What is with all the racial concerns, when moving to WI?? Can someone plz give me examples of life in these cities.. (Green Bay: schools, living in)
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In my research on moving to WI, for school, i've been really baffled by just how racially messed up Wisconsin seems to be..........no offense, but i live in NORTH CAROLINA, and from everything i keep reading about WI, I feel more comfortable moving around from city-to-city, here, EASILYYYYYYYYY, than in WI!
Obviously this was VERY simple of me, but i just always thought a "blue state" up north, wouldn't have many racial problems!! ESPECIALLY in a bigger area/city like Milwaukee!
But from everything i read, as a black chick, i should stay the hell away from Milwaukee unless i want to hang out with just black people or in black neighborhoods!.....which i most surely do NOT! I have ALWAYS had a hugely diverse amount of friends, and i tend to date/be attracted to guys outside my race a LOT -- so what exactly are some things i'd experience in Milwaukee that make it so bad?? I keep reading vague comments about it on here and elsewhere, but i was wondering could you guys give me some examples of what it would really be like?? And if there's anyone who's black on here, that has lived - or current lives - in Milwaukee, what was it like for YOU??
Other cities i'm curious about include:
Green Bay
Madison
& maybe Appleton..........but really, Green Bay!
I like the whole idea of a small town, with harsh winters, and little night-life....plus, i'm a DIE HARD packers fan!!!
Also, I'd have no issues with the republican thing......i've been blessed with the mindset of an independent-libertarian, and i can get most non-radicals on BOTH side to listen to me, or agree with me on SOMETHING........so the political thing, would be cool..........but i'm wondering, as cool as I AM with it, would THEY accept me?
and I'm not goth or anything, but i do wear funny joke t-shirts, and a lot of wacky color-bracelets, and studded/sometimes-spiked "punk" bracelets.........would they like, shun me or something because of it??
And would i have like a ZERO chance of getting with a guy outside my race there??
Sorry for asking so many questions, but growing up in Raleigh, NC - i've NEVER experienced any harsh racism, i DEFINITELY NEVER felt like white people stared at me because of my race, and i NEVER felt like i couldn't go to certain areas of the city because of my race! If anything, black people stare at me here more than whites, because of how i talk, & some of the t-shirts and jewelry i wear!
Well, thank you VERY MUCH to anyone who takes the time out to read, and respond to, this!! =)
So sad...things have not changed enough since the 60's.
The most overt racism I have ever seen in my life happened in Cedarburg. I was walking down Washington Ave after the strawberry festival and most of the vendors had packed up. Of course, someone had to clean the streets after the festival. So a black man was going down the street with a broom and dust pan sweeping up garbage. I am on the other side of the street and a car drives by and the driver yells: Having fun n***** b****!!! He kept driving and evidently turned around because he came down the street a second time and yelled the same thing.
I really wish this wasn't a true story.
We were all shocked and I was really upset that the "good folks" of WI would act like that. My friend who is from VA and was walking with me said he had never seen anything like that, not even down south.
To be fair, 99% of the people in the state would never do such a thing, but there are always a few born and bred racists.
I'm so appauled by this incident of 'Drive by racism'...
I'm so appauled by this incident of 'Drive by racism'...
I've seen this happen in Georgia a few times. It happened in a very "podunk" area. It has happened in a suburban area.
In suburban areas of Atlanta, alot of the racism is more hidden than one might thing though. In my university, sometimes I go into the bathroom stalls and find racist comments written on the walls. By who, I don't know. That is the thing. Anyone on the campus could have written it. To go further, I remember walking by a car in the parking lot. Before I got close to the car, I watched a person get out of that car. It was someone I knew very well, and I was okay with him. However, this changed when I saw a bumper sticker on the bumper. It read "Take the monkey out of White House and send him back to Africa". I picture of President Obama was on it. This was a person I had talked to and he seemed like a reasonable person. And yet, he had something like that on his car. I didn't find out until I saw his car.
And there are some people I run into who will make racist comments, and then swear up and down that they aren't racist.
Last edited by green_mariner; 05-01-2011 at 09:05 PM..
I've seen this happen in Georgia a few times. It happened in a very "podunk" area. It has happened in a suburban area.
