What is with the diversity myth? (Seattle, Everett: vs., assault, money)

[RunTheDistance476]

But how is this different than any other city?

Think about Chicago or NYC, go to the Chicago suburbs, what's the difference? Chicago is also highly segregated, most cities are. Go to South Chicago = Almost all black, North Chicago= Almost all white, Suburbs= Almost all white.

Detroit: City=All black; suburbs=All white

So, that point is invalid.

[AngelicCreativity]

Originally Posted by wlw2009

The stupidity and ignorance continues...can you guys not read? Really?

AngelicCreativity...what do you look like? Because if you like white, Asian or Hispanic then there are a lot of people here that "look like you". There is also a large African American population in South Seattle, Tukwila, Renton, Burien, Skyway, Tacoma, etc.

But please. Continue to talk about how white Seattle is even though data was just shown to you that it isn't even top 15. Get real.

If you say so.

[RunTheDistance476]

Actually, yes, I do say so and once again it has already been proven that this is just a misconception.

[LS Jaun]

Only people in the US would complain about such a stupid topic.

There are Cities and towns accross the US that are 'close to' 100% White, 100% Black, and 100 Mexican and even a few smaller towns that might be %100 Chinese. Let me see "Do they lack Racial diversity?". No sheet Sherlock! diversity without acceptance means squat.

[wutitiz]

It's interesting to compare Bellevue, where I live now, and Seattle, where I used to live.

Bellevue (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
Seattle (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

First of all Bellevue total pop is 133,000; Seattle is 652,00. Seattle is 4.9 times bigger.
Bellevue is 62% white, 27% Asian, 7% Latino. Seattle is 69.5% white, 7.9% black, 13.8% Asian, and 6.6% Latino.

If you look at the link, you see that the Census Bureau is having trouble with the nomenclature. They have a category now called 'white alone,' and then there is 'white alone, not Hispanic or Latino.' More hairs to split and more divides to create for the Census Bureau with each passing decade.

[skidamarink]

I think it's been well-established now that Seattle is not diverse. However, people in Seattle are far more "multiculturally in-tune" compared to those in many other US cities. I have met white people here who studied Ethiopian and Chinese languages and cultures, for example.

Also, the economic power of Asian-Americans here, regardless of your opinion on it, does change the racial and social dynamic compared to most cities. The Seattle region is very bizarre in that there are Caucasian ghettos here (i.e. Everett and parts of North Seattle). Scariest white people I've ever seen have been up here in Seattle. Not saying that's good or bad, but it's definitely a change of scenery compared to most cities, where the poor people are almost always black or Mexican. Don't shoot the messenger.

[DP79]

Diversity gives life more flavor. If you don't understand that, or don't want to understand that, it's solely your loss to bear.

[Hemlock140]

Diversity does not just mean there is a black population. Sammamish, for example, is only 75% white now, and 19% Asian. With Seattle at 70% white (by the city's own data) Black 8% and Asian 13% and Latino 5% plus other smaller ethnicities it's less white than the whole country which is 77% white (13% Black, 5% Asian and 17% Hispanic).

[EvilCookie]

I really don't get this I don't know as much about Seattle proper, but we live on the Eastside and I really don't see all that many white people here - it seems like an even mix of nationalities, Asian (and that includes Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese etc), East Indian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, European, I've met people from Jamaica, Africa, Pakistan, all over the place. Yes, there are less black people than in some other US cities, but there are plenty from other parts of the world. In fact I would say 'white', as in Anglo-Saxon caucasians that are not at least second or third-generation immigrants are in the minority here, everyone is from somewhere else.

Is it just that people define "not diverse" as not having blacks and hispanics as the majority population or something?

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by EvilCookie

I really don't get this I don't know as much about Seattle proper, but we live on the Eastside and I really don't see all that many white people here - it seems like an even mix of nationalities, Asian (and that includes Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese etc), East Indian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, European, I've met people from Jamaica, Africa, Pakistan, all over the place. Yes, there are less black people than in some other US cities, but there are plenty from other parts of the world. In fact I would say 'white', as in Anglo-Saxon caucasians that are not at least second or third-generation immigrants are in the minority here, everyone is from somewhere else.

Is it just that people define "not diverse" as not having blacks and hispanics as the majority population or something?

I think people get hung up on looking at who lives within the invisible boundaries of the city proper, instead of looking at what really matters- the entire metro area. The metro area is truly one continuous developed area, with people crossing those invisible boundaries every day for work, play, shopping, etc, so we need to look at the total population here as well as in any other metro area to get a true feeling for what diversity we have. And where I love, too, in my housing development in north Bothell, I am in the minority as a white person. My development is mostly Indian and Asian. I lived in Lynnwood up until this Spring and whenever going out anywhere there shopping or whatever it seemed there were just as many Asians (especially Koreans) as there were white people. So yes, there is a LOT more diversity here than what people will claim when looking at only the Seattle city proper figures. Doing that would be similar to wanting to get the Bellevue figures but only counting one particular neighborhood in Bellevue- it makes no sense.