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So what is this culture that Charlotte seems to be lacking? We see thread after thread on diversity and culture in Charlotte, but what does it mean? Ani has started a thread about diversity, so now I want to ask about culture.
The threads I read about culture are usually people of one specific ethnicity or race who complain that Charlotte is lacking in that particular ethnicity's or race's "cultural" needs or desires. So, if a Puertorican lives in Gastonia but can't find Puertorican happenings, Gastonia lacks culture? Or an Indian can't find an Indian restaurant she likes, so does that mean there's a lack of culture? Just do a search in the Charlotte forum and find all the threads on culture and you'll see so many threads on the issue.
I found this from wikipedia:
Quote:
Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture has been called "the way of life for an entire society."[3] As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, norms of behavior such as law and morality, and systems of belief as well as the art.
So let's go back to Gastonia or any other "small town USAs" that we have in the surrounding Charlotte metro. These towns themselves have their own identity, and based on the wiki description above, they have their own culture. These towns are very old, some going back to the late 18th century. That's over 200 years of CULTURE!
So, I have to ask the following blunt question: if a town is made up of mostly southern (some may say redneck) white people, who's roots go back to well before the civil war, who have southern pride, southern heritage, and everything that makes one southern, does that mean it lacks culture?
I actually find it quite insulting for people to say we lack culture just because they won't find their Little Italy, Chinatown, or whatever little foreign town you want to call it. This isn't New York, it's not L.A., it's not Chi-town, it's not D.C. It's Charlotte and the South! We have our own culture!
So when people ask, "Does Charlotte have culture?" I say with a resounding, "YES! We do. We have centuries of culture here." And if you don't like our culture, then we would much rather you just leave instead of complaining about why we don't have "YOUR CULTURE". We have our own, take it or leave it. If you don't like it, leave!
There you have it, folks. Charlotte isn't Buffalo, Cleveland, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, or any other place that you decided to leave. You can take Charlotte on its terms or make yourself miserable trying to turn it into some place that it isn't. The choice is yours.
carolina_guy, I'd give you more rep if I could. Fantastic post.
There you have it, folks. Charlotte isn't Buffalo, Cleveland, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, or any other place that you decided to leave. You can take Charlotte on its terms or make yourself miserable trying to turn it into some place that it isn't. The choice is yours.
carolina_guy, I'd give you more rep if I could. Fantastic post.
+1000
Fantastic post (as always).
I am just amazed that so many move here for the lower cost of living and vote in such a way that it will be impossible to sustain said lower cost.
Historically the South was lower taxes and less government, but they both grow like a cancer day by day...
[not you transplants, but the government and taxes]
I second it Carolina_guy. Charlotte is full of culture, many people want the things they are so used to. I miss some things about NY, but from all my posts I tell people to embrace Charlotte, and go back home to visit to fulfill ones soul. We are so happy to have chosen this city as a place to live.
This from someone who displays nothing but flagrant contempt for anyone not born and raised here. Frankly, I'm a tad confused about why you so dislike newcomers. Certainly there are people that whine,complain,compare and contrast Charlotte to their previous cities. On the other hand, there are far more people who dont. The complaining of newcomers is just as bothersome to you as the incessant maligning of newcomers is to me.
I can't vouch for him as I don't recall said posts, but I can say I don't have this contempt for newcomers as a whole. I just get p.o'ed about many (mostly on this forum and not in person) coming here about our lack of culture. It's actually very ignorant to say such a thing and blatant disregard for our own culture. But just wanted to make that clear for where I was coming from.
I second it Carolina_guy. Charlotte is full of culture, many people want the things they are so used to. I miss some things about NY, but from all my posts I tell people to embrace Charlotte, and go back home to visit to fulfill ones soul. We are so happy to have chosen this city as a place to live.
Exactly. I mean really, it makes just as much sense as a Japanase guy in Italy saying Italians lack culture, just because they don't have Japanese cultural leanings.
Location: Charlotte,NC, US, North America, Earth, Alpha Quadrant,Milky Way Galaxy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carolina_guy
So what is this culture that Charlotte seems to be lacking? We see thread after thread on diversity and culture in Charlotte, but what does it mean? Ani has started a thread about diversity, so now I want to ask about culture.
The threads I read about culture are usually people of one specific ethnicity or race who complain that Charlotte is lacking in that particular ethnicity's or race's "cultural" needs or desires. So, if a Puertorican lives in Gastonia but can't find Puertorican happenings, Gastonia lacks culture? Or an Indian can't find an Indian restaurant she likes, so does that mean there's a lack of culture? Just do a search in the Charlotte forum and find all the threads on culture and you'll see so many threads on the issue.
I found this from wikipedia:
So let's go back to Gastonia or any other "small town USAs" that we have in the surrounding Charlotte metro. These towns themselves have their own identity, and based on the wiki description above, they have their own culture. These towns are very old, some going back to the late 18th century. That's over 200 years of CULTURE!
So, I have to ask the following blunt question: if a town is made up of mostly southern (some may say redneck) white people, who's roots go back to well before the civil war, who have southern pride, southern heritage, and everything that makes one southern, does that mean it lacks culture?
I actually find it quite insulting for people to say we lack culture just because they won't find their Little Italy, Chinatown, or whatever little foreign town you want to call it. This isn't New York, it's not L.A., it's not Chi-town, it's not D.C. It's Charlotte and the South! We have our own culture!
So when people ask, "Does Charlotte have culture?" I say with a resounding, "YES! We do. We have centuries of culture here." And if you don't like our culture, then we would much rather you just leave instead of complaining about why we don't have "YOUR CULTURE". We have our own, take it or leave it. If you don't like it, leave!
I can't vouch for him as I don't recall said posts, but I can say I don't have this contempt for newcomers as a whole. I just get p.o'ed about many (mostly on this forum and not in person) coming here about our lack of culture. It's actually very ignorant to say such a thing and blatant disregard for our own culture. But just wanted to make that clear for where I was coming from.
I can totally sympathize. I am a newcomer, and a reformed New Yorker. Actually, I probably get 10x as PO'd, because these are people that represent an entire state. But, the truth is for every mouthy ex NYer that whines and moans about no culture, there is probably 5 that are perfectly content here.
I can totally sympathize. I am a newcomer, and a reformed New Yorker. Actually, I probably get 10x as PO'd, because these are people that represent an entire state. But, the truth is for every mouthy ex NYer that whines and moans about no culture, there is probably 5 that are perfectly content here.
But it's not just NYer's and I didn't even allude that it was. It's anybody from anywhere that has something to say about our culture here. I liked how you said "reformed." hehehe....glad you have been!
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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This is a question that I grappled with, years ago.
We have a personal culture & where we live has it's own culture. If you live your whole life somewhere, your personal culture meshes & is intertwined with where you live. If you move to another area, your personal culture no longer meshes with where you live. That does not mean that you now live in a place with no culture.
My personal culture is midwestern (coming from northern & southern lines, several of them intermarried with various tribes including Lenape & Mohawk & with an immigrant grandfather.) I've spent most of my life in the Mid-Atlantic. I learned a long time ago to pick & choose from the local culture, & keep my mouth shut. It's not up to me to pass judgment on a local culture that's over 300 years old.
If things were so great here, why would I leave?
I plan to buy in Kings Mountain or Lincoln County. I know who lives there. I may share some ancestors with some of them. They have a culture & some of it isn't that far off from some of mine.
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