African Americans and the South question (hotels, houses, buy)

[BPerone201]

The south is where it all started for the African Americans.
It wasn't a good start, but they still have the most African Americans more so than any other region which everyone should already know.

I know a guy who has wanted to go down south for the longest time because he likes the whole lifestyle there that portrays a more classic view of African Americans (the north is much too diverse, while the south is mainly black/white). The price tag could be another reason though.

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by Scalpy McScalperson

Don't even bother responding to this guy, he's just a bigot.


Anyway, the reason I say the Northeast is the best is because down south it is still segregated. The northeast is segregated too, however, not by race but by class. There are a lot more professional blacks in the Northeast. Well I don't want to generalize a whole region but I can speak on the DC/MD/VA sector because that is where I am from.

Racism down here is institutionalized. Many people down here hold the same close-minded views as JMadison, the troll I quoted in this post.

Actually I found the DC area to be a lot more segregated than the south. It's pretty subjective of course but look at the suburbs of DC. Virginia has way fewer black folks than Maryland for example.

[Do a Barrel Roll]

Originally Posted by Scalpy McScalperson

Ask a black professional to walk through those areas and what? They will be verbally assaulted? Yeah right .

Of course they aren't going to verbally assault you. That would be against their liberal ideologies and appearances. But try riding Metrorail through some Capitol Hill station. Try walking through some Capitol Hill street. They may not say anything, but the looks and tendencies speak volumes of their feelings towards blacks, even professional ones.

Originally Posted by Scalpy McScalperson

I've been there plenty of times with black family members. Anybody of any race can and will move into a neighborhood with people similar incomes and be accepted. Hence why theres so many diverse neighborhoods Maryland.

Silver Spring, Bethesda, Rockville, and Columbia aren't all of what Maryland consist of though. Go through places where many people consider "True Maryland" and see how integrated it is then.

Originally Posted by cpterp

I'll have to call BS on that one. Since when is College Park or Capitol Hill bourgeoisie? lol Capitol Hill is actually very racially integrated as is College Park and other places such as Silver Spring.

Racial integration in those areas = Asian, White, and Indian! Congrats! Silver Spring is fairly equally integrated, but what else is there besides Rockville, Bethesda, and Columbia?

Originally Posted by cpterp

Other parts, such as Germantown which is very racially diverse is not racially integrated, but this is not restricted to Maryland or DC. DC is waaay more integrated than Loudoun or Prince William County.

Then please tell me where this magic place where this ALL-inclusive interracial bliss is in DC since everyone else I've asked has declined to tell me where I can find it!

Originally Posted by machiavelli1

The fact is that African Americans move to the the South because liberal cities like SF are actually more hostile to them. A liberal looks at diversity as giving poor blacks projects to live in and yelling tolerance from their Marin county mansion

And that's basically been the case for most of the DC area. What makes it worse, at least in this area, is that limousine liberals are now moving to the black projects and give ALL blacks (even if the black person is as affluent as the whites and others) a subtle attitude as if you aren't allowed there. I know there are plenty of segregated places, but at least in "Typical Americana," whites and other races move from blacks as far away as possible.

[cpterp]

Originally Posted by Scalpy McScalperson

How is it not integrated? I grew up there and always considered Germantown a model for racial harmony. Maybe it changed?

It has been historically. Germantown has an excellent racial balance, with about of equal share of hispanics, blacks and asians, with whites holding about a 60-70% majority. The thing is, there is a growing class divide among racial lines. Mostly due to Montgomery County's required Section 8 housing, poorer blacks (mostly from DC) are moving to the town, at the same time wealthy professionals (from all races, but mostly white) are also moving to G'town. So, the demographics are rapidly moving away from a single upper middle-class, to wealthy/poor society.

Originally Posted by terrence81

Actually I found the DC area to be a lot more segregated than the south. It's pretty subjective of course but look at the suburbs of DC. Virginia has way fewer black folks than Maryland for example.

You're joking right? While I'm more than willing to admit that there is plenty of racism/segregation in the North, there's more in the South. From my observations, racism/segregation in the North is much less acceptable, and more taboo (and please don't tear my head off, I'm not saying that it's acceptable in the South). There are little things that I've noticed just in looking at social interactions, neighborhoods, racial components of groups, casual treatment of other races, and other things in the North vs the South which would support this. The further down you go the more you notice this, and the more you see this great divide between whites and blacks, and I'm not talking along income lines.

Virginia has way fewer black folks? You're joking again right? Virginia has about the same number of blacks as Maryland, albeit a smaller percentage. Prince William County in Northern Virginia is supposed to follow PGC as the next minority-majority county in the area, because of the rapid growth of it's African-American population.

Originally Posted by The_Fairfaxian

Silver Spring, Bethesda, Rockville, and Columbia aren't all of what Maryland consist of though. Go through places where many people consider "True Maryland" and see how integrated it is then.

