<p>“that data could suggest that Ole Miss is doing a good job enrolling AA students.”</p>
<p>Well…or that Penn State is doing a horrible job, and that Ole Miss is doing a little better than that. Seriously, that is a <em>pathetic</em> number from PSU. The graduation rate is good, at least.</p>
<p>Or maybe AA students from PA don’t want to go to school at State College. </p>
<p>It’s pretty well documented that the greatest rates of US residential segregation, and the more fraught race relations, are found in the North not the South.</p>
<p>Penn State is not terribly popular with any students in Philadelphia. Few of them – black, white, yellow, or brown – want to go to State College. It’s a little more popular with ethnic Asian kids than with those of other groups, but not that much. City kids often prefer Pitt to Penn State even if they want to go someplace far from home for college.</p>
<p>However, Temple – a large public university located in the middle of what is almost exclusively an African-American neighborhood in Philadelphia, a city that is 40% African-American – is only about 13% African-American (and 60% white). Fifteen years ago, the African-American student percentage was 21%. Temple has been systematically de-emphasizing its role as a Philadelphia college, and only about 10% of its students come from Philadelphia now; a third come from out of state. The Community College of Philadelphia is 44% African-American (and 22% white).</p>
<p>I didn’t intend to pick on Penn State. Fact is that you are not going to find many (maybe any) colleges in the NE (other than HBCUs) that have 15% AA enrollment like Ole Miss does. Say what you want about George Wallace and segregated frats, but Univ of Alabama is 12% AA. Which is about double the number at Harvard…</p>
<p>Harvard is about 12% “black” enrollment but only about 6% AA. The balance are int’l students.</p>
<p>Y’all need to be careful when making statements about who is/is not diverse or inclusive. Plenty of crackers in the south (as I know from my school days there). And plenty of Archie Bunkers in the north (as I know from growing up there).</p>
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<p>And to those of us who have lived in both the north and the south, this comes as absolutely no surprise.</p>
<p>Race relations in the South are still plenty fraught, just in different ways from those in the North.</p>
<p>Not that I’ve spent a lot of time in the South, but I have the impression that lots of things are more fraught in the North. Like . . . grocery shopping, or driving, or walking down the street.</p>
<p>In the South, the fraught-ness is often more under the surface.</p>
<p>“Or maybe AA students from PA don’t want to go to school at State College.”</p>
<p>Which has a lot to do with whether Penn State is doing a terrible job. Even Illinois (at 5%) is doing better, and it’s in the middle of nowhere, too.</p>
<p>What is “fraught” about race relations in the south is on the table and being discussed and examined always. Oddly by those in both the north and the south. What is fraught about race relations in the north is that there are no race relations in the north. None. Five of the top ten most segregated cities in the US according to us census data (easy to google) are Boston, NYC, LA, Philly, and Chicago. </p>
<p>It’s all just a bunch of talk when you live in the wealthy SES protectorates up north. </p>
<p>Been there done that. I much prefer the integration in the south. </p>
<p>The first and only African-American mayor of NYC described the city as a “golden mosaic.” Yes, there is residential segregation by building and by block and by school and opportunity, which is the most unfortunate, but it’s impossible for most people to avoid shoulder-to-shoulder contact with people of other races and backgrounds, at least everyone in between very poor people who never go anywhere and very rich people who take limos or cabs everywhere. And the gentrification goliath continues, as close-in minority neighborhoods are integrated and rents go up.</p>
<p>OldMom – the data doesn’t support that view.</p>
<p>The Atlanta and New Orleans metro areas are 32 and 34% AA. DC is 26, Philly 21, NYC 18, Boston 7. </p>
<p>As you move up I-95 from SE to NE, the opportunities for shoulder-to-shoulder interaction decrease. The south has the legacy and experience of more interaction and the scourge of de jure segregation. The north has less interaction, driven by fewer numbers and greater de facto segregation. </p>
<p>University of Alabama vs. Penn State fits that dynamic precisely.</p>
<p>NYC population: 44.6% white, 25.1% black, 27.5% Hispanic, 11.8% Asian. 36% foreign-born. (2010 statistics).</p>
<p>Be that as it may, from another thread I gather that the OP’s kid is a girl, and that she very much wants the whole dressing up for tailgating and so on experience, and that is the main attraction of Ole Miss. </p>
<p>So, in my mind, anyway, the big questions would be A) to what extent does a girl have to be in a sorority to experience this in all its glory, and B) how handicapped is she going to be in rush by being a northerner? </p>
<p>From earlier sorority threads, I know there are many here who could advise her on what to do to maximize her chances, including getting recommendation letters, having the right clothes, behaving the right way, and so on. Heck, I’ve probably read enough about it to do it myself! 
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<p>What I posted is for metro areas. NYC metro area is 18%. 2010 U.S. census. City only stats would be higher – for NYC and also for Atlanta.</p>
<p>NYC, with over 8 million people, is very different from its surrounding suburbs. I think it’s big enough to be considered by itself. It has half the population of NY state.</p>
<p>Okie dokie.</p>
<p>Atlanta city is 54% black; Atlanta metro is 32%. NYC is 25%, NY metro is 18%. Boston is 24%/7%</p>
<p>Same trend either way.</p>
<p>Okie dokie.
NYC metropolitan area:
White 48.9%, Black 16.8%, Hispanic 22.9%, Asian 10.6%.
as of 2010.
NYC alone:
White 44.6%, Black 25.1%, Hispanic 27.5%, Asian 11.8%.</p>
<p>Diversity is more than just white and black.</p>
<p>I’ve lived all over the US, mostly in cities that have a mix of ethnic and racial groups. What I find different about the south is how acceptable it is to continue the ‘separate but equal’ idea. It was very shocking to me that people looked at my family as mixed race, when I never had. My daughter is fairly sure of herself, but I was surprised to hear some of the things that had been said to her. She just ignores them, but it does get tiring. I was also surprised at the way questions were asked. “How did she come to be in your family?” Like they’ve never heard of adoption?</p>