Boston is without a doubt the worst place I have ever lived. (Worcester: middle-class, to rent)
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"think theyre smarter than me" is the centering of their views/opinions over POC in 9/10 circumstances.
By certain metrics MA is the best educated state and one of the rudest.
What do you mean by this?
If you're saying what I think you're saying it's like the person always knows the answer and constantly try to give you tips and pointers in a friendly but somewhat condescending tone. Like you are their dear younger sibling. It's like framing a conversation in such a way that anything said to them is either something they already knew or something that's wrong. It's not hostile or openly self aggrandizing but it's like a thinly veiled pompousness disguised as benevolent self confidence
People can like you, respect you somewhat, and actually think you are smart but still act this way.
We (whites) treat each other like this constantly as well in MA
I notice this trait commonly with CA and NY people as well as MA. It might be most common in whites or Asian guys (I've only seen this in men) have this trait as-well and a handful of black men. Anecdotally, I've never met any Hispanic people with this trait but I'm sure it exists to some extent.
Not really something I can give you examples for but whit people in New England RI and MA in particular really can only bond with you over local things. Thye just has a very one-way approach of thinking that's excessively euro/white-centric. Its very easy to pick up on (if youre black I guess) and I'd say in comparison to Maryland, New Jersey, California, Nevada, Chicago DC, and most of the south.
Definitely stems from a higher degree of segregation for a black population that isnt that large. White people in New England (less so CT) are just very clumsy at navigating interracial conversation and put themselves at the center of it 9/10 times. They tend to want to dominate the conversation. In other more diverse or integrated areas, I find that wite people (aside from bigots) tend to listen more and talk less. They also have more familiarity with black people and black friends. But that's people because the typical white person neighborhoods in greater Boston is something like 81/82% white and 2.6% black. Its really not nearly that drastic in other cosmopolitan areas.
As a result when talking to white people from "just outside of Boston"...culturally-it can be a bit like talking to someone from a small lily-white town. Because oftentimes they are. The way in which white people in MA see thing and the world around them is through a hyper white lense. And they unknowingly expect POC to see things through that lens but we dont.
One conversation I had which a ~40-year-old Black woman at Amtrak in DC, She saw my ticket was to Boston and we started talking. She didn't like white people from Boston because they were rude "rude is one thing but think they're smarter than me *shakes head*" The rudeness is probably the New England coldness but the "think theyre smarter than me" is the centering of their views/opinions over POC in 9/10 circumstances. She said she would let people know 'she was from Baltimore and she didn't play that'
A white person in Jersey City/NYC isnt going to want to take a black person to the whitest place in town because theyre a bit more aware. A white person in Boston doesn't have that awareness generally nor enough interest to know where different races of people congregate. Whit people in NYC or DCwill typically know a few places where non-white people frequent even if they never go. Sort of a basic understanding and respect thing.
If you talk about Dorchester to a white person very often they're going to immediately flip the conversation to Dorchester circa 1987 or something when it was whiter and they could relate a story back to you. If you talk to a white person about Roxbury being the heart of black culture they will fight you on it and say it's only been mostly black since like 1970 in an attempt to downplay the racial aspect of gentrification there. Not something you're gonna hear about much of Brooklyn or parts of Philly because people know and respect that black identity of the neighborhood(s).
It's the subtle things. This lack of perceived "respect or understanding may very well stem from White people in New England not having POC in upper management at their jobs and having the highest share of white household % of people making 200k+ (85.6%) out of all major metros besides Portland.
Too many generalizations and stereotypes to even parse. And no class or generational context so to you, all White people in New England see things the same way and within their own cultural context and all non-Whites are culturally astute and live in a multicultural world. Sorry, disagree with this fantasy. If you're going to generalize based on skin color it is usually best to come with data or facts (or at least specify contextual variances), otherwise it's just another version of bigotry, and probably a lot of confirmation bias. New England has cultural peculiarities just like other regions, but they all aren't limited to one race.
Last edited by bostongymjunkie; 12-07-2020 at 06:10 PM..
One conversation I had which a ~40-year-old Black woman at Amtrak in DC, She saw my ticket was to Boston and we started talking. She didn't like white people from Boston because they were rude "rude is one thing but think they're smarter than me *shakes head*" The rudeness is probably the New England coldness but the "think theyre smarter than me" is the centering of their views/opinions over POC in 9/10 circumstances. She said she would let people know 'she was from Baltimore and she didn't play that'
I was originally opposed to your comment because - based on my own experience travelling abroad - if you have two American couples in Germany, one from New England and one from Georgia, 9/10 the New England couple will probably be making more of an effort to "blend in" while the Georgia couple will have American flags on their clothing and get mad when a local doesn't speak English.
However, thinking about it further, there's an important distinction between how a New Englander acts abroad, elsewhere in the US, and at home. I think that the state is a safe space for both Brahmins and M*******s alike, where it's expected that visitors will adjust to accommodate our culture, or they'll deal with it. If someone came up to me in South Station with a "I'm from Baltimore and I don't play that" attitude, I probably wouldn't give them the time of day..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Space_League
It's like framing a conversation in such a way that anything said to them is either something they already knew or something that's wrong. It's not hostile or openly self aggrandizing but it's like a thinly veiled pompousness disguised as benevolent self confidence
By certain metrics MA is the best educated state and one of the rudest.
What do you mean by this?
