c/o 2019 Applicant Compendium (2015 - 2016) Forum

Generally · Post by **Generally** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:16 pm

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barley · Post by **barley** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:16 pm

Generally wrote:
barley wrote:
Generally wrote:
salander wrote:
Generally wrote:
salander wrote:
doublehoohopeful wrote: Yeah. The really deep south is Louisiana (my other motherland), Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and parts of North Florida. Everywhere else is South-lite.
What traits do you consider to be very Southern?
Sweet tea, grits and general awesome food, southern hospitality, y'all, guns, church, conservative generally, SEC football, country music, ect
In that case, what do you think are some of the worst qualities of the deep South?
Poverty, bad education, obesity, "Murcia" mind set. Bad coffee, though that's changing

Not racism? (Genuinely curious.)
In my experiance this is not a predominantly southern problem.

To be fair, neither are poverty and some of the other things you mentioned.

Curious because I'm from the Northeast and I see race relations as one of our region's major problems, but my perception is that it's a very different type of racism than exists in the South - it's very "veiled" here and lots of people profess to be color-blind, which is actually problematic. I'd be interested in hearing your perspective on racism/race relations in your area.

Generally · Post by **Generally** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:20 pm

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salander · Post by **salander** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:25 pm

Generally wrote:
doublehoohopeful wrote:
salander wrote:What's the Murcia mindset?

Yep.

I'm surprised I've never heard of this term before.

barley · Post by **barley** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:26 pm

Generally wrote:
barley wrote:

To be fair, neither are poverty and some of the other things you mentioned.

Curious because I'm from the Northeast and I see race relations as one of our region's major problems, but my perception is that it's a very different type of racism than exists in the South - it's very "veiled" here and lots of people profess to be color-blind, which is actually problematic. I'd be interested in hearing your perspective on racism/race relations in your area.
I would love to give you my prospective, but I am on a phone right now and typing is difficult perhaps when I get home? I do think it is much more open here, and yea the other issues are not just in the south but we have more than an equal share of those problems I think. Racism I think is equal.

That would be great! Thanks!

doublehoohopeful · Post by **doublehoohopeful** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:27 pm

barley wrote:To be fair, neither are poverty and some of the other things you mentioned.

Curious because I'm from the Northeast and I see race relations as one of our region's major problems, but my perception is that it's a very different type of racism than exists in the South - it's very "veiled" here and lots of people profess to be color-blind, which is actually problematic. I'd be interested in hearing your perspective on racism/race relations in your area.

I'm from Northern Virginia, which is in a bit of a unique situation in that it is where the federal government lives. Due to the close proximity of DC, you have a huge number of highly educated, well paid people. I think that population translates into a governance structure that has very little (if any) discernible institutional racism. I'm sure there are parts of Virginia where driving while black and other similar things are still issues, but I just don't see it on a day to day basis.

salander · Post by **salander** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:27 pm

barley wrote:
Generally wrote: I would love to give you my prospective, but I am on a phone right now and typing is difficult perhaps when I get home? I do think it is much more open here, and yea the other issues are not just in the south but we have more than an equal share of those problems I think. Racism I think is equal.
That would be great! Thanks!

Seconded. Would also love to hear about this.

barley · Post by **barley** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:35 pm

doublehoohopeful wrote:
barley wrote:To be fair, neither are poverty and some of the other things you mentioned.

Curious because I'm from the Northeast and I see race relations as one of our region's major problems, but my perception is that it's a very different type of racism than exists in the South - it's very "veiled" here and lots of people profess to be color-blind, which is actually problematic. I'd be interested in hearing your perspective on racism/race relations in your area.
I'm from Northern Virginia, which is in a bit of a unique situation in that it is where the federal government lives. Due to the close proximity of DC, you have a huge number of highly educated, well paid people. I think that population translates into a governance structure that has very little (if any) discernible institutional racism. I'm sure there are parts of Virginia where driving while black and other similar things are still issues, but I just don't see it on a day to day basis.

Are you white?

I don't wanna give too many details of where I live, but I'm in a city and am not black, and most of the areas I frequent tend to be full of highly educated and well-paid people as well (though it sounds like we have a bit more socioeconomic diversity here than what you're describing). I also rarely see institutional racism in my day-to-day life, so I've only become attuned to it in the context of my PI job. But when I talk to my black (highly educated and well-paid) coworkers, I realize that they do experience it on a regular basis. Just a thought.

Hildegard15 · Post by **Hildegard15** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:36 pm

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doublehoohopeful · Post by **doublehoohopeful** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:39 pm

barley wrote:
Are you white?

I don't wanna give too many details of where I live, but I'm in a city and am not black, and most of the areas I frequent tend to be full of highly educated and well-paid people as well (though it sounds like we have a bit more socioeconomic diversity here than what you're describing). I also rarely see institutional racism in my day-to-day life, so I've only become attuned to it in the context of my PI job. But when I talk to my black (highly educated and well-paid) coworkers, I realize that they do experience it on a regular basis. Just a thought.

