How is racism in Seattle? (fit in, college, live in)

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by shadedtribulations

Perhaps to attract more african-americans to the area. Which is great, because as much as I love the city, it is lacking in cultural diversity. It is seemingly all white and asian.

It was so the mostly white city leadership could to pat itself of the back for being so "progressive"

[Backstrom]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

It was so the mostly white city leadership could to pat itself of the back for being so "progressive"

Except that the campaign to change the namesake was led by Ron Sims, an African American.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by Backstrom

Except that the campaign to change the namesake was led by Ron Sims, an African American.

It might have been led by him but having worked in Seattle city government, I will tell you that people like to fancy themselves progressives but the truth is an awful lot of white people in Seattle feel uncomfortable around African Americans. I attended an event for the UW's minority business association a few years back and most of the white people there were standing in a circle with one another not mingling outside their small group. It was very interesting to watch.

[mrkool]

Racism in Seattle is just the same as here in Milwaukee.. that is, the racism by *blacks* against whites is fairly bad, as sometimes even manifests itself as violent crime. I personally know of several whites attacked for nothing more than being white and sitting on a bus crowded with blacks, walking through a black neighborhood, or whatever. Pathetic, uncivilized behavior.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

It might have been led by him but having worked in Seattle city government, I will tell you that people like to fancy themselves progressives but the truth is an awful lot of white people in Seattle feel uncomfortable around African Americans. I attended an event for the UW's minority business association a few years back and most of the white people there were standing in a circle with one another not mingling outside their small group. It was very interesting to watch.

Sounds like something I see in other parts of the nation.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

Sounds like something I see in other parts of the nation.

Yes, right. My point is that there is racism in Seattle however, if you are to believe some of the posts on this thread, everybody is very progressive, holding hands and singing kumbaya. But you know actions speak louder than words, and I'd be interested to know how many upper -middle class white folks have black friends over to their houses for dinner.

[picklejuice]

No worries in Seattle. Now Northern Idaho and Southern Washington? Well, maybe a worry or two.

[kickerofelves]

Originally Posted by Zippy7fo

Your comments sound very narrow minded.

Race does not translate into crime.

That's not an intellectually honest response.

I'm not trying to be racist but that's a ridiculous statement that flies in the face of reality and DOJ statistics showing black males--6% of the U.S. population--committing 48% of violent crime.

Yes, I agree education and income make a difference, but let's not put forth one falsehood to put down another.

Areas with large black populations have higher crime in general. Poor black areas have higher rates of violent crime relative to poor Hispanic or poor white areas (check DOJ's website).

It's a social problem for all of us if black Americans have these issues. Let's not promote BS pollyanna-ish nonesense in place of intellectual honesty.

I lived in the DC metro area for years, tough place for crime.

Do you know that you can't even drive cars at night in Latvia because of car jackings by bandits? How about the Russian and Italian mafia who killed hundreds of people

I've worked in nearby St Petersburg and Pskov in Russia. The Latvian comment sounds bogus. If you think Latvia's crime rate is anything close to the U.S. rate you're kidding yourself. Per capita crime rates in Latvia (violent, nonviolent) is 29 per 1000 people. In the U.S. it's 80 per 1000.

The Russian and Italian mobs conduct organized crime attacks on individuals usually within their criminal culture and are not known for random acts of violence. There is a difference.

[kickerofelves]

Originally Posted by Backstrom

Except that the campaign to change the namesake was led by Ron Sims, an African American.

Sims led it and most everyone bent over backwards to kiss up to him on it.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

Yes, right. My point is that there is racism in Seattle however, if you are to believe some of the posts on this thread, everybody is very progressive, holding hands and singing kumbaya. But you know actions speak louder than words, and I'd be interested to know how many upper -middle class white folks have black friends over to their houses for dinner.

My own point of view might have to do with living in Atlanta. Many people act the same way, pretending like everyone is "kumbaya". Personally, it is the same way here. Some people want me to believe that Atlanta is better than anywhere else. Personally, my own experience tells me otherwise.