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Have you ever been to a foreign country? I have been in many countries where people were annoyed and treated me rudely because I didn't speak their language. To suggest that it is something unique to "whites" or is a problem that is bigger in Omaha than other places is simply ridiculous. In fact, there was a specific instance when I was in Austria and the clerk would not serve me until I ordered in German. Is is right...no. But don't act like its something you only see in the U.S. or the midwest.
Somehow you're suggesting that people in Omaha are fundamentally different than people in KC, Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, Denver, and etc. Don't you think its ironic that you're lambasting an entire city for being more racist than people in other cities?? Or is stereotyping only ok when you do it?? How many times have you worked in all the various cities in the U.S.?? You are no less guilty of stereotyping and discrimination than those that you demonize. Anytime anyone says one place is the worst or the greatest its a pretty big sign that you're completely full of it. No one has said Omaha is the greatest city. All that has been said is Omaha has the same problems, to no greater or less degree, than all the other cities in the U.S. There is nothing unique about Omaha.
You refer to my labeling of Omaha as racist as an irrefutably incorrect fact. As if there was a unit of measurement for racism, and Omaha's score falls well below nearby cities like Rapid City, or Minneapolis, or Des Moines. Please. If I say based on my experience, I feel Omaha is a racist town, that's an irrefutable fact. That based on my experience, I feel Omaha is racist. If you have a differing view, well then welcome to the party, your differing view is as useful as mine is. That is to say, it's essentially meaningless.
Oh, and I'm not "sitting and whining." I gave an honest account of my life in Omaha. If that's "whining" then perhaps you're right, I should shut up and talk about how great the city is. If taking past experiences and using that information to form thoughts and opinions is the wrong way of processing such information, then I can see why you'd think my opinions were purely anecdotal, and of course, trumped up.
What accusation did I throw out? I said that from my experience, there is a noticeable tension in Omaha. I didn't accuse anybody of being a card carrying KKK member. I shared a few of my personal stories. Those aren't opinionated diatribes, and I certainly don't have a staked interest in who does or doesn't think Omaha is a racist town, so I don't see why I would just choose Omaha to criticize. I really don't think I threw out any wild accusations about the town.
What specifics would you like? Or maybe it's that anything critical of Omaha is inherently rehashed nonsense on here.
Bosco55David-
I like how your rebuttal to my post was "No, it's not." "Again, no it's not." Etc. If that's how debates are settled around here, no wonder I've upset some people.
The question phrased as "Will I find racists in X?" is yes, a rather dumb question, but if racial tension is a problem where the asker is from, asking about the state of race relations in a prospective new home is in no way stupid.
What statistical fact are you talking about? What scientific study has been done, polling to find a single racist resident in every city, town, and village in the country? I'm not being sarcastic, I'd really like to know. I would imagine something on such a large scale would have made headlines, but I must've missed it. Also, in the survey that yielded this "statistical fact," what was the criteria used to define a racist? Last time I checked, racism was a subjective, debateable concept, without a concrete definition. Before I fully concur with the results of this survey, I'd like to know the requisites for being deemed a racist. Seriously. In practice, yes, there almost certainly is a racist person in every single town in America, but to say it's a statistical fact? Why, I'm afraid that's "uninformed crap." To borrow a phrase.
Mattpoulsen-
To answer your question, no I've never been to a foreign country. I have heard stories similar to yours, though. A girl I took German with in high school said she was refused service at a bookstore because the clerk claimed her accent was too thick. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, that would certainly qualify as prejudice behavior. That has nothing to do with Omaha, though. And for the record, I never said Omaha's problem was the worst, or that they had the biggest problem with racism. I'm going to type in simple sentences so I'm not misconstrued again (this is not directed specifically at you, Mattpoulsen.) I feel that Omaha has a problem with racism. I feel this way because of my personal experiences with many Omaha residents. Of the places I've lived (New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Nebraska) Omaha's race issues are above average, in my opinion. I don't think it's fair to generalize every inhabitant of a city. I never generalized every resident of Omaha.
