<p>Oldcat, thank you for the linked story. I can see your point about trying to be a college kid and thrown into the bubbling cauldron without consent. That makes for a tough environment on any human being. You have opened my eyes to a deeper problem at Cal then I had already perceived. Other than Harvard and the Naval Academy, Cal was the only school that felt exclusionary, Cal for race and the other two for a sense of entightlement.</p>
<p>Love your post knightcub! I lean more to the “nut” side but do so proudly!</p>
<p>@amtc
We are not all haters here. I think I understand where you are coming from. I am AA and from the south and have lived in the northeast for 20 yrs now. For a number of reasons I restricted the college choice to the northeast corridor or 4 hrs drive. Only one of which was my lack of confidence in their southern survival skills. It is not the school integration I doubt but the community integration is still not good. So the question becomes do I think that should be a primary learning goal for the first college years? Fortunately, it didn’t come up. Their trips to visit family did not instill a desire to go to college in the south.</p>
<p>“I just threw Duke out as an example. Not saying it’s the worst of the worst, but is characteristic of that type of environment where Black students are thrust into a elite world where the socio-economic gaps are likely to be wide.” - @OldCat </p>
<p>So you’re not familiar with Duke but you’re confident in projecting your assumptions and advising certain students to be cautious if they were thinking of applying? </p>
<p>I am not sure why you assume a certain race of students will be low income or assume that other races don’t also have low income students that will face those same issues at the school. I am baffled that you are implying that students should not consider schools because there are successful families that send their kids to the school.</p>
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<p>I would not be surprised if any campus with a high level of political activity can appear unfriendly in various ways, given how nasty politics can be, particularly if a political issue has any connection to race/ethnicity/religion (other examples include Israeli/Palestinian politics on campus, which get very nasty very quickly, with the loudest voices being the most racist as any decent people disengage due to the nastiness).</p>
<p>UCs do not consider race or ethnicity in admissions, so those who assume that people of whatever race or ethnicity were admitted under lower standards are just misinformed.</p>
<p>I’m Jewish and I find most people from the south very accepting and friendly. I think fear of racism is way overblown. The Klan don’t hang around these parts anymore. </p>
<p>Now I can see avoiding schools in the south because southerners speak soooooooo slooooooooowly that most lectures only cover half of the material that could be covered in the same lecture time up north. Who has time to wait around for people to finish a sentence. :-)</p>
<p>Just kidding. </p>
<p>@OldCat Have you ever set foot on Duke’s campus? To make such sweeping judgements based on negative stereotypes of Duke strikes me as being rather unreasonable. </p>
<p>“sort of understand you question - it’s why my kids weren’t allowed to apply to schools south of the Mason-Dixon line!”</p>
<p>Just off the top of my head, Duke, Emory and Tulane would have substantial Jewish populations. </p>
<p>^
I think Vandy does, too. Perhaps GT does as well.</p>
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<p>Now I can see avoiding schools in the south because southerners speak soooooooo slooooooooowly that most lectures only cover half of the material that could be covered in the same lecture time up north. Who has time to wait around for people to finish a sentence. </p>
<p>Just kidding.</p>
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<p>@ClassicRockerDad </p>
<p>I know that you’re joking, but I just wanted to add…many/most of the profs on a national univ campus will be from elsewhere…and many of the profs will be Jewish as well. </p>
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<p>Oh gag…THERE…that’s what I get for typing at 4 am.</p>
<p>I was born and raised in the NE and have lived the past 30 years in the South. Ironically, the first Jewish person I met was my college roommate. I also made my first African American friend at college. The suburban area I grew up in the NE was very segregated (large public school - all white). In contrast, the area I live in the South is far more integrated. My children, born and raised in the Deep South, grew up with Jewish and African American friends. My D attends a college in the South without a lot of diversity yet students of all faiths and color seem to feel welcome and included. I agree with Pinnum that small schools often have less of a divide between groups. There are also schools in the South with sizable Jewish populations. </p>
<p>It never ceases to amaze me how prejudice some people are toward Southerners. </p>
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<p>Totally agree.</p>
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<p>I LOLed. On the other hand that gives the students more time to take notes. :D</p>
<p>I will not continue this discussion as it is way off topic. I will just say that the OP asked a question and I answered it honestly based on my 21 century experiences. You don’t have to agree, and yes, there are some college enclaves that are more “northern” in their attitude, but you have not experienced what my kids or I have experienced over the last 20 years. It’s not the Klan, it’s the much more subtle prejudices you need to worry about, which I believe is what the OP was asking.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids - yes I was joking, I just thought that the ignorance and absurdity of the conversation warranted a somewhat lighter response. </p>
<p>Some of my best friends are southerners. </p>
<p>Anyone who serves that dreadful “Sweet Tea” concoction should be locked up. As for ‘Virginia Gentleman’ brand whiskey, that’s a different story. Fill 'er up. </p>
<p>amtc is right. It really depends on where you are, and it is not just the college and the college community, it is the town or city around it that can be an issue. </p>
<p>From a religious perspective, my friend went to Duke, and the college bus driver would play Christmas carols and not just generic non-religious ones for the whole month of December, loud. She is Jewish and asked if he could mix up the music because she didn’t like Christmas carols that much (without noting her religion), and he just turned them up. There are things that seem inobvious to others that can make a difference.</p>
<p>I think visiting the campus helps to figure this out, but also checking out the surrounding town is a good idea. The diversity of the professors and student organizations can be a clue too.</p>
<p>What makes discussions about racial tensions, religious tensions, sexual orientation tensions… so hard is that as soon as somebody brings up a point or asks questions there is a rush to defend by the people that somehow think they are being attacked. The anecdotal stories about “well, I know a person” or “my son/daughter had a roommate” and they amplify that singular experience into a reason that another person’s beliefs are wrong.</p>
<p>It’s not just the slow talkers either. The elitists get their panties all wadded quite often, the corn fed act insulted when nobody gives them credence, and certainly the sun baked have a chip on their shoulders about the elitists acting elitist. </p>
<p>I am not defending @amtc, but I get her/him.</p>
<p>@amtc #31: I’m with you.</p>
<p>I wasn’t Duke-bashing in my comments. I know it does a lot to recruit and maintain Black undergrads, recruits heavily at top HBCUs for grad programs, has dealt with its segregated history honesty and has hired a number of notable black faculty members. I know a handful of blacks who have gone there and have done well too,. I am just suggesting that for black students, Duke epitomizes the formula for escalated racial tensions. </p>
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<p>Shaking my head. We’re Jewish, and my daughter who grew up in California went to college in Tennessee. She was very happy there and decided to remain after graduation. Being Jewish was simply never an issue.</p>
<p>After having lived in Ohio, Alaska, Texas and California, I spent a few years in New York. That was easily the most anti-Semitic place I’ve ever lived.</p>