What's up with people in Chicago (Lincoln: low income, purchasing, college)

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by MaryMary2012

The reality is, much of the racial tension throughout the country tends to be between whites and blacks, and not really other non black persons...

I guess I don't understand why, is all. Just seems to childish to me.

You know what, I take it back. I did witness a really racist event last summer one night, maybe midnight. I was walking home and I heard some yelling outside of an apartment. One white guy, one black. The white guy was yelling at the black guy for no apparent reason, and the black guy did not seem like he was being a nuisance or anything. The white guy was just SCREAMING and called him the N word. The black guy was really civil and asking what he did. I wanted to do something about it, but I didn't want to make matters worse because the guy screaming was obviously drunk, or have a fight start. The black guy didn't seem to be doing anything weird. There were other people looking like "wtf??" at the whole thing too.

I do remember another event too, I was in uptown somewhere and there was a sidewalk sale. One of the guys said something about me being "white." When I told him I'm middle eastern (I love how a lot of people don't actually know there's many different types of Middle Eastern, some who look more Greek/Italian than others), he seemed more OK with me... Made no sense either why something so simple as pointing out that I'm middle eastern would make him be more OK with me even though my actions never changed.

[MaryMary2012]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I guess I don't understand why, is all. Just seems to childish to me.

You know what, I take it back. I did witness a really racist event last summer one night, maybe midnight. I was walking home and I heard some yelling outside of an apartment. One white guy, one black. The white guy was yelling at the black guy for no apparent reason, and the black guy did not seem like he was being a nuisance or anything. The white guy was just SCREAMING and called him the N word. The black guy was really civil and asking what he did. I wanted to do something about it, but I didn't want to make matters worse or have a fight start. The black guy didn't seem to be doing anything weird. There were other people looking like "wtf??" at the whole thing too.

I do remember another event too, I was in uptown somewhere and there was a sidewalk sale. One of the guys said something about me being "white." When I told him I'm middle eastern (I love how a lot of people don't actually know there's many different types of Middle Eastern, some who look more Greek/Italian than others), he seemed more OK with me... Made no sense either why something so simple as pointing out that I'm middle eastern would make him be more OK with me even though my actions never changed.

Outside of full blooded Native Americans (who currently account for less than 1% of the U.S. population), Asians, Latinos and Ethnic/Eastern European whites do not have a long distinct history in the U.S., since most immigrated fairly recently. Black Americans however, have a very long history in the U.S., which includes a lot of negative elements such as Slavery, Apartheid/Jim Crow, forced participation in Eugenics Programs, the fight for equal civil rights and recognition as human beings, massive city-wide urban riots, and dejure and defacto segregation (just for starters). As a result of the historical and many present day elements, the majority of white and black Americans do not really trust or like each other (despite the numerous attempts of the liberal media to paint a more positive upbeat picture of black/white American race relations).

[MaryMary2012]

Watch the below comedic take on race relations in Chicago. John Saffran (a white/Jewish Australian comedian) had his skin color temporarily altered w/makeup and wore a mini afro wig to help him fit in to black Chicago. It's truly hilarious, but the irony is, his footage revealed some of the white/black prevailing racial tension.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDMlHyu282A

[mjtinmemphis]

Originally Posted by MaryMary2012

I simply do not understand why you would want to reside or shop around those, who do not wish to have you in their neighborhoods/communities. Why not just avoid LP/Lakeview altogether?

I don't. I didn't know what it was like before signing my lease. When my lease is up, I'm gone. Within the first two months of living in LV i decided not to spend money at any of the locally owned businesses. I only deal with chains and those who I know are decent.

I will never support anything in the area once I leave. I also plan to put the spotlight on the neighborhood.

[j_cat]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

I also plan to put the spotlight on the neighborhood.

You go ahead and do that. It will be so unique and original to hear someone ranting about Lakeview. Your keen insights will surely set us all straight.

[MaryMary2012]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

I don't. I didn't know what it was like before signing my lease. When my lease is up, I'm gone. Within the first two months of living in LV i decided not to spend money at any of the locally owned businesses. I only deal with chains and those who I know are decent.

I will never support anything in the area once I leave. I also plan to put the spotlight on the neighborhood.

Truthfully, I wouldn't waste time/energy putting the 'spotlight' on that area. It's best to just avoid people w/ that mindset, and never frequent or spend your hard earned money in areas, that do not value you or your business.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by MaryMary2012

Outside of full blooded Native Americans (who currently account for less than 1% of the U.S. population), Asians, Latinos and Ethnic/Eastern European whites do not have a long distinct history in the U.S., since most immigrated fairly recently. Black Americans however, have a very long history in the U.S., which includes a lot of negative elements such as Slavery, Apartheid/Jim Crow, forced participation in Eugenics Programs, the fight for equal civil rights and recognition as human beings, massive city-wide urban riots, and dejure and defacto segregation (just for starters). As a result of the historical and many present day elements, the majority of white and black Americans do not really trust or like each other (despite the numerous attempts of the liberal media to paint a more positive upbeat picture of black/white American race relations).

Yeah that's true..the thing is though, that it's rather weird to just assume a white person's family was responsible for all the heinous things committed. There were many poor white, european immigrants who came here even in the middle 19th century who had nothing to do with any of that. I can understand the distrust, but I think it's a little weird to assume that someone's family or ancestors were involved in these heinous acts just because of the color of their skin. That would be like someone assuming anybody who's from Germany's grandparents were Nazis, which is not true either.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

I don't. I didn't know what it was like before signing my lease. When my lease is up, I'm gone. Within the first two months of living in LV i decided not to spend money at any of the locally owned businesses. I only deal with chains and those who I know are decent.

I will never support anything in the area once I leave. I also plan to put the spotlight on the neighborhood.

Just curious...what area of Lakeview is this in? Did this only happen once or does it happen quite a bit? I could understand when it happens a lot, but if it only happened once, I wouldn't let it get to you so much even though that's hard to do. It could be one person out of 5000 if you know what I'm saying. I wouldn't think negatively of an area if it only happened once. Anybody could easily go into any neighborhood and say that. Does it mean they live there because it happened? Not necessarily.

[rparz]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

You couldn't tell me for the first three years that there was a racial problem in Chicago like I've experienced in lake view. It depends on the neighborhood. I couldn't imagine the same thing happening in south loop, hydepark, oak park or some of the areas surrounding downtown. It's like a totally different city a million miles apart.

It's not a racial problem, it's an a**** problem. I'm a white guy and have gotten into 'alteractions' with the LP/LV 'Chad' types.
Don't think because you're skin is a different color you get special treatment.

[mjtinmemphis]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Just curious...what area of Lakeview is this in? Did this only happen once or does it happen quite a bit? I could understand when it happens a lot, but if it only happened once, I wouldn't let it get to you so much even though that's hard to do. It could be one person out of 5000 if you know what I'm saying. I wouldn't think negatively of an area if it only happened once. Anybody could easily go into any neighborhood and say that. Does it mean they live there because it happened? Not necessarily.

I've had the n-word directed towards me twice. First time I was leaving a club on halsted and a drag queen called me that. Second time was a block from the Paulina brown line stop on Lincoln. This along with observing how people fear me while walking to the store or on my morning jog. I spoke with many other Black men who have encountered the same thing in the same area. It's a sad statement to make about a community but it all comes from people not being exposed to each other. Many White people in the area have very little social interaction with Blacks and that leads to fear. There is a culture of racism in lake view that most Black men can't deny.

I don't see the benefit of segregation.