Is NOVA racist? (Arlington, Alexandria, Annandale: place to live, wealthy, suburban)

[LM117]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

Don't ever come out to Shenandoah County.

...or head south to Danville.

Leaders say Confederate flags throughout Danville not a deterrent to prospective businesses, residents | Danville | godanriver.com

[NOVA_guy]

On top of being racist and insensitive, flying a confederate flag demonstrates a lack of class imo.

[Black Sabbath1989]

NOVA is classist, uppity/snobby, not racist. Some people here will judge you based on how much you make a year or the type of work you do.

[NOVAmtneer82]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

Don't ever come out to Shenandoah County.

Or West Virginia where I am from. I am not saying that displaying the Confederate Flag is appropriate but can any of us ultimately prove (or waste time wondering) whether or not every single person who displays it does so out of racism? I would never fly that flag but I also cannot support the blanket statement that everyone who does is a racist.

I feel like we as a society are coming to a point where literally every single object, symbol, word/phrase, etc can be taken as offensive to someone else- There was even an article in Washingtonian recently where ONE individual complained that a statue that had been on display at the Inn at Little Washington (where many of us have dined before) forty plus years was offensive and the restaurant ended up removing it. The person complaining admitted at the start of the article that they had never even heard about the historical nature of the statue until some tabloid headline complained that a member of the British Royal Family had worn a similar item that could be viewed as 'offensive' to Prince Harry's biracial fiance.

No- Northern Virginia isn't racist. It's about as far as it gets from racist. You're more likely to find people that will judge you on your job/ income level/ college but most adults can take it for what it's worth and let that slide...

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by NOVAmtneer82

Or West Virginia where I am from. I am not saying that displaying that symbol is appropriate but can any of us ultimately prove (or waste time wondering) that every single person who displays the Confederate flag does so out of racism? I would never fly that flag but I also cannot prove that everyone who does is a racist.

I feel like we as a society are coming to a point where literally every single object, symbol, word/phrase, etc can be taken as offensive to someone else- There was even an article in Washingtonian recently where ONE individual complained that a statue that had been on display at the Inn at Little Washington (where many of us have dined before) forty plus years was offensive and the restaurant ended up removing it. The person complaining admitted at the start of the article that they had never even heard about the historical nature of the statue until some tabloid headline complained that a member of the British Royal Family had worn a similar item that could be viewed as 'offensive' to Prince Harry's biracial fiance.

No- Northern Virginia isn't racist. It's about as far as it gets from racist. You're more likely to find people that will judge you on your job/ income level/ college but most adults can take it for what it's worth and let that slide...

I don't think every person who flies that flag is racist. I spend a lot of time in Kentucky and most who fly that flag out there aren't really bad people. Tone deaf and likely insensitive to how that flag makes minorities feel is more likely. The problem is that a lot of people who fly that flag are racist and can be dangerous and as a black man I don't have the luxury of guessing wrong or it could potentially be my life. So if you fly that flag, it is a major caution sign for me.

[jpdivola]

IMO, asking if a place is racist is sort of like asking if an area is safe. Its all relative. Just as everyplace is going to have a level of crime, every area is going to have a level of racism. By global or national standards, NoVa's racism is probably on the lower side. Its a relatively affluent, well educated area with lots of diversity/transplants, so people are generally more comfortable with racial diversity than those from areas that are less educated, more insular and economically struggling.

That being said, NoVa is still made up of human beings and human beings are prone to stereotyping and favoring people their own group. So there is going to be some level of racism present.

White people given their majority status and higher social status are relatively immune from any major racism, Asians and Latinos are generally somewhere in the middle depending their socioeconomic and acculturation levels, with darker skinned Muslims and African-Americans bearing the most severe racism.

All that said, my AA family members enjoyed living in NoVa and found the area far more accepting than other areas they had lived in.

TL;DR: NoVa is not a post-racial nirvana, but it is relatively racially accepting area of the country.

[sonnymarkjiz]

Originally Posted by Black Sabbath1989

NOVA is classist, uppity/snobby, not racist. Some people here will judge you based on how much you make a year or the type of work you do.

I say this reigns true more than NOVA racist.


And LOL at the confederate flag thing. Just because you have one doesn't mean that person is automatically racist. Don't let the media think for you.

[DCGuy64]

The DC area has an enormous number of very well-educated people, but that doesn't mean they're immune to ignorance. I would venture to say that many racist people are that way because they didn't grow up with, don't personally know or interact with people of color. In the same vein, I am shocked at the number of otherwise very intelligent, educated people I've met in DC who don't know the South, especially Kentucky where I'm from. They think nothing of telling jokes using a fake hick accent and implying that consanguineous marriages are the norm, everyone is missing teeth, has a gun rack in his pickup truck, etc. Of course that's ignorant and insulting, but those doing so seem to be saying, in effect, "I'm not racist or uneducated but I can still look down on southerners." I'm also frequently surprised by the political insularity of this area. As someone who is fairly conservative, I'm bewildered and saddened by the stupidity I hear sometimes from people who claim to be liberal and progressive (two terms which SHOULD imply an openness to understanding people, not pigeonholing them). Like I said, being educated doesn't mean you aren't ignorant, although I think we should expect more of them.

[gomason]

Originally Posted by DCGuy64

The DC area has an enormous number of very well-educated people, but that doesn't mean they're immune to ignorance. I would venture to say that many racist people are that way because they didn't grow up with, don't personally know or interact with people of color. In the same vein, I am shocked at the number of otherwise very intelligent, educated people I've met in DC who don't know the South, especially Kentucky where I'm from. They think nothing of telling jokes using a fake hick accent and implying that consanguineous marriages are the norm, everyone is missing teeth, has a gun rack in his pickup truck, etc. Of course that's ignorant and insulting, but those doing so seem to be saying, in effect, "I'm not racist or uneducated but I can still look down on southerners." I'm also frequently surprised by the political insularity of this area. As someone who is fairly conservative, I'm bewildered and saddened by the stupidity I hear sometimes from people who claim to be liberal and progressive (two terms which SHOULD imply an openness to understanding people, not pigeonholing them). Like I said, being educated doesn't mean you aren't ignorant, although I think we should expect more of them.

You think Kentucky is southern? I have tons of family from there and I would disagree. But obviously it depends on the area — eastern KY and northern KY was always pro union because slavery has no use in mountains. My union great grandfather would disagree too.

People did use confederate insignia immediately after the Civil War to remind blacks that they were subordinate. Most americans are dumb and dont realize this. Confederates started to try to undo the Civil War in 1865 — not 2012 or whatever. Grey clad police officers and monuments after the war was the norm — this isnt new.

But I digress — NOVA is not racist at all. And you could go back to 1860 — NOVA never had a lot of slaves.

[LovelySummer2020]

Originally Posted by kynight

When I think of Virginia I think of the South. What's it like for a person of color living in northern Virginia? Could they feel at home or would they have to live in the inner city parts of Washington DC?

I'm not certain what you mean by "person of color," because that encompasses a lot of people, but as a black person, I believe Alexandria, in particular, is one of the best places to live. Old Town, Alexandria has a very nice feel. It's not extremely diverse, but most of the people are polite and don't appear to be interested in burning crosses on my lawn.