Prejudice in the North East ??

As most of you know, I live in the Northeast, one of the most liberal areas of the country, where just about anything conservative or religious is frowned upon ,unless its politically correct, and the level of tolerance for just about anything, this side of California, is just about the highest in the nation but it is also an area where prejudice seems to be quite alive and well.

When I lived out in the south west, I wasn't all that surprised to find that the KKK was still in power in some places. I was never troubled by any of them mind you, but still I knew that they were there and when they spoke, politicians on the local level, listened. I started taking care of a camp after Hurricane Katrina and the camp was packed with supplies that had been meant for refugees from Katrina that were supposed to come to the camp but never did. I was told by one of my neighbors that the reason that they never came was because the local klan had intervened and had prevented it from happening because most of those that were going to be coming were black. Now, I can't prove that this was true it was simply told to me so I can only say that it's a many times removed account but still when I consider where I was and the obvious signs it's not really that surprising to me. Not saying it's a good thing just not surprising.

Here in the Northeast though, where liberal politics rule the day, I had always kind of assumed that in this day and age that there wouldn't be any to speak of. Sure, there would always be cases of individuals who were bigoted knuckleheads, but not so wide spread as I have discovered.

My wife and I have been in the process of looking for a place to rent after we were informed by our landlord that he was going to be selling the house. He has not been prejudice towards us in any way that I know of, it's just that the taxes are going up and he needs to sell. The problem has been in the search for a new place dealing with people who are obviously just a bit on the biased side.

My wife would call a place and give her first name and all would be well in the course of the conversation until it came time for the last name and /or my first name. We are talking of people who were excited in talking to my wife because they know we have a steady income and could get good references etc, but as soon as it got to my full name the conversation would end and all the warm fuzzies with it. We even looked at a few places and filled out forms only to either not hear from these people again or to be told that they were looking for other types of people. The reasons varied but none of that would come up until my family name or my first name came into play. Then it all fell apart. No one can say to you outright that they don't want you to rent from them because your Hispanic, that’s against the law, but they can use just about any other excuse that they wish. It could be coincidence but I really doubt it because it always follows the same path.

The funny part in all this, is that if you met me on the street, without knowing my name, you would likely never guess that there was any Spanish blood in me at all. Sure I am short and stocky as many Hispanic folks are and yes my eyes are sort of brown and in the summer I can get quite a tan but I tend to look more like my mothers family which were Scott and Irish and I only speak a little bit of Spanish. The point is that without even seeing me some people passed judgment and some of those who did , did so based on my name.

Now, for the record, we have found another place to live in the state that I am originally from and I am very grateful for it because of the opportunities available to my family and because it will put me closer to extended family as well but the whole process of the search was a bit of an eye opener.

Personally, I think we still have a long way to go on the issues of race, especially the stereo typing, and I realize that certainly things are much better than they were 50 years ago, but all sides of this issue, no matter the race, has to come together and start working out our differences. We are supposed to be a nation of rugged individuals who earn our place in society that should be judged on our character of heart, not pigmentation, heritage or sexual orientation. This is just My Simple minded thought.