Should Cities dominated by Whites promote themselves to Ethnic Minorities? (legal, Minnesota)

[Dingler]

During Katrina, many White dominated small communities in America got all caught up with the concept of charity and worked with non profits and FEMA to move large numbers of African American refugees to their town. One example was Bird Island Minnesota. It is basically a small farm community of a few thousand people which has been historically white. There are few jobs and few new businesses or homes. The City leaders of Bird Island wanted be chartible and to move almost a thousand Katrina refugees, mostly Black, to the community. They would worry about getting everyone jobs and housing later. Because of Political Correctness, it was almost impossible for community members to complain.

In the end the Katrina refugees ended up moving to other communities instead, but it was close to happening. While the Katrina refugees were Americans and have the legal right to live almost anywhere, I wonder about a decision to promote a city that is 99% white to a 99% Black group.

Should dying Midwestern farm communities try to bring in ethnic minorities to repopulate their cities?

[LeavingFlorida05]

Any time you base a decision on race, it's going to come back to haunt you. Why not just appeal to people, in general? If a community is dying out and wants to promote itself, why do those people need to be black, asian, or hispanic? Why not just promote themselves to American citizens?

[MattDen]

I do think diversity is important, but I do think sometimes when a city transitions to quickly from being very white to all the sudden having a sudden, large influx of a different ethnic group that sometimes it tends to cause issues more so then if it was over a much longer term.

I do think as far as international migration goes some cities are just not set-up to handle a large influx in a very short period of time. I do think their are many positives associated with diversity but the process has to take time.

[yayoi]

They should do whatever they see fit. They remained mostly white this long for a reason. Diversity shouldn't be forced.

[tigerlily]

African Americans who were forced to relocate after Katrina are not, by definition, refugees. A refugee is a person who moves to a foreign country for political reasons, war, or natural disaster. This annoyed me so much I actually wrote MSNBC when Tucker Carlson insisted on referring to the displaced as refugees.

I believe some of the European countries (Italy comes to mind) are struggling with this problem due to declining populations.

[silas777]

Well if you look at what happened in Houston, not that it is a predominatly white city but never the less with the crime from all the neworleans transplants I dont think it would be a very desirable thing for any community to innvite that enmasse!

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by Dingler

During Katrina, many White dominated small communities in America got all caught up with the concept of charity and worked with non profits and FEMA to move large numbers of African American refugees to their town. One example was Bird Island Minnesota. It is basically a small farm community of a few thousand people which has been historically white. There are few jobs and few new businesses or homes. The City leaders of Bird Island wanted be chartible and to move almost a thousand Katrina refugees, mostly Black, to the community. They would worry about getting everyone jobs and housing later. Because of Political Correctness, it was almost impossible for community members to complain.

In the end the Katrina refugees ended up moving to other communities instead, but it was close to happening. While the Katrina refugees were Americans and have the legal right to live almost anywhere, I wonder about a decision to promote a city that is 99% white to a 99% Black group.

Should dying Midwestern farm communities try to bring in ethnic minorities to repopulate their cities?

I commend the leaders of Bird Island for opening their communities to the Katrina evacuees, even if the offer was never taken advantage of. Certainly the fact that most of those arriving would have been black would have made things interesting in what is apparently a virtually all-white town. However, I wonder what the locals' reaction would be if those arriving with nothing but literally the shirts on their back were white? Or Asian? Or Hispanic?

Basically I think that dying Midwestern farm communities should be encouraged to invite those poor who are looking for a lower cost of living and the opportunity to succeed financially. Of course, a relatively high percentage of those lower-income arrivals will be minorities... but that's just the reality here in America. Certainly in non-emergency situations, plans could be made to adjust to whatever cultural diversity ensues.