What did you do today?

[iahawks550]

I guess a person is best off picking an area of the country that has more people like them. When it comes down to it, that's the discussion. 

[fuzzy_bricks]

I pulled San Francisco to see what the frame of reference was.

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/sanfranciscocitycalifornia/PST045219

10 minutes ago, BrickLover80 said:

Cleveland might be diverse if you look just look at the fraction that is non-white. But non-white are almost all African-American. While that is more diversity than smaller places in the Midwest, it's not diverse compared to CA. 

But more importantly, there is a big distinction between diverse and integrated. On paper, these cities might be 50-50 but it's not mixed at all. So your daily live looks like there is no diversity. 

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-most-diverse-cities-are-often-the-most-segregated/

Is that really surprising though?  As evidenced by some previous comments, "being on an island" so to speak, wasn't the best experience.  I believe people want to be around people with similar culture and experiences as themselves.  It's more comfortable.

[$20 on joe vs dan]

2 hours ago, fuzzy_bricks said:

What would make them diverse?  Cleveland is more black than the US average, so is Toledo and Indianapolis.  Calling Detroit a ghetto is really no different than the events you described being directed toward you.

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/detroitcitymichigan,indianapoliscitybalanceindiana,clevelandcityohio,toledocityohio,US/PST045219

 

Detroit is the only major city I've been to in the US where the highrises have broken windows and boarded up... that fits my definition of ghetto (poor upkeep). Ofcourse this was a couple decades ago.

 

[$20 on joe vs dan]

2 hours ago, iahawks550 said:

 more people like them. 

are you talking ethnicity or state of mind?

I'm talking sitting down at a restaurant (most any type) and there could be a mix of 3 to 5 ethnicities (including the staff)...no one blinks an eye.

[TheOrcKing]

17 hours ago, Alpinemaps said:

Just seeing what I could buy is amazing. Acres of property. Swimming pool. Chicken coops and stables if I were so inclined. All with a MIL sweet, super upgraded home. American dream that just can’t be realized in SoCal anymore.

Green Acres is the place to be.
Farm livin' is the life for me.
Land spreadin' out so far and wide!
Keep Manhattan, just give me that country side.

[iahawks550]

6 hours ago, $20 on joe vs dan said:

are you talking ethnicity or state of mind?

I'm talking sitting down at a restaurant (most any type) and there could be a mix of 3 to 5 ethnicities (including the staff)...no one blinks an eye.

State of mind.

I'm not sure I've ever been to any restaurant where people would blink an eye at different ethnicities. But every area of the country has it's biases towards a group of people or area of the country.

 

[zaphoid]

17 hours ago, gmpirate said:

Yeah, I suppose that could be weird.  All I know is Socal and that's been my world since birth.

I felt some anxiety when I left SoCal in 2005, its where I was born and raised.  We moved north of Dallas and once we got here we never looked back.  It really is pretty good out here.  Now going back to SoCal give me anxiety because of all the crowds and people.

 

[gmpirate]

38 minutes ago, zaphoid said:

I felt some anxiety when I left SoCal in 2005, its where I was born and raised.  We moved north of Dallas and once we got here we never looked back.  It really is pretty good out here.  Now going back to SoCal give me anxiety because of all the crowds and people.

 

Humidity?  It's really my only holdout on Texas.  Other than just being even further from family.  AZ is only a 5 hour drive and Idaho 9 I think.  Worst drive I've ever taken home was from Texas.  Very long drive and there is nothing out there but wasteland and oilfields.  But it may not matter in a little time anyway.  Many of the people that are fleeing California are then voting the same way where they go anyway . . .

Edited August 27, 2021 by gmpirate

[dennugsmello]

13 minutes ago, gmpirate said:

Many of the people that are fleeing California are then voting the same way where they go anyway . . .

Telling people you are from California in my home state is close to fighting words. At this point I think most here would rather have Afghan refuges here than more Californians : )

[zaphoid]

33 minutes ago, gmpirate said:

Humidity?  It's really my only holdout on Texas.  Other than just being even further from family . . .

yeah, we have it and its bad a couple of months out of the year (now). but we keep outdoor activities to a minimum and try to get the yard work done by 10 in the morning of so. 

