I think things have changed a lot since Floyd lived there. I have worked there the past 16 years. Certainly the Louise Hicks anti-busing days were very nasty.
Dwight Giles Jr. Wickford RI On Jun 7, 2018 11:38 AM, "Andrew Strasfogel via Mercedes" < [email protected]> wrote: > I'm not going to cast aspersions but that has NOT been my experience > visiting the Boston area on numerous occasions over the past 5 years. > > On Thu, Jun 7, 2018 at 11:25 AM, Floyd Thursby via Mercedes < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > Interestingly enough, I found the most racist/ethnicist place I have ever > > lived to be liberal Massachusetts. The "race" aspect was sorta secondary > > to the ethnic aspect, kinda as in you don't look like me, you aren't like > > me, your family did not come from the same place as mine, you're a > > different religion, etc. I found that almost everyone disliked<->hated > > (somewhere on that spectrum) everyone else, at least those who were more > > than one generation in the area. Being very stereotypical here, but I > > found that whites disliked<->hated blacks, and anyone else of a darker > > shade in general, (white) Irish and Italians hated one another, > Catholics, > > Jews, Protestants, Muslims, whatever. I had a Haitian neighbor who was > > really black, who viscerally hated the "American" blacks who lived up the > > street from us and would go off on them sounding like an old klucker, it > > was pretty bad but was also somewhat curious and mystifying but I > realized > > it came down to cultural values not color so much. > > > > It seemed to come down whoever had arrived more recently than the other > > group, and the ones later on were like monkeys in a tree, with the ones > > above "trickling" down on the ones below, so that created this sorta > > cultural/ethnic/racial animosity. Asians, specifically Vietnamese and > > Cambodians, were the latest groups to arrive, so everyone else looked > down > > on them. It was really strange. As an outsider I was never fully > > "integrated" but did eventually make some more-or-less "local" friends > but > > it took a coupla decades. > > > > Living here at ground zero for slavery, I find that of course there is > > still fairly strong racism ( the area is not particularly > > racially/ethnically diverse, though hispanics are becoming a larger part > of > > the community) but at least where I live folks mostly get along while > both > > sides maintain some self-segregation due to historical issues (slavery, > Jim > > Crow, KKK, etc.) that are still very present in family experiences as > this > > stuff was quite present up until fairly recently. The disliked<->hated > > aspect is not nearly as up front as it was in "liberal" Massachusetts > which > > I find kinda strange. > > > > All that said, it seems to be human nature that we divide ourselves into > > cohorts based on race, ethnicity, culture, beliefs, interests, or > whatever, > > and that becomes a basis for a "community" of thought or attitude, in > some > > cases established generations ago, and it gets reinforced and accepted as > > "normal." I just read a book called Hillbilly Elegy that lays out very > > clearly how the Eastern Kentucky culture continued through a diaspora in > > the 50s (or earlier) to what is now the Rust Belt, and is still quite > > apparent today. So there are these subsets of cultural behaviors even > > among the white population that I find quite off-putting and they don't > > really involve any racial aspects. > > > > Musings... > > > > --R > > > > > > On 6/7/18 9:48 AM, Donald Snook via Mercedes wrote: > > > >> Mountain Man wrote: > >> > >> "That is what I want - nice country area, no racism, but "boys" that are > >> people to be with, that are people to teach how life is. Life is more > than > >> what the city stifles us to be. Does anyone know if this is possible? > - or > >> is this a mere city slicker dream?" > >> > >> I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. Are you seeking an out of the > >> way rural country life? If so, you can go to a lot of places other > than > >> Mississippi. But, the state certainly offers plenty of places where you > >> won't see much other than farms. > >> > >> Mississippi has a population around 3 Million. It is a fairly large > >> state in terms of geographical size. The urban (or semi urban) areas > are > >> located on the coast, around Jackson, and to a lesser extent: > Hattiesburg > >> and the college towns of Oxford and Starkville. Oxford is a Beautiful > >> town. It is home to "Ole Miss." Because it is a college town, it is > >> probably one of the more liberal areas in the whole state. Of course, > >> "liberal" in Mississippi is much different than Liberal in Illinois or > >> Massachusetts. > >> > >> The least populated county in the state is Issaquena County. It is far > >> west and central. It is notable because it had the highest > concentration > >> of slaves (before the Civil War) of any County in the Country. 40+% of > the > >> county is in poverty and the county has the highest unemployment in the > >> state. > >> > >> Hinds and Jackson Counties are the most populous. > >> > >> _______________________________________ > >> http://www.okiebenz.com > >> > >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > >> > >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > >> > >> > >> > > -- > > --FT > > > > > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
