Minneapolis losing Black professionals, because they want more Black activities (statistics, children)

[gopher38]

"Minneapolis losing Black professionals, because they want more Black activities"

So? Should I be bothered? It's a free country; people can move where they want. Happy trails.

[gopher38]

"diversity is the optimal state"
optimal state for what? and what level of diversity? If everyone spoke their own individual language, that would be pretty diverse. it would also definitely be a non-optimal state in many respects. Makes for a cool slogan though.

[regionalperspective]

"If everyone spoke their own individual language"

now, now lets not push the conversation to the ridiculous. any level of diversity, difference, etc is a good thing is my point. look at nature, diversity increases productivity and creativity. thats all i was saying and we humans would do well to follow that example.

[gopher38]

Originally Posted by regionalperspective

"If everyone spoke their own individual language"

now, now lets not push the conversation to the ridiculous. any level of diversity, difference, etc is a good thing is my point. look at nature, diversity increases productivity and creativity. thats all i was saying and we humans would do well to follow that example.

diversity, like any characteristic, has positive and negative aspects. in addition, like most characteristics, pushed to the extreme, the negatives frequently outweigh the positives. do companies (who are very concerned with productivity) look for diversity or uniformity in their recruiting? they look for a bit of diversity, but despite the rhetoric, they are more interested in coherence and homogeneity. interestingly, even after they make a nod to "diversity" by looking for a certain skin color, age or what-have-you, they then spend a lot of time bending them to their own corporate culture.

If you look at things on a country scale, the statement "diversity is optimal" is once again very questionable. India is very diverse and (despite recent progress) dirt poor. japan is relatively homogeneous, and rich. you could say the same thing about iceland or norway. I'd say that the US is more the exception than the rule (and many people would debate how "diverse" the US really is culturally). Look at the world as a whole and the track record of truly multi-cultural countries is checkered at best. ask someone from the former-Yugoslavia how the diversity thing has worked for them. Or Rwanda. Even Belgium is in danger of splitting apart because the French and Dutch speakers can't get along.

This reminds me of something my mother said once regarding her teaching experience in Oakland, CA in the early 60's. She worked in a very mixed race school, and she said she never had any problems in classrooms that were predominately black, nor in those that were predominately white, but rather when it was about split evenly.

well, this is already longer than I wanted it to be. I'll close be saying that "diversity is optimal" strikes me about as true as "all babies are born good" : a throw away platitude. first, it's mostly about personal tastes, so I don't see one position in this respect as more "correct" or "ethical" than another. if someone told me that he wanted to live in a completely homogeneous society, I wouldn't agree (and I'd somewhat think that they are lying to themselves), but I'd consider it their choice. I'd think the same thing if someone told me they wanted maximum diversity. I think that most people want to see some degree of change, without too much upheaval. they want some new blood, but don't want to lose their bearings. that seems reasonable to me, but doesn't make for a cool slogan.

[regionalperspective]

"do companies (who are very concerned with productivity) look for diversity or uniformity in their recruiting? they look for a bit of diversity, but despite the rhetoric, they are more interested in coherence and homogeneity. interestingly, even after they make a nod to "diversity" by looking for a certain skin color, age or what-have-you, they then spend a lot of time bending them to their own corporate culture."

so because corporate america wants to limit the amount of energy its puts into realizing real diversity that makes real diversity non optimal? i think not!

[RNye]

I live in Milwaukee and have a co-worker who's sister and husband moved to Minneapolis from Milwaukee only to return a year later. They said that the Twin Cities had absolutely nothing to offer black professionals. They said it was difficult finding good barbers, soul food, weave, nightclubs, social events etc. Now, I know a lot of the white people on this forum may be offended by what they perceive as a reverse type of racism. However, I believe that this is much more of a cultural issue than race. I grew up in an overwhelmingly white suburb of Milwaukee. My experience was fine and I made lifelong friendships. Nevertheless, after so long I got tired of being the only black person at a convention, play, museum, restaurant, gym, bar, party, nightclub, and grocery store. Even through the white people at these places were nice, it just seamed to be a very isolating experience at times. Anyway, the major problem with the Twin Cities is the fact that they lack a large presence of black middle class professional people. This consequently affects the types of cultural events, activities and socioeconomic diversity that exists in the T.C. Milwaukee also has a similar problem but, not to the same extent since the black population is higher. I’ve heard all types of rumors and stories about ghetto black folks moving from Chicago to Minnesota and receiving a welfare check from both states and having 5 and 6 children along the way. I do not know how true these allegations are but I did some research on Minneapolis and St. Paul and noticed that they both have high poverty rates for black households and low black populations which probably means that black professionals are scattered and scarce. However, the Twin Cities seems to offer a lot in terms of employment, cost of living, scenery (with the beautiful lakes), and housing options so maybe more professional people of color will realize how attractive the Twin Cities are and move there. Lastly, every time I visit Minneapolis I always see a lot of Ethiopians, Somalians, Asians and interracial relationships so the Twin Cities does have some diversity. Given the location of Minnesota and present demographics I was surprised. Things could probably be worst. People should just live where they will be able to enjoy their life to the fullest.

[milquetoast the clown]

Originally Posted by yellowsnow

What is a Black activity?

Well, let's see. Leeching off of social services, shooting at people over a bag of weed, beating bicyclists to death for the hell of it, standing around on the corner always looking like you are planning to imminently rob, rape, or beat someone, panhandling (usually accompanied by some fantasy fairy tale about a pregnant girlfriend), occupying jail cells, mean-mugging people for no reason, ranting like a schizophrenic lunatic in the street about "the white man," representing Minneapolis on A&E's "The First 48" by murdering your "baby's momma" during Christmas and attempting to set her on fire, do I need to continue? I know I'll get flamed for this post, but for all you do-gooders and bleeding hearts, all you have to do is check the annual list of the worst/most dangerous cities in America and they all have one thing in common: a huge black population. THAT, is the result of "black activity."

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by milquetoast the clown

Well, let's see. Leeching off of social services, shooting at people over a bag of weed, beating bicyclists to death for the hell of it, standing around on the corner always looking like you are planning to imminently rob, rape, or beat someone, panhandling (usually accompanied by some fantasy fairy tale about a pregnant girlfriend), occupying jail cells, mean-mugging people for no reason, ranting like a schizophrenic lunatic in the street about "the white man," representing Minneapolis on A&E's "The First 48" by murdering your "baby's momma" during Christmas and attempting to set her on fire, do I need to continue? I know I'll get flamed for this post, but for all you do-gooders and bleeding hearts, all you have to do is check the annual list of the worst/most dangerous cities in America and they all have one thing in common: a huge black population. THAT, is the result of "black activity."

Isn't that what people of every ethnicity do?

[milquetoast the clown]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

Isn't that what people of every ethnicity do?

Yes, but blacks commit crimes disproportionate to their representation in the populace. According to the U.S. Department of Justice statistics: Blacks are seven times more likely to commit murder than people of other races, and eight times more likely to commit robbery, they are three times more likely than non-blacks to use a gun, and of the nearly 770,000 violent interracial crimes committed every year involving blacks and whites, blacks commit 85% and whites commit 15% (think about THAT next time you hear about a "hate crime&quot. And anyone thinking about it, please spare me the poverty/racism excuses. There is a direct correlation between race and crime. This is FACT. This, is your black culture/activity.

[nick is rulz]

why dont you use your regular user ID instead of creating an alias to flame?