[fuzzy_bricks]

1 hour ago, dennugsmello said:

Telling people you are from California in my home state is close to fighting words. At this point I think most here would rather have Afghan refuges here than more Californians : )

I would much more prejudice against people from California that I would people of other ethnicity.

[Darth_Raichu]

15 hours ago, $20 on joe vs dan said:

again, in my 3 years, I never experienced anything that I would call racist behavior.  If anything folks in the mid-west are more friendly and welcoming.  The issue is being different. 

Subtle stuff like entering a restaurant and folks all take a glance at you.  not in a rude way but mostly curiosity.  For them I may be the first non-white person they have seen all day, week, or in some cases, months.  but there is also the Hmmm in the back of your mind when something kinda off happens and you wonder if it was racially motivated (things like waiting longer for a table or being overlooked when in line)....when it keeps happening at a place we stop going there.

  Some ignorant stuff like being referred to as "oriental" or folks assuming I was Chinese...fiancee would often hear: "you're lucky you people don't gain weight like us"; overall generally being treated like a foreigner since that's the default assumption...the most annoying is when they have it in their minds that they won't understand you and having to constantly repeat myself (I've live in the US since the age of 4...if I have an accent its super mild).  fiancee is soft spoken so she pretty much gave up trying to speak in any public setting (stopped talking to waiters, etc) as no one seems to hear her right (she's been in US since age 3).

 

I am sorry, but this is your state of mind and your personality.  Which is fine since nobody should force you to live where you are not comfortable.  Plus, the benefit of living in the US is we still have choices to decide where we want to live.  Heck, you are free to live as homeless bum if you choose to do so.

I have lived in place with so much racial tension where a person from a minority group cannot look anyone from the majority group wrongly when they are sitting in the same bus, less a fight would break.  Living in the midwest with so many friendly people who mostly leave me alone is paradise compare to where I lived in the past.  And so what if they look at you with curiosity, I too would look with curious eyes at something I do not see everyday.  Just nod and smile.  So many things can be smooth out with just a smile. That is the one thing lost with all of the mask mandates but I digress.

This is not in any way, shape, or form an attempt to invalidate your feelings and thoughts.  I just want to present a different take on living in the midwest. 

[junkrigger]

Anyone who is white living in America should probably STFU when it comes to saying they know anything about what it’s like to be non-white.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Darth_Raichu]

4 minutes ago, junkrigger said:

Anyone who is white living in America should probably STFU when it comes to saying they know anything about what it’s like to be non-white.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does that extend to white people who have lived at other parts of the world where they would be the minority there ?

[junkrigger]

Does that extend to white people who have lived at other parts of the world where they would be the minority there ?

Then said person has the life experience to comment on what it’s like to be white living in another country but absolutely not what it’s like to be non-white living in America, they are obviously two different situations involving two very different countries.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Darth_Raichu]

1 minute ago, junkrigger said:

Then said person has the life experience to comment on what it’s like to be white living in another country but absolutely not what it’s like to be non-white living in America, they are obviously two different situations involving two very different countries.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Are you saying the non-whites have the same and equal experience living in the US no matter what their races and geographical locations ?

[elmaslıefendi]

I like how most people use white as a universal definition. How do you even define white? I'm white, some would say I'm not. Is it a skin-thing, heritage-thing or a cultural matter? It's all over the place. The genetics-route is also a labyrinth, these tests always show a colorful 20 piece pie chart.

[junkrigger]

Are you saying the non-whites have the same and equal experience living in the US no matter what their races and geographical locations ?

If a persons reading comprehension surpasses that of the 5th grade level then they can answer that question very easily by rereading my post. Especially considering my post said white people should’nt talk about what it’s like to not be white. It’s pretty simple and applies to anyone and anything. Don’t say u know what it’s like if your not in that situation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Thanos75]

Oh crap.....getting ready for another New Orleans storm. Should be a great one. Family is headed to Texas while I hold the fort down at the refinery. 

[Darth_Raichu]

1 hour ago, junkrigger said:

If a persons reading comprehension surpasses that of the 5th grade level then they can answer that question very easily by rereading my post. Especially considering my post said white people should’nt talk about what it’s like to not be white. It’s pretty simple and applies to anyone and anything. Don’t say u know what it’s like if your not in that situation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No, I understood what you meant exactly.  You asked people of certain skin color not to show empathy or share experiences even when there are some similarities.  That is a sad world where people of a certain race is excluded from the conversation simply based on their race.  I thought we are progressing away from exclusion by race ???  

