Even though I'm from California, I lived in Alabama and now live in the Mid-Atlantic and have been to New York

Question

Even though I'm from California, I lived in Alabama and now live in the Mid-Atlantic and have been to New York

Answer 1

Racism should not exist anywhere period. Sad to say it exists more in other places than some. Hopefully that will change more and more over time.

Answer 2

I have lived in the South all my life, and have traveled to a few places in the north with my (non-white) boyfriend. In the south I have never noticed anyone give us a second glance, but in the north there were definitely times when I felt undercurrents of racism. This has confused me for quite a while, and the only thing I can come up with is that in the south (at least in the cities I've lived in TN) black and white people (and hispanics, etc.) tend to live closer together and not as much in segregated neighborhoods (although there are definitely neighnorhoods that are more white or more black, but the barriers don't seem to be as pronounced). So that black and white people in the south might be more likely to interact on a daily basis than in the north, which of course would help them to see that there's nothing "strange" about each other.



I think black and white people in the south also don't have as much of a financial disparity as in other places. Minorities across the US are more likely to be low-income than white people; and whites in the south are more likely to be low-income than in the rest of the country, which might lead people to see a common bond between themselves, and not resent one another as they might if the disparity were greater.



I don't know how accurate these answers are; I don't have any evidence that this is right other than my own observations. Also, this doesn't mean that racism isn't a problem at all in the south -- it is, especially in the deep South. But it doesn't seem to be as pronounced as some places.