I never suggested the people of Omaha were fundamentally different from the people of any other city. If that's what you took from my post, then I apologize for giving you the wrong impression, and I'll try to phrase my thoughts more directly in the future. I said I've noticed more racism in Omaha than in many other places I've been to, that could be because Omaha is full of racists, or it could be that through some dumb luck, I've encounted only the racists in Omaha. I'm not making a claim one way or the other, I'm simply recounting what I have personally seen with my own eyes. If there's something wrong with that, let me know.
It was a nice thought, though, to try and cast me in the light of the uninformed, bitter man who has the secret agenda to keep people from moving to Omaha. Yes, me telling stories from my past, that's lambasting an entire city. Give me a break. Omaha's a decent enough city, but if someone feels that race relations may be an issue, they'd do well to consider elsewhere. Just because there's worse than Omaha, doesn't mean there aren't better places for the OP as well.
You refer to my labeling of Omaha as racist as an irrefutably incorrect fact. As if there was a unit of measurement for racism, and Omaha's score falls well below nearby cities like Rapid City, or Minneapolis, or Des Moines. Please. If I say based on my experience, I feel Omaha is a racist town, that's an irrefutable fact. That based on my experience, I feel Omaha is racist. If you have a differing view, well then welcome to the party, your differing view is as useful as mine is. That is to say, it's essentially meaningless.
Oh, and I'm not "sitting and whining." I gave an honest account of my life in Omaha. If that's "whining" then perhaps you're right, I should shut up and talk about how great the city is. If taking past experiences and using that information to form thoughts and opinions is the wrong way of processing such information, then I can see why you'd think my opinions were purely anecdotal, and of course, trumped up.
What accusation did I throw out? I said that from my experience, there is a noticeable tension in Omaha. I didn't accuse anybody of being a card carrying KKK member. I shared a few of my personal stories. Those aren't opinionated diatribes, and I certainly don't have a staked interest in who does or doesn't think Omaha is a racist town, so I don't see why I would just choose Omaha to criticize. I really don't think I threw out any wild accusations about the town.
What specifics would you like? Or maybe it's that anything critical of Omaha is inherently rehashed nonsense on here.
I can only wonder why you've stayed here so long, considering what a horrible place it is.
And I find it interesting that you're working so hard to prove what a horribly racist place Omaha is - using nothing but hyperbole.
At least 3 people on this thread have called you out on your racist whining. I'd think maybe that might cause you to engage in some self-examination. On the other hand, maybe not.
Well, you were the one who stated "...Omaha is worse than many other places up here." How is that not a statement that Omaha is worse than other places??
I didn't paint you in a negative light. I simply responded to your direct and straightforward statement.
You have lived in three places and have never even been out of the country. Yet, you somehow think you're qualified to judge Omaha in terms of its "racism" relative to other places. NY, NJ, and Florida have a much more diverse population than NE. However, they have a population much more diverse than probably 45 of the remaining states. Your sampling is horribly flawed. Live in Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Ohio, Alabama, Mississippi, Idaho, Wyoming and etc. and then tell me that Omaha is "worse than many other places up here."
You throw statements like that out there and expect people not to be offended...seriously?? Good god, in your response to Omaharocks you flat out stated that "[you] think Omaha is racist." How exactly is that NOT lambasting Omaha as a whole?
Further, none of those that I acquaint with are racist and many are minorities themselves. Does that mean I should conclude that there are no racists in Omaha?? Also, I heard a few racist remarks when I was in New York. I guess that means the OP should pass on NY too....you know...if issues of racism are a concern to them.
My point is no one should be worried about moving to Omaha because of racism!! A few keep suggesting to the OP that they shouldn't move here if they are concerned with racism, yet when challenged on how you come to that conclusion you basically have nothing to provide except a few anecdotal examples. Well, those same examples exist ANYWHERE, including Hawaii, the home state of the OP. And my experience in foreign countries IS related to Omaha! The point was the exact behavior that you condemn Omaha and "whites" of is also displayed throughout the world...and even by non-whites and/or non-Americans.
