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Interesting to cite Cambridge, MA as the bastion of liberal thought. Many black students report that the first time they were called n****r was attending college or grad sch in an alarmingly parochial and intolerant town we still refer to as Boston, Massasippi!
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<p>Boston != Cambridge, even if they do border each other. Boston has a rather bad history on the ethnic tension front. Which goes back to what I and several other people have been saying...the North is not free from stereotypically Southern problems like racism (far from it), and the South is not entirely overrun with them.</p>
<p>I cited Cambridge because it's where I went to college, and because a lot of my classmates from more conservative areas (even when the classmates were liberal themselves) were unnerved by the level of liberalism in the town. There's a reason it's know as the People's Republic of Cambridge! ;)</p>
<p>foolishpleasure: and one only has to recall the tension between Yale and New Haven in the 60-70s; not what one would call progressive. And Princeton? Well, not what I would call 'America'. Many of the to-ranked northeastern LACs are whiter than the southern LACs. They, however, know how to talk the talk up here.</p>
<p>I recommend reading "Confederates in the Attic." That should give you a pretty good answer to your question, and I think you'll find that it gives color, flavor, and reality to what many people have been saying here.</p>
<p>I live in the South and am from the South, though not the Deep South. I have lived in the Deep South (Alabama) and visited quite a lot, and I've also lived in the Northeast. </p>
<p>Parts of the Deep South (and even as far North as SC), have somewhat of a 1950's feel to me, but mostly in a good way. That is, I felt like I was stepping back in time; the pace seemed slower, though that could be because the heat is so oppressive in the summer; people seemed friendlier and less concerned with outward appearances. The women over 50 could still make facial expressions (no regular botox injections), and people generally seemed to care more about each other, or at least got to know their neighbors. I didn't notice any racial tensions at all, but that's not to say they didn't exist. I just never saw it. On the other hand, when I lived up North (in cities), I thought the racial divide was much more evident, something I noticed on a day-to-day basis. And people are much, much less friendly. </p>
<p>Frankly, I think the South (deep and mid-South) has a lot more personality, far better food, generally more interesting people (ie., more "characters"), and just has a slower pace that I prefer. I love, too, that Southerners can carry on wonderful non-linear conversations-- makes conversing a whole lot more interesting and really keeps one's mind alert. If you can't follow a Southerner telling a story, it's all over for you. I actually find most people boring, because my family (immediate and extended) were all Southerners, born and bred. The nightly dinner table, as well as family get togethers, were quite something. Since I've grown up, I've never had any meal with anyone as enjoyable as the ones I shared with my very Southern parents and siblings. </p>
<p>In the larger Southern cities where there's been a bigger influx of people moving in from elsewhere (mostly the NE), the character of those places has definitely changed-- and not for the better.</p>
<p>janieblue: born in PA, but spent two decades in south. Thanks for that post. I miss the dry, indirect, witty humor. After living in the south, then Minnesota, I found it a culture shock to come back to the northeast - tense, irritated, predictable intellects. Nothing more boring than sitting in a comittee with a group of Ivy-educated northeasterners. Over time, you will have heard so much about their ivy experience that you feel like you'd 'been there, done that'.</p>
<p>briansteffy: Haha. Yes, thanks; that was my experience, too. ^ Definitely more tense up North. Maybe it's the density? I used to live in Pa, too, and by the time I left, the Toll Brothers had paved over nearly every piece of farmland in Bucks County with their subdivisions. They've now finally made their way down South, sad to say. I really think living in the South for a few years would be good for everybody. ;)</p>
<p>So you guys are saying that my friend and I (we're asian) were walking down the street in birmingham, mobile or w/e, we're not going to get dirty looks? Would we get cold treatment by a clerk in a shop? How llikely will we encounter someone who will openly taunt and intimidate us? </p>
<p>I have visited vanderbilt in october last year. Nashville is okay I suppose, feels sort closed up though--not very diverse. Nor is the vanderbilt campus, just mostly white and black kids, pretty quiet place. It wasn't hostile, but wasn't friendly/warm to me either.</p>
<p>So you guys are saying that my friend and I (we're asian) were walking down the street in birmingham, mobile or w/e, we're not going to get dirty looks? Not likely, but you should not walk in the ghettos.
