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Well, I just got back from a trip to very small town Northern Minnesota, where I used to live.
Thought I'd share this.
We went out to dinner at the local Chinese restaurant. The owners and staff are Asian, although I don't know which country they're from. They were talking with one another in their native language - Mandarin? Vietnamese?
At the next table over was a big group of Hispanic young men. They were talking with one another in Spanish.
At another table was a mixed race family, with a Black father, White mother, and their children. They were talking with one another in English.
At another table was a group of old-timer guys - probably 2nd generation Norwegian or Finnish Americans. They were talking with one another in such highly accented Northern Minnesota English it would take another local to understand them!
I looked around and thought to myself, "This is the modern reality of life in middle America and small town America. People from everywhere in the world living in harmony with one another."
And when you study our history you learn that it's not just modern reality but it also was historical reality, too.
Whenever I hear or read an urbanite or East/West coaster whine about the lack of diversity in small towns or how homogeneous the Midwest is, I think how obvious it is that they haven't travelled very much. I would like to send them a virtual punch in the nose, and say "Sha Tup! You don't know what you're talking about! Come and see how we actually are!"
There are small towns in all regions that have some degree of at least notable diversity. Here in Upstate NY, it is not unusual to find small towns with pretty high Black and Hispanic populations, a small town school district with a high Native American student population or such communities that have long time Black communities. so, this can manifest itself in different areas and ways.
There are small towns in all regions that have some degree of at least notable diversity. Here in Upstate NY, it is not unusual to find small towns with pretty high Black and Hispanic populations, a small town school district with a high Native American student population or such communities that have long time Black communities. so, this can manifest itself in different areas and ways.
I think people from the east/west coast are often living in a world of delusions regarding race relations.
I don't even see a need to whine so long as there is no discrimination happening. Some places are coincidentally homogenous, be it a China Town, Korea town, city of Hispanics/Latinos or a city with nothing but Caucasians.
Why does it matter if there's a lack of diversity in a town or city? It really doesn't and shouldn't. If it's not bothering the residents then who cares?
People from the north, especially white northerners, often think that because they aren't racist, they see no racism and therefore racism doesn't exist. They live in "diverse" areas so of course no discrimination/racism is occurring. We live in a world of cotton candy and rainbows where we all chew on Dubble Bubble together and blow bubbles.
Well, I just got back from a trip to very small town Northern Minnesota, where I used to live.
Thought I'd share this.
We went out to dinner at the local Chinese restaurant. The owners and staff are Asian, although I don't know which country they're from. They were talking with one another in their native language - Mandarin? Vietnamese?
At the next table over was a big group of Hispanic young men. They were talking with one another in Spanish.
At another table was a mixed race family, with a Black father, White mother, and their children. They were talking with one another in English.
At another table was a group of old-timer guys - probably 2nd generation Norwegian or Finnish Americans. They were talking with one another in such highly accented Northern Minnesota English it would take another local to understand them!
I looked around and thought to myself, "This is the modern reality of life in middle America and small town America. People from everywhere in the world living in harmony with one another."
And when you study our history you learn that it's not just modern reality but it also was historical reality, too.
Whenever I hear or read an urbanite or East/West coaster whine about the lack of diversity in small towns or how homogeneous the Midwest is, I think how obvious it is that they haven't travelled very much. I would like to send them a virtual punch in the nose, and say "Sha Tup! You don't know what you're talking about! Come and see how we actually are!"
Certainly exceptional to say the least, but you are likely in more of a liberal small town, and it's quite welcoming to them. And, how are you classifying a small town? If it's over 5,000+, then it's not a small town/village, it's a micropolitcan/regional center, which would make more sense to me, but where I used to live in Ohio, that county had no chance of ever being culturally diverse as you mentioned above. well, it was considered the "whitest" county in Ohio. lol; they couldn't really even get along with the Amish other than for the fact that they liked their home-oriented cooking.
Small towns today have very little economic opportunity so of course there won't be the kind of diversity like a bigger city has. The people living in the small town tend to be white people who have had families there for generations. If you notice most of the people on this forum who live in a small town tend to be 1) retired 2)already wealthy. Small towns don't have any opportunity for someone young looking to get ahead in the world.
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