My family moved from CA to MT when I was 9. We embraced small town life, built our log home by hand, worked with the locals to learn local farming skills, and to fit in to our new community. My mom worked for the police department, dad worked his way up to the manager of the biggest company in town. I went to elementary school, Junior High and High School with the children of the locals, I went to slumber parties in their homes. I babysat their children and taught them to ride in the summer, and ice skate in the winter.
I commuted home every weekend for 4 years of college to help with the livestock, helped barter our meat for the neighbors milk, eggs, vegetables and so on. When I graduated from college and got engaged to a local man his parents objected because I was a "Californian."
We didn't come in with big city "attitude" Mr.Stone, we were from a small (6K) town in Northern California. My grandparents were ranchers, my great grandparents were ranchers. It didn't matter that I was not from Los Angeles, I was from California. We were outsiders. It didn't matter that we contributed to the community, that we worked to be a part of our new city.
My parents worked hard for their successes, so we were outsiders that took the good jobs from locals. When we did things the hard way we were laughed at. When those things worked out it was dumb luck, or because someone "talked sense" to us. When things didn't work out the way we planned we were stupid city folk. When they did it was because someone told/helped/showed/did it for us.
I think the "racism" discussion here is limited by perception. It isn't race, it's being different. Outside, inside, eye shape, skin color, education, dialect, accent and a hundred other factors all can be basis for exclusion.
Exclusion is power. It's the small people in those small towns.
I commuted home every weekend for 4 years of college to help with the livestock, helped barter our meat for the neighbors milk, eggs, vegetables and so on. When I graduated from college and got engaged to a local man his parents objected because I was a "Californian."
We didn't come in with big city "attitude" Mr.Stone, we were from a small (6K) town in Northern California. My grandparents were ranchers, my great grandparents were ranchers. It didn't matter that I was not from Los Angeles, I was from California. We were outsiders. It didn't matter that we contributed to the community, that we worked to be a part of our new city.
My parents worked hard for their successes, so we were outsiders that took the good jobs from locals. When we did things the hard way we were laughed at. When those things worked out it was dumb luck, or because someone "talked sense" to us. When things didn't work out the way we planned we were stupid city folk. When they did it was because someone told/helped/showed/did it for us.
I think the "racism" discussion here is limited by perception. It isn't race, it's being different. Outside, inside, eye shape, skin color, education, dialect, accent and a hundred other factors all can be basis for exclusion.
Exclusion is power. It's the small people in those small towns.