Trying to group them all together may be a mistake in trying to understand US racial issues. While the term POC may include Asians in some contexts, it can exclude Asians when used in other contexts.
I’m not looking for a Korean community, I’m just looking for a diverse American cultured community that won’t make race an issue. I’ve lived abroad in Australia and Canada before so the American culture isn’t a big fear for me, I just want to make sure that the community that I’ll respect will do the same for me too.
You’ll be fine @geekgurl . It’s common for kids your age to wonder how they will fit in. I’ve seen posts from kids who were overweight, boys who were short, etc. all worried about fitting in and making friends. Go ahead and apply to the colleges you are interested in, and look forward to your college years!
Honestly, you should be fine a most major universities and LACs. From my experience kids who are racist also tend to be less academically achieving and do tend to be more conservative. There’s a big push in conservative circles for kids to not go to college and opt for vocational training. or to go only to specific, oftentimes small colleges that they approve of. Not to say that no conservatives go to major universities or that there aren’t any liberal racists, but most kids that go to major schools tend not to be ignorant even if their parents are. Having grown up in a small, very conservative town in Florida and seeing the kids who go to major colleges, you should be fine. In general, most kids regardless of where they go aren’t racist these days but the ones who are try to be vocal.
@ProfessorPlum168 from your above article:
“This area is full of nothing but Asians!” she pouts. “How on Earth is this place diverse?”
Asia is not a single, solitary country. Eight countries make up the South Asian subcontinent. Over a dozen comprise East and Southeast Asia. Asian Pacific Islanders are a people who represent over 40 ethnic groups with a range of customs, foods, languages, politics, and faiths.
Her question is rhetorical. She’s not searching for answers. She’s simply exasperated by the omnipresence of Asians.
So I am interpreting your position
- Apparently only White people are capable of “Racism”
- Apparently you agree that while “Asians” can be wonderfully diverse…all White people represent an oppressive, bigoted monoculture.
And
3) Apparently you don’t approve of our president.
FYI We have visited William and Mary twice and found the campus culture and students incredibly warm, friendly, seemingly quite open-minded and intellectual and I would be surprised if racism is a problem there just because it is in Virginia. As a northerner I agree that racism is everywhere, and also agree that colleges are probably outliers to any heavily racist geographic regions. Research the college, you can also see the racial/ethnicity breakdown of the students in the Common Data Set.
For what it is worth, W&M was ranked #2 (behind Rice, another Southern school) for “Lots of Race and class interaction” by Princeton review.
I( dont think they fought the Civil War over Koreans. Just sayin nobody cares pretty much anywhere in the US. Maybe in Detroit decades ago if they thought you were Japanese but that’s it. I think they are over it too.
Actually it is the western states that have a long history of racism against people of far east origin and that racism was extreme. Check your history books about the Chinese exclusion act and you don’t even have to look in a history book to be reminded of the Japanese interment camps during WWII. All this is more recent then the civil war. But as others have said universities in major metropolitan areas are going to be similar across the country regardless of region.
I agree that racism is everywhere, although I’m not even sure what “racism” means honestly.
This is India.
This is China.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/02/health/skin-whitening-lightening-asia-intl/index.html
I agree with @AlmostThere2018 I live in North Carolina in a rural part, but pretty close to UNC Chapel Hill and Duke. Both communities near the campuses are progressive, but my little area has ample Confederate flags. It’s a strange mix of black, white, and red necks - which is a slang for rural people who can be quite racist.
As someone from the West coast, I am wondering if Confederate flag=Racist?
Is it really that simple?
And if your community actually has that “strange” mix of folks, you are doing better than most places here in the West where races are really quite segregated by city and neighborhood.
Why should it be exasperating for some ethnic group to be omnipresent?
Since it was flown by those who committed treason to defend the institution of slavery, it is not surprising for it to be seen as a symbol of racism (or significantly greater racism than the average of the time).
What was written and said in 1861:
Declarations of causes of secession: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/declaration-causes-seceding-states
“Cornerstone speech” by Alexander Stephens, the CSA’s vice president: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/cornerstone-speech/ or http://civilwarcauses.org/stephans.htm
I grew up in a segregated town in the FL panhandle in the late 60’s early 70’s I do remember issues when a local church sponsored a refugee family from Vietnam. I also remember when an African-American family moved in and enrolled their kids in school. The high school son was welcomed because he could play basketball but his younger sister was tormented and ended up in a private school. But this was 40+ years ago and I just can’t see this happening today even in that small community.
That said, I just saw the CRA movie and the opening scene in London 1995 kind of shocked me…
My parents sold our house when I was in 5th grade. I remember being shocked when they told me our next-door neighbor, a nice older woman who treated us kids well, was upset when she heard they might sell to a Jewish man!
@MaineLonghorn I remember being shocked that the original deed actually had restrictions prohibiting the sale of property to “Negros” but it might have included “Jews” as well, it wouldn’t surprise me but I’m sure it didn’t excluded Asians because when the property for the town was subdivided “Asian” wasn’t an issue.
Racism is everywhere. If you have not seen the PBS documentary, Forever Pure, watch it…
At least on campuses in metroplex areas of Austin, Houston and Dallas, you won’t have to worry about it. These are very diverse and open minded areas, far from old southern stereotype. It may be different at small town campuses.
There is a huge Korean population in the Atlanta area. Plenty of Korean supermarkets (HMart, Mega Mart, …), restaurants, ice cream parlors, baths, and clubs. There are nonstop flights to Seoul on both Korean Air and Delta. Emory has long had a large Korean international student presence and its former President, James Laney was US Ambassador to South Korea.