Pittsuburgh racist to who? (Pittsburgh: transplants, universities, camps)

[jaxsthecat]

For all of you who don't believe that Pittsburgh is racist...You must be kidding yourself. My daughter is adopted from Korea, in her lovely Catholic school she has been called a '*****' also because she likes Roast beef sandwiches she was told she wasn't 'American' because she doesn't eat ham. Also my Obama sign during the election the letter 'N' was sprayed painted on it. Oh and I am dwarf and eyes burn into me where ever I go in the city. Sometimes I scream out 'take a picture it last longer'....

[scottrpriester]

Originally Posted by jaxsthecat

For all of you who don't believe that Pittsburgh is racist...You must be kidding yourself. My daughter is adopted from Korea, in her lovely Catholic school she has been called a '*****' also because she likes Roast beef sandwiches she was told she wasn't 'American' because she doesn't eat ham. Also my Obama sign during the election the letter 'N' was sprayed painted on it. Oh and I am dwarf and eyes burn into me where ever I go in the city. Sometimes I scream out 'take a picture it last longer'....

If your attitude is much like you've displayed in your last three posts, it's not hard to imagine why people would treat you indifferent.

[creepsinc]

Originally Posted by jaxsthecat

For all of you who don't believe that Pittsburgh is racist...You must be kidding yourself. My daughter is adopted from Korea, in her lovely Catholic school she has been called a '*****' also because she likes Roast beef sandwiches she was told she wasn't 'American' because she doesn't eat ham. Also my Obama sign during the election the letter 'N' was sprayed painted on it. Oh and I am dwarf and eyes burn into me where ever I go in the city. Sometimes I scream out 'take a picture it last longer'....

So, I assume the N was painted in front of the O making it NObama? While I hate vandalism, I'm sick to death of the implication that to be anti-Obama is racist.

I also don't believe this post. Sorry.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by creepsinc

So, I assume the N was painted in front of the O making it NObama? While I hate vandalism, I'm sick to death of the implication that to be anti-Obama is racist.

I also don't believe this post. Sorry.

I agree. I don't believ it either because the ham part makes no sense to me at all. I've never heard of such a thing as being made fun of for not being American becuase you don't eat ham.

[ditchdigger]

... the ham part makes no sense to me at all.

Me neither. However...

What kids will tease somebody else about doesn't have to make sense.

Children, whether you like it or not, do have a great capacity for cruelty. They'll seize on any opening they can in teasing and taunting the target of the day. That opening could be a difference in race, a dislike for ham sandwiches, or it could be any of a myriad of other qualities, real or imagined. Weight would be a good example. If the child was teased for being overweight, would you characterize the town as "fatist"?

The question is whether the teasing of one child by the rest of the group is a fair barometer of a whole community's attitude about race. I'd say it isn't.

[tmorrisn]

Originally Posted by ditchdigger

Weight would be a good example. If the child was teased for being overweight, would you characterize the town as "fatist"?

The question is whether the teasing of one child by the rest of the group is a fair barometer of a whole community's attitude about race. I'd say it isn't.

But where mocking terms for an overweight child are heard through the media (radio, books, television, movies all have fat jokes etc), mocking terms for a Korean kid are not. Where else would these children learn to make fun of a kid based on their race if not at home?

I am asian and got made fun of plenty of times for being asian - slanting their eyes, being called *****, etc... yeah, that was racist. Those kids were racist. When I went to a school with kids who were not racist, I got made fun of for what I ate for lunch and what kinds of jeans I wore that day.

I'm not saying that it's a Pittsburgh thing - but it might be more likely in areas that tends to be insular. And my goodness - staring at someone because they LOOK different, whether it's racist or not, IT'S RUDE!!! You should be ashamed of yourself. Even if you've never seen a fill-in-the-blank person before in your life, you probably have seen someone whose skin is unlike yours on tv - and if you're curious, you can google that race and see lots of pictures from the privacy of your own home.

And just an fyi - many people in general (whether they consider themselves racist or not) will not date outside their race. From the people I've met here (this sample consists of college+ educated white people in their 20's and early 30's), I believe you might have a hard time dating outside strictly of your race. actually I don't even think that was your point - sorry to digress then.

[ditchdigger]

But where mocking terms for an overweight child are heard through the media (radio, books, television, movies all have fat jokes etc), mocking terms for a Korean kid are not. Where else would these children learn to make fun of a kid based on their race if not at home?

In my initial reply to this thread, I did acknowleged that you might run into individuals who are racist here, while suggesting that that doesn't mean it's correct to characterize the town as racist.

I'll concede your point that home (perhaps a truly racist home, or perhaps one that has some other degree of prejudice--I think prejudice does occur along a continuum), is a likely place for one child to have learned that particular epithet. I have to counter though, that all it takes is for one child to have learned that at home, because we certainly do learn a lot at school, from our peers, that isn't part of the curriculum. The dynamics of schoolyard bullying would be a whole nother thread.

I'll stand by my previously expressed point of view.

And my goodness - staring at someone because they LOOK different, whether it's racist or not, IT'S RUDE!!!

With that, I'd have to agree, but I'm sure it's not just a Burgh thing. It's a human thing.

And just an fyi - many people in general (whether they consider themselves racist or not) will not date outside their race.

I'll certainly concede that point as far as black/white goes. Have you found it to be true for Asian as well?

[sr1234]

Originally Posted by pittsteelerfan

Go on the Philly thread and that's obvious. But I lived there, and it really just felt like living in the city of Pittsburgh. Seriously, it did. It definitely didn't feel ANYTHING like living in NYC, at all! Pa. cities and towns have their own feel to them compared to just about anywhere else.

What I have noticed is that once you go north of I-80, PA starts to seem more like NY state or on the western side more like a mix of Ohio and NY. Everything south of I-80 has that Pittsburgh/Philly feel except for extreme southern portions of Adams and York Counties which have become a suburb of Baltimore.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by tmorrisn

And just an fyi - many people in general (whether they consider themselves racist or not) will not date outside their race. From the people I've met here (this sample consists of college+ educated white people in their 20's and early 30's), I believe you might have a hard time dating outside strictly of your race. actually I don't even think that was your point - sorry to digress then.

That's definately true. Most of the mixed couples I see are usually "ghetto", poor, or seem somewhat on the hick side. The great majority of people I know won't date out of their race and many of their families are aganist it also.

[MissShona]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

That's definately true. Most of the mixed couples I see are usually "ghetto", poor, or seem somewhat on the hick side. The great majority of people I know won't date out of their race and many of their families are aganist it also.

Actually, a good number of young professional people I know in Pittsburgh have no hang-ups dating outside of their race. I myself am not "ghetto", and I date outside of my race (although this is mainly due to religious reasons). In fact, I find that the more educated the people, the less they are against interracial dating/marriage. That is, unless they have some personal insecurity issues!

Also, when it comes to families, you may be surprised. My boyfriend is White (an Ashkenazi Jew) and is one of 3 boys (he's in the middle). His older brother married a Black woman and his parents don't like here at all. But she also works at a bartender and he works in the entertainment industry. I don't know them well, but I know there is a lot of instability in their lives. Also she is not Jewish. When I first found out about this, I was a little worried that his family was racist. But it turns out they like me just fine -- even though I'm Black. I'm Jewish, college educated, and more motivated by family life and maintaining good relationships. So you see, their dislike had little, if anything to do with race, and more to do with positive vs. negative personalities.