In many small liberal towns, you can still live a "1950s" lifestyle

The 1950’s were terrible. Segregation, racism, subjugation of women, alcoholism, PTSD from WWII, gay people getting beaten up by cops and thrown in jail, people smoking everywhere, peak Cold War, McCarthyism, little kids having to do duck and cover drills in school because of fears of being bombed, etc.

You are not wrong. But you are not entirely right either. Like any era, the living conditions and quality of life depend on who you are talking to and where you are. America is too large to paint with one brush.

Generally speaking, in the past, most people felt like they lived in communities that represented and reflected their own modes of living, their attitudes, and beliefs. These values and beliefs might not align with ours today, but for those people, at that time, they were authentic and real. That sense of community has been shown to be worth more (in terms of quality of life) than mere economic or material gains. It is certainly worth more than abstract notions of "diversity," since people prefer to live with other who share the same cultures, values and beliefs.

So yes, there were lots of problems, but for many people, those problems were either not likely to affect them (McCarthyism) or only in the abstract (Cold War). And in the case of the 89% of the population that was white (census data), the horrors of racism were not part of their daily lives. Humans, for better or worse, tend to forget or disregard things that don't actually impact them directly.

Will my day look anything like this when I get home? Those days are long gone.

Good House Wife's Guide

So, you are incapable of having a civil discussion?

I asked a simple, honest question. A completely sensible question. You answered it (thanks for that) and then proceeded down the classic nasty rhetorical route?

Where did I say that there is something "so wrong with Moundville Alabama"?

Seriously, WTF is wrong with you?

Racism on Letsrun? No way.

I grew up in a small town in the NE, and I would say that it was moderate to conservative.

I was subjected to a lot of bigotry and was treated like an outsider more often than I would have liked.

I moved away as soon as I could and don't get treated like that anymore for the most part.

Overall, I would have to say that I regret living there now that I understand that life doesn't have to be that way.

Honest question: How would you describe yourself (regarding, race, gender, religion,...)?

So basically what you’re saying is things were mostly ok for straight white men who didn’t serve in the war. Good for them, but the women’s rights, civil rights, and gay rights movements of the 1960’s showed that many people were unhappy with the status quo.

They were almost certainly Democrats.

The discrimination I encountered was based upon my religion.

So basically move anywhere in suburban New England?

Better for blacks too. While AA's dealt with racism from whites, they dealt with less broken homes, drug addiction and gang violence.

lol at someone that lived there, its very very white. especially in the social mom scene there. sure there are some minorities there, but they are not included in any of the groups there. most of the patrons at restaurants on 5th and 7th ave are white

I know someone that was about 30 years old, black, mother of 2 little ones. the number of times she was asked if she was the nanny by all the white moms at mom group meetups was so high, she ended up moving away.

its a progressive dystopia. famous incident there where someone found a blue knit hat at the park and proceeded to post on the local message board she found a boys blue hat and if anyone was missing it. people melted down (how dare you assume the gender of this child)

thecut.com

The Park Slope ‘Blue Hat’ Incident, 10 Years Later

Meredith Fein Lichtenberg

Examining a notorious moment in Brooklyn parenting.

Open link

No, I am not saying that. Of course people are always looking to improve their lot in life. But if we are looking at society in general, life is not entirely "good" or "bad" for any of the groups you mentioned. It is a mix.

For the majority of the population, the economic and social changes that came in the 1960s and 70s were a "net gain" but they weren't without problems of their own.

I am agreeing with you that the era was far from perfect, I am only pointing out that changes since that era come with heavy, heavy costs that need to be factored in: rise in drug use, divorce, suicide, anxiety, sense of isolation, income-inequality, stress of raising children as a single parent (lack of father in the home), hook-up culture, addiction, incarceration rates, gun violence, social break-down, inability to live on a single income, etc.

As all of those things were knock-on effects of social and economic choices, it is easy to see why some people might be nostalgic. It wasn't perfect but it isn't perfect now, so you have to make a value judgement about how you would like your society to look. People are allowed to disagree about that.

I lived there too, on 11th street between 6th and 7th avenue. I rented part of a brownstone from a Guyanese family. It's 67% white with many mixed families.

Telluride is somewhat as the OP described. Oprah is probably the only Black person you might see and she doesn't visit that often.

I see. Thanks for your reply.

Thank you for understanding.

In all fairness, most people were not like that.

But it only took a few to hammer the point home.

And to be honest, the ones who showed it don't bother me as much as the feeling I got that there were far more who simply didn't accept us: I get the feeling we were ostracized, and I base that upon some very insensitive ways I got 'put in my place' by some other kids and even their parents.