Racism in Cincinnati is shocking to me(what do you guys think about it) (Cleveland: big house, elementary school)

[motorman]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

I did not view it as a slap in the face to Cincinnati, but rather a court ordered ability to assemble and speak publicly, an American right. I was very pleased the people of Cincinnati showed their disdain at what was being promoted to the degree the KKK rather rapidly gave up their endeavor. That is how I believe you deal with their kind, grant them the ability to assemble but make it uncomfortable enough so they decide the effort is not worth it. Their right to assemble is also your right to express how much they offend you.

Agreed. One other observation that I think might be helpful is that this contingent of KKK deviants were outside agitators who chose Fountain Square to display their white cross, which was hardly a symbol of the holiday season. Unfortunately, various religious groups (including a Jewish group with their menorah) had all applied for a limited number of display permits--and the KKK group got their request in early. (as I remember it) Legally then (as you already mentioned), the Klan couldn't be denied. And the national press, being the bottom feeders they were, ate it all up--making the Queen City out as a proverbial fortress of white racism. But, like you also said, the Cincinnati people gave these outside hate mongers the blues and they eventually faded away. (correct?)

[kjbrill]

motorman...

For the most part I agree with you. But let's not blame everything on outside agitators. Unfortunately we still have some local KKK deviants, in the extreme minority as they might be.

Previously mentioned in this thread are those who feel justified in prominently displaying their Confederate Flag as some sort of symbolic gesture. I frankly cannot decide what this is supposed to represent, a racist statement or simply we are a member of the world's everlasting sore losers society. I keep hearing references about how the South has the best attitude toward their fellow man, slavery not withstanding. Apparently these Confederate Flag people never got the word.

I do believe race relations are considerably improved over my lifetime, a span now of 70 plus years. But at the same time I am deeply disturbed about how some members of my generation and younger talk about our President. Such references as the N-Word when talking about Our President to me has absolutely no defense in our society. When I hear it used that way I lose my cool and speak out, or more appropriately I go into a rage. People around me stare as to what is this maniac doing.

I have lost more than one friend, including members of my own family, by stating I just don't want to receive this obnoxious racial material by e-mail or otherwise. To me, the Internet contains a flood of racial material which for some reason people I know desire to send to me. Somehow they feel I will be receptive to it and perpetuate it around the globe. One of my defenses is to use the Reply All and tell them they need to get a different life. I think this is a reason I am receiving a reduced amount of hate mail.

I certainly hope I never ingrained anything close to that degree of animosity in my 4 kids. I am reasonably sure I did not. We cannot turn blinders to the racism which exists, but at the same time we must welcome those who are opposing (not supporting) it. Unfortunately I feel some of our politicians will play the race card anytime they get a chance. One we get the majority of people to ignore that and simply concentrate on the issues we will all be much better off.

[Wilson513]

30 minutes of Lincoln Ware on WBDZ, the Buzz 1230 on your AM dial, at 11AM will tell you all you need to know about racism in Cincinnati. The pathetic efforts of a handful of sorry characters claiming to be Klansmen a decade ago and every speck of white racism since is not equal to the racist hate speech logged every day from the black "community" publicly on AM radio.

It is not subsiding over the years, it is multiplying.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

30 minutes of Lincoln Ware on WBDZ, the Buzz 1230 on your AM dial, at 11AM will tell you all you need to know about racism in Cincinnati. The pathetic efforts of a handful of sorry characters claiming to be Klansmen a decade ago and every speck of white racism since is not equal to the racist hate speech logged every day from the black "community" publicly on AM radio.

It is not subsiding over the years, it is multiplying.

I don't listen to it, so I can't comment.

It took me a while after I moved back here from Lexington to get used to the number of cold stares or barest acknowledgments I got from African-American people when I attempted the kind of casual but cordial interaction between strangers that was pretty common there. After enough times of getting the message that my attempt at small talk was unwelcome, I've mostly stopped trying. And I'm pretty sure the reaction was based on my being white, not on what I said or how I said it. It's a shame.

[cali3448893]

So it seems like to me that its not just whites its also blacks and other being racist! interesting...

[motorman]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

I don't listen to it, so I can't comment.

It took me a while after I moved back here from Lexington to get used to the number of cold stares or barest acknowledgments I got from African-American people when I attempted the kind of casual but cordial interaction between strangers that was pretty common there. After enough times of getting the message that my attempt at small talk was unwelcome, I've mostly stopped trying. And I'm pretty sure the reaction was based on my being white, not on what I said or how I said it. It's a shame.

Your perceptions here are both accurate and fair. It's been that way so long many of us have just given up and now respond with same.

[23145tp]

There are racist on both sides....and I believe it's getting worse as time goes on.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by jonathancalderon71

So it seems like to me that its not just whites its also blacks and other being racist! interesting...

Sadly, it's just a tendency of human nature, and being on the receiving end of discrimination doesn't necessarily mean an individual won't practice the same thing themselves.

I got this lesson when back in the early 1970s I began to visit the area where my inlaws were from. People in that very homogeneous part of the country still found somebody to label as "the other" and although I didn't ever see blatant discrimination, they certainly were fond of pointing out the oddities and what they perceived as some hypocrisy on the part of the Amish that lived around there. Ill-feeling still lingered that they hadn't done their part in fighting in WWII, for one thing.

[13th Alphabet]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

I don't listen to it, so I can't comment.

It took me a while after I moved back here from Lexington to get used to the number of cold stares or barest acknowledgments I got from African-American people when I attempted the kind of casual but cordial interaction between strangers that was pretty common there. After enough times of getting the message that my attempt at small talk was unwelcome, I've mostly stopped trying. And I'm pretty sure the reaction was based on my being white, not on what I said or how I said it. It's a shame.

I highly doubt your treatment is because of you being white. I'm black and I noticed the same thing and received the same treatment upon moving here, so how do you explain that? Just yesterday at an establishment downtown, I was glared at like I had two heads by a black employee when I asked for a certain type of sauce.You are comparing Lexington to Cincinnati, when Lexington is essentially like a small town, so of course people will likely be more engaging there. Usually the population size and density of a city negatively correlates with the friendliness of its residents. I have received the same standoffish and aloof behavior here, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and NYC by people of all ethnicities. On the other end, I met blacks and whites in Columbia, SC, Charleston, SC, Savannah, and Birmingham, that were so friendly and engaging, I found it to be borderline outright nosiness.

Sometimes whites can be just as quick to attribute things to race as blacks.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by Wahl_Wrighter

I highly doubt your treatment is because of you being white. I'm black and I noticed the same thing and received the same treatment upon moving here, so how do you explain that? Just yesterday at an establishment downtown, I was glared at like I had two heads by a black employee when I asked for a certain type of sauce.You are comparing Lexington to Cincinnati, when Lexington is essentially like a small town, so of course people will likely be more engaging there. Usually the population size and density of a city negatively correlates with the friendliness of its residents. I have received the same standoffish and aloof behavior here, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and NYC by people of all ethnicities. On the other end, I met blacks and whites in Columbia, SC, Charleston, SC, Savannah, and Birmingham, that were so friendly and engaging, I found it to be borderline outright nosiness.

Sometimes whites can be just as quick to attribute things to race as blacks.

Your last point is well taken, although I didn't notice the same difference when I tried to make small talk with other white people in Cincinnati. I do have to take exception to your characterization of Lexington as "essentially like a small town." It's a mid size city and in my experience much too large to have any kind of stereotypical small-town friendliness.