Numbers are very misleading
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9/21/2014
Just because you have a large number of Black, Mexican and Asian Americans in Lincoln, Nebraska has nothing to do with racism or the welcoming of people who look different. Never equate a large number of people with a reduction in racism because you'll never win that argument and it only leaves people who think that way in a permanent state of delusion about how they and others really feel about those who don't have share their complexion. There are a lot of minorities in New York City-my home town but there are neighborhoods and other areas where whites still wouldn't sell their home to you if you had more money than Donald Trump. That's just the way it is and its that way in the mid-west. I've lived in Fargo, ND for years and In the state almost a decade. There's not a large number of blacks and other groups and yet, people here are just as, or more, standoffish and uncomfortable and flat out, openly racist as any town in Mississippi back in the 1950's. So Lincoln maybe a great place to live-if you're white. However, I can vouch for anyone who says making friends out here there is easy because like North Dakota is the same way. Everyone here has their little circles and there is nothing metropolitan about them. Unlike my fellow New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians on the east coast who enjoy the excitement of meeting new people all through life, residents here and the mid-west in general are easily threatened hide their dislike for anyone who doesn't have pink skin. In fact, I was told by co-workers here that North Dakota and western, MN is nick named the Mississippi of the north. And trust me, they've lived up to their reputation. The best and cushiest jobs are given to whites and there are companies-particularly cement companies, that make it a open practice not to hire any blacks-no matter how qualified they are. They hire one Mexican and considers their required quota filled for the EOE, which in itself, is a joke of an agency. The reason so much of this garbage exist is because unlike here, people in Nebraska and other places minimize and mask racism by simply saying that people in this town or that town are friendly but just don't prefer to deal with different races because they've lived there all their life, etc, etc. That in itself is a lie and a cop out. Those same people don't have a problem being uncomfortable, making new acquaintances with outsiders who have the same pink skin they do-so obviously it goes beyond just being polite but exclusive. Its ok for people to admit they don't like people from different races. Just stop lying about it and be u front with how you feel. That, we can respect more because at least we can respect because we know where you stand. Just don't patronize us with this politeness routine and excuse. The worse thing anyone can do in life is to be a phony about how their town is and how they feel about others living in it. And that's the one aspect I do respect about North Dakota. Generally speaking, you already know how they feel because they don't hide it that much or that well. They don't have a large minority population here-even at NDSU, and they plan to keep it that way. And that's easy to do when you block employment for minorities, who in the end, have no choice but to leave the state, which is exactly what I'm doing. What have I learned? That for years I always thought people from New York and other east coast cities were meaner than those out here. I learned that is a fantasy. We are much more real, nicer, less racist and friendlier than any of the people I've ran into out here in the mid-west. I plan to visit Lincoln one day and take in a Cornhusker game because I love the team. But I have no illusions about sticking around and making a life there. All the friends I have I made back east because it is simply easy to make friends there.
sandy | Fargo, ND