Posts like yours get on people's nerves because you take pot shots at an entire city and perpetuate a ridiculous stereotype attached to the midwest. And you can say you're not demonizing an entire city but when you make statements suggesting Omaha is "worse than many others" and "[you] think Omaha is racist" its hard to really take away any other message. Its like a nicely written political ad - filled full of innuendo, suggestion, and some nicely charged anecdotes with an absolute goal of getting the reader to conclude Omaha is racist, even if you don't say it explicitly.
I have no problem with you getting on here and relaying your personal experiences. But I do have a problem when you take that very limited experience and use it to conclude something about an entire city, especially when that conclusion has to be measured relative to the rest of the country. I guess in sum, it boils down to me thinking you're not informed enough to tell the OP whether or not racism is an issue more or less in Omaha than any other place, except NY, NJ, and Florida.
Last edited by mattpoulsen; 11-21-2009 at 10:47 PM..
If I say based on my experience, I feel Omaha is a racist town, that's an irrefutable fact.
I think you might want to learn what the difference is between fact and opinion.
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What accusation did I throw out? I said that from my experience, there is a noticeable tension in Omaha. I didn't accuse anybody of being a card carrying KKK member. I shared a few of my personal stories. Those aren't opinionated diatribes, and I certainly don't have a staked interest in who does or doesn't think Omaha is a racist town, so I don't see why I would just choose Omaha to criticize. I really don't think I threw out any wild accusations about the town.
Well we can start with this horribly obtuse conclusion that you came to about Omaha being racist because a few people didn't like dealing with people that can't speak english. I would say that is debatable at best on whether that qualifies as racism or not.
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What specifics would you like? Or maybe it's that anything critical of Omaha is inherently rehashed nonsense on here.
I'll tell you what. How about I give YOU some specifics.
- One of the most popular police chiefs in Omaha history was Thomas Warren. He was black.
- The current acting Chief of Police is Alex Hayes. He is also a black man.
- The principal at my elementary school was a black man who is now teaching at UNO.
- Two city council members who are black.
For being a racist city we should have quite a few minorities in prominent positions.
Quote:
Bosco55David-
I like how your rebuttal to my post was "No, it's not." "Again, no it's not." Etc. If that's how debates are settled around here, no wonder I've upset some people.
Bring some legitimately debatable material then, and I'll be happy to play along.
Quote:
The question phrased as "Will I find racists in X?" is yes, a rather dumb question, but if racial tension is a problem where the asker is from, asking about the state of race relations in a prospective new home is in no way stupid.
Glad we're in agreement there. And no, racial tension will not be an issue in Omaha.
Quote:
What statistical fact are you talking about? What scientific study has been done, polling to find a single racist resident in every city, town, and village in the country? I'm not being sarcastic, I'd really like to know. I would imagine something on such a large scale would have made headlines, but I must've missed it. Also, in the survey that yielded this "statistical fact," what was the criteria used to define a racist? Last time I checked, racism was a subjective, debateable concept, without a concrete definition. Before I fully concur with the results of this survey, I'd like to know the requisites for being deemed a racist. Seriously. In practice, yes, there almost certainly is a racist person in every single town in America, but to say it's a statistical fact? Why, I'm afraid that's "uninformed crap." To borrow a phrase.
So you acknowledge it's true, but then want to debate me on it anyways?
Wow.
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Mattpoulsen-
To answer your question, no I've never been to a foreign country. I have heard stories similar to yours, though. A girl I took German with in high school said she was refused service at a bookstore because the clerk claimed her accent was too thick. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, that would certainly qualify as prejudice behavior. That has nothing to do with Omaha, though. And for the record, I never said Omaha's problem was the worst, or that they had the biggest problem with racism. I'm going to type in simple sentences so I'm not misconstrued again (this is not directed specifically at you, Mattpoulsen.) I feel that Omaha has a problem with racism. I feel this way because of my personal experiences with many Omaha residents. Of the places I've lived (New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Nebraska) Omaha's race issues are above average, in my opinion. I don't think it's fair to generalize every inhabitant of a city. I never generalized every resident of Omaha.
I never suggested the people of Omaha were fundamentally different from the people of any other city. If that's what you took from my post, then I apologize for giving you the wrong impression, and I'll try to phrase my thoughts more directly in the future. I said I've noticed more racism in Omaha than in many other places I've been to, that could be because Omaha is full of racists, or it could be that through some dumb luck, I've encounted only the racists in Omaha. I'm not making a claim one way or the other, I'm simply recounting what I have personally seen with my own eyes. If there's something wrong with that, let me know.
