Has increased ethnic diversity improved the quality of life of Minneapolis/Minnesota? (St. Paul: low crime, houses)

[AQUEMINI331]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

It doesn't apply to everyone. I'm black and I prefer cold weather to summer's heat. To be honest, that is part of why I consider Minnesota as a place to live.

I wasn't being serious..............it's hard to convey humor on the Internet sometimes. I'm sure if we had been talking face to face you would've known I wasn't being serious.........



Anyway..................I'm sure that a black person born and raised in someplace like Chicago would fare much better than a white person born and raised in Florida. Genetics has very little, if anything to do with it. It's all about adapation to one's environment.


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[internat]

Actually a lot of white South Africans of Dutch descent walk around wearing only shorts, t-shirts and sandals. They do that in colder climates too. They are used to that. Whether their bodies have actually adapted to the environment remains uncertain. It probably has not. Also keep in mind not all whites are originally from cold parts of the world.

Read about cold weather injuries on http://amsa.army.mil/1msmr/2002/v08_n07_article1.htm

Human adaptation: http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci...thropology.htm
It says "Light-colored skin favors production of vitamin D, especially in northern latitudes. Also, light skin is less susceptible to cold injury. This was shown in the Korean War wherein black soldiers had an increased incidence of frostbite."

Originally Posted by AQUEMINI331

Yeah............I mean, I don't know how true it is scientifically, but most black people tend to believe that we are not very good at dealing with cold whereas white people are. That's why whenever you see a white guy with shorts and sandals on when it's 30 degrees outside you always see a whole bunch of black people making fun of him.


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[AQUEMINI331]

Originally Posted by internat

Actually a lot of white South Africans of Dutch descent walk around wearing only shorts, t-shirts and sandals. They do that in colder climates too. They are used to that. Whether their bodies have actually adapted to the environment remains uncertain. It probably has not. Also keep in mind not all whites are originally from cold parts of the world.

Read about cold weather injuries on http://amsa.army.mil/1msmr/2002/v08_n07_article1.htm

Human adaptation: http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci...thropology.htm
It says "Light-colored skin favors production of vitamin D, especially in northern latitudes. Also, light skin is less susceptible to cold injury. This was shown in the Korean War wherein black soldiers had an increased incidence of frostbite."

But some blacks are just as light, or almost as light, as some whites.


It's like the whole sunburn thing - blacks are better able to adapt to large amounts of sunlight and are in fact, less suscepitble to being sunburned...............but that doesn't mean black people don't get sunburned.

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[Sharolu3]

I left Social Services in about 1992 as I was one of the few that saw the great influx of people coming to Minneapolis and St. Paul simply to take advantage of the "System". The last 5 years I served as a licensed Social Worker I was in the huge Minneapolis and St. Paul mulitple shelters. I helped people from other areas (primarily Chicago) settle into this area. Minneapolis provided furniture, rent money, food clothing, etc. I would visist homes 2 weeks after they were settled in and find they were full of gangs and drugs. No one would listen to me at the time and I was labeled a trouble maker or bigot. I left Social Services but remained a Minneapolis resident and watched the deterioration of the city over the last twenty years. We got what we deserved by our persistent naivity. I am one of those "Scandinavians" but from fromLapland so I look Native American. Anyone who ndoes not think Minnesota has a underbelly of prjudice is also very naive. It has caused the abandoning of the cities as if diversity might be catchy or something. My nfamily came to this State between 1843-1870 during the original Scandinavian imigration. There always has been a welcoming in this state for diversity but only if they remain in the right "Ghetto". My experience (despite my Sociolgy degree is based on actual experience as an "Old lady" not just crunching numbers. Anyone have any thoughts?

[internat]

American blacks have white admixture. Read http://www.isteve.com/2002_How_White_Are_Blacks.htm

Originally Posted by AQUEMINI331

But some blacks are just as light, or almost as light, as some whites.


It's like the whole sunburn thing - blacks are better able to adapt to large amounts of sunlight and are in fact, less suscepitble to being sunburned...............but that doesn't mean black people don't get sunburned.

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[marmac]

where I'm from in Minnesota, if the lawbreaker is from out of state, the most used address is Gary Indiana.

And yes, welfare is a problem Minnesota legislators have been trying to deal with for quite some time. Awhile back Minnesota had legislation that stated if you moved to Minnesota from a state where welfare benefits were less --------you would recieve the lesser ( from your home state) amount for the first 6 months.

This got challenged in court and Minnesota's new law was ruled unconstitutional . The reason given was that it violated----" a person's freedom to travel"

Yes, the reason given was so laughable it should have made the "News of the Wierd". ( not a ruling from the courts)

[mrkool]

As the ethnic diversity has increased in the Twin Cities, so have all the negative social indicators; crime, poverty, illegitimacy, lowered school performance, etc. That's a statistical fact.
And the exact same thing has happened in just about every single American city that has become more "diverse."
You can draw whatever conclusions you want to from this.
And to any of the politically correct types that don't like hearing this, feel free to present any statistics or hard evidence to prove that this whole ethnic diversity thing actually improves quality of life, anywhere.
Liberal slogans and cliches (like "diversity is our strength") don't count.

[AQUEMINI331]

Originally Posted by mrkool

As the ethnic diversity has increased in the Twin Cities, so have all the negative social indicators; crime, poverty, illegitimacy, lowered school performance, etc. That's a statistical fact.

Show me a major U.S. city that has seen an INCREASE in violent crime now compared to 15-20 years ago. I don't care how white or black the city is. You won't be able to find it. You could look at Minneapolis or you could look at Detroit. NO major American city has the crime rates that it had back in the 1980s and 1990s. Poverty? There's plenty of white poverty in this country, it's just that poor minorities tend to live in the cities, whereas poor whites tend to live in small towns and rural areas. But there is no shortage of poor whites. Don't believe me? Go to Alabama.


As far as illegitmacy and lowered school performance...........that is defintinely America as a whole heading in that direction. America as a whole is divorcing more and marrying in the first place less. Lowered school performance? I don't care how smart you think your little white kid is, he doesn't stand a chance compared to these kids in India, China, and Japan! Once again, you are citing a problem that afflicts ALL Americans, and trascends race, color, or culture.


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[nick is rulz]

If you were to stuff a few dozen trailer courts into a poor urban area you would see crime. White on white crime, as mentioned above, is more spread out in rural areas.

Poverty, not race, causes crime. Of course, there is the connection in that blacks are the poorest miniority there is.

[Rick2Rio]

I don't think ethnic diversity has improved the quality of life for the average Minneapolitan. I don't know if its culture or race, but the statistics show crime is way up over the last 30 years as the city became more diverse. Like most other cities, white flight is a reality. In can be a very tough life for anyone of any ethnicity that now resides in the city, especially areas of north Minneapolis.

As a suburban dweller, ethnic diversity has increased my quality of life. I live in a very safe suburb, but am able to enjoy the shops and restaurants of Minneapolis.