Being Black in AZ. Is it possible to be prosperous in this Republican State? (Phoenix: 2013, violent crime)

[A-Z16]

Originally Posted by ashpelham

I'm a white guy in Alabama. I can't make it here, with a Bachelors in Accounting from THE University of Alabama. I'm straight. I'm married. I'm semi-republican and 70% conservative.

Maybe it's my tan that shoots me down.

I don't know how anyone, anywhere "makes it".

That's terrible but there's a whole lot of truth to that! Do you at least work in accounting? Are you sorry you went to college?

[ashpelham]

Yep, sorry I went to college for Accounting. Poor fit. Honestly, there's a crap ton of us who should have spent our years toiling away doing manual labor, making perhaps less money, perhaps more money, perhaps just the same, but we are poor fits for office/admin/business.

But higher education has done the greatest sales job in the history of America.The billions of student loan debt are a testament to it.

A-Z16, keep your head up brother. YOU will be successful when you find that THING that you love and are good at. Matters NOT where you live, but Alabama should be down the list...FYI...

[sargeant79]

I don't think Arizona is more racist than any other state, and actually you could make a really good argument that it is less. There is a fairly small percentage of African-Americans here, especially when comparing Phoenix to other cities of the same size. As a result, I think you have a lot of white people who grew up here that haven't had a whole lot of experience with African Americans. But for the most part the hatred that you often see in other parts of the countries doesn't seem to be there, especially when compared with many areas back east including several allegedly progressive cities in the North. I heard the N-word used in public far more the few years I lived in SW Michigan than I ever have here in Arizona.

Also, I lived in Chicago most of my life before coming out here four years ago. There, you had white neighborhoods, black neighborhoods, Puerto Rican neighborhoods, etc, with one side of the street or the other being the border to a different neighborhood and very little mixing in terms of where people live. That's not the case in Phoenix. There are definitely some extremely white areas, but more often than not there is a sizeable Latino and white population with a handful of other groups all living side by side. Neighborhoods in Phoenix are divided by income levels far more than they are by race.

Most of the vitriol tends to be directed at illegals, and unfortunately, it means that a lot of Mexican Americans who are law abiding US citizens get lumped in with that. There is a real problem as far as many Arizonans lumping all Latino folks together in that regard, and I'm sure it's what largely causes Arizona's reputation in the national media right now. As with most things, the national media tends to exaggerate it and take it to a real over-the-top level, but the whackadoo extremists who protest in front of mosques and take it upon themselves to patrol the border in their own pickup trucks while brandishing AR-15s certainly don't help to change any perceptions.

[A-Z16]

Originally Posted by sargeant79

I don't think Arizona is more racist than any other state, and actually you could make a really good argument that it is less. There is a fairly small percentage of African-Americans here, especially when comparing Phoenix to other cities of the same size. As a result, I think you have a lot of white people who grew up here that haven't had a whole lot of experience with African Americans. But for the most part the hatred that you often see in other parts of the countries doesn't seem to be there, especially when compared with many areas back east including several allegedly progressive cities in the North. I heard the N-word used in public far more the few years I lived in SW Michigan than I ever have here in Arizona.

Also, I lived in Chicago most of my life before coming out here four years ago. There, you had white neighborhoods, black neighborhoods, Puerto Rican neighborhoods, etc, with one side of the street or the other being the border to a different neighborhood and very little mixing in terms of where people live. That's not the case in Phoenix. There are definitely some extremely white areas, but more often than not there is a sizeable Latino and white population with a handful of other groups all living side by side. Neighborhoods in Phoenix are divided by income levels far more than they are by race.

Most of the vitriol tends to be directed at illegals, and unfortunately, it means that a lot of Mexican Americans who are law abiding US citizens get lumped in with that. There is a real problem as far as many Arizonans lumping all Latino folks together in that regard, and I'm sure it's what largely causes Arizona's reputation in the national media right now. As with most things, the national media tends to exaggerate it and take it to a real over-the-top level, but the whackadoo extremists who protest in front of mosques and take it upon themselves to patrol the border in their own pickup trucks while brandishing AR-15s certainly don't help to change any perceptions.

Are you serious? The actually patrol the border in their own vehicles? Do they get paid for this and what do they have to gain?

[sargeant79]

Originally Posted by A-Z16

Are you serious? The actually patrol the border in their own vehicles? Do they get paid for this and what do they have to gain?

There are several groups of civilian "militias" in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas that take it upon themselves to patrol the border because they think the US government is either incapable of or uninterested in stopping illegal immigration from Mexico. They don't get paid, but their reward is whatever feeling they get from thinking they're protecting America. They're a very small minority of people who represent the extreme viewpoint on their side of the illegal immigration issue.

[fengxg]

Arizonians are super friendly. Especially comparing to Californians.

As for republicans, they are not against blacks, they are just against crimes. There is no correlation between crimes and blacks.

[saffordpastor]

Originally Posted by A-Z16

Are blacks (5-6% population) able to prosper in this Republican State of AZ with a government of LDS members? Is there a secret to this? I have read many posts and seen a few YouTube videos about AZ being a racist state. I play well with others but I don't do well with racism!

You have done a great job of stereotyping all Republicans and LDS folks as racist.

Very untrue and offensive.

[A-Z16]

Originally Posted by saffordpastor

You have done a great job of stereotyping all Republicans and LDS folks as racist.

Very untrue and offensive.

Forgive my ignorance certainly not my intention.

[A-Z16]

Originally Posted by fengxg

Arizonians are super friendly. Especially comparing to Californians.

As for republicans, they are not against blacks, they are just against crimes. There is no correlation between crimes and blacks.

Thank you.

[saffordpastor]

Originally Posted by A-Z16

Forgive my ignorance certainly not my intention.

All is forgiven....you sound like a genuinely nice person and I hope all works out well for you.