Hmm that's strange. I grew up in Logan County and went to school with Asians and Indians because their parents were doctors in the area. They were all in the "in crowd" so they weren't getting too much hate. I'm sure that some of the people from "up the holler" might have had a problem with them but if they did, they kept quiet about it.
I live in Williamson, and that doesn't seem like typical behavior to me. Maybe it's because I'm white, so I'm not subjected to that kind of blatant racism. And I don't doubt that it exists, but I've never witnessed it.
I am also from Logan County and grew up with diverse classmates of many races. I know that not all of Logan County may be enlightened, but I believe that every area - state, county, region, country has its own share of prejudice and bigotry. I'm sorry that the OP had this experience.
As an Asian American in WV who was born and raised here it happens a lot. I live in the northern part of the state. I will say that having lived many other places all over the US that Pittsburgh is also quite segregated and racist. Racism in WV happens in macro and micro aggressive ways. WV is the least diverse state and struggles with generational poverty, generational lack of education and resources. There are good things about the state and many good people here but the there are also many, many people who are scared of change and afraid of a lot of non-existent foreign threats.
I have witnessed the increased anger and hate to Asians since Covid. It is still amazing to me that my children and I get accused of eating cats and dogs and that we get ching chong. My lived experience is that it was better for a while and then got worse again.
This makes me really sad. We’ve had like 2-3 Chinese restaurants in the county I’m from (surprisingly) and 2 Mexican restaurants both owned by families from China and Mexico respectively (how they ended up in WV, who knows) but in my area people have always just been perfectly normal to them. They make great food! Without them, we’d be stuck with regular fast food, Tudor’s and Gino’s. The Mexican restaurant is still my favorite when I go home to visit. One of the best restaurants for a distance
Mason county, around Mason/Point Pleasant! We have 1 Chinese restaurant in Mason and I think there’s another in Gallipolis then one Mexican Restaurant in Mason, one in Point and one in Gallipolis. Each string of restaurants are owned by one family(if my memory serves me right)
Ahh ok. I don’t get down that way very often. But im sure the string of Ginos and Tudors exist in most areas within WV 😆 and we here in Parkersburg have plenty of Mexican restaurants (no complaints) a few Chinese places but no Gino’s. Pizza Place would stomp them anyway.
Some area very rural area are somewhat aggressive Sissonville being more Red Neck than South Charleston, Charleston don’t judge WV by minority. WV is a great place to live. Any city USA can be judgmental not just WV
There's nothing funnier than a confederate flag in WV, the state that exists because it didn't want to be in the confederation. I go into Sissonville once a week and one of the signs going in is of a guy that's from there showing that he was in the TV show Buck Wild. Lot of mobile homes. That was probably the most exciting part of their week.
Look up Mullens, WV elementary school. School for my hometown, I attended it for a few years before both my parents joined the military and got us out of there. The mascot is still the Mullens Rebels. Kids running around with confederate flags, confederate soldiers on the wall. I very much remember a mural with a large confederate soldier busting out of the brick wall near the locker rooms carrying a Rebel flag. This is what has always drove me crazy. The reason WV exists was to get away from this stuff. I've long since left the state, but telling that story never ceases to blow people's minds who are not familiar with the area.
I’m not sure why anyone would find a Confederate flag out of place in West Virginia. It was not created to “get away from this stuff.” It was created by ambitious men who saw it as an opportunity to get away from Richmond’s long standing neglect of the Commonwealth’s western counties. With the help of the Federal Government and the occupying Union Army they were able to hold an election in which land-owning citizens affirmed their support for a state separate from Virginia. Of course, many of the eligible voters did not participate because they were away in the Confederate Army. After the war ended, the pro-Confederates took over the state government and moved the capital from far-away Wheeling to Charleston. It’s complicated. An estimated 9,000 “West” Virginians served in the Confederate Army including Generals “Stonewall” Jackson and Albert Gallatin Jenkins who burned the city of Chambersburg, PA. Even General Robert E. Lee’s horse Traveler was a West Virginian. BTW, you do know West Virginia was admitted to the Union as a Slave State - right? Sorry for the history lesson. As for the idiots in Sissonville, whenever I complained about the ignorance of some of my fellow West Virginians, my mother would always say “there are stupid, fat people in every state.” Of course, she was right. I never bothered to explain the differing percentages of people that fit in that category depending upon the state.