It was a nice thought, though, to try and cast me in the light of the uninformed, bitter man who has the secret agenda to keep people from moving to Omaha. Yes, me telling stories from my past, that's lambasting an entire city. Give me a break. Omaha's a decent enough city, but if someone feels that race relations may be an issue, they'd do well to consider elsewhere. Just because there's worse than Omaha, doesn't mean there aren't better places for the OP as well.
You know what's funny? I live in Florida currently and find more racial tension here than I ever did in Omaha. How you could live in Florida and not see that is simply beyond me. I've also had a much tougher time making friends with people of other races here than I ever did in Omaha and have commented on that several times on this forum.
Grow some thicker skin. If that was over your indecency threshhold, perhaps you should consider upping your security filters on your computer.
It just doesn't show much class to be engaging in the type behavior I have read on this thread.
But, then again, perhaps that is par for the area's course. My neighbor commented about someone near her having vomit "thrown up" on her at one your teams football games in Lincoln. By an adult.
I stopped looking for a good job around here and decided on leaving in about six months, if not sooner, due to the area's culture of football, football, and more football, and pretty much nothing else.
I even emailed an HR recruiter and told them that it is obvious I was not sought after for several factors - age and my "non-local status" therefore, I could not talk about football at work.
I really though Omaha was more cosmopolitan than this, but I was terribly wrong on this note.
if you are international-minority, my advise to you is: "do not move to omaha", unless you are willing to sacrifice yourself to promote diversity & inclusion around this community. It will take decades to make this area open to other cultures and ethnicities. I have never encounter so many racist ugly moments in my life...people had screamed ugly things to me several occasions, treating me like an illegal mexican when Im not even mexican or illegal :S. it is very sad. After 4 years living here, I had enough...Im out of here back to the east coast.
*My apologies to all the nebraska citizens that are not this way.
I can see this happening. Where I work, I am obviously the only person there from East of the Mississippi. Even some states west of here have a diversity of people who are familiar with accents from points east.
But, I was told at work by an HR person that the nicest people in the country are from the Midwest, so where did that leave me on that day I asked him? Kind of hurts, you know, that people look at your strangely because you don't talk with the flat A coming from the Midwest.
I think there are many areas of the Midwest that will always have problems with other cultures, even people from other states, since they are so used to one group of people, or being very isolated.
And, for the matter - a person with developmental issues is not "retarded" - that person could be considered a little "slow" if you find yourself not able to use the word, "developmentally delayed." A person who is Black is not a "colored person" - that wasn't used on the East Coast even 25 years old. They are either "black" or "African-American."
It is still rather isolated in these parts, unfortunately. And, those of us from the East are not bad people. We may talk differently, use bag instead of sack, and not be as "quiet" as a good Omahan or Nebraskan, but we are not bad people. We are educated, our parents and grandparents were educated, and we may have had parents who worked for big companies, had their own businesses, and didn't have farms, and certainly our experiences being raised near large cities of the East afforded us many opportunities, education, and more worldliness, and perhaps knowledge, but it doesn't mean we are being arrogant or know it alls.
It is unfortunate that the young HR recruiters around here only want to hire the "locals" and not those of us from points East - out of fear, out of resentment, or out of a lot of things.
It just doesn't show much class to be engaging in the type behavior I have read on this thread.
But, then again, perhaps that is par for the area's course. My neighbor commented about someone near her having vomit "thrown up" on her at one your teams football games in Lincoln. By an adult.
I stopped looking for a good job around here and decided on leaving in about six months, if not sooner, due to the area's culture of football, football, and more football, and pretty much nothing else.
I even emailed an HR recruiter and told them that it is obvious I was not sought after for several factors - age and my "non-local status" therefore, I could not talk about football at work.
I really though Omaha was more cosmopolitan than this, but I was terribly wrong on this note.
I can think of at least one reason you're not being "sought after." Maybe two.
You're talking about my hole all over the forum? Why?
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