Ethnicity map of san antonio (Houston, Dallas: how much, neighborhood, living)

[L210]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

As someone who was bussed across the city as a 6th grader in the 1970s so I could attend a school in a predominantly "black" part of town, I can tell you that this country has come a long way toward being more integrated/more diversity in my short 47 year lifespan.

That social experiment was ridiculous as the majority of my classes were full of white kids like myself who had been bussed over. All of the black kids that lived nearby where bussed across town to where we would normally be going to classes. We did have some black teachers, but we had those at my old schools so it wasn’t anything new to us.

These days such measures are no longer necessary, and I think people are making a big deal out of nothing, as there are no sections of San Antonio that I know of that are off limits to anyone because of their race. Income, maybe; but as long as a person can afford to live somewhere, there's nothing stopping them from doing so and that, my friends, is the bottom line!

Cheers! M2

We have come a long way, but the point is not IF we can live where we want, it's WILL we live wherever. As you can see, we are still self-segregating. I honestly will not move inside the loop because I went to school there for several years and it wasn't all that great. Although I had lots of Hispanic friends, people would make racist jokes and comments about whites and blacks and I was called the n-word a couple of times. I enjoy the diversity of the NE side and I plan on raising my kids here if I'm still in San Antonio.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by meisha210

We have come a long way, but the point is not IF we can live where we want, it's WILL we live wherever. As you can see, we are still self-segregating. I honestly will not move inside the loop because I went to school there for several years and it wasn't all that great. Although I had lots of Hispanic friends, people would make racist jokes and comments about whites and blacks and I was called the n-word a couple of times. I enjoy the diversity of the NE side and I plan on raising my kids here if I'm still in San Antonio.

People tend to oversimplify this,
it's not just "where do people want to live"
people also have many other reasons why they choose to live in certain areas: better schools, lower crime, better public infrastructure, more police per person patrolling the area, proximity to work.... besides that, then there's also factors such as relationships, where the person grew up, where family lives.

Some people rather oversimplify this and say "See, people like to live where people of their same color live"

[majormadmax]

Quite true, but the bottom line remains that there aren't the racial barriers that there once were in this country; and that San Antonio in particular is very diverse as compared to many US cities of the same size...

That doesn't mean racism has disappeared, far from it; but it doesn't exist to the extent that it once did, and for the most part it has become a non-issue in this city.

[L210]

Originally Posted by Dopo

People tend to oversimplify this,
it's not just "where do people want to live"
people also have many other reasons why they choose to live in certain areas: better schools, lower crime, better public infrastructure, more police per person patrolling the area, proximity to work.... besides that, then there's also factors such as relationships, where the person grew up, where family lives.

Some people rather oversimplify this and say "See, people like to live where people of their same color live"

If everyone worried about those same things, then wouldn't you have all kinds of people living all over town? If people worried about those same factors, then different ethnic groups would often choose the same parts of town. The fact that San Antonio is growing out works against the theory of people living near their families, where they grew up, or near their job because so many people commute into town. Granted, I do think people who live inside the loop tend to stay near where they grew up.

[Merovee]

I keep reading on this forum those who claim San Antonio is not diverse.

OK, what does diversity mean exactly to those making such claims?

So then which cities in America are diverse? How many cities in America are diverse? What percentage of America is diverse?

I find the Northwest side of town to be highly diverse followed by the Far North side (outside of 1604 and just below it).

Maybe not as diverse as New York city where their hospital system requires dozens of translators at any given moment but diverse nonetheless. Texas itself has continuously had diverse streams of immigration and San Antonio has been a fair recipient both historically (Folklife Festival anyone?) and currently (many with traditions from the NE, Midwest, and California are migrating, as well as many from South American countries, they might be Hispanic but are far different from native Tejanos, as well as those from other countries ranging from Africa to Asia.)

I can agree that most areas within the urban core are not that diverse but San Antonio is greater than that.

[Merovee]

Originally Posted by sanluisito

Take a look to the maps.

2000 Census

Red= White Non Hispanic
Yellow=Hispanic
Blue= Black
Green=Asian

Here is an active link to an even larger map. (click the map once it is open to make it larger)

The NW side clearly has all four colors present. Does it require martians as well for some to claim it is diverse? It clearly already is.

The NE side outside of the loop and the Far West side also look diverse. The study only offered four colors and they are all present.

Now compare San Antonio to the other cities listed in the study. Which cities were diverse again? Which cities have more blended areas? Which cities are more segregated?

how-segregated-is-your-city

[L210]

The Hispanic population in San Antonio is overwhelmingly of Mexican descent. I would say that the Puerto Rican population would be the second highest and the island claims to be the whitest in the Caribbean. Eighty percent of Puerto Ricans self-identify as being white.

