TRAVELLING IN AMERICA-how to be assaulted

[chickenscratching]

imagine you're a furriner (sorry! don't get scared, this is just a hypothetical!)
travelling to the land of the free, the united states of america--what do you do to make sure that you piss some murrikins off?

[Huckebein the Raven]

1. Have the wrong skin color in some parts of this country

[Zuni]

2. maybe 30-40 years ago

but racially motivated violence/homicide is actually quite rare nowadays. It still happens, but is not common at all. The rare incidents of real racial violence create a tidal wave of press coverage, like the killing of James byrd in texas.

In reality, whites are most likely to be the victim in a inter-racial violent crime (non-racially motivated).

I am not saying this to flame, but it the reality.

[mark414]

5. duuuude

hiding behind "statistics" doesn't change the real reality of things, in that it really isn't much better than it was 30-40 years ago

[Squeech]

11. Disagree

Ever heard of "DWB"-- driving while black? Motorists of color get pulled over a lot more than whites.

Here in Boston we had a case where a pro basketball player, who was black, was visiting friends in a lily-white suburb, and got harassed by the local cops *in his friends' driveway.* Note: they followed him through the suburb and waited until he stopped, then demanded to see his license.

There's violence too, of course. Blacks in the Boston area are almost an order of magnitude more likely to be shot or stabbed than whites.

[Zuni]

12. That is true---DWB does happen

I was talking about violence against blacks though. There are racial incidents too. I remember some Neo-Nazis in California or Oregon beat a black ethiopian to death a couple of years ago. But it is nothing like the violence of 30-40 years ago in the deep south. There blacks were rarely protected by the police, who were often Klansmen too.

Black on black violence is an epidemic in many cities. I have lived in Baltimore, and almost every night a black man is shot in that city.

In the end though, things are not like what they were in the george Wallace days, when cops beat blacks without concern, where the Klan had official protection in many states, where blacks couldn't eat in the same resturaunts.

[DS1]

3. Strap a French Flag to my Cowboy Hat

and wear sandals, with socks. Black socks.

[miss_kitty]

4. be a gay atheist

and be not white. I saw some hope-filled type say it's better now in answer #2-but really, it's not.

and while you're at it, say you are against the war in Iraq, for the Kyoto accord and that the Bush Family sucks.

[yewberry]

6. Not just for foreigners!

Drive through South Dakota with

a) a pro-choice bumpersticker
b) an anti-fur bumpersticker
c) a Massachusetts license plate

The locals will come with torches and pitchforks.

[alwynsw]

7. Try going "down east"

with KY plates.

There is a humorous side to the regional bigotries all over the U.S.
Idiots see my KY plates and think "inbred idiot". Sorry for them.

You would not believe the bullshit scams and jokes that have been tried on my wife and me because we're just "dumb southerners". Imagine the surprise when my wife casually points out that various "precious stones" in jewelry she's been eyeballing are polished common rocks or semi-precious at best. (Yeah, she's the geology major from way back when, but rocks don't change much in 30 years.) There are many more attempts, but!

No place is innocent on this. I can't tell you how many times folks from up north or out west have been sold a $6 quart of Everclear, cut with a quart of water and a drop or two of lighter fluid as moonshine for $50.

We all do it to some extent, even if it's giving roundabout directions that cover 10 miles for a destination thats 1 mile away.

[alwynsw]

8. You get my support for

the pro choice sticker. We're at odds on the fur sticker, but only so far as the harvest and growing methods I think. factory farms for fur are not a good thing. Furs as byproducts from animals grown for food is not, IMO.

Ya just get my pity for the plates. Living in MA is a terrible hardship I wouldn't wish on anyone. (I was a semi resident because of Uncle Sam.) Give me almost anywhere else for my taste. If you like it, more power to ya!

[MrScorpio]

9. Drive through Miami in a rented car

Bad news

[RagingInMiami]

10. Hey ... those days are over

Ever since they removed the company stickers and license plates from rental cars.