Scranton vs. Schuylkill County---Obviously Years Apart (Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton: transplants, crime, home)

[ScranBarre]

I'm currently watching the evening news on WNEP, which has reporter Bianca Barr reporting live from Shenandoah, in Schuylkill County, in front of a crowd of dozens of people lining the sidewalks of the town to grieve the loss an illegal immigrant who was beaten to death by three high school football players in the street as they shouted racial slurs at him. This story has shocked the nation, but unfortunately those who reside in Schuylkill County, which is home to Shenandoah, have posted some rather nasty, spiteful, and prejudiced comments on the web site of the Pottsville Republican Herald newspaper.

Meanwhile those of us in the apparently much more progressive Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area are enjoying "Latino Appreciation Day" along Center Street in Downtown Scranton, in front of Marquis Art & Frame, Outrageous, and Anthology. I'm watching what appears to be African-Americans, Hispanics, Caucasians, and Asian-Americans alike convening in the Electric City to enjoy some Latin food and some great music and camaraderie.

How can it be that two cities just an hour or so apart can be so different in how they approach diversity? One city (Scranton) is hosting its third or fourth festival this year honoring a different ethnic group's history and culture while another (Shenandoah) is now in shambles and has given our region a black eye nationally. I just can't comprehend this. Is it an educational thing or what?

[FightinPhils]

I find Schuylkill County to be very depressing. The drive on I-81 from Hazleton to the I-78 split is very depressing. That whole area just looks dead. There's not even much in the way of scenery along that stretch of road. I've driven through the towns down that way....Frackville, Shenandoah, Mt. Carmel, Ashland, Tower City (TC is easily the most depressing place I've ever seen, and I've been through many Philly and NY ghettos in my lifetime), etc.....even makes Scranton and Wilkes-Barre look like Beverly Hills.

I think its just a backwards mindset....some people who live in towns with poor economies refuse to do anything to try to better themselves and their own life situations, so its easier for them to do nothing and just lay the blame on people who are different from them. Its pathetic.

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

I'm currently watching the evening news on WNEP, which has reporter Bianca Barr reporting live from Shenandoah, in Schuylkill County, in front of a crowd of dozens of people lining the sidewalks of the town to grieve the loss an illegal immigrant who was beaten to death by three high school football players in the street as they shouted racial slurs at him. This story has shocked the nation, but unfortunately those who reside in Schuylkill County, which is home to Shenandoah, have posted some rather nasty, spiteful, and prejudiced comments on the web site of the Pottsville Republican Herald newspaper.

Meanwhile those of us in the apparently much more progressive Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area are enjoying "Latino Appreciation Day" along Center Street in Downtown Scranton, in front of Marquis Art & Frame, Outrageous, and Anthology. I'm watching what appears to be African-Americans, Hispanics, Caucasians, and Asian-Americans alike convening in the Electric City to enjoy some Latin food and some great music and camaraderie.

How can it be that two cities just an hour or so apart can be so different in how they approach diversity? One city (Scranton) is hosting its third or fourth festival this year honoring a different ethnic group's history and culture while another (Shenandoah) is now in shambles and has given our region a black eye nationally. I just can't comprehend this. Is it an educational thing or what?

I think towns like Shenandoah, and even Hazleton for that matter were shocked by the literal flood of Hispanics pooring into thier communities. These towns previously had practically no non white's living in thier towns and were insulated from "big city crime", and all of the sudden there are all these new hispanics within a year or two, and a few have commited murder and other serious crimes in a community that never dealt with anything like that. It's really not hard to see why some people that have lived in Shenandoah, Hazleton ect. all thier lives have a growing resentment for these new comers. Cities like Wilkes-Barre and Scranton already have had alot of black, and other ethnic groups in thier communities for many, many years. Many people in these cities have grown up with, or went to school with a couple of black, or hispanic people and know they are not the great Satan coming to destroy thier towns. I'm thirty-one, and since I remember there were always some black and hispanic kids that I played with as a child, went to school with, sat on the school bus with. So, they're already a part of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton's make-up, were as with Shenandoah (a town that was practially all white one year, and the next year it's thirty % hispanic) I can see why the locals would get a "they're taking over our town!" mentality. People tend to forget that the reason America is "ours" is because we murdered, raped, and stole it from the Native Americans. The only people America truely belongs too is them! The rest of us are immigrants of desendents of immigrants, and are not much different from the newer arriving hispanic population.