In suburban areas of Atlanta, alot of the racism is more hidden than one might thing though. In my university, sometimes I go into the bathroom stalls and find racist comments written on the walls. By who, I don't know. That is the thing. Anyone on the campus could have written it. To go further, I remember walking by a car in the parking lot. Before I got close to the car, I watched a person get out of that car. It was someone I knew very well, and I was okay with him. However, this changed when I saw a bumper sticker on the bumper. It read "Take the monkey out of White House and send him back to Africa". I picture of President Obama was on it. This was a person I had talked to and he seemed like a reasonable person. And yet, he had something like that on his car. I didn't find out until I saw his car.
And there are some people I run into who will make racist comments, and then swear up and down that they aren't racist.
Just to let you know, I was being sarcastic...
In order to be offended by someone, you have to first in your mind, think their 'worth' being offended by...
Trashy people with low IQ's, don't offend me anymore....
They never had my trust to begin with, so they can't offend me...they can only display what's in their heart, which was there long before I encountered them, for reasons that had nothing to do with either of us...
Honestly. Wisconsin is pretty much all white people or natives. Milwaukee is the one exception but it is racially divided by geography, other than than UW-M being a nice mix with a lot of college aged kids around. That being said, it's not like people are racist.
As for living in Green Bay... DON'T DO IT! It shouldn't even be considered a city. It's more like a small town that goes on for a while. Lambeau Field is about the only big building. I've lived here for ten years (I'm currently 21yo) and there is NOTHING to do. Unless your only hobby is getting as drunk as possible you will have a hard time being entertained. Regardless of age that is seriously one of the only things to do. That's all I did in high school and now that i'm of age i'm sick of it! Even older people with a disposable income seem to have nothing to do but drink.
The one thing I like about GB is that people are incredibly nice. It doesn't matter who you are, every stranger will wave at you and welcome you to every community event. We tend to have quite a few community events (it's basically people getting together to drink). It also seems to be more of an area for families with young children.
Lastly, the majority of the people that live here never leave. They were born and raised here and so were their parents and grandparents, etc. This leads to a lot of stupidity. The people are very nice but know of nothing outside of GB and seem to be poorly educated. It's great to have conversations with nice outgoing people, but there is no depth to them and it makes it very hard to talk about anything that requires thought.
I get tired of the whole racism issue. As a white I have been in parts of this country and been discriminated against because I am white. Areas of Houston are known for this. Discrimination happens to everyone. My point is about law enforcement not doing its job. I'm one of the people paying the taxes that go to pay them. Why am I not protected? Why are my animals subject to abuse? If you've taken my post to be racist, you missed the point. Would I live in an area with a lot of Hmong? Not after this experience which I suppose would make me racist to some. That's just too bad. Personally, laying down to be a doormat for anyone is not my style.
The Lutheran Church in Wisconsin sponsored the Hmong to live here. The Hmong were then dumped on the tax payers when the Lutheran Church decided they had had enough. They were given ten years without having to pay taxes, are given money by the state for housing and for new cars. And Wisconsin is going bankrupt. Wonder why? And by the way, you don't get all the stories that go on online. This year there was a drive by shooting in my mobile home park. Again, Hmong related. The car in front of the home blew up. Never made the papers.
The bottom line of this post was places to avoid living and why. I gave an account of my experience thus far in Dunn County, Wisconsin. That's not to say that someone else will have the same experience. I had to get licensing for my dogs this year. In Dunn County it would have cost me 180.00 at any vet to get three dogs vaccinated. In St. Croix County to the north and Eau Claire County to the East it cost me 69.50. Last year I took in their rabies vaccine records showing that they had a history of three year vaccines. The vet, despite this and my request for another three year vaccine chose instead to give them a one year. When one of the girls had a bad reaction to the shot, I was told that I would have to pay an additional exam fee of 35.00 for them to see the dog again. Needless to say, I changed vets. Economics play a large part in why communities thrive or wallow. It's expensive to live here, in more ways than just in dollars.
It's all about choice. I'm not happy with my choice to move here and I've explained why. I have made another choice in moving as soon as I'm able. I can only hope that my next destination will a better experience for me and my dogs. It's why I came to this forum initially, to search out other people's stories and to research from there what I may be up against in a future move. I'm also talking to people in the areas of the country I may move to. The more information you have, the better prepared you'll be.
