racism in arizona

[colin]

Inflamatory discussion??

I saw an interesting thread pop up in the Charlotte forum regarding racism in that city. It's come up in discussions because of a recent near-riot involving mostly young black males.

It's interesting in Arizona that there is basically no black population. Phoenix has the largest of any city in the state, but it's still less than 5%. Tucson has a very small black community as well.

I'm mostly curious to see what others think, and this is not only racism against blacks, but any racism, per its real definition and not the definition our society normally places on it.

For instance, the most explicit racism I've seen here is actually Hispanic vs. Hispanic: those who have been in the country for several generations vs. recent immigrants. There seems to be a lot of apathy amongst those Hispanics who are more assimilated against those who jump across the border, even though their grandparents or even parents did the same. One story I can offer is being in a chain Mexican place here in Tucson, when a Hispanic guy came in and began berating the clerk about something. My friend and I happen to walk out at the same time as he did, and he said to me "F*in webacks". That experience really bothered me.

Areas near the Navajo Nation (Winslow and Holbrook, specifically) seem to have some racism toward Native Americans, although I really don't know how prevalent it is because I've rarely spent time in those towns and haven't really talked to anyone from there about it.

But really, do you think that there is an issue with racism in Arizona? If so, what groups are involved and how so?

[MJLO]

Well I haven't been here that long. One area I've noticed is the mormon majority here in Mesa. Except they seem to discriminate against anything that is not mormon. I do remember hearing a story about what they believed about those of African dissent, but i'm not sure if it's true. Not really my area of expertise out here. I have heard it exists at all levels. But really you can find it in one form or another anywhere. It's pretty much one of the biggest or the biggest darkside to our society.

[convulso]

coming back to tucson from alabama was definite race shock - where did the black guys go? i forgot how black the south is, in places, until i got back here from a trip earlier this month.

not sure that old hispanic vs. new hispanic is racism. sounds more like class conflict.

class conflict is the actual culprit in most cases of supposed racism. racism exists, but it often gets conflated with other hates that have nothing to do with pure racial differences. i'm from the alleged epicenter of racial conflict in this country's history, and i just don't see it loom as large as it's perceived to. certainly not black / white in arizona. i'd suspect the hispanic population here has enough history and clout to obviate racism here, too - although the pockets of rural conservatism might be the exception. i picked up a copy of the payson patriot a couple of weeks ago when i was in globe, and damn - that is one anti-hispanic (under the guise of anti-immigrant) rag. it's evidently a closed community, if the paper is any indication. a publisher / editor guy with a typewriter and a distribution system with lots and lots of unchecked opinions.

racism is real, but i really do feel that 90 per cent of the talk about it in this country is complete hot air. we've done well, especially in the west, to integrate a lot of disparate races. we focus on the conflicts, but damn - a country this huge and this diverse gets a lot right. it's amazing how poorly races get along in other parts of the world, and how much worse relations have been at various points in this country's own history, both recent and distant. a lot simmers under the surface here, as human nature dictates it always will, but it boils over far more in other countries where integration is a shock to local values.

[MJLO]

I heard at one point that the most segregated place in the country was Detroit, it certainly does feel that way when you're from there. The whole state of Michigan is silently fragmented by race, I'd say that there's a huge issue here over immigration, but over all I'd say AZ isn't so bad.

[shrek05]

hehe, diversity in scottsdale is non-existent. my youngest sibling (18 years my junior) recently graduated from chaparral and it is pretty much 100% white. she was one of myabe 6 asian seniors. i saw maybe 3 black students and she claimd there were 2 hispanics in her grade (but both were of spanish descent), this is a graduating class of over 450. there seems to be a "fear" of mexicans among the adolescents at my sister's school. they arent necessarily racist or rude or intolerant, but they definitely have pre-conceived judgments that are very negative.

[colin]

"There ya go, bringing class into it..."

There's an ethnic divide between light-skinned and dark-skinned Hispanics, but this has also traditionally formed a class barrier, which is why the Mexicans you see living here are typically dark-skinned (Indios), where the ones you see on telenovelas and Sabado Gigante are usually light-skinned.

Totally agree with you there that racism is typically inflated and that America has collectively dealt with it very well. The way other socieities have dealt with seemingly-trivial differences seems ridiculous compared to our own: legal segregation, definitively lower-class citizenship and just outright suppression. It's great that, in our society today, religion is normally no longer an issue, especially when you consider how much distrust and bias there used to be against Catholics (remember that when Kennedy was elected, people were afraid that he would take orders from the Pope). Personally, I credit "Pee Wee's Playhouse".

Per Asians, there are actually quite a few going to school here at UA, but almost all of them are from California, and will almost certainly return to California after they graduate.

[convulso]

someone has to stand up and acknowledge the grail reference....so there ya go! props, colin...

'but that's what it's all about! - if only people would---'

[MJLO]

Interesting article in the EVT today about the hispanic population boom in Arizona. Latinos now comprise 28.5% of Arizonas population. 1.5 Million Hispanics now live in Arizona. 1.1 million of them live in Maricopa County alone. Which shouldn't be to suprising. Maricopa county encompasses more land than the state of New Jersey, and when you look at the ratio of people who live in Maricopa county compared with the rest of the state. It's pretty much in line with ratios.