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by FightinPhils

I find Schuylkill County to be very depressing. The drive on I-81 from Hazleton to the I-78 split is very depressing. That whole area just looks dead. There's not even much in the way of scenery along that stretch of road. I've driven through the towns down that way....Frackville, Shenandoah, Mt. Carmel, Ashland, Tower City (TC is easily the most depressing place I've ever seen, and I've been through many Philly and NY ghettos in my lifetime), etc.....even makes Scranton and Wilkes-Barre look like Beverly Hills.

I think its just a backwards mindset....some people who live in towns with poor economies refuse to do anything to try to better themselves and their own life situations, so its easier for them to do nothing and just lay the blame on people who are different from them. Its pathetic.

It's not the entire county that has this mindset, I'm sure the vast majority of Schuykill County thinks this murder was a terrible crime. And are sickened by it.

[cowboyxjon]

Originally Posted by W-B proud

It's not the entire county that has this mindset, I'm sure the vast majority of Schuykill County thinks this murder was a terrible crime. And are sickened by it.

Exactly. I grew up there and my parents still live there. Everyone I know 'from home' is shocked and saddened by this --- yes, even those who generally favor tougher immigration laws. Not everyone in Schuylkill County is insensitive and ignorant, just as i'm sure not everyone in Lackawanna County is tolerant and progressive. There are always a few bad apples, so to speak.

[tremontpa]

[quote=FightinPhils;4659178I think its just a backwards mindset....some people who live in towns with poor economies refuse to do anything to try to better themselves and their own life situations, so its easier for them to do nothing and just lay the blame on people who are different from them. Its pathetic.[/quote]

Many of the residents in the old communities take great efforts to make their towns a better places. In Pine Grove they are raising money for a library and in Tremont the residents built a veterans memorial park, renovated the old grade school building to serve as a community center, and now the town is in the processes of renovating the old Tremont High School as another community center. Furthermore, in Minersville a group of dedicated citizens resored the old railroad station and are now in the process of restoring a historic steam locomotive to operation. Many citizens of the southern coal region want to see their towns improve and take pride in their work. If there was more money available I am sure that there would be far faster progress but that is not going to happen any time soon, and the hard working residents work very hard with what they have. you will rarly find another region with the dedediced citizens in the coal region.

[ScranBarre]

Tremont, I won't deny for one second that the people of Schuylkill County will be the first to give their neighbors the shirts off their backs in time of crisis or organize a charity bike ride or ziti dinner for an ailing child from their church, but what good is such good-naturedness if you're not willing to extend that to any race beyond Caucasians?

To be fair there were indeed some on the web site of the Republican Herald who admonished the majority of folks who were praising those children for beating the illegal immigrant to death, but by and large they were ex-natives or fresh transplants. I think what W-B Proud says has a lot of merit to it. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre have been somewhat diverse now for at least the past 15-20 years, so people have had nearly an entire generation to acclimate themselves to differences in others. Places like Shenandoah, Frackville, Tamaqua, Tremont, etc. were traditionally 99% Caucasian for generations, and now all of a sudden there has been a huge influx of minorities. A lot of the older folks in these towns have probably never even left the Coal Belt, so they've never been exposed to Hispanics or African-Americans until now.

I myself have friends who are African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American. I myself am gay. Being "different" is no sweat to me. I would much rather have a productive and "keep to themselves" Latin family living next-door to me than a loud- and foul-mouthed white-trash family living adjacent to my home.

What I can say though is that a 21-year-old who developed most of his formative years through the 1990s, I have seen a tremendous influx of diversity into NEPA since that time. I can only hope it will continue. The more that people in Schuylkill County are exposed to different cultures and races, the more likely they will be to grow to accept and tolerate them.

[tremontpa]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Tremont, I won't deny for one second that the people of Schuylkill County will be the first to give their neighbors the shirts off their backs in time of crisis or organize a charity bike ride or ziti dinner for an ailing child from their church, but what good is such good-naturedness if you're not willing to extend that to any race beyond Caucasians?

