breaking the law and following it is following it and anything that happens as a result of doing either is what should happen no matter your class/creed/race or age.
 
Old 11-16-2007, 06:10 PM
 
143 posts, read 455,601 times
Reputation: 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDeacon View Post
The amount of racism you find in Minnesota is a direct correlation between where you're originally from and how aware you are of your surroundings.
I'm curious as to what part of the state you are in.
 
Old 11-16-2007, 06:11 PM
 
143 posts, read 455,601 times
Reputation: 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clayton707 View Post
If I were you I might stay away from the southern part of the state (anything south of the TC metro) I knew a bunch of farm boys from down there and they were very racist. It made me sick most of the time...maybe I just knew a bunch of "bad apples"

Good luck
Clayton
I think the voting statistics pretty much show where the conservative pockets are in the state. And they pretty much agree with your assessment.
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