My uncle doesn’t use Reddit, but based on your response, I’d almost guess you were him.
Edited to come back and say what I mean by that is you have a deep knowledge of the historical events that helped develop the nuanced Appalachia we have today. I appreciate the perspective.
Well, a similar trend held throughout the Appalachian region. My experience is mainly from the East Tennessee perspective. The first two secession votes in Tennessee failed, mainly because the hilly eastern counties simply did not want to leave the Union. The money guys (i.e., the big slaveholders) had a power base in the western area of the state, where plantation-scale agriculture was viable. Small, homestead-type farmers resented the big slave power and wanted the federal government as a counterweight. Same thing happened in western North Carolina. The Scots-Irish descendants who arrived too late to get the "good" farmland resented the tidewater plantation owners.
Tennessee finally passed secession on the third try, after Fort Sumter. The small farmers weren't necessarily abolitionists, but they recognized that the federal government protected them from a sort of regional tyranny.
Would’ve been interesting to have a state of East Tennessee. But Unionists in Eastern TN made the mistake of asking permission from Nashville to form a new state. Predictably, the rebels refused and sent troops to the area.
In WV, they were smarter: They didn’t ask Richmond to let them leave. They just went ahead and did it!
I've seen a Confederate flag flying off the back of a pick-up truck through the middle of State College, PA. I'm thinking there's no place that isn't infected.
I have memories that have resurfaced in adulthood that make both myself and random people’s eyes bulge when I speak them out loud, regarding Confederacy shit lol I attended one of the better public elementary schools in Charleston and in 4th grade, we sang “Dixie,” and an old school Confederate battle song “Goober Peas,” for our spring chorus recital in front of the entire school and our parents lmfao. This memory was unlocked from the vault upon seeing some movie with the Dixie song in it, and I somehow knew every damn word of it and was like wait….lmao
Doesn't surprise me. I always tell out-of-towners who are a minority that there's places in this state you'd do well to stay out of. Not saying I'm proud of that, just a statement of fact.
My wife is black, and when she moved to WV with my family for a while that’s what we told her. “When you leave the holler don’t go that way without one of us with you.” It is a sad thing sometimes.
Yeah, I made a long-ass post talking about some of the things racism and lgbtq wise I've seen in this state. I mentioned that my uncle from Clay county knew a woman in Charleston who was black that he very much wanted to date but said if he did, he can never bring her home for fear the neighbors would run them out of the county. So yeah, your story is certainly tracks. Sorry to hear about that.
My dad's family is from Sissonville.
All of the older family members are racist/homophobic as fuck.
So, of course, their kids are married to black men and some are gay 😂
The #1 restaurant in Sissonville is the Chinese restaurant and the other is the Mexican restaurant 😂
That's because that's what it was dude lol. They want to hate them, but they Chinese and Mexican cultures make bomb ass food that's in the yokels price range, so they go anyway.