Racial integration in those areas = Asian, White, and Indian! Congrats! Silver Spring is fairly equally integrated, but what else is there besides Rockville, Bethesda, and Columbia?

Then please tell me where this magic place where this ALL-inclusive interracial bliss is in DC since everyone else I've asked has declined to tell me where I can find it!

Haha, you really don't know anything about Maryland or DC, do you?
College Park and Silver Spring are just Asian, White, and Indian? lol

Wow maybe you should actually come across and actually visit these areas. It's like you're pulling random places you've heard of out of a hat.

There's a number of neighborhoods I could list in NE and NW DC including Brookland, Capitol Hill, and Columbia Heights.


"Of course they aren't going to verbally assault you. That would be against their liberal ideologies...They may not say anything, but the looks and tendencies speak volumes of their feelings towards blacks, even professional ones."

okay, then. This pretty much explains the rest of the stuff you've been posting.

[Do a Barrel Roll]

Originally Posted by cpterp

You're joking right? While I'm more than willing to admit that there is plenty of racism/segregation in the North, there's more in the South. From my observations, racism/segregation in the North is much less acceptable, and more taboo (and please don't tear my head off, I'm not saying that it's acceptable in the South).

From my personal experience, overall there isn't much of a difference between racism in the North and (general) South. Racism/segregation in the North is much less pronounced and more targeted specific. Remember: liberal appearances and political correctness are the code of the land in the Northeast/Mid Atlantic East Coast. Instead of just "Screw everyone who isn't a part of out race" like how the Deep South generally is, in the North, its more of "We like this race, that race, that race is ok, this race should be avoided from our social circles at all costs!"

Originally Posted by cpterp

It has been historically. Germantown has an excellent racial balance, with about of equal share of hispanics, blacks and asians, with whites holding about a 60-70% majority. The thing is, there is a growing class divide among racial lines. Mostly due to Montgomery County's required Section 8 housing, poorer blacks (mostly from DC) are moving to the town, at the same time wealthy professionals (from all races, but mostly white) are also moving to G'town. So, the demographics are rapidly moving away from a single upper middle-class, to wealthy/poor society.

And it's a d**n shame that Germantown, a once harmoniously integrated neighborhood is becoming a copycat of your Rich Whites/Poor Blacks suburb that's all too typical in the East Coast. But as for what's happening in Germantown now, this has been the case for years in the District, particularly neighborhoods that have been getting gentrified. You aren't necessarily having working class blacks and Hispanics consensually selling their properties to middle class transplants from humble parts of the country. It's the complete extremes, which is the evidence I have for the (subtle) racial tension I get in the District: Ghetto Garbage vs Yuppie Smugness. And don't think I'm trying to make the Yuppies the exclusive bad guys, I've been getting more than enough crap from the DC natives as well.

Originally Posted by cpterp

Haha, you really don't know anything about Maryland or DC, do you?
College Park and Silver Spring are just Asian, White, and Indian? lol

Wow maybe you should actually come across and actually visit these areas. It's like you're pulling random places you've heard of out of a hat.

When I stated "Just Asian, Indian, and White," I was referring to the ethnic groups that are accepted and embraced, not just the ones that were just visible. Of course there are Blacks and Hispanics in College Park and other places in MD, but are they (even the ones who are assimilated) truly accepted, or are they just "tolerated"? I'll say that in places like Columbia and Silver Spring, they may be accepted, but I know those are exceptions, not the standard quo. As a person who had the "honor" to attend UMD, I noticed some serious racial tension that I expected from some typical SEC school. This was especially compared to the school I transferred from where it was a lot less diverse but was a lot more integrated and where I didn't have to be reminded of my skin color on a constant basis!

[cpterp]

Originally Posted by The_Fairfaxian

When I stated "Just Asian, Indian, and White," I was referring to the ethnic groups that are accepted and embraced, not just the ones that were just visible. Of course there are Blacks and Hispanics in College Park and other places in MD, but are they (even the ones who are assimilated) truly accepted, or are they just "tolerated"? I'll say that in places like Columbia and Silver Spring, they may be accepted, but I know those are exceptions, not the standard quo. As a person who had the "honor" to attend UMD, I noticed some serious racial tension that I expected from some typical SEC school. This was especially compared to the school I transferred from where it was a lot less diverse but was a lot more integrated and where I didn't have to be reminded of my skin color on a constant basis!

Well, I will concede that racism in the North is more underlying and inert, but blatant racism/prejudice is significantly more taboo than in the South. For instance if a poorly dressed young black man was invited to a country club in Potomac, MD or Scarsdale, NY, he might get some stares and disapproving looks or substandard treatment. If you follow the news over the past few years there have been a number high profile events involving racism in the North(east), such as:

-the police beatings in Philadelphia
-the barring of black children from a white pool in Philadelphia
-the highly-publicized shooting of an engaged man outside a club in New York
-a string of "noose incidents" starting at the University of Maryland and spreading to the Naval Academy, a police station (can't remember where), all the way to Columbia University

Yet, I can't think of a single one from the South, apart from the "Jena 6"--a situation and outcome which frankly never would happen today in the NE.

