Racism in Florida? (Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando: fit in, crime, to live in)

[camnalex]

My family is currently thinking of relocating to one of the larger cities in Florida (we are mainly discussing Jacksonville, and Orlando) I have had many terrible incidents happen to me do to the color of my skin (half black and half white) the least of which probably being spat on. My husband is half white and half Asian making my daughter every race but Hispanic. I was wondering how tolerant Florida is to different races, and how tolerant they are of interracial people/ relationships. I assumed due to the large quantities of diverse cultures there this would not be an issue however, through scouring the internet I seem to find nothing but racist comments/ incidences from there whether it be whites hating blacks blacks hating whites everyone hating Hispanics...the internet makes it seem like a huge hate fest down there! What are your thoughts on the open mindedness of Florida?

[jambo101]

Theres almost 20 million Florida residents so its kinda hard to speak for them all but in my own observations most blacks live in clearly defined areas and people looking for local info are normally advised to steer clear of these areas due to crime and violence and low economic status.
A new phenomenon is a general obsession with illegal aliens,any one not looking like a white American is automatically assumed to be an illegal,i get that observation from right here on the Florida and illegal immigration sections of the forum and conversations i hear from my brother and his buddies.
I hope in your move to Florida you have no problems but i would think if you are having problems elsewhere you'll probably have those same problems in Florida.

[madcapmagishion]

Florida is neither no more nor no less racist than any other part of the country. It mainly depends on what socio-economic niche you try fit in. IMO ... Jacksonville is probably less racially prejudiced than Orlando only because Orlando has a higher percentage of visiting tourists that are somewhat more racist than the average everyday American.

[Nomad58]

Originally Posted by madcapmagishion

Florida is neither no more nor no less racist than any other part of the country. It mainly depends on what socio-economic niche you try fit in. IMO ... Jacksonville is probably less racially prejudiced than Orlando only because Orlando has a higher percentage of visiting tourists that are somewhat more racist than the average everyday American.

Wow! I could not disagree more.

I've lived in both Jacksonville and Orlando, for more than a dozen years each. I've also lived in several other States throughout other parts of the Country.

No question that Florida is generally more racially prejudiced than the Western and Northern parts of the USA. This is particularily true of Northern Florida, which is really more like Southern Georgia. Definitely the deep South 'buy bull' belt.

So, being that Jacksonville is located in the far Northern part of the State, it's going to generally be more prejudiced than Orlando. And that's been my experience, having lived in both cities, for several years.

I find it hard to follow Madcaps fuzzy logic. "tourists are somewhat more racist than the average everyday American." Where does that come from? I've never heard or read anything suggesting that tourists are more racist than the average American. I would think that just the opposite would be true, as tourists travel to different parts of the Country and World, and are exposed to people different than themselves.

The fact that Orlando is a very diverse, and fast growing city, with new residents and tourists visiting daily from all over the World, makes it far more tolerant than Jacksonville. All of the transient traffic from all over the World has exposed Orlando to every different type of race, creed, color, etc, so over time they have become more tolerant.

Both Jax and Orlando are fairly large cities, so you'll encounter all different types of people in both cities, but if Jacksonville or Orlando are your two choices, no question you should go with Orlando.

[dalmain]

I can't speak for Orlando or Jacksonville, but down here in Miami there is racism, but it's more of a two faced racism. In which they talk behind your back, but up front they don't tell you how they feel. Also Miami is so diverse and Hispanic I believe is the biggest group now. I've been with people that make disgusting comments when they see mixed couples, but no one is attacked. It's pretty tolerated. Northern Florida I imagine is a different story. I'm thinking of moving up there and my family is mixed. My wife is Asian and I'm of mixed heritage. I hope that just being a hard working and honest citizen will be enough for people to accept us. But you always have fools.

[cricketfan]

I think that racism is everywhere to one extent or another and given the history of the south it is fair to say that there is more residual racism here and elsewhere in Florida. By the way, racism is more visible when you are looking for it. But racism aside, I would choose Jacksonville because people are more civil here than in Orlando and the farther south you go in Florida people tend to be less civil. Try merging into heavy traffic in Miami or Orlando and you will know what I mean. So I can live with covert racism but I can't live with people who are overtly uncivil.

[skooba]

I definitely agree with Nomad.

I'd say Jacksonville isn't as bad as South Georgia, but there is still a good amount of racism here. There are lots of rednecks who are still stuck in their backwards ways.

[fsquid]

I'm not racist, I hate everyone equally.

[Nomad58]

Originally Posted by cricketfan

I think that racism is everywhere to one extent or another and given the history of the south it is fair to say that there is more residual racism here and elsewhere in Florida. By the way, racism is more visible when you are looking for it. But racism aside, I would choose Jacksonville because people are more civil here than in Orlando and the farther south you go in Florida people tend to be less civil. Try merging into heavy traffic in Miami or Orlando and you will know what I mean. So I can live with covert racism but I can't live with people who are overtly uncivil.

I don't know about that.

Having lived in both Orlando and Jax for as long as I have, I can't say that either city is any better or worse than the other, when it comes to uncivil drivers. Orlando may have a bit more traffic issues than Jax, because it is growing so much faster. But for both cities, it all really depends on what part of town you are in, and what the specific time of day it is.

For example, I can say with a fair degree of certainty that you would run into more than your share of uncivil drivers, on the Buckman Bridge during rush hour, particularly around the Orange Park exits.

It may be that Orlando could have seemed worse to you because you weren't as familiar with where you were were going there, or maybe you were driving in a heavy tourist area, where no one had any idea where they were going. That type of traffic issue has more to do with people being lost, than with a lack of civility.

Regardless, it's hard to understand how anyone would argue that being an inattentive driver, is a bigger deal than being a racist.

So I can live with covert racism but I can't live with people who are overtly uncivil. Right, because some of our Jacksonville rednecks may be covert racists, but at least they're 'civil' about their racism.

[cricketfan]

Originally Posted by Nomad58

I don't know about that.

Having lived in both Orlando and Jax for as long as I have, I can't say that either city is any better or worse than the other, when it comes to uncivil drivers. Orlando may have a bit more traffic issues than Jax, because it is growing so much faster. But for both cities, it all really depends on what part of town you are in, and what the specific time of day it is.

For example, I can say with a fair degree of certainty that you would run into more than your share of uncivil drivers, on the Buckman Bridge during rush hour, particularly around the Orange Park exits.

It may be that Orlando could have seemed worse to you because you weren't as familiar with where you were were going there, or maybe you were driving in a heavy tourist area, where no one had any idea where they were going. That type of traffic issue has more to do with people being lost, than with a lack of civility.

Regardless, it's hard to understand how anyone would argue that being an inattentive driver, is a bigger deal than being a racist.

So I can live with covert racism but I can't live with people who are overtly uncivil. Right, because some of our Jacksonville rednecks may be covert racists, but at least they're 'civil' about their racism.

I only mentioned uncivil drivers as one example. Not sure why you want to go on and on about that. My experience is that people in Jacksonville are generally more civil, more friendly and less abrasive than people in Orlando and certainly in Miami. Now you can explain that any way you want to, from Orlando being busier, faster growing, more touristy, etc. Next time you are in downtown Orlando try smiling and saying hello on the street and they will think you are crazy.

But on the subject of racism in the south, I always find it odd that when the subject comes up people always point to rednecks. As if racism is not in every institution from the church to the courts to government. And when I said I can live with covert racism I meant that I don't give a Moderator cut: language removed what's in the heart of a racist as long as he/she doesn't show me. But when people are openly uncivil to me, that I can't deal with. That's what I meant. And that is one of many reasons I choose not to live in SFL.