Racial prejudice is everywhere in the USA. What is different between the north and the south is that in the south it is considered acceptable by MANY people to use the n word freely. In the north, it is considered inappropriate and I don't think you'll find it happening publicly very often. in my husband's line of work (insurance) he has had to deal with claims in many states, including the deep south. Nowhere except in the deep south did he experience racial prejudice so openly expressed. And yes, he finally had to tell one guy that he didn't want to hear that kind of language. And when business owners were scrambling to get roofs put onto their buildings in New Orleans after Katrina, if you were a black businessman, you were in big trouble. Some of his claimants who were black lamented that they could not hire roofing contractors because of their race. It's a tough world out there.
There are racists aplenty in the north too, but most of them know better than to display it in public. That is the difference.

Madelaine...I could not have said it better...Bravo!!!

I believe that I have run into more racist blacks of late, than whites, they seem openly hostile. I think its because of our now having a black President. They somehow seem to feel empowered by that.

Chatty...that's unfortunate that you're experienceing that there. I'm not finding that here at all...in fact, I am seeing blacks being more approachable than before. You can see the pride and hopefulness in their smiling faces.....they have a right to feel happy and hopeful and I'm so glad that I'm alive to see this and be a part of it. I'd feel empowered, too, if I were in their shoes...it's pretty amazing.

I agree, Dee.
I'm reading a book called A Different mirror, written by a japanese American about the history of race in the US. I've also been renting the Slavery in America series that was on PBS. What I now really get is that it wasn't until the 1980s -- repeat, 1980s -- that anti-discrimination laws started to take hold in any way.

so, supremacy based on white skin began in the 1600s, was codified into the Constitution, pretty much, persisted into Reconstruction. Separate but equal became law in the 1890s, was legally overturned in the 1950s but in reality nothing happened until the 1960s with the Civil Rights movement and some of LBJ's laws...

On the one hand, we shouldn't be surprised to find remnants of it. But you gotta wonder...

Where are you renting your PBS on Slavery in America? I would loe to watch that.

from Netflix. I watched episode 3 today. Some of those stories are like nightmares. Episode 4 is the civil war, so I guess that'll be the last one.

I recently had an unpleasant episode. I was making a return at a local merchant, had been waiting for a good 10 minutes or better. (I was watching the time, because my DH was waiting for me in the car, and I worry about him having to when he does.) I was obviously the next in line, but a black women (close to a foot taller than me) pushes her way into position to be waited on when it came my turn. In the past I would have allowed it, and told such a person, "please, go ahead." But, this time, I was irritated, esp. since she was looking down her nose at me with a scowl on her face. I stepped up and purposefully layed my merchandise on the counter and started speaking with the sales clerk, not giving the black woman time to react, or take the moment... Her attitude and dismeanor was so uncalled for --- no one can convince me that it doesn't go both ways...
--- and I was so proud of myself for protecting my position.

I agree Gims.

My husband and I have experienced discrimination from my DIL's side of the family. I know it goes both ways. Although, I'm not sure if they don't accept my son and the rest of his family because of our skin color or if it's because we don't belong to their church. Maybe its both. I can just sum it up as ignorance, arrogance, and just plain meanness...big time.

We paid for our DIL's wedding dress and the entire wedding. Not one family member even showed up! We paid the downpayment for their apartment, but that's something we did for both of our sons. The fact that the mother didn't come to the wedding was not because she couldn't afford it, because she came over afterwards for the birth of her grandchild. She did all kinds of ritual stuff while her daughter was in the delivery room. This was a side of America that I never heard of. It was as if she came from a strange land.

It may sound shallow, but we never even got a thank you for giving her daughter a beautiful wedding. We have no contact, despite a number of tries on my part. Now I wouldn't give the mother or my DIL's stuck up sisters the time of day.

gims, how was this situation discrimination and not just simple rudeness? She may indeed have decided that someone smaller and whiter was fair game, or she could be the kind of person who just pushes her way to the front regardless. I mean, when someone whose skin color is like mine butts in front of me I don't assume it's racial. I assume that person is just pushy and rude -- and will get away with it unless someone speaks up, so good for you.