discrimination x 2

[StuyTownRefugee]

Originally Posted by StuyTownRefugee

I've always observed that moreso in NY area, encouragement or the actual assimilation of people is not as complete as in the rest of the country. They cling to former languages and are often not only enabled but prefer to do so. Most people id with their other heritages over being American, first. I empathize with you.

Thats is one of the biggest drawbacks of living in the NY area. People judge too much what race or what your background is or was.

It's an irony in NY, there is so much reinforcement with constant replenishment of certain groups I guess. BUt there is plenty of immigration elsewhere as well. People apparently are more allowed to be absorbed into the mainstream.

When I go away people don't really talk about these ancestries. My brother is half Japanese american and speaks with a Southern Accent since he was born on an AF Base in ALabama.

There are plenty of Hispanic people for generations in TX who speak with a Texas accent. Too many people in NY are just off the boat. Look at the Russian presence.

Your observance though was good, most Polish, Italian, German ancestry people all only speak English, like the Irish long ago stopped speaking Irish though many still can.

Correction to post above. Brother should read Brother in law.

[Jrock247]

Theres plenty of racially mixed towns on LI Glen Cove, Freeport, Huntington, Baldwin, Long Beach. Also throw in Hempstead, Roosvelt and Uniondale (thought these are predominantly African American and Hispanic).

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by TrudiRose

I'd recommend looking on the Long Island forum for suggestions for towns there.

One thing, though: We were thinking of moving to Long Island, so I spent a few months reading the Long Island forum, and I was shocked by how much racism I saw there. Living in Brooklyn I'm just used to the mix of races. But on the LI board I would see things like, "You don't want to move to North Babylon - the high school there is already less than 75% white!" Not everyone's like that, of course, but the amount of casual racism I saw, not even subtle, amazed me.

"Casual racism" is the perfect term, but I think a lot of these people don't even realize they're being racist....or they're just lying to themselves. I'm from LI and I never really wanted to believe people here were like that, but reading these boards sealed the deal for me.

Still, there are diverse areas of LI and not everyone here is like that...I'd still like to think not even the majority. I'd also like to think attitudes are slowly changing (in Nassau at least), we're getting a lot more diverse and people are seeing it isn't hurting their neighborhoods in any way.

Out of the areas Jrock listed, I can vouch for Baldwin as I used to work there and still spend a lot of time there. Great working class town and very mixed, probably the best schools out of any he listed too. It's diverse and has been for awhile so you're not gonna get any looks or rude comments. Long Beach and Huntington are great too but a lot more pricey, Freeport has nice parts and some that aren't too hot. Uniondale is OK, Glen Cove is a city of the rich and the poor and the rich are still incredibly racist.

There was an article on Charlie Murphy (Eddie's brother) in the LI Press this week, and his quote on Roosevelt was "we thought we were moving to paradise, but instead we got the projects with lawns and trees."

[UpsonDowns]

I'm Black and live in Washington Heights. People speak to me in Spanish all the time and when I try to reply in my pretty poor Mexican-accented Spanish (I'm from California), people have been pretty rude. But I try to not let it get me down.

[MelismaticEchoes]

Originally Posted by mead

Interesting article on Afro-Latinos: Dominicans Face Assimilation in Black and White

The Dominican Republic racial contexts are very complex. One must understand the history to understand the dynamics and complexities of it all.