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Yeah, it will hopefully improve with more exposure. Even suburban NY was highly racist in the 80s, maybe by the 2040s with more diversity it will be better in

Yeah, it will hopefully improve with more exposure. Even suburban NY was highly racist in the 80s, maybe by the 2040s with more diversity it will be better in rural NY. But one thing I noticed as a young man road tripping through the South in the 90s was that the racism was a different species from Northern racism. In Birmingham, AL, I found people relating to each other like normal people. Birmingham, where they used water cannon and dogs against marchers and blew up a church in the 60s. In rural Ohio, a black friend of mine walked into a breakfast restaurant with me and had dozens of pairs of eyes staring at him like he had just announced he's robbing the place. It wasn't until I learned the history of sundown towns that I understood the racism of the North and its place in Segregated America.

fullstop 1y ago
With the direction things seem to be going, I'm not as confident about your 2040 hopes. On a return trip from Florida we booked a room in Florence, SC for the night. Everybody was staring at me, but I was exhausted and figured that it was just in my head. We ate breakfast there the next morning and that's when I realized that we were the only white people there. About 50% of the population of Florence is black. It was an interesting experience, and it gave me the opportunity to understand a fraction of how it would feel if the roles were reversed. And this was with friendly people with no malicious intent or fear!