Yep, I'm white.

For what it's worth, I was recently talking with a retired Army officer who is black about his experience being stationed in Mississippi during the '80s. He said that it was a pretty horrible experience, and that he was thankful that he was living up here. It's anecdotal, but I think it's useful.

Generally · Post by **Generally** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:39 pm

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barley · Post by **barley** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:40 pm

Hildegard15 wrote:
Thirded. I have met very few people from the South so I'm intrigued to learn.

I'm so glad we have some regional/political diversity in here and can discuss things civilly, because it really is fascinating. The Southerners I know are anomalies who didn't like the South so left for the more liberal NE; it's great to hear from people who know and love the region, even if I may not agree with them on some things!

barley · Post by **barley** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:46 pm

doublehoohopeful wrote:
barley wrote:
Are you white?

I don't wanna give too many details of where I live, but I'm in a city and am not black, and most of the areas I frequent tend to be full of highly educated and well-paid people as well (though it sounds like we have a bit more socioeconomic diversity here than what you're describing). I also rarely see institutional racism in my day-to-day life, so I've only become attuned to it in the context of my PI job. But when I talk to my black (highly educated and well-paid) coworkers, I realize that they do experience it on a regular basis. Just a thought.
Yep, I'm white.

For what it's worth, I was recently talking with a retired Army officer who is black about his experience being stationed in Mississippi during the '80s. He said that it was a pretty horrible experience, and that he was thankful that he was living up here. It's anecdotal, but I think it's useful.

Heh, I imagine it's not too hard to improve upon Mississippi in the 80s if you're black.

But yeah, I definitely find anecdotal evidence to be interesting and useful. IMO the hard numbers on racial inequality nationwide are pretty damning, but I have a hard time parsing them sometimes, especially when race is so closely tied to socioeconomic status that it starts to look like a chicken and egg scenario.

ETA: I reread that and I'm not sure if it makes sense but I'm too sleepy to be coherent.

salander · Post by **salander** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:46 pm

barley wrote: I'm so glad we have some regional/political diversity in here and can discuss things civilly, because it really is fascinating. The Southerners I know are anomalies who didn't like the South so left for the more liberal NE; it's great to hear from people who know and love the region, even if I may not agree with them on some things!

And here I thought this thread was a blasting zone

alpha kenny body · Post by **alpha kenny body** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:53 pm

barley · Post by **barley** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:54 pm

salander wrote:
barley wrote: I'm so glad we have some regional/political diversity in here and can discuss things civilly, because it really is fascinating. The Southerners I know are anomalies who didn't like the South so left for the more liberal NE; it's great to hear from people who know and love the region, even if I may not agree with them on some things!
And here I thought this thread was a blasting zone

I mean - down with the Rebs?

(Am I doing this blasting thing right?)

barley · Post by **barley** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:06 pm

Fips - Thanks for sharing. That...kinda sounds like it sucks.

But I appreciate your perspective!

doublehoohopeful · Post by **doublehoohopeful** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:12 pm

barley wrote:Heh, I imagine it's not too hard to improve upon Mississippi in the 80s if you're black.

But yeah, I definitely find anecdotal evidence to be interesting and useful. IMO the hard numbers on racial inequality nationwide are pretty damning, but I have a hard time parsing them sometimes, especially when race is so closely tied to socioeconomic status that it starts to look like a chicken and egg scenario.

ETA: I reread that and I'm not sure if it makes sense but I'm too sleepy to be coherent.

Haha, it makes sense.

Another huge factor that comes into play is where you live and how labor dynamics have played out. Take Appalachia for example. It has historically been one of the poorest areas of the United States, especially so with the fall of coal mining. It is also overwhelmingly white. Post-WWII Baltimore or Detroit? Two of the most prosperous cities in the world. Without jobs, these and other rust belt cities are nowhere near how they used to be and due to white flight, largely black populations are suffering.

Hildegard15 · Post by **Hildegard15** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:26 pm

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Generally · Post by **Generally** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:59 pm

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urbanist11 · Post by **urbanist11** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 12:04 am

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Hildegard15 · Post by **Hildegard15** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 12:07 am

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doublehoohopeful · Post by **doublehoohopeful** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 12:17 am

urbanist11 wrote:I think the latter example re: poverty an education is exactly an example of institutional racism (ie how the past perpetuates itself and leads to today's conditions)

I think The Wire, especially season 4, does a great job of looking into this (and I agree, consistent disparities in educational resources based on race is indeed institutional racism, even if nobody is being explicitly racist).

Generally · Post by **Generally** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 12:27 am

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Generally · Post by **Generally** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 12:33 am

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