Isn't racism mainly a southern thing?

Ahh the South. They always get the lions share of blame for racism don't they. Well I am not going to say that the south is a great island of racial understanding, but you can't put all of the blame on them. In fact during the Nadir period of racism and even through today the south has far less "Sundown" towns and counties by a huge number than the rest of the nation. Of course part of the reason for that is that the south wasn't about to keep their cheap source of domestic labor out of the areas where they worked, but still...

The rest of the nation has just as bad of a history of racism as the south. It is just easy for those of us whites not living in the south to say that the problem is just there. For instance I live in Portland OR, and this town is one of the most segregated communities in the United States. My university is fairly diverse, but the actual town and the suburbs are really segregated. Even in a hotbed of liberalism like Portland we have the same problems that are subscribed to the rest of the country. If you live in the right area than your kids get a good education, and you don't have to be rich, just live in the right area. I live in a suburb called Beaverton, which is admittedly mostly white with small pockets of Latinos and Koreans in the area. Our schools are great, but if you go just across the river and north a bit you will encounter schools that can't afford PE, Music, Art, etc...

So no it isn't just the south, it's everywhere. Look around wherever it is you are and you will see it. Trust me. Later