Can this type of racism be expected in most of South Carolina? (Columbia: crimes, high school)

[oz in SC]

Very good points Greenville.

Lost on a LOT of those who either have just moved here or have never really been here....of course they know best,afterall they ARE from up north.

[davey123]

Originally Posted by Greenville

What's funny to me is how people from other parts of the country envision all of this racial tension in the South. I guess it goes back to the Civil War, some struggles with the civil rights movement in parts of the South, etc. But it's just funny to me when someone thinks we're living in the 1950s or something - and it's especially funny when someone from an almost exclusively white state says it (i.e., very little diversity). We are used to having different races of people, and for all but a handful of examples, we get along fine. In the mid-size to larger Southern metros (you know, the ones most people think don't exist, since we're supposed to be 100% rural) we have even more racial diversity and cultural harmony. I guess it goes to show you how significant perception and stereotypes can be.

Originally Posted by oz in SC

Very good points Greenville. Lost on a LOT of those who either have just moved here or have never really been here....of course they know best,afterall they ARE from up north.

Greenville, you do make some good points. However, I would have to disagree with Oz that your points get lost on new-comers to SC and/ or Northerners. Actually Oz, I think that if you re-read your statement, you would see how presumptuous it is.

As I have already mentioned in this thread, racism is ubiquitous. Although many would like to think that it's a Southern pathology, it is really an American one. It gets manifested in both overt and subtle forms, and its manifestations vary depending on what parts of the U.S. you are in -- and on what situational factors are salient at the time. This has always been clear to me. Indeed, I have no blinders on when it comes to the issue of racism.

It seems important to also mention that Northerners (and other new-comers to SC) have lived in other regions of the U.S. As surprising as this may seem, if you polled people you would find that we have lived in the Northeast, the Midwest, the Northwest, the West Coast -- and yes, even the South. This is important to remember, because it may help you to not erroneously draw the conclusion that we all come from places less diverse than SC, or that we all somehow have never seen any manifestations of racism before. Some of us can be fairly sophisticated in our thinking about racism.

I agree with Greenville, stereotypes do heavily influence our perceptions about many things (race relations and racism being among those). It is unfortunate that many have the perception that the South is more racist than other regions in the U.S. In my opinion, this false perception only perpetuates racism in the U.S. More specifically stated, it makes the South out to be the "bad guy," and prevents the other regions from critically challenging their own forms of racism. Some of us Northerners (and new-comers) are quite aware of this phenomenon.

It is not really the case "that" racism is or is not common in any given state. It's really "how" it gets manifested. South Carolina is interesting in that it has a higher than average poverty level, a higher than average level of under-educated people, and it embraces its traditions (e.g., the Confederate Flag). As a new-comer, it is interesting to see how these aforementioned variables affect the manifestation racism here.

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by PalmettoGuy

I don't think we should allow others to rewrite history for us and force South Carolinians to accept the stereotyped version of our past. The fact that some people are offended is not a good reason to take down the memorial from the state house grounds.

If you take into account how the Confederate flag even got atop the Statehouse to begin with, you'd see that the reasons had everything to do with purposely offending the vast majority of people who were/are offended by the flag.

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by Greenville

That's pretty much universally true. Go to Los Angeles sometime - the tension and hatred are far worse there.

But it's different in NYC; the level of integration amongst Blacks and Latinos is much greater there. So it really depends on what city we're talking about. From my experiences as a Black guy, I've not experienced this.

[oz in SC]

Originally Posted by Akhenaton06

If you take into account how the Confederate flag even got atop the Statehouse to begin with, you'd see that the reasons had everything to do with purposely offending the vast majority of people who were/are offended by the flag.

The reasoning for its placement were wrong....the flag is not.

It's current position is perfectly normal considering.

[oz in SC]

Originally Posted by Akhenaton06

But it's different in NYC; the level of integration amongst Blacks and Latinos is much greater there. So it really depends on what city we're talking about. From my experiences as a Black guy, I've not experienced this.

Perhaps because it is black hatred on Hispanic,not the other way round....

Blacks are some truly bigoted people when you get right down to it,which is a bit odd considering their history.

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by oz in SC

Perhaps because it is black hatred on Hispanic,not the other way round....

That's my point. I'm Black, and no one I know has this intense hatred towards Hispanics. I certainly don't.

Blacks are some truly bigoted people when you get right down to it,which is a bit odd considering their history.

Firstly, thanks for painting us all with a broad brush. I could just as easily say Whites are just plain ol' racists when you get down to it too, but what does that solve? And seriously, who in the world are you hanging around? I guess your location explains it. The Lowcountry is the epitome of race/class stratification and it's no surprise that it comes out in its various forms (including your particular variant).

[oz in SC]

Nice stereotyping yourself....I guess the black people here are just dumb field servants...

LOVE the hypocrisy of the tolerant ones.

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by oz in SC

Nice stereotyping yourself....I guess the black people here are just dumb field servants...

No, but by and large they aren't high-ranking officials in banking and engineering corporations either. You're more likely to see them in low-wage service sector jobs (hotels, resorts, etc.) where very few of the patrons will look like them. The Lowcountry, and Beaufort County in particular, has not seen high levels of economic investment to help lift people out of entrenched poverty. Of my Black peers that are from Beaufort (and Jasper) counties, none of them want to return to that area of the state largely due to the lack of opportunity. If you don't think lack of opportunity, along with entrenched poverty of a group of people that have historically been disenfranchised until rather recently in our nation's history, aren't going to feel a certain way about things, then you're a bit unrealistic. And let's not talk about how these millionaires (no need to mention the race) are swooping in and trying to gain, one way or another, land that has been held in these families for centuries.

LOVE the hypocrisy of the tolerant ones.

Don't know where the "hypocrisy" charge is coming from, and I never called myself tolerant, but if that's what you want to label me because you think all Blacks hate you, so be it.

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by oz in SC

It's current position is perfectly normal considering.

Not really. If that was the case, one would have been put there when the monument itself was first erected.