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At least on CD, ive noticed an increase in the # of threads complaining about transplants and a decrease in complaints about minorities (since it's becoming less and less politically correct to bash minorities.)
It seems every post or thread painting transplants in a negative has the exact same undertones of xenophobia as racists from back in the day.
Are my observations and inferences in line with reality?
I woke speak for the transplant "bashers" but I would think it has more to do with population growth.
My guess is a lot of people don't like transplants because their area (like my own) may be growing like wildfire and losing a lot of it's charm. There's increased traffic, housing developments, big box stores popping up left and right, etc.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Here the whiners are complaining about the transplants adding to the congestion, driving up rent and home prices, and taking jobs that might otherwise go to existing residents. Unlike racism, it’s not fear of or hatred of people different from them, but a combination of frustration and jealousy. I happen to be in the process of hiring two people, and so far 3 of 15 applicants are from other states, and based on the resumes, 2 of them are better qualified than most of the local applicants. The worst bashing is addressing people coming here from even more high cost areas like San Francisco/Silicone Valley.
We don't bash transplants here (in fact we need more year round people), we bash day trippers and summer people. I don't think it's similar at all to racism, it's just about all animals are territorial, including humans. "Outsiders" bring change, whether temporary (like here in the summer) or permanent, and most of us I think naturally feel threatened by change.
I understand that we need the summer people, but when I'm sitting in my car trying to get home and I can't because a guy in front of me with PA plates has a giant SUV double-parked in the road for 15 minutes unloading his family and their beach stuff and there's too much traffic in the other lane to go around and I tap the horn and he gives me the finger, well, it's hard to have that perspective in that moment, and it's all too easy to retort "This is why we hate Shoobies!".
I think it transplant bashing has much more to do with frustrations of natives/long-time locals of currently growing (booming) cities, and (hopefully) isn't so much a race issue.
Changing character of neighborhoods, gentrification/displacement, skyrocketing real estate/rent costs, traffic woes, sometimes increases in crime in certain areas, etc...These are growth-related challenges cities face that long-time locals may tend to point at transplants for causing, as opposed to looking at the whole picture (i.e - people moving in (or out) are only one variable).
I think transplants get bashed because a lot of them refuse to ever shut up about how much "better" everything was where they came from. Ok, and you left this utopia and came here be-cauuuse...?
At least on CD, ive noticed an increase in the # of threads complaining about transplants and a decrease in complaints about minorities (since it's becoming less and less politically correct to bash minorities.)
It seems every post or thread painting transplants in a negative has the exact same undertones of xenophobia as racists from back in the day.
Are my observations and inferences in line with reality?
If people are holding back on this forum about minorities, it's because they know the mods will eventually toss them. There are other places on the internet for people to go if they want a less regulated forum.
The term transplant always perplexed me. But that's because I've been a nomad and don't have a home base. A local has the perspective of massive change in their city over time. It makes sense that they would have a slightly derogatory term for the hordes moving in to their city, Transplants
I don't think that transplant is a substitute or code word for immigrant.
As a Californian, I've found that the anti-Californian-transplant bashing is a myth. No one can pick out a Californian in a crowd; most people have no idea who's from CA and who isn't. The issue never comes up. It's mostly abstract, complaining about California transplants causing RE prices to go up. But on an interpersonal level, how's anyone going to know if someone's local-born or from out-of-state? Even when they do know, it's not an issue at all.
.......Are my observations and inferences in line with reality?
No.
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