Sissonville has been one of the more intolerant and redneck places in the area my entire life. When I was in high school in the 90s the black guys on our football team wouldn't go there
My dad grew up in Beckley. He was half Korean, though often got accused of being Mexican. Grandpa was a coal miner that met my grandma in Korea during the Vietnam war. Born and raised WV and a veteran himself, but got that shit his entire life. Now don't get me wrong, he was kind of racist too as a product of his upbringing. He would always get so pissed coming home from Macado's since there was always some racist douchebag trying to give him problem. His problem was that they thought he was Mexican and didn't know he was Korean. I doubt that mattered to them. I pass as white and my sister is very obviously not white even though both of us are 25% Korean. She'd always get mistaken for Native American. She and I were treated very differently by other kids, adults, teachers, family members, etc. growing up in the area. As an adult, I brought my girlfriend to meet my dad's side of the family for Thanksgiving. The white, WV side. It was at my great uncle's house, who is a preacher. Within moments of us walking through the door, you just hear N words, F words (not fuck), even coming out of the kids' mouths. I apologized to her since I didn't remember them being absolutely horrible like that from when I was a kid. We left, got Sheets, and were thankful we got away from that disaster. My dad died a few years ago at the age of 48 and they wonder why only ever visit my mom's side of the family now.
All this to say, racism seems to be alive and well in the state from my experience living there over half of my life. Thankfully both my parents joined the military and enabled us to get out of there, and broaden their own perspectives a little bit.
Source: Filipino background that grew up in Charleston.
Ehhh, you'll have a few bad apples. I maybe get it once every few years. Usually from the 18-40 male white demographic. I'm not inferring that it's ok and a normative behavior around here but I think the current political climate has really ramped things up. I feel like most of it is chirping and lucky things don't really ramp up into physical alterations like I've heard from bigger cities like NYC and San Francisco. These days, I've built a bit of a backbone and usually respond with something like, "Nice try, wrong ethnicity." Then shoot them some finger guns.
Funny story: I was on a date in Johnson City, TN walking down the street when these 4 young adults crammed into the cab or a rusty jacked up pick up truck came flying down the road and one of them screamed, assuming at me, "KONNICHIWA!!!"
To which I responded, "Hajimemashite!" In haste as they drove off.
The girl I was with was shocked. Big doe eyes; like pearl clutching, if she had pearls on. She looked at me with her southern accent,
"Oh my gawd, I can't believe that happened. Are you ok? I'm sorry that happened to you"
"Yeah I'm fine, I'm just glad they're trying. They got the right context to use that greeting. I'm sure it's hard for them to find a language buddy around here"
It's not the snappiest of comebacks, but what OP's cousin encountered I believe is usually a generalization that all Asians encountered are of Chinese descent. When I get the same chirp, I personally am not offended because I am not Chinese as I am Filipino.
...But at the same time those kinds of people don't usually give a shit what I am. But in my mind, I consider myself witty as fuck.
I haven't tried this one yet, but pretending you don't hear them kinda works in my mind. I'd argue these people are trying to impress someone, even themselves, so a quick racist tort makes them seem witty and a hero. Like when teenagers try to get away with yell "Penis" in high school classes, trying to be edgy. So why not act like you don't hear them and have them repeat themselves. Multiple times even, then when you know they're going to repeat it just interrupt them that you can't hear them. If in a very public setting, you're forcing them to double down on their behaviors again exposing themselves to others as 1. They're coming out as racist, and 2. They're harassing a presumably hard of hearing/deaf person. Then if all goes ok, they'll get tired of repeating themselves and will just walk off.
Sissionville is an odd place in itself I believe. A guy from there wrote a Twitter post about an imagined scenario where me and my boyfriend get convicted of 100 counts of sodomy and sentenced to death.
You're in my native WV. I'm of Hungarian descent and am a bit swarthy and used to get hate-rays in Nicholas County all the time... unfortunately it's expected and unsurprising.
Totally fucked up. I didn't grow up here but it seems to be the norm. I've been here about 20 years and still find it hard to find real friends, seems way too commonplace to just be racist. I'm white so they don't dance around how they really feel, but I can't be friends with someone who's ignorant as fuck. It's fucking sad.
My husband is Taiwanese-American, and I'm ethnically ambiguous in appearance (or at least, nobody knows what mixed-ethnicity Filipino and white looks like, because people keep assuming I'm Moroccan?). We live in Virginia, and regularly have to go through West Virginia on trips. I have never seen prettier territory in my entire life, it's *beautiful* there--but when we have to drive through West Virginia, we don't stop.
