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I have to say there is *some* truth to her comment. Look, of course I don’t think that every person in the south is a racist, bigot, homophobe, islamophobe, xenophobe, etc. But there is a higher concentration of those people in the southeastern US. And in fact, hate crimes are actually increasing in the Carolinas. Pretty scary
Born and raised in rural SE North Carolina. My first exposure to true racism was in Northern VA by a boss from NJ. Don't get me started on Boston. Racism is a human illness, not regional, although people in many parts of the country tend to think it's just a southern thing. Oh, hell no. I think the South has dealt with it better than any other region due to it's history and large contingent of African Americans who aren't specifically assigned a certain area or boxed-in to a part of the city/metro. Is it segregated? Yes. But not as much as many other parts of the country like the Northeast.
Most White people in the South have seen and/or interacted with Black people in some shape, form or fashion. Not so much in the Northeast and other parts of the country. It doesn't mean their racist but there is that lack of exposure and complete ignorance.
Last edited by Big Aristotle; 12-28-2018 at 08:07 AM..
Born and raised in rural SE North Carolina. My first exposure to true racism was in Northern VA by a boss from NJ. Don't get me started on Boston. Racism is a human illness, not regional, although people in many parts of the country tend to think it's just a southern thing. Oh, hell no. I think the South has dealt with it better than any other region due to it's history and large contingent of African Americans who aren't specifically assigned a certain area or boxed-in to a part of the city/metro. Is it segregated? Yes. But not as much as many other parts of the country like the Northeast.
Most White people in the South have seen and/or interacted with Black people in some shape, form or fashion. Not so much in the Northeast and other parts of the country. It doesn't mean their racist but there is that lack of exposure and complete ignorance.
I understand that it exists everywhere, but there is a higher percentage of it in the south. Born and raised in the northeast myself, I was around plenty of non-white people growing up, so not sure what you’re talking about there. I know that some areas of New England have a reputation for being racist, then again many of the New England states have some of the highest percentages of whites in the country.
Why do you think so much of the south is conservative/ votes Republican every election? Small minds is the answer. The further away you travel from a big city, the diversity decreases. And on the other hand, the closer you get to a big city/metro area, the diversity increases. The south has a higher population of people living in small towns/rural areas than the northeast and west coast. Hence why the south tends to always vote Republican in the elections.
Being here in N.C. I have seen/heard some things that have rubbed me the wrong way that I’ve never seen back home. For example, that bathroom bill a couple years ago was a huge step backwards. Also, a guy that I used to work with who was born and raised in Stanly county would constantly make disparaging remarks about Jews and Muslims right in front of me. And a girl who I am friendly with born and raised in rural N.C. tells me that her hometown is full of racist, narrow minded people.
It could be worse of course. Go into the Deep South (Alabama, Mississippi) and it’s even more scary.
We live in the Charlotte area and have in-laws are in the Boston area. We're VERY familiar with both areas. You're comments are some of the most untrue, bigoted, and ignorant I've seen in a while. There is absolutely no evidence of the baseless stereotyping and intolerance you gave. We've been here temporarily in the Boston/Cape Cod area for a year caring for my mother-in-law who's battling Parkinson's Disease. There's very little diversity of thought here in MA and any ideas not liberal are frowned upon. NC is much more live-and-let-live and Liberals and Conservatives get along well compared to other parts of the nation (and I've travel extensively for decades). There's MUCH more racial diversity in the churches in NC than I've seen anywhere here in MA and the entire Northeast. When we're out and about to stores, there much less interaction between other races in MA than in NC. The various races pretty much stay to themselves. Sad. The Charlotte metro area has one of the largest black middle classes in the nation. The cost of living is astronomically high in MA. Buying Power (cost of living vs average annual income) is MUCH better in NC than MA. You can live better on less. Considering how high taxes are here in MA, there's very little to show for it when you look around at infrastructure. Potholes everywhere. Rusted bridge supports. In the wealthy village my parents-in-law live in, not one sidewalk. Quite a few streets are unpaved. Etc., etc., etc. MA residents seem more than happy to be taxed into oblivion with very little to show for it. There's continual whining about the lack of "affordable housing", yet the politicians up here continue to enact the very policies that priced people out of home ownership to start with, yet voters blindly vote them back in. They therefore raise taxes MORE, further exasperating the affordable housing issue (I mean, hello??? lol). The "education" issue is very subjective. My brother and I, our kids, and my brother's kids (all of our kids are young adults now) went to NC schools and we are flourishing. Our in-laws (with the exception of my parents-in-law) and their young adult children are struggling to make ends meet, even with the same level of education we had in NC. Our education was fine and got us to where we needed to be to do well in life. Rarely does anyone move to the North from the South "for a better life". It's the other way around. Just look at migration stats and you'll see. It's just a fact. The crime rate in Charlotte is one of the lowest in any large city in the nation. As of September, Charlotte had 44 murders and Charlotte's population is just under 9000,000. That's very low for a city this size. I've lived in the Charlotte metro area nearly all of my 53 years of life and have never had a crime issue. Not once. Like with ANY area, crime is generally isolated in certain pockets of a city and the perpetrator and victim know one another. If one uses common sense, knows where to stay away from, they will be fine......... For whatever reason, you have an axe to grind, because your post was based more on your own personal biases and closed-minded bigotries (so much for "tolerance", lol). If NC is the hell hole you seem to find it to be, we are all free to move/live wherever we'd like. Most who come to NC from other parts parts of the nation (including the northeast), come, love it, and never leave (my wife included). Like with anyone of us who might move somewhere new, if the OP moves to NC, isn't a jerk, is polite, and ignores the stereotyping you presented, they will be fine, no matter their race, religion, or anything else. These are just generalizations. There are some jerks in the South as there are anywhere. Too, the overwhelming majority of the people we have encountered here in MA have been wonderful. But how one approaches a situation has a lot in determining how well they will do. So deal with your own perjudicial demons before casting stones towards others than aren't like you.
Can we please issue a Pulitzer for this post? At the very least please sticky it...I am from MA all my life and this couldn't be more accurate. We're moving to Charlotte and have been back and forth for some time and I couldn't agree more with this poster said about both places.
We moved to the Ballantyne area and could find no issues of Deep South. Actually we are surrounded with many who lives not too far from us in NY! Seems there are plenty moving here and the people are very like minded and educated.
I don’t think of North Carolina, especially Charlotte, as “Deep South”.
Yes those who do are just showing their own ignorance and or being racist...Charlotte is for sure screwed up in many ways but being in the "deep south" isnt the reason..
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