Places like Silver Spring (and many of the inner suburbs such as Arlington, as well as some parts of NW and NE DC) are truly diverse. Silver Spring is more integrated than Germantown. You'll see whites, blacks, and hispanics walking down the streets together. If you swing by the transit center in Germantown, most people waiting for buses are black (except for maybe rush hour when it's more mixed), yet if you stood on the street corner at the TC and looked at all the cars passing, the majority of the people are white. As I said before though this is a relatively recent (within the past 2 or 3 years) change.

At UMD (where at least 50% of of out-of-staters are from New Jersey, and the rest from PA, NY, and NoVa) black and whites tend to cling to each other but so do hispanics, asians (especially asians) and just about every other race, and I wouldn't say that it's serious. There are better integrated univeristies (particularly smaller schools), but I would say UMD was about average in that regard (for large state schools).

One last important point, that is actually ironic, is that the larger the number of a single ethinicity in a community, the more they cling to each other. If you have 5 minorities in a town of 100, they're sort of forced to integrate with everyone else. Yet, if you have 30 minorities in the same town they'll cling more to each other. This seems to be more true for the North though. In the South no matter how small the group of minorites they may tend to cling to each other, and history explains why. Just my observations.

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by cpterp

You're joking right? While I'm more than willing to admit that there is plenty of racism/segregation in the North, there's more in the South. From my observations, racism/segregation in the North is much less acceptable, and more taboo (and please don't tear my head off, I'm not saying that it's acceptable in the South). There are little things that I've noticed just in looking at social interactions, neighborhoods, racial components of groups, casual treatment of other races, and other things in the North vs the South which would support this. The further down you go the more you notice this, and the more you see this great divide between whites and blacks, and I'm not talking along income lines.

Virginia has way fewer black folks? You're joking again right? Virginia has about the same number of blacks as Maryland, albeit a smaller percentage. Prince William County in Northern Virginia is supposed to follow PGC as the next minority-majority county in the area, because of the rapid growth of it's African-American population.

No I am not joking. If it's a smaller percentage then how is it the same number? That's my point. I didn't say that there were no black people in VA I said fewer there's a difference. Northern Virginia does NOT have more black people than DC's Maryland suburbs.

Black population of Montgomery and Prince George's counties: 663,570
Black population of Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudon, and Prince William counties: 233,589

I'm black and live in Fairfax county, I can see with my own eyes that there are fewer black people than my hometown which is 45% black. Actually my hometown with 186,000 has more black people than Fairfax county with 1,000,000. Also I can see that when I go to the mall there are fewer black folks here and there in VA. Back home black folks are all over mostly white neighborhoods. Georgia just feels more integrated than DC. So no I'm not joking I'm telling you what I see.

Racism in the south is far from blatant. It's polite. Southern racism is a friendly smile in your face but being called everything but a child of God behind your back. I think that's modern racism in general though.

[Exult.Q36]

I think a better question is "Why African Americans move on perceived perception or hype?" Never understood it. Really I would hope every black person in America would not want to concentrate in one city (Atlanta). "Really" think about it how boring? The south is huge region. The only southern city that has been discussed up until this point indepth is Atlanta. What are my other choices Dallas,Charlotte, Memphis, Nashville, Houston, Miami etc... What do these cities have to offer? What makes these cities great for African American? What are the living and working enviorments like? etc...

[Spade]

My man. Historically, Socially, and Financially, Blacks are finding out the South may be the best place for them. Even with both great migrations, the South still had over 50% of this country's black population. According to the US Census designated states, 18 states have over a million blacks. 11 states in the South had over a million Blacks compared to only 3 from the Midwest, 3from the from the Northeast, and 1 from the West. Heck, 4 out of the 6 states that have over 2 million blacks reside in the South. The Black American Culture is more abundant in the South than it is any other region. It's cheap and there are more opportunities. What's happening now is that Blacks are just simply returning back to the South.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by terrence81

No I am not joking. If it's a smaller percentage then how is it the same number? That's my point. I didn't say that there were no black people in VA I said fewer there's a difference. Northern Virginia does NOT have more black people than DC's Maryland suburbs.

Black population of Montgomery and Prince George's counties: 663,570
Black population of Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudon, and Prince William counties: 233,589

I'm black and live in Fairfax county, I can see with my own eyes that there are fewer black people than my hometown which is 45% black. Actually my hometown with 186,000 has more black people than Fairfax county with 1,000,000. Also I can see that when I go to the mall there are fewer black folks here and there in VA. Back home black folks are all over mostly white neighborhoods. Georgia just feels more integrated than DC. So no I'm not joking I'm telling you what I see.
.

Well there are obviously more blacks on the Maryland side of DC compared to Virginia. But Virginia as a whole has about as many blacks as the state of Maryland.