Enough with the diversity! (Alabama, Nebraska, county, state)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I hope you weren't referring to me. I live in a "diverse" neighborhood and I personally love it, and it's very safe, look up my location and it's grown more diverse in the past few years. But there is a relatively common bond shared that you would also notice if you looked it up. It's not socioeconomically diverse at all, for better or for worse, but I had to choose other factors other than just diversity when I chose a place to live (although I did make it a factor because I find culturally homogeneous neighborhoods boring), and this was the best I could do. My friend network is very mixed in viewpoints, economic status and cultures, but my city isn't in the former two.
As of April of 2005 there are 61,042 people in the city. The population density is 2,074.2/mi² (800.9/km²). There are 18,943 housing units at an average density of 797.2/mi² (307.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city is 87.83% White (61.8% being Non-Hispanic White,)[12] 3.72% African American, 0.12% Native American, 3.17% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.93% from other races and 2.23% from two or more races. 30.19% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. The Latin business community is growing and many retail stores are bilingual.
I was very lucky to grow up in Lakewood/East Dallas where we had everyone from the richest (conservative H.L. Hunt - richest man in the world according to Life Magazine and liberal Stanley Marcus, president of Neiman-Marcus) to the poorest and everything in between. My high school, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow...as%2C_Texas%29 was around 1/3 anglo, 1/3 black and 1/3 hispanic (the hispanic percentage has gone up and the black and white have gone down some now). We had a small group of Asians also.
So I had not only economic but racial and political diversity. I think an one-race enclave of all conservative or all liberal or all moderate types of the same income would be the most boring thing in the world.
White guilt, are you kidding me? Are you saying you have more in common than, let's say, an uneducated lower-class white person than you do with an educated middle/upper-middle class minority?
It's about SOCIOECONOMICS. I don't know why so many people are too dumb to think further than RACE. There is more to it than just skin color.
For the same reason that some people are too dumb to realize that it is ethnic and racial diversity that we are currently talking about.
5 defining adjectives when describing a city's strengths.
Not all people, like yourself it would seem, use diversity as one of the top 5 strengths of a city. Some of us actually prefer it b/c it's more interesting than some white bread homogenized communities that are bland and boring to some of us. Some of us want diverse viewpoints, values, ethnicities, etc around us while others are pretty much the opposite. If some of you prefer white bread communities that are not diverse then that's your business and totally fine.
This isn't that hard of a concept to understand or grasp; some of like diversity while others do not. It's pretty simple so just get over the fact that some of us actually like it.
I've lived in plenty of neighborhoods comprised of different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds but I've found the people in these diverse areas often times are just as narrow minded as certain neighborhoods that don't appear diverse. Currently I do live in an ethnically mixed area. I didn't choose to live here because of the ethnic makeup of the area but because of the proximity to my work. I even looked at living in areas where I would have been the minority but opted not to move there because it would have cost more time and money to commute to work. I used to live in the midtown area of Hartford which is a city where only about 10% of the population is caucasian. I was minority in that neighborhood and when it came to choosing that location, the racial demographic of the neighborhood wasn't even a criterion.
What it comes down to is simple, most white people that want diversity only are interested in living among people that appear different but are not different from they with their political and social views. And as a previous poster stated White Guilt has a lot to do with this. I know because I have family members that are like this. They won't accept someone who has different political views or ideas but they will accept someone simply because they don't "look" like they do. I call that kind of discrimination equally as insidious as that of the discrimination along racial, ethnic or religious lines.
Most minorities seem to prefer to live in neighborhoods with people of their own ethnic background. And in this day and age that does appear to be by choice and not due to steering from real estate agents. Most Asians seem to stay in Asian neighborhoods, hispanics in their own neighborhoods, blacks in their own and so on. Those people that have married outside of their race or like you, want to experience something different, may choose to live in a more ethnically mixed neighborhood or community. To each his own.
Your last sentence hits the nail on the head--"to each his own". I live in a diverse neighborhoods because I like it.
However, I disagree with the reason why white folks want to live in diverse neighborhoods is because of "white guilt". The simple reason is that they want to live in an exciting neighborhood that offers a window into other people's perspectives regarding background, customs, cuisine, etc. I'm black myself and I could've easily chosen to live in one of the many black middle/upper middle-class neighborhoods, but rather I wanted to live somewhere where I would encounter a little variety. It would be absolutely boring to me to live in a homogeneous neighborhoods in regards to class or race.
Not all people, like yourself it would seem, use diversity as one of the top 5 strengths of a city. Some of us actually prefer it b/c it's more interesting than some white bread homogenized communities that are bland and boring to some of us. Some of us want diverse viewpoints, values, ethnicities, etc around us while others are pretty much the opposite. If some of you prefer white bread communities that are not diverse then that's your business and totally fine.
This isn't that hard of a concept to understand or grasp; some of like diversity while others do not. It's pretty simple so just get over the fact that some of us actually like it.
So, you think that white people are bland and boring, don't have differing viewpoints or values and are all from a single nation called Caucasia.
O.K., got it!
As an Asian American, it is easier for me to associate with whites from diverse areas than it is to associate with those from non-diverse areas.
White Americans from non-diverse areas can be friendly, but often times they do not know or comprehend some of the stuff regarding my background, culture, or thoughts and feelings. I find myself repeating my answers to their curiosities over and over again (if they are of the friendly inquiring type). Other times, some can be shockingly offensive and stereotypical. Still others just stare, and it can be very discomforting to be stared at for a long time.
While this isn't all too bad, I've found that White Americans from diverse areas are more comfortable to interact with because most likely, they already know much about my background in the first place. They've already known and grew up with tons of my kind, and some can even speak my native tongue better than I can.
It's especially easier as a child. When I was going through school in an non-diverse area, all I heard everyday was doing "kung-fu", making "egg-rolls", and all the other stuff you would expect from other school children. It didn't bother me that much, but it just gets tiring after a while. Then I moved to a diverse area, and I never heard those phrases much at all. We just got along right away without those types of remarks at all.
Yes, there are prejudices even in diverse areas. And say what you will about diversity. But, enrolling your child in a diverse school will do little harm and a lot of good. What is wrong with having your child grow up already with the impression and knowledge of others that might be useful to him/her later on?
By dwelling on our differences isntead of our similarities people are getting more and more offended by small and insignificant issues. What happened to the "melting pot" concept where we were all Americans, not hyphenated, non-English speaking subjects.
Multiculturalism does not work. Look at countries that promote more than one culture, Canada for instance. How's that working out? Every few years Quebec wants to secede.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