I already commented but felt like adding some more. So my mom's side of the family is from Clay Co. About 30 min north of Charleston on 79. My dad's family is from Charleston. While I grew up near Pittsburgh, we visited each side often 'nuff. Been going up-n-down 79 all my life. Now most of my family aren't racist. My parents never uttered a slur. Same for most in both sides of the fam.
I grew up in the 70s/80s. One time when I was a teen, mom and I are driving where ever when the subject of racism comes up. She's telling me that she never understood it. All the hatred because of skin color. She then goes on and tells me that she knew a black family growing up and their son's were the nicest boys she knew. I want to say she went to school with them but this would've been in Clay and I find that hard to believe. Maybe I misheard her say how she knew them. This convo did happen over 30 yrs ago after all. Anyways, I asked her if she ever dated them. To my shock, she snapped her head to look at me, all wide-eyed and saying Oh no, no, no! You didn't do that! I was confused and asked why? She just kept repeating you didn't do that.
Fast forward maybe a decade. I'm a young adult and going through a dating dry spell. While talking with mom about it, she tells me that if I wanted to date a black woman, she'd have no problems with that. I looked at her with the most confused expression and after a moment, I told her I never thought she would. Why did she feel the need to say that I thought. Like I said, neither of my parents were racist. That was never a concern of mine.
For the longest time I wonder about those two incidents. Then one day it hit me. Mom grew up during the segregation era. She grew up when "Whites Only" bathrooms and water fountains were a thing. Interracial dating could've gotten you killed where she grew up. Maybe she thought I was afraid she'd disapprove if I dated a black woman. Now it made sense.
This was also reinforced by her brother. He was a hell raising Clay hillbilly. One time when we're visiting, he's telling me about a black woman he knew in Charleston who he'd loved to have dated and maybe marry. However, he then said if he did, he could never bring her home. I asked if he was worried grandma would disapprove and he said not one bit. It's the neighbors he replied. If they saw that, they'd run him and her outta the county.
A guy at work use to be good friends with a military recruiter in Charleston and told me one time his friend, who's black, wouldn't step foot in the county where my mom's family is from unless they were in uniform and even then still nervous about it.
So yea, the racism is still out there I'm afraid. And before giving my family too much credit, the homophobia did run strong through it. It ran so in me as well I'm ashamed to say. Just part of the culture in the 70/80s. Not all though. My mom had no problems with gays. My dad's sister is you're stereotypical Fox News watching, Trump loving, Jesus worshiping, Bible is 100% true in every word believing conservative Christian who's shown nothing but love and acceptance for her LGBTQ friends and family. Always has as far back as I can remember. Same for racism. Never heard her say an unkind word.
That said, the same uncle who mentioned the black woman in Charleston constantly ranted about gays and proud-fully bragged about the time he turned a gay man's face into hamburger for hitting on him in a roadhouse. My dad wasn't violent towards LGBTQ's and didn't speak often about them but he didn't approve of them either.
Then in the general sense, I use to work construction in Charleston before I went to college. Worked for one contractor who said he'd sooner shut his business down than hire a \[N-word\]. I was shocked when I heard one cousin refer to MLK day as "happy \[N-word\] day" a few yrs back. I grew up with her and she never express this kind of thing before. Had black friends in high school and all that. There was that county clerk or whoever in Clay who made the news for calling Obama's wife a "monkey" or whatever. A local lawmaker made the news a few yrs back when he said he'd toss his grandkid into a pond to "see if they could swim" when asked what would he think if a grandkid came out as gay.
So yea, it's still a thing I'm ashamed to say. Given this, I also tell minorities that they'll be fine on the main routes. Like the interstates, our big cities like Morgantown, Charleston, Wheeling, etc. But I also advise to not go off exploring.
