I come from a pretty white small town (I think there were only a few Chinese or Hispanic students in my graduating class) and my college was only minimally better.
In my larger social circle (work, SO's grad program) there is a lot more diversity.
I grew up in a pretty homogenous area - central IL. My sister is African American (adopted) and we met a lot of people from other cultures through adoption groups. My brother's girlfriend (hopefully soon to be fiance) is Indian. H grew up in a tiny, very white town, with some racist relatives. His parents aren't*(edited) blatantly racist, but I think the only black people they know are my sister and H's friend that was in our wedding and I don't think they interact with any other cultures except Latinos on a regular basis. I thank God that he is more open minded.
I went to college in a town with a more diverse population and then lived in Sacramento for law school, which is very diverse. Now we are in China, where we are the minority. H and I have always had diversity in our groups of friends, and that has grown progressively with our moves to Sacramento and China.
We have friends that are Taiwanese, Singaporean, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Chinese, black, latino, Spanish, etc.
I suggested a clicky because I think it's a really complicated question - minority is not very specific - do you mean race, religion, sexual orientation, gender affiliation, or all of the above? Also, interact to me means I buy something from them at the store or order at the drive-thru. I don't consider that the same as having repeated interchanges.
My bff is 1/2 Hispanic. A lot of my friends are Jewish (so the same minority as me). Some of them are also Hispanic or African-American. Hell, some are Asian, technically, since Israel is in Asia. My cousin, H's cousin, and several other close friends are gay or queer. We're friendly with H's coworker, whose parents were born in India, but she was born here.
I live in a neighborhood where I interact with a lot of minorities - the campus nearby is 70% Asian, we eat Thai, Korean, and Indian food fairly often, and there are 2 Halal markets within walking distance from my apartment.
I don't think it's that complicated. The basic question is whether or not you interact regularly with minorities. Do I need to define "minority"? Ok, let's go with "not white." Do I need to define "interact"? Sure, let's say "speak with for more than mere business transactional purposes." Do I need to define "regularly"?
You don't really need me to define "regularly," do you?
Apparently, I also need to clarify that simply eating ethnic food is not "interacting regularly with minorities."
The idea that some people have little or no interaction with minorities is unfathomable to me. I live in Vancouver which is probably as diverse as it gets, I love the diversity, mainly because it means great food from all cultures is readily available
Oh sorry miso, I didn't answer. You are not the only minority I interact with on a regular basis. My closest colleague is a different race than I. I was engaged to a man of a different race, I'm in a wedding in April that is of a culture different than my own, my uncle is of a different race, several of my girlfriends are different races, I work in Philly and lived there for about 15 years so on a daily basis I interact with tons of different people. Strangely the town I live in now, right outside the city is very very homogenous.
Even the things I do know are things that are uncomfortable to talk about. lol. Like, my Korean friend told me that Asians judge each other based on the lightness of their skin and that people where her family are from look down on people from other parts of the continent because they have darker skin.
What am I supposed to know about non-white people? I know I'm not supposed to call people wetbacks. I always forget whether Jew is okay or if I should say Jewish person. Was it okay to be especially attracted to Indian men for awhile?
eta: I also feel like one is generally considered a better person if they have been exposed to a variety of cultures, so admitting that you haven't is a little uncomfortable. You look naive at best and racist at worst.
No way.
Some of the most open-minded people are those who didn't even meet a minority until adulthood.
I think the critical factor is being aware of one's own lack of knowledge or experience, being willing to embrace and own that, and being eager to learn more about others.
Naivete is not necessarily a fault. Willful ignorance is the problem.
And to the people spewing forth statistics -- that's not what I asked.
Do YOU interact with minorities?
You could very well live in a diverse area and still not personally have non-white friends.
Well, most of my neighbors are white - or at least appear to be that way. I have non-white coworkers & customers, and we get along & interact, but I wouldn't call them friends.
My ex is Vietnamese. My BFF from college is white. In my twenties, I hung out with a fairly diverse crowd. Now, I spend time with my H, SS and son.
Oh, this should be flameful. Outside of work, you all are the only non-minorities I interact with on a regular basis, and I don't even think posting every few months on a message board should count at all.
But it's not flameful. It's simply honest.
Knowing this may be true for a lot of posters gives me a better perspective of the general makeup of this board.
I guess I just always assumed this was the case for a number of people here. It's never bothered me (not to imply that it bothers you).
This is definitely not my only interaction with people who are not white (or not 100% white). I'm actually a little uncomfortable when there's too little diversity in the people with whom I interact. My best friend is Indian American and one of my other really close friends is of Chinese descent, but has dual US & Canadian citizenship. In my work, I've interacted with multiple different ethnicities and races.
I feel like it became harder to have diversity in my friendships when I moved to Southern California from NJ. There was much more diversity in the people with whom I interacted regularly at my school in NJ.
There is confusion in the post, so I'm not the only one. Tamb and several others mentioned Jewish people. By your standard, I'm guessing that (a lot of) Jews are white, but we are more of a minority in America than Asians, for example. I would also consider gays and people who are transgender minorities, whether or not they're white.
It is a loaded and complicated issue. I don't think you're stupid (although apparently the feeling isn't mutual), so you must see that. There's no need to be condescending because I pointed out that minority can have different meanings to different people.
I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I think you are stupid. I don't. There have simply been too many times in the past (back on MM) when people whine and whine and whine about polls and ask for exceptions and further explanations and yadda yadda yadda.
I did not intend for this to be a complicated question. I can understand how it may be interpreted a number of ways.
That said, come on -- you can't honestly believe that eating at restaurants counts.
My H is Hispanic, I changed my name and now have a Hispanic last name. It's interesting when people realize it. I get a look, like, 'wait, what?' I am Whitey McWhiterson, blonde, very white skin, blue eyes.
This is how I am. BUT people think I speak more Spanish than he does (and I do. He speaks none)
Actually, this board is pretty much a mirror image of diversity in my life. Except more economically diverse I guess. I see a lot of racial diversity in daily life, but not a lot of economic and educational diversity. My daily life involves seeing people who range from educated to very highly educated. And the Clippers. They aren't that educated, for the most part, but they are richer than everyone.