[junkrigger]

No, I understood what you meant exactly.  You asked people of certain skin color not to show empathy or share experiences even when there are some similarities.  That is a sad world where people of a certain race is excluded from the conversation simply based on their race.  I thought we are progressing away from exclusion by race ???  

Stop putting words into peoples mouth to fit an argument or agenda. All I said was the people should not say they know what it’s like for those who have a life experience that the other person has know way of knowing based on the fact they will never be that person’s race or ethnicity.

Did I say a person can’t empathize or show compassion for another person? I’m pretty sure it’s a big stretch to take my posts and infer that. But I don’t really want to argue about this if your goal is to empathize and show compassion for people.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Darth_Raichu]

33 minutes ago, junkrigger said:

Stop putting words into peoples mouth to fit an argument or agenda. All I said was the people should not say they know what it’s like for those who have a life experience that the other person has know way of knowing based on the fact they will never be that person’s race or ethnicity.

Did I say a person can’t empathize or show compassion for another person? I’m pretty sure it’s a big stretch to take my posts and infer that. But I don’t really want to argue about this if your goal is to empathize and show compassion for people.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just to show I was not the one bringing exclusion of a specific race to this thread

3 hours ago, junkrigger said:

Anyone who is white living in America should probably STFU when it comes to saying they know anything about what it’s like to be non-white.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Alpinemaps]

2 hours ago, elmaslıefendi said:

I like how most people use white as a universal definition. How do you even define white? I'm white, some would say I'm not. Is it a skin-thing, heritage-thing or a cultural matter? It's all over the place. The genetics-route is also a labyrinth, these tests always show a colorful 20 piece pie chart.

I have Italian and Irish heritage in my background.  Today, those people are considered white.  But there was a time in the recent past, when they most certainly were not.  So yeah, I agree.

[junkrigger]

Someone who is white does not know what it’s like to not be white, it’s pretty simple, how could they, it’s like saying a person who has never been incarcerated knows what it’s like to spend time in prison. Yes it’s my judgement call that in this time in our history it does not help those who identify as non-white to be told by white people what their experience is. If a person wants to provide support or empathy for anyone of any race by all means that should be seen as a good thing.

Perhaps my words are not being read carefully enough. I said white people should not say they “know what it’s like to be non-white” I did not say white people have no right to make comments on race in America which is how it seems my words are being interpreted. I would also say that non-white people shouldn’t say they know what it’s like to be white, if that helps make things more equitable.

I also think it disingenuous to say I am somehow bringing exclusion to a thread by what I said, maybe if I was a mod deleting posts I didn’t like then there is something there, or if I’m a mod deleting my own insensitive posts making fun of someone for their looks based on a medical condition they were born with, that could be seen as pretty uncool, these things have happened recently but not by me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gmpirate]

3 hours ago, elmaslıefendi said:

I like how most people use white as a universal definition. How do you even define white? I'm white, some would say I'm not. Is it a skin-thing, heritage-thing or a cultural matter? It's all over the place. The genetics-route is also a labyrinth, these tests always show a colorful 20 piece pie chart.

It really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.  One day we will all be muts but we will still have the same problem of certain people trying to divide us.  Divide and conquer.  It's a lot easier to take down something when you break it up and pit people against one another.  Race will eventually be a non-issue, and they will use something else.  It's actually already happening -- *** vs straight, income levels, genders . . .

 

1 hour ago, junkrigger said:

Stop putting words into peoples mouth to fit an argument or agenda. All I said was the people should not say they know what it’s like for those who have a life experience that the other person has know way of knowing based on the fact they will never be that person’s race or ethnicity.

I disagree.  Humans have the remarkable ability to relate.  We do it every day on many levels on many subjects.  Have any of us been burned alive at the stake?  Obviously not, but we can draw upon similar experiences to come to a pretty good "understanding" of how horrible it would be.

I've never lived in a place where I'm the only one of my race, but I have been to places and been in situations where I have been.  From that I can at least "relate" to what some others here have experienced and at the same time use my intellect to understand that it would be worse to live it every day without end.  No its not the same thing, but human beings do not need to experience the same exact things in order understand, relate and appreciate what other people are going through.