Comments on: Mapping Out Americas Racism

By: BIG V

BIG V — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:52:54 +0000

chief you did a great job with this. iam still in the navy reserve and racism is still quite prevalent.

By: BIG V

BIG V — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:50:34 +0000

Racisim is bad in this country everywhere.many of the white people in the nort try to ignore it,but they don’t wantafrican american men sleeping with their daughters.(women).they still avoid hiring african- american males if all possible.what i like about the south is they dont hide it.either your are in or out.the south has always gotten a bad rap when it came to racism in regards to african -americans.i was raised in the south and co-existed with white people most of my life and can appreciate their openeness about where they are racially where as northen white people will throw a arock and hide their hands and then blame it on southern whites.as far black people being racist against white is an impossibility.we tell ewhite people that we dont like the way they have treated us an still is treating is not racist,but just the truth.a black man that dont like white men or people because he has been used and abused by them for generations is not racism.if you are white and dont speak out about it or try to change because you are white is racism.just like the crowds that would stand around and watch black men being lynch were just guilty as the ones doing it.

By: Onyx

Onyx — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:43:10 +0000

“Riding the BART into Oakland I heard a man who happened to be white scold two other males who happened to be white about how wrong their negative view of another race was.”

This is an interesting interaction and assumption you’ve made about Oakland’s stance on race. Especially since Oscar Grant who was shot in the back by an officer, after being pulled off the BART system and while lying on the ground, was racially motivated. Also, Oakland has a history of race riots, race based disparities, and racially motivated crimes if I’m not mistaken.

Nevertheless, I will say that it does make sense that, in general, areas that are more diverse have more overt racism.

I am in New York, which is extremely diverse, extremely segregated, and extremely racist. Police stand on every other corner in black neighborhoods only. I cannot go into a store, sit on a train, or walk down a street without white people tensing in fear, grabbing their handbags, checking for their wallets or moving wallets and handbags to the opposite sides of their bodies, even following me in a store, and more. It’s extremely insulting and angering!!! These reactions are based on nothing but race. I’ve even seen 80y.o. (black) women being followed in stores by security. Where is she going to run to? Who is she going to over power.

I came across this blog because I was trying to find SOMEWHERE in this country where I can live in peace and not feel isolated, like I’m the only African in the vicinity. According to this map, there really aren’t many places at all. That says a lot about this country — at least from your perspective.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:20:08 +0000

Don’t know about Maryland having race not being first tconsideration, its pretty racist there from living in thr rural Southern portion of the state. Its about as bad as Alabama or Mississippi. Also in Ohio race is not the first consideration because I was there for 5 years and race is something that is not on peoples minds there. Finally in Michigan after be here for 2 years race is not a factor in most of the state either.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:51:38 +0000

I’ve lived in New York, the Midwest, and various places in the Southeast. I think that your map is backwards. I’ve experienced far more racism in the North than the South. If you take a more objective approach, you’ll see there is evidence supporting the opposite of what your map shows. If you go to the censusscope website, you can sort US cities for various measurements of racism. One of these is dissimilarity which measures integration. It compares how much people of one race live only near their own race to how likely they are to live alongside other races. The most segregated cities in the country are in the North (In the states of New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania). However, the most integrated cities are all in the South and West (North Carolina, California, Oklahoma, Florida). I think the integration in the South brings more people of different races together. This results in more people who have strong opinions about race, for the better and for the worse. So while there are more people with absolutely no racist bones in the south, there are also more people that are racist fanatics. I’ve found that people in the North are more racist in general, but there are less people who cling to racism like a cool hobby or something.

By: NCCM(ret)

NCCM(ret) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:59:29 +0000

Thank you for the article link, interesting reading. The article mentioned, “Some states had more cooperating agencies than others (reporting to the FBI is not mandatory) and many states have different definitions of hate crimes, making state-to-state comparisons problematic at best.”

What determines a hate crime is much broader than just race.

My map is not derived by any scientific means, it is just my observations of how people treat each other and the comments I would hear/over-hear. I truly hope all people will look fully beyond the color of ones skin, we will be a much better nation for it.

By: Rob

Rob — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:18:36 +0000

Interesting that the deep South, which you show as the most racist, has the lowest rate of hate crime. The highest rate of rate crime occurs in places like Michigan and Massachusetts.

See http://www.esquire.com/features/hate-crime-0608

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 08 May 2008 02:35:59 +0000

Good work on the map. It is *close* to what I have seen. My suggested corrections: Akron/Cleveland should be pink. A thin strip from NYC directly north to Canada should be pink. Most of the rest of NY and PA should be blue, except for Ithaca, Philly, Pitt, and State College. Much of Kansas should be blue. Maybe there shouldn’t be so much green along all of the pacific coast, certainly not through rural Oregon.

By: Ouch

Ouch — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 22:46:08 +0000

@Elayne,

Thank you for visiting. I have Hawaii in pink not green mainly for the issues you describe.

By: elayne

elayne — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 20:56:49 +0000

I live in the Aloha state, which you showed in the map as “not an issue”, however, that is partially inaccurate. The pure Hawaiians generally are upset that all the other races have taken over their land – and rightfully so. They have been trodden down – lowest paid, unhealthiest, etc. Being a “newcomer” to Hawaii, I have felt quite a bit of racism unfortunately, but I try to understand why the people feel that way and have studied to know what actually happened. They are similar to the American Indians who were forced of their lands and have lost so much because someone else came in and felt it was their right to own the land. Injustices were done and it still lives on in their hearts. We need to learn to forgive and be tolerant of others.