[Magdalen] Related to "Yet Another Case of Race Abuse"

[Grace Cangialosi]

Wow, Jay, what a great description of your area! Having lived near there for nine years, I have to say it's spot on! It's also interesting to me that, while I shied away from using the terms "hillbilly" and "Redneck," many of my neighbors, even some parishioners, used those terms about themselves with pride.


> On Oct 4, 2015, at 2:06 PM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> My only question, Sibyl, is if the guy (not young, older like me) had
> problems with crowds, what the heck was he doing shopping on Saturday
> afternoon, and why didn't he have any problems going down aisles which were
> crowded with Anglo families?
> 
> Sorry, but false premise. I am well aware of the prejudice against brown
> people here. It's a lot worse than that against African-Americans. We have
> a lot of Russian immigrants in this area, also some few from the Middle
> East/South Asia, who all somehow get lumped together. Then there are the
> Hispanics. The Hispanics get the worst of it but the Middle Easterners and
> South Asians aren't far behind them in terms of being looked down on by
> certain elements. (I'm excluding the college and university communities
> because they are a whole different story. This area is demographically
> WEIRD!) The Russians get a pass because, well, "At least they're WHITE!"
> 
> A few words about the demographics. There are two higher education
> complexes in the area, James Madison University (a state institution), and
> Eastern Mennonite University (modern Mennonite and not horribly
> conservative) both in Harrisonburg, plus Bridgewater College down the road
> in Dayton (Church of the Brethren and pretty conservative). The area is
> dominated by the poultry industry and there are chicken and turkey factory
> farms all over the place and two big poultry processing plants, Cargill and
> George's (the latter supplies KFC). Apples and other produce are also a big
> deal and Bowman's is a big produce company. Those three companies are
> responsible for the influx of Hispanics to the area, but interestingly, the
> children of those families, by and large, do *not* want to work in poultry
> or produce! They account for about 15-20% of the school population and are
> starting to appear on honor rolls pretty regularly. The companies keep
> bringing in young men, but the young men work awhile and either go home,
> get married, or bring their families, which is not what the companies had
> in mind. <g> As for the locals, the town of Harrisonburg would be nothing
> without the universities, but there's an element that won't admit that and
> there's a certain amount of town/gown conflict. The "local" element is
> eventually going to lose, as it usually does, because the universities
> continue to grow. The surrounding areas are heavily agricultural and quite
> conservative, overwhelmingly white, with a strong Mennonite influence. We
> have Mennonites of all stripes, from the horse-and-buggy kind (mostly down
> around Dayton) to the modern ones that you can't tell from the general
> population and who most resemble Quakers in their thinking. It's very
> normal to see Mennonite women in what I call "uniform dress" with prayer
> caps or little scarves, but driving cars. There is also a big population,
> again mostly rural, of what can only be described as poorly educated
> "rednecks". The area where I live butts up against West Virginia, and the
> grocery store where I shop locally gets pretty heavy traffic from the WV
> border area. Most of these folks fit that "redneck" category--they are
> pretty much the kind with Confederate flag decals on their trucks or cars,
> anti-government bumper stickers, and who act kind of loud and ignorant.
> (Sorry for the stereotypes, but that's what I see when I shop there). My
> immediate neighbors, right here 15 miles from the WV border, are white, and
> some are Lutheran, some Mennonite, and some Methodist. They are generally
> very nice. The rest of my neighbors are cows.
> 
>> On Sun, Oct 4, 2015 at 1:22 PM, ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Several years ago I heard a little blonde kid ask his father about my cane.
>> The father explained I used it to help me walk. The kid was maybe four. But
>> apparently lived a halcyon suburban life or something.
>> 
>> I do find that children who live in multi-generation households in the city
>> are much more aware of elder issues. Also baby issues, We are selling our
>> kids very short, binding them in a way, if we don't teach them all.
>> Hispanic kids and Chinese kids and Caribbean kids are so much more "with
>> it."
>> 
>> Speaking of binding our kids, if you have a few minutes, give this a
>> listen:
>> http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/10/01/spiritual-children-lisa-miller
>> -M, currently thinking lots about the church's difficulties with children
>> (and adolescents especially)
>> 
>> 
>>> On Sunday, October 4, 2015, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> after awhile. I knew what that man didn't......that these young men had
>>> mothers and grandmothers back in their countries who had most likely
>>> brought them up right and who would likely pop them upside the head if
>> they
>>> weren't polite to their elders. I hoped the man noticed, but I don't know
>>