Would we get cold treatment by a clerk in a shop? As likely as you could find anywhere in the US as an Asian.
How llikely will we encounter someone who will openly taunt and intimidate us? Not likely at all.</p>
<p>Small towns are worse than larger towns in general.</p>
<p>It is hard to be politically correct, but if you avoid certain people, your experience in the south should be fine. As you probably realize there is a huge sense of Asian animosity toward African Americans/Africans (in US and even worse in Asia)</p>
<p>Btw, m'am and sir is really annoying but you will appreciate the mannerisms.</p>
<p>I am in GA and have not seen any of this "Asian animosity" of which you speak. Small rural towns might be different; but you will find pockets of ignorance wherever you go.</p>
<p>I think you will find that in some Southern towns, people will not have been around many Asians--they probably won't give you dirty looks or anything like that, but they may say or ask things that seem insensitive to you but are really based on lack of experience. For example, older people may say "Oriental" rather than "Asian," and people may have difficulty distinguishing people from various Asian countries.</p>
<p>I don't know about Birmingham, but in some parts of the South, there are very large Asian populations-- especially in those areas with universities. I grew up in the South, and we had Asian families in my very small hometown. Birmingham is a relatively large city, and this is 2008. If you look up the census reports online, I think you'll see Birmingham has a relatively large Asian population. I don't know about Nashville.. Frankly, I doubt anyone would look twice at you-- certainly not for being Asian.</p>
<p>I'm continually amazed by the attitudes towards the South on these boards. This is the problem when people learn all about the South via Hollywood movies. (This is similar to assuming everyone in NJ is in the Mafia-- which, of course-- isn't true. Is it??) ;) I did once live in an area of NJ, where Sam the Plumber's son was my neighbor. He was very nice and attended all the neighborhood parties.</p>
<p>Janieblue and Mom3boys- I have really enjoyed your thoughful comments on this thread- very hard to find in our "enlightened times." Being from N.J. (but of the mind that people are people, good and bad everywhere) I hear so many negative comments about "the south," many times from educated people. I suppose "the north" gets its share of negative comments from the same close-minded ignorant southern cousins of these northerners! If they could only hear themselves, not only America, but the world would be a better place.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for others, but I have a VERY negative visceral reaction to seeing the Confederate flag displayed in any context other than a history museum (and I’m not black). Sorry, it automatically says ignorant bubba to me.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, this is another comment that reflects lack of experience in the south–where the great majority of people would NOT be doing such a thing. At this point in modern times, the Confederate flag is in most places–even in the south–absolutely irrelevant to most people’s lives. My guess is you havent’ spent much time here?</p>
<p>Just came back from South Carolina for Senior week and saw a couple CSA Battle flags on houses. </p>
<p>But my friends from SE PA kept on saying that we were in the ‘dirty south’ with ‘them n*****s’. When I lived in Richmond, which really isn’t all that southern anymore but rather mid-atlantic, I never heard things like that.</p>
<p>“Pizzagirl, this is another comment that reflects lack of experience in the south–where the great majority of people would NOT be doing such a thing. At this point in modern times, the Confederate flag is in most places–even in the south–absolutely irrelevant to most people’s lives. My guess is you havent’ spent much time here?”</p>
<p>I disagree. Perhaps you live in an urban area, but in my area (which is mid-atlantic, and technically north of the Mason-Dixon line!) I see Confederate flags all the time. On trucks, on houses, on belt buckles, you name it.</p>
<p>ArK - I’m from SE PA and those comments are horrifying! There are ignorant bigots in every part of the country. It seems, as one poster said, that it’s more institutionalized in the South. However, here in the fairly liberal Phila area, I’ll still occasionally encounter blatant bigotry. Not that often, but it happens.</p>
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