Are there racist people there? Redneck, etc..? Please I do not mean to offend anyone. (Raleigh: house, transfer)

[VickiR]

I actually sold a house to a couple from NY near the "finger lakes" area...can't remember exactly where. But...he came to NC with a pickup!!! And you couldn't ask for 2 nicer people than him and his wife and he would be the first to say that he was a NEW YORK redneck and proud of it. Needless to say...they fit right into the area and love it here. They have some lucky neighbors!!! Vicki

[whitney]

Originally Posted by RaleighRob

No offense was meant.

And by "heathens", I was speaking tongue-in-cheek.

Rob,
No offense taken...I just thought it was a little extreme in light of what is going on. I hope you found no offense in my thoughts, if so, I apologize and stick by what I said!

[Miker2069]

An even more interesting question (to me at least) is why does this question come up relative to the south? Typically by people that have never spent time in the south? This is not a zing to anyone, but, it will be interesting to uncover where the [mis]information is coming from? Movies, TV, etc.? Or are we still dealing with the images and memories of the Bull Connor south?

(incidentally the Bull Connor story is very interesting- a rigid segrationist, and at the end of his life, found himself in a black church asking forgiviness and being EMBRACED by the church!)

The best comment I received from someone who moved from Boston to Atlanta (he's Black) is most places in the south have "dealt" with it. A lot that could be said and has been said- it's not eliminated but it is progress. I made my original comment about Boston and NYC because it's more institutionalized there, it's like the wind, you can't see it, but can feel it. But no one really ever asks about racism in Boston (where I live or will be for the next 14 days )

So where's this perception of the south coming from (again this isn't zinging the question, just trying to uncover the source)?

[mhogan10010]

Originally Posted by Miker2069

An even more interesting question (to me at least) is why does this question come up relative to the south? Typically by people that have never spent time in the south? This is not a zing to anyone, but, it will be interesting to uncover where the [mis]information is coming from? Movies, TV, etc.? Or are we still dealing with the images and memories of the Bull Connor south?

(incidentally the Bull Connor story is very interesting- a rigid segrationist, and at the end of his life, found himself in a black church asking forgiviness and being EMBRACED by the church!)

The best comment I received from someone who moved from Boston to Atlanta (he's Black) is most places in the south have "dealt" with it. A lot that could be said and has been said- it's not eliminated but it is progress. I made my original comment about Boston and NYC because it's more institutionalized there, it's like the wind, you can't see it, but can feel it. But no one really ever asks about racism in Boston (where I live or will be for the next 14 days )

So where's this perception of the south coming from (again this isn't zinging the question, just trying to uncover the source)?

Since my parents were originally from NC, I grew up with a generally positive impression of NC. It wasn't till I moved to a small town there and lived a couple of years that I began to pick up on the latent north/south animosity from some people and the overall racist attitudes. No point in reiterating here the many examples I witnessed first hand (you can see that from some of my earlier posts). At least for me, it was something I learned on the ground, not from TV.

[DesiiLiciouss]

"Red" states tend to be in the south and the mid-west.






Lets see how many ppl I upset now. )))

[GuestUser]

Originally Posted by DesiiLiciouss

"Red" states tend to be in the south and the mid-west.


Lets see how many ppl I upset now. )))

I think too late for that... I did that when I created this post.

[Nea1]

Originally Posted by GuestUser

I think too late for that... I did that when I created this post.

No dont worry about asking that question, it is a fear of many people, there have always been questions like this poised at the south wether warranted or not, but racism is everywhere, it seems KKK is more in the south and in the northwest we had the lovely Skin Heads and Nazi lovers, very active in Portland. There are just very some ignorant people out there.

[melnper]

Okay, I know this is a NC thread, however Saralee mentioned how nice Biloxi, Mississippi was. I lived in the Biloxi/Gulfport area for 2 years and it was 2 years too long. My husband used to be in the military so we have lived all over and I saw more racism toward black people in Mississippi than I have in any other state. Call me ignorant, but since we are seriously considering a move to NC next year, the racism issue has been in the back of my mind. I have wondered if NC has the same issues I found in Biloxi. What I was amazed by was the people who would make a racist comment to me (I'm white) about a black person. These people had no idea if I married a black man or had a black boyfriend, yet they assumed it was okay to make rude comments. Like I said, I am not black, yet I was offended. A furniture salesman in Biloxi told me, "Hey if you want to get food stamps or welfare in this town, just go get yourself a can of spraypaint and paint yourself black". I was appalled. I worked with a very young girl, about 16 who had lived there all of her life. She said her younger brother's best friend was black. Her father allowed her brother to play with the boy, but he could not come in the house or stay the night because of his skin color. These are just a couple of examples of the many I encountered while living there. At times, I felt like I had traveled back several decades. People still talked about living on one side of the "tracks". I really hope NC is different. I have been doing so much research on employment, real estate, local events, etc... that I would hate to get my hopes up just to be dissappointed later. Somebody please tell me what it's really like. And if the actual city makes a difference, the areas I am considering are Winston-Salem and Greensboro. Thanks

[GuestUser]

We just need to educate generations to come. When children or young kids are playing in the sand box with other kids, they don't know the difference in colors or race. It's the a$$wipes parents who knowing/un-knowingly brainwash their kids.
When I was growing up in NYC, I remember one of my 'white' friends telling the entire classroom that his father is really racist! He doesn't even want to watch black ppl on tv. He has his kids change the channel rightway, and this is/was in NYC and that was decades ago and still stuck in my head. And, it's not just against blacks, its against asians (i.e. chinese, indians, etc.. & arabs) as well.

Then again, I'm sure we few on this forum and I don't expect them to raise their hands or post here and say, YES I AM.

[Niki]

As has been stated already, there is racism everywhere. It's not just in the South. I think I remember hearing once that the largest group of KKK members is or was in Indiana.


melnper,
I live in Greensboro and almost never hear racist comments from whites, but it just depends on a person's upbringing and the kind of people you're around or live near. (I'm a white woman living in a pre-dominantly black neighborhood. And the church I attend has almost as many black people as white people, with a growing number of Hispanics.)

I can't say that you'll never hear ignorant comments, but I wouldn't expect you to hear it from everyone you meet. I do know one redneck guy here (originally from southern VA) who makes ignorant comments from time to time. The weird thing is, he's friends with a fellow black friend of ours. I don't think I'll ever understand that.

Also, interestingly enough, Southern culture is a lot more similar to the Black American culture/experience.

I was watching Steve Harvey doing stand-up recently on BET and he said basically the same thing. That blacks and white Southerners are alike, but white northerners are different. lol He just mentioned it briefly, but it made me laugh. They might show it again (it's been on a couple times), so keep an eye out for it. It's called "Don't Trip...He Ain't Finished With Me Yet". It's very funny.