San Francisco, New York, and LA look more diverse even though LA looks pretty segregated. Sorry, but SA being about 90% white and Hispanic is not diverse. The same goes for DC which is about 90% black and white except for the fact that more Hispanics identify as white (or sometimes "other" in some parts) than any other race. You have to be blind to not see that San Antonio is overwhelmingly orange and red with the center being mostly orange and the outlying areas being mostly red. Certain, small parts of town are racially mixed, but that's not the city as a whole. There aren't enough blacks and Asians here for all of San Antonio to be diverse.

[Merovee]

We must be looking at different maps. There is also the fact that every time I go to the NW side I see plenty of people that look neither white or Hispanic, sure most of the people I do see are but I see many who are not. I see Asians, Middle Easterners, Indians from the subcontinent, etc...

Also the myth that all Hispanics are the same is just as bad as the myth that all Mexicans are the same. Mexico has its own ethnic groups as well and is not some huge homogeneous (monoethnic) country. Not all Mexicans are the same. Tejanos are different than both the indigenous from the South of Mexico (Indians basically) and the blancos from D.F. or other parts of the interior (white people). Mexico itself has Asians, Germans, Italians, Arabs, etc...though they might not be migrating in the same numbers as the mestizos, indios, and blancos.

New York is more segregated than L.A. according to those maps. It even states so in that article:

That's not the case with New York, however: There are areas of extreme racial concentration. But the sheer number of people in those areas means that the boundaries

L.A., meanwhile, is sort of the opposite. Because no part of the city is particularly dense, you get blended neighborhoods which are at times larger than the racially homogeneous ones

[L210]

Say you are saying that the majority of Mexicans are not mestizo because that's what the official numbers say? That still hasn't stopped the mestizos in the U.S. from identifying as white. About 30% are Amerindian, but hardly anyone is claiming to be that in San Antonio. You keep on pointing to the NW side which is just one, small part of town. Once you get closer to 1604, the NW side becomes less diverse, so it's just one part of the NW side. How would you think the map would look if you evenly spread the blacks and Asians? You would be hard-pressed to find a green or blue dot.

[Merovee]

I am still curious as to how others define diversity? People from foreign countries only? People from different heritages based on historical migrations? People that speak many languages? People that have different colors of skin? A city with many people but all segregated in their own quarters? A city with blended neighborhoods as our NW, NE, and Far West sides?

As far as segregation alone it does appear that San Antonio (at least the NW, NE, and Far West sides) is more blended than New York City where the race lines are sharply divided. They might be more diverse if they all have to visit the same hospital but when they go home it appears everyone looks just like them.

Just in my side of town not everyone looks just like me. I see all shades.

Spoiler

Also a mestizo might have more white or indigenous in them but they are neither, they are mixed. Indios are not considered mestizo. Short, dark Mexicans are indios, not mestizos. Mestizos have what is usually considered skin that is "morena clara". They are not blancos either who have white skin. There will be examples that go against the general rules but when a whole family is short and dark they are usually indio, if they are all white they are usually blanco, and if they are mixed with all shades but with most being morena clara then they are usually mestizo.

The census is rather irrelevant when it itself does not offer many options and attempts to corral all Hispanics into the white camp by default only leaving the "other box" to write in mestizo or Amerindian for example.

When one is a Hispanic themselves they understand all this and know who is part of their ingroup and who is not. We might all share a common language to some degree but we will all speak it rather differently. Clearly the white Mexicans moving into Stone Oak are not the same as the indios who are migrating and moving into the East Side, or those mestizos who are more commonly called Norteños who are still migrating with these other streams but are closer ethnically related to the Tejanos who have been here for generations and might not even know a lick of Spanish.

The term Hispanic is so ill-suited itself. It would be akin to using a term like Anglic to describe every English speaker in the world as one ethnic group regardless if from England, Jamaica, or Singapore. Hispanic is not an ethnic term or a racial term because within it are found different ethnic and racial groups. It is a term based solely on language.

In the future it would be well if everyone identified as American as our culture merges. Those Hispanics who actually self identify as whites, not just because the census does not give them options, but who will claim it in their mind, are the first wave. Many blacks also live white lifestyles but it will take a bit more for them to self identify as white. In essence though we are forming one American culture, a post-racial one, though it will take time for everyone to self-identify as white, or whatever new term is invented because it is not really white but American.