Info on Morgantown WV

[mtneeratheart]

I couldn't agree with your more WVUpharm...

[appalachiangirl]

I don't have a problem with legal immigrants. But comparing US in the late 1800's and early 1900's when immigrants came in large waves is a bit different than today because the population was obviously lower, 100 years ago,so people were needed to work in mines,factories,etc . I think now there is so much competition for work--especially with factories closing or moving overseas,that people have valid concerns about immigration. Not a bigot (some of my family immigrated here in the late 1800's) but I can understand their feelings.

[David Kennedy]

In the late 1800's minorities were brought here as expected slaves to the mines. The business community brought them here, they did not immigrate. The blacks were gathered from the fields of the south, the Italians came from Calabria, Italy and Irish were here already from the B & O building of the 1850's. The population then was expanding just like it is now. I don't see much competition for work at all...the twist is having a degree attached to everything...even McD's...and a degree now is mostly the equivilant to what a High School Diploma once was...

It's about money...the need for workers in north central Wv is met thankfully by the university and other colleges in the area...if they were not available the situation would be much worse, but each economy helps and hinders the other...we need workers to establish families here and build the economy and community to a better end...

Me? I like a diverse population...they learn the best from each other...if we are strong as a community, we can keep out the problems that try to drift in...

[mtneeratheart]

Originally Posted by appalachiangirl

I don't have a problem with legal immigrants. But comparing US in the late 1800's and early 1900's when immigrants came in large waves is a bit different than today because the population was obviously lower, 100 years ago,so people were needed to work in mines,factories,etc . I think now there is so much competition for work--especially with factories closing or moving overseas,that people have valid concerns about immigration. Not a bigot (some of my family immigrated here in the late 1800's) but I can understand their feelings.

How is that any different? The population has absolutely nothing to do with it. The majority of illegal immigrants up here in the DC area and other parts of the nation are dedicated hard working individuals who CONSTANTLY trying to make ends meet. They came to America for the exact same reasosn our ancestors did back in the day, this is the land of opportunity.

I personally can't understand the anti-immigrant sentiment sweeping through this country, I went to college, worked hard and didn't have to fight with immigrants for a job. Many legal citizens (the ones who complain the most) in parts of this country would simply rather sit on their ass and collect money from the government and so they snub possible jobs leaving immigrants to fill the void. I agree at some point they need to become actual US citizens but come on, let's give them a chance to start working on improving their lives.

I know I'm opening up a box of worms here but the government needs to quit handing out so much welfare money, one shouldn't have the ability to simply live off of Uncle Sam as an alternative to going out and earning a living. I know several family members and or friends of the family back in WV who just LOVE to collect that disability check every month, usually for several years at a time.

I personally love living in a very ethnically diverse area. I can walk down my street here in Arlington VA and choose between dozens of restaurants offering foods like Lebanese, Thai, Moroccan, Indian, El Salvadorean, Ethiopian, Vietnamese, etc...I go to any public place around the DC area and can hear dozens of different languages being spoken alongside English. We can learn so much by living and interacting with other cultures, cut back on a lot of the immigration and you get a nice plane jane white bread environment similar to what I grew up in outside of Charleston....NO THANKS!

[appalachiangirl]

I said I had nothing against immigrants --LEGAL ONES. Nobody in my family is on welfare (and neither am I). And yes, my ancestors faced a lot of prejudice too simply because some of them were Catholic in a largely Protestant area. I don't see the problem of illegal immigration affecting WV or Pa that much. But I have family in Texas and they say many of the workers complain about illegal immigrants getting a lot of the construction work--just what I hear. I didn't think Charleston,WV was that "white bread." It has people of many different nationalities--Irish,Italian,Lebanese,African American,etc. Morgantown has a multi-cultural population as well.

[mtneeratheart]

I didn't say you or anybody else in your family was on welfare, I was referring to people I knew back in WV.

Charleston is NOT ethnically diverse at all, it has basically two demographic groups, a large number of caucasian residents and a decent sized African-American population that is about it. Many of the Irish, Italian, and other European populations you mentioned are second and third generation families whose ancestors came to the US in the early 1900s. These Charleston residents weren't born outside of the US, and therefore they are simply counted as white non-hispanic.

Head outside of Charleston and you will find absolutely zero diversity. The city-data profile on Kanawha County lists the white-non hispanic population at 90% with a 7% African American population (nearly all of that is in the city of Charleston) and a Hispanic population of 0.6%.

Believe me, the lack of diversity is very noticable when you live in a place like the DC area where white non-hispanics are the minority in many places. I brought several friends home with me one weekend and they couldn't believe how "white" Charleston was.

Like I've said before, I love Charleston, grew up there and have many great memories there, but I will never be convinced that is by any means culturally diverse.

[appalachiangirl]

I guess I misunderstood what you meant by culturally diverse. To me an area with people of many different nationalities is diverse,but I don't live in a large city like DC.
When my great-great grandparents (on my dad's side) came to the state most people as I understood were of white anglo descent and Protestant (mainly English or Scots-Irish) so the WV of today is more diverse in that respect than the WV of the early 20th century! But you're right if you're referring to ,say, the Hispanic population here--it is lower than many other areas. There also are many people who have Native American ancestry in the northern areas of West Virginia. My uncle by marriage is half-Cherokee and I have a small amount of Cherokee ancestry as well.

[David Kennedy]

Some of my mothers people were Cherokee and it was never spoke about...the indians were lumped into the non-white category and that left a lower chaste stigma...ours were included in the family in the 1860's..
Now, like the Aussie ancestors, being indian has some slight form of status.

Each ethnic group coming to the USA and to Wv and every other state and community has paid a price of identity to assimilate into the culture...that's why America has been called a 'melting pot'.

In North Central Wv, I believe the most beautiful people in America exist...its because of the mixing of all these ethnic groups and races...enought said..