I get tired of the whole racism issue. As a white I have been in parts of this country and been discriminated against because I am white. Areas of Houston are known for this. Discrimination happens to everyone. My point is about law enforcement not doing its job. I'm one of the people paying the taxes that go to pay them. Why am I not protected? Why are my animals subject to abuse? If you've taken my post to be racist, you missed the point. Would I live in an area with a lot of Hmong? Not after this experience which I suppose would make me racist to some. That's just too bad. Personally, laying down to be a doormat for anyone is not my style.
The Lutheran Church in Wisconsin sponsored the Hmong to live here. The Hmong were then dumped on the tax payers when the Lutheran Church decided they had had enough. They were given ten years without having to pay taxes, are given money by the state for housing and for new cars. And Wisconsin is going bankrupt. Wonder why? And by the way, you don't get all the stories that go on online. This year there was a drive by shooting in my mobile home park. Again, Hmong related. The car in front of the home blew up. Never made the papers.
The bottom line of this post was places to avoid living and why. I gave an account of my experience thus far in Dunn County, Wisconsin. That's not to say that someone else will have the same experience. I had to get licensing for my dogs this year. In Dunn County it would have cost me 180.00 at any vet to get three dogs vaccinated. In St. Croix County to the north and Eau Claire County to the East it cost me 69.50. Last year I took in their rabies vaccine records showing that they had a history of three year vaccines. The vet, despite this and my request for another three year vaccine chose instead to give them a one year. When one of the girls had a bad reaction to the shot, I was told that I would have to pay an additional exam fee of 35.00 for them to see the dog again. Needless to say, I changed vets. Economics play a large part in why communities thrive or wallow. It's expensive to live here, in more ways than just in dollars.
It's all about choice. I'm not happy with my choice to move here and I've explained why. I have made another choice in moving as soon as I'm able. I can only hope that my next destination will a better experience for me and my dogs. It's why I came to this forum initially, to search out other people's stories and to research from there what I may be up against in a future move. I'm also talking to people in the areas of the country I may move to. The more information you have, the better prepared you'll be.
Sounds to me like the 'Hmong' could be the title of Stephen Kings next horror novel...
I mean just from what I've heard from others...
But I know the first generation of 'Hmong'...sacrificed a lot, over in the Vietnamn conflict for Americans...
They faught bravely, as they were recruited by the CIA, to fight a secret war...many 10's of 1000's of them died, in service to us...
And then when the war ended...the North Vietnese government began an all out slaughter on them...and so amnesty was given to them to come here...
I've never met any second or 3rd or 4th genertion 'Hmong'...so I have no comment on them, except what I hear from others...
I can't and won't deny that they were of service to the US during the Vietnam conflict. I've met a scarce few here of the Hmong that gave me a different perspective than my initial and ongoing one. The majority though seem to feel that we owe them everything. I have friends in Canada where a lot of the Hmong went also and they tell me tales of the Hmong gangs that have formed, the drug problems, etc. I've seen some of that here in the Midwest too. It reminds me frequently of the gangs made up primarily of Hispanic illegals in California and other areas of the Southwest.
The increasing problems that are presented by these groups really mar the vision of The United States I was raised to believe in. Sometimes, or maybe more often than not, 'reality' sucks. But, I have the power of choice which is why I am looking for an area to live that is more in keeping with that vision. I may or may not succeed. Maybe in time the consciousness of the people of this country will evolve enough that the original vision of a diversity of people, living together in respect for each other will come about. We simply are not there, yet.
Odd thing is about your post..is probablly they very traits, that make them so 'pesty' over here, are what made them such good fighters, over there in Asia...
And over there, across the ocean in Asia...I read where they were kinda like the Asian version of gypsies...and not particularly liked well...
Kind of a people without a 'homeland'...like the Kurds of Northern Iraq and so one...or like how Isrealis use to be before land was partisioned for them to return to their ancestreal lands...
I just hope your situation turns for the better soon...it's no fun not being able to find peace and comfort in ones own home...
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So sad...things have not changed enough since the 60's.