To be fair there were indeed some on the web site of the Republican Herald who admonished the majority of folks who were praising those children for beating the illegal immigrant to death, but by and large they were ex-natives or fresh transplants. I think what W-B Proud says has a lot of merit to it. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre have been somewhat diverse now for at least the past 15-20 years, so people have had nearly an entire generation to acclimate themselves to differences in others. Places like Shenandoah, Frackville, Tamaqua, Tremont, etc. were traditionally 99% Caucasian for generations, and now all of a sudden there has been a huge influx of minorities. A lot of the older folks in these towns have probably never even left the Coal Belt, so they've never been exposed to Hispanics or African-Americans until now.

I myself have friends who are African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American. I myself am gay. Being "different" is no sweat to me. I would much rather have a productive and "keep to themselves" Latin family living next-door to me than a loud- and foul-mouthed white-trash family living adjacent to my home.

What I can say though is that a 21-year-old who developed most of his formative years through the 1990s, I have seen a tremendous influx of diversity into NEPA since that time. I can only hope it will continue. The more that people in Schuylkill County are exposed to different cultures and races, the more likely they will be to grow to accept and tolerate them.

Well said. I understand this fully and I agree with many of your points. Tremont though has not seen an infux of hispanics, yet. I hope the day comes when they do arive. I think that it would really help the town economicly and socially. Not to mention a population increase, something the borough hasn't seen since the 1940s. Also I do think that many residents of the different towns would be happy to help people of other races as long as they are not bringing crime into the towns. I think that a lot of the race problems are stemmed from stereotypes about the spanish being crime ridden and not from a white superiority mentality. At least these views are based of of my experiences with people around the Tremont area. The Shenendoah area's mentality might be a lot different than the Tremontonian mentality I understand.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Tremont, I won't deny for one second that the people of Schuylkill County will be the first to give their neighbors the shirts off their backs in time of crisis or organize a charity bike ride or ziti dinner for an ailing child from their church, but what good is such good-naturedness if you're not willing to extend that to any race beyond Caucasians?

To be fair there were indeed some on the web site of the Republican Herald who admonished the majority of folks who were praising those children for beating the illegal immigrant to death, but by and large they were ex-natives or fresh transplants. I think what W-B Proud says has a lot of merit to it. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre have been somewhat diverse now for at least the past 15-20 years, so people have had nearly an entire generation to acclimate themselves to differences in others. Places like Shenandoah, Frackville, Tamaqua, Tremont, etc. were traditionally 99% Caucasian for generations, and now all of a sudden there has been a huge influx of minorities. A lot of the older folks in these towns have probably never even left the Coal Belt, so they've never been exposed to Hispanics or African-Americans until now.

I myself have friends who are African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American. I myself am gay. Being "different" is no sweat to me. I would much rather have a productive and "keep to themselves" Latin family living next-door to me than a loud- and foul-mouthed white-trash family living adjacent to my home.

What I can say though is that a 21-year-old who developed most of his formative years through the 1990s, I have seen a tremendous influx of diversity into NEPA since that time. I can only hope it will continue. The more that people in Schuylkill County are exposed to different cultures and races, the more likely they will be to grow to accept and tolerate them.

Smacks of self righteousness. So those 3 involved in the murder and the few that posted on a newspaper website somehow now speak for the whole county? And therefore represent the whole county? And a murder has never happened in Scranton that didn't have to do with hate?

I think you'll find most murders have to do with hating someone else.

If you study human cultural history going back thousands of years, anytime a large influx of people move into another area there is always friction. And that is never going to change. In our own country, Irish and Italians were once hated because of that.

[tremontpa]

Originally Posted by wanneroo

Smacks of self righteousness. So those 3 involved in the murder and the few that posted on a newspaper website somehow now speak for the whole county? And therefore represent the whole county? And a murder has never happened in Scranton that didn't have to do with hate?

I think you'll find most murders have to do with hating someone else.

If you study human cultural history going back thousands of years, anytime a large influx of people move into another area there is always friction. And that is never going to change. In our own country, Irish and Italians were once hated because of that.

Nice!