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Old 04-13-2007, 11:49 PM
jcx jcx started this thread
 
2 posts, read 64,520 times
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We are thinking about moving to denver from phx but was wondering if there is racism there? We have young children and dont want to move directly into an area that may be an issue

 
Old 04-14-2007, 01:02 AM
 
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Interesting question. May I ask what type of discrimination worries you?

I find that for the most part, people here in Denver are very tolerant & open-minded. I haven't heard anything that smacked of overt bigotry. I do occasionally hear nasty comments about people moving here from out-of-state (particularly CA & TX), but that's another story.
 
Old 04-14-2007, 08:51 AM
 
Location: Henderson, NV
8,882 posts, read 20,254,083 times
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We have lived in the Denver area for almost 5 years and have not heard about any racism remarks. But, if you are really that afraid of someone "slipping-up" and saying something while your kids are around (which can happen pretty much anywhere in the U.S.), don't move here. If you have heard someone say something about the Denver area and racism, and are not sure what to do, AGAIN, don't move here. It's as simple to say as that.
 
Old 04-14-2007, 10:11 AM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,179,658 times
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Denver is superficially tolerant and open-minded. I have been shocked, however, at some of the stuff my kids have repeated from other kids, particularly racist jokes about hispanics. My kids' high school did some survey about attitudes towards minorities and found that most people held stereotypical, if not racist attitudes towards hispanics. Interesting, the attitude towards white teenage girls was not much better.
 
Old 04-14-2007, 10:40 AM
 
Location: Unlike most on CD, I'm not afraid to give my location: Milwaukee, WI.
1,766 posts, read 4,120,485 times
Reputation: 4044
Default Yeah

There is some bad racism... minorities commit crimes against whites at a *much* greater rate than the other way around. Anyone who takes exception to this statement needs to start studying inter-racial crime statistics. Also, white kids in mostly minority schools are subjected to much more taunting, assaults, etc., than the other way around. Fact.
So yes, Virginia, there is racism in Denver. And most other metro areas.
But it is not the white-against-minority racism that everyone seems to assume.
 
Old 04-14-2007, 11:17 AM
jcx jcx started this thread
 
2 posts, read 64,520 times
Reputation: 20
Lightbulb denver

We are not really sensitive on the situation and def know you have a chance of it happening everywhere, and thats when talking to your children and making them aware of how to handle that comes in.... its just if its a few people here and there is one thing compared to a whole neighborhood or community that believes in racism...I asked because I was on a different site and heard some pretty shocking things about peoples experiences there (mostly in smaller towns that circle the denver area.....) and thought this site may have other views....
 
Old 04-14-2007, 11:32 AM
 
Location: Littleton, CO
210 posts, read 1,341,580 times
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I don't really think that racism is a problem around Denver, definitely nothing that's different from any other major city in the nation. Colorado is not the most diverse state, but that being said it's a pretty libertarian, live-and-let-live state. I would be interested to know what other people have said about smaller towns around Denver, and what they consider "racism" to be (because I think racism has really become a buzzword more than anything to describe an opinion that's opposed to your own personal opinion, rather than being actually racism).

Last edited by TinajaCo; 04-14-2007 at 12:07 PM..
 
Old 04-14-2007, 11:47 AM
 
Location: Aurora
357 posts, read 1,282,280 times
Reputation: 288
jcx, I'm not from denver but I'm moving there in about 10 days and have done a ton of research. from what I gather, there are few people of color in colorado, so yes, you will encounter racism and discrimination. it will be different than phoenix because it's the racism of ignorance rather than the racism that comes from constant contact, imho. denver metro has people of color, the rest of the state is very white. that doesn't make them all racist, it just means that contact and personal experience with people of color may be limited. Also, tom tancredo, the congressperson some folks consider a racist, hails from south of denver (the 'burbs). at the moment his major focus is latinos but he's made dumb statements against muslims (he threatened to bomb mecca for example).

in sum, i think it's not as "aware" as say, some folks in the big cities in CA (los angeles, san francisco, san diego) but it's not as out of touch as some in rural towns/suburbs in CA or CO.

as a black woman, I'm moving my family there. we suspect it's becoming more diverse as time passes and are happy to see the increasing numbers of latinos in CO. we'll be there for a few years and see what it's like. we're looking for a place to raise children. if it's not, we'll move .

btw, jcx, can you pm me the site you were on? i'd love to read the comments. thanks.

Last edited by Mike from back east; 01-23-2017 at 08:48 PM..
 
Old 04-14-2007, 01:10 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,179,658 times
Reputation: 35920
TinajaCO:
Quote:
I would be interested to know what other people have said about smaller towns around Denver, and what they consider "racism" to be (because I think racism has really become a buzzword more than anything to describe an opinion that's opposed to your own personal opinion, rather than being actually racism).
What I was referring to was jokes that make fun of hispanics, ridicule hispanics and attitudes such as hispanic teen girls are "loose", the "drunk Mexican" stereotype, and the like.
 
Old 04-14-2007, 03:29 PM
 
2,756 posts, read 12,934,510 times
Reputation: 1521
You have to remember our racist past. Denver used to be a segregated city -- with most of the African Americans living in NE Denver, eventually spilling over into Aurora. As you may know, your home of Phoenix had a similar policy, forcibly segregating AA's into the south mountain area. This kind of segregation has sown seeds that persist even today in Denver, as with most other cities in the country which had similarly racist policies.

Although this may seem like ancient history, it's really not. In 1974, Greenwood Village mayor Freda Poundstone publicly used racial fearmongering, along with liberal use of the n-word, to convince voters to pass the "Poundstone Amendment" which among other things was intended to prevent school integration. That wasn't that long ago, and former mayor Poundstone is still among us even today. (I doubt Poundstone was really a racist at heart -- but she sure knew how to use racial fear for her own political ends.) My point is that 1974 wasn't all that long ago. The sometimes stormy relationship between Denver /Aurora (where most of the minorities traditionally lived) versus the rest of the suburbs even today has a definite racial undercurrent that is rarely discussed openly.

That being said, I don't really see Denver as any more racist than other cities in America. But we certainly share with other cities the same history of racial prejudice and intimidation. And we're still paying the price for past segregation even today.
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