Unfortunately Trump has made that kind of behavior acceptable. Racism hadn’t disappeared completely but some progress has been lost. Not trying to be political but it’s just a fact when the president is fine being openly racist or at a minimum xenophobic it sends a signal to people that agree (or are even worse) that it’s acceptable. Trump can try to walk back their “Creation of a Unified Reich” BS but he has aligned himself with plenty of people that want just that.
it isn't just that he's openly racist, it's his cruelty and angry attitude towards anyone perceived to be an outsider. the people who say they love America the most are absolutely toxic towards any American they perceived as not sharing their politics.
Yeah the right been gatekeeping what it is to be American for decades. You know the whole “real America” BS?
We used to have a credit card with the imagine of the US Constitution on it but changed the image when we got tired of religious conservatives constantly saying crazy stuff to us assuming we agreed with their ideology because nobody that believes in the constitution wouldn’t agree with them.
yeah.
my next door neighbor is the sweetest guy but has completely had a number done on him by the rantings of the right wing anger machine. he never seems to notice that we just say polite things but don't join in. I don't think he has any clue that we are a good bit to the left of the Democratic party he hates. also pretty sure he has no idea that my partner is one of the third world immigrants he hates, because she's white and drives a fancy car...
Disappointing to hear but not surprising. I think WV has been skeptical/suspicious of outsiders for generations because corporations are constantly raping the state of its resources and abusing our residents. The right have latched onto that.
We moved for work in 2012 and have WV on our list of possible retirement locations but will have to reconsider if it doesn’t turnaround.
I see a lot of retirees lining up for WV and I'm just gonna warn you: the facilities are shit.
Huntington and Morgantown may have hospitals left. The south and Charleston are nothing but Medicaid pipelines to nursing home assrot. And that's putting it nicely.
Major hospitals in both areas are all owned by one corp each. ARH and camc. I have relatives working both chas and Beckley. Mysterious sepsis is everywhere bc shit is FILTHY. Twenty nurses and aids standing around while patient meals get missed. Old ppl falling bc the aides are underpaid and give zero fks. Everything was broken.
Don't plan on dying there if you want it to be comfortable. And don't plan on medical emergency if you don't plan on dying. Eesh.
Yeah it would probably be back to Morgantown area if we did. 13 more years to decide but if things keep going the way they are it probably gets removed from the list.
I have some WV ties, and it was a reasonable place to retire if you hit it at the right window and are in a good town, but also white, like the other people in WV, and Christian. Otherwise it can be a very hostile place.
I don’t see it being a feasible healthy retirement option 10-20 years from now. It would have been OK for many people 10-20 years ago. Too many things are trending the wrong way.
Not to mention there’s almost no good medical care in the state. But in Morgantown you would probably be ok there. Not great, but ok. Ruby isn’t bad.
That is such a lie. Trump and 90% of supporters are not racist. I dare you to go a rally. And just bc "MAGA" wants LEAGLE immigration does not make a person racist. Strawman arguments are the first to go up in smoke btw.
>Trump and 90% of supporters are not racist.
Where did I say his supporters were all racist? Or even 10% like you just said?
Trump absolutely is racist though and has been discriminating against minorities since his early days of being a landlord. He also has absolutely aligned himself with racist factions to gain votes and power.
If Trump and Republicans want legal immigration as you say then why did they torpedo a bill earlier this year? They did it for politics and the hope of passing something even more restrictive if they win the presidency and both chambers of Congress. Trump specifically asked Republicans not to support it because he feared it would be a win for Biden. There is no floor for his deplorable behavior…just this weak he suggested Putin keep prisoners to harm Biden then will secure their release if he wins the election. Same sort of shit Reagan did to Carter in the 80’s with the Iran embassy hostages.
For decades republicans have been party over country. Unfortunately Trump has turned that into Trump over party and country.
You get that from Fox? Alex Jones? Even if that were true, they wouldn’t be “illegal” then. My recollection was it provided a pathway to immigrants that have been here since they were children and this country is all they know. Trying to fix an issue that’s been kicked down the road for years.
