Cross Post from GDP: What issues, specifically, would end racism in the US?

[HerbChestnut]

40. I don't think you're being racist.

I think it's a bit presumptuous to say I think you're a racist. I don't. I grew up in Connecticut where I'm willing to bet there's some of the starkest divides between white/black and rich/poor in the country. When most people think of CT they think of rich white people driving around the country side in expensive cars and living in huge mansions. The truth is most of that wealth is focused in Fairfield County while the rest of the state tells a different story. If you ever have the chance to drive along Route 1, which hugs the southern coast, what will happen is you'll be going through a prosperous town like Stamford, Greenwich, or Fairfield. But then you'll cross the town boundary and immediately the scenery changes. Bridgeport is an extremely poor city with one of the highest crime rates in the country. It's predominantly black and latino. New Haven is the same way even with Yale. Farther inland you have cities like New Britain (where I lived for 6 years), Hartford, and East Hartford where the story is the same.

I grew up in the suburbs. An old farming town in transition. We had at most five or six black kids in our high school at any given time. A few years ago I came to the harsh reality that I grew up in privilege, and once I saw the racial and economic disparity within my own state it was something that could not be unseen.

I'm living in Maine now so there's not a lot I can do to help the racial divide here. I think Maine has one of the highest percentages of white people in the country. As a matter of fact, I just learned that a black family will be moving into our neighborhood in a couple of weeks, and I breathed a sigh of relief. This place could use some racial diversity.

But I just wanted you to know a little about my background, which hopefully gives better perspective about where my question came from.