If you're saying what I think you're saying it's like the person always knows the answer and constantly try to give you tips and pointers in a friendly but somewhat condescending tone. Like you are their dear younger sibling. It's like framing a conversation in such a way that anything said to them is either something they already knew or something that's wrong. It's not hostile or openly self aggrandizing but it's like a thinly veiled pompousness disguised as benevolent self confidence
People can like you, respect you somewhat, and actually think you are smart but still act this way.
We (whites) treat each other like this constantly as well in MA
I notice this trait commonly with CA and NY people as well as MA. It might be most common in whites or Asian guys (I've only seen this in men) have this trait as-well and a handful of black men. Anecdotally, I've never met any Hispanic people with this trait but I'm sure it exists to some extent.
Yes it's a very common trait of white upper middle class "liberals" many of whom--to put it mildly-- have clear issues with race in my opinion, as evidenced by endless virtue signalling as well as proposing policies that sound good, but actually do nothing but inhibit the economic advancement of lower class black and brown people.
What gets to me mostly is those (usually baby boomers or older) that failed to learn technology and thought they either get a pass or we'll roll things back.
There's some differences between liberals and limousine liberals. Some feel guilt and just want one stop shopping with higher taxes rather than shopping around for non profits.
What gets to me mostly is those (usually baby boomers or older) that failed to learn technology and thought they either get a pass or we'll roll things back.
There's some differences between liberals and limousine liberals. Some feel guilt and just want one stop shopping with higher taxes rather than shopping around for non profits.
I think for a country as prosperous as USA, we should be able to provide a baseline of food, shelter and medical services to our population. I also support UBI for all citizens, provided it is implemented alongside, as opposed to on top of existing government payments. I would hope that this could be implemented with a goal of reducing poverty and a secondary goal of replacing less efficient government assistance programs.
I also believe there is an inherent tradeoff between the strength of these social programs and immigration. The more generous welfare programs we have, the more strict we have to be on immigration.
However you make another very interesting point I had not considered. That is the extent to which government programs can assuage our guilt while allowing us to take a hands-off approach to philanthropy and just assuming our tax dollars take care of all that.
There is something more personal about direct giving or at least more involvement with the allocation of your 'public aid dollars'. It's not something everyone has time to deal with though. If done correctly the government will take care of it more efficiently than everyone doing it for themselves. However we know it's not always going to be done perfectly by the govt
If you're saying what I think you're saying it's like the person always knows the answer and constantly try to give you tips and pointers in a friendly but somewhat condescending tone. Like you are their dear younger sibling. It's like framing a conversation in such a way that anything said to them is either something they already knew or something that's wrong. It's not hostile or openly self aggrandizing but it's like a thinly veiled pompousness disguised as benevolent self confidence
People can like you, respect you somewhat, and actually think you are smart but still act this way.
You gotta win them over before they realize they’re being won! I genuinely love this description.
I think for a country as prosperous as USA, we should be able to provide a baseline of food, shelter and medical services to our population. I also support UBI for all citizens, provided it is implemented alongside, as opposed to on top of existing government payments. I would hope that this could be implemented with a goal of reducing poverty and a secondary goal of replacing less efficient government assistance programs.
I also believe there is an inherent tradeoff between the strength of these social programs and immigration. The more generous welfare programs we have, the more strict we have to be on immigration.
However you make another very interesting point I had not considered. That is the extent to which government programs can assuage our guilt while allowing us to take a hands-off approach to philanthropy and just assuming our tax dollars take care of all that.
There is something more personal about direct giving or at least more involvement with the allocation of your 'public aid dollars'. It's not something everyone has time to deal with though. If done correctly the government will take care of it more efficiently than everyone doing it for themselves. However we know it's not always going to be done perfectly by the govt
Unfortunately, the reality of the government doesn't support the assertion above. It's too big and is relied upon far too much. It doesn't do much of anything well and needs to get out of certain areas in order to focus on what it was intended to do. State and local government is in a much better position to deal with these issues, as states see fit in accordance with laws.
There are other problems with this post as well. The USA is not currently as prosperous as you portray it to be, and is in debt by more than $20 trillion. It is being artificially supported by printing presses which pump cash into a house of cards economy. The reality is that in normal conditions most citizens don't need handouts from the government, which actually diminish a person's level of self sufficiency and sense of purpose and ending in people settling for less in life. It does, however, serve a purpose to those who desire to maintain control over people for those with nefarious motives. You reduce poverty by encouraging people to educate and or train themselves for employment based on their intellectual and vocational abilities. You discourage them from cranking out more children than they can ever possibly afford to raise. For the disabled and those with temporary life disruptions, you provide for. You hurt, not help by enabling people to lack confidence and motivation to be self sufficient. Empty virtue signalling is also not a practical solution.
Last edited by bostongymjunkie; 12-08-2020 at 05:30 AM..
I don't find white people in Baltimore to be necessarily friendly to me or black people at all... but its very obvious in how they talk, the areas they frequent and what they consider to be middle class/desirable areas they are around black people and have a much much better understanding of them than white people in New England-by far.
Obviously, this can change on a hyper-local level but regionally its pretty consistent. The only "area" id find to be an exception is the New Haven area.
White people in Baltimore are around black people more probably just because there are so many more black people in Maryland than in MA.
I assume there re many nice neighborhoods in Maryland with considerable black populations, how many are there in MA? Randolph?
Last time I checked we have things like welfare, WIC, and EBT cards. Apparently that's not enough?
It's funny to me that some people feel the need to put those who have a different opinion than them on ignore. I mean really?
Maybe the large corporations out there like facebook, reddit and the NFL should take care of all the poor people.
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