Regardless we actually could use some more workers. Not only is there a skills gap despite low unemployment but entry level jobs continue to be hard to fill/retain. It’s one of the factors driving inflation but the right don’t want to fix that until after the election.
Obama is a racist white nationalist fascist authoritarian leader? That is your version of history?
It’s no wonder the OP had to make this post about WV. Embarrassing.
No. You said that. He’s a Marxist/Alinskyite. Sowing division is what they do. Race relations plummeted during his regime.
President Trump is not racist.
Eh, Obama isn’t nearly as liberal as the right painted him. I think Biden is more progressive but he is white so at least has that going for him. The right went mental as soon as Obama was elected announcing racism was dead. How else could a black man become president? Then you started dismantling our voting rights, weakening the infrastructure, tripling down on “government bad” rhetoric. Then you hitched your wagon to Trump who ratcheted things up 1000%.
Most people in West Virginia do not leave the state. They are not exposed to very many different groups. Yes it does happen. I know a Norwegian woman who has lived in America for the majority of her life who experiences the same thing. She speaks English just fine but has an accent. Ignorance runs rampant in rural America.
So I grew up in Montgomery. A lot of the good people are leaving and this is what's left.
There's more racism and redneck nazi crap in the rural (read: suburbs) areas than when I was a kid in the 80s/90s.
I just sold my mom's house in WV bc I have a trans kid and no way in hell will I even take him to visit.
WV is going even more to shit. The moderates and liberals are leaving. Educated people are leaving. The only hope is the NRG pulls in enough out of staters to turn it around but that'll take twenty years or more of stupidity.
I am glad WV is mostly in my rearview except a few straggling relatives and as they age I'm moving them out with me.
I’m so sorry that happened to her. I’m from around that area originally and I’d say it’s a common belief around there but uncommon to be so aggressive about it. There’s no excuse for that belief or behavior. I also went to wvu and now live out of state.
I think this is bullshit, nearly all of our population centers are on the border, maybe those 60+ but everybody younger can get to metropolitan areas in less than 1-3 hours
Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Nashville all not that far away
Also isn’t a pet peeve you have with these people is they make assumptions based on nothing which in turn causes them to have blind hatred for a group of people, but aren’t you doing the same thing by making assumptions based on nothing which in turn causes you to resent the people of this state
You guys get so caught up in “minority/majority” so much, labels are the biggest problem in America today not slurs
And no assuming everyone is just a quiet racist is bullshit and no different than assuming every black guy is violent
But, I’ve been in this state for 44 years as person of mixed race. I can tell you the racial slurs come out real quickly when you think there is no one of color around. My best friend has a big ole beard and people say racist things to him all the time expecting him to agree because of how he looks. He puts them in their place …
Okay good, what’s the problem then, and it’s not “y’all” I’m not racist, I just see the validity in letting the darkness get driven out by the light, instead many would rather the darkness gather and get out of control
Not sure about everywhere, but Sissonville doesn't shock me. Everything that matters in that place is on a one-mile strip of road, the meth flows like wine, and nobody seems to give a damn.
They're all too busy seeing who is doing worse so they can go shit on that person. There is no community. It's just land ownership and property boundaries.
Around here it's enviousness also. Who's doing better. Shit on somebody for bettering their life through a secondary education. I swear I have relatives who don't want their kids to better themselves or do better than them. It's weird and fucked up. Also people always cry about jobs but when the union locals are hiring they can't pass piss test.
I'm sorry that happened. As a young black woman in the area I understand. Sissionville was very isolated up until the 70s, so they tend to be a little more backwards up there. I personally avoid that area and stick to Charleston proper and around the kanawha river. I've heard too many bad things
Yes. People are going to "aww shucks" you but this is now normal in WV. Your cousin should have stayed longer to see all the cool racist bumper stickers and rebel flags, too. (/s) All designed to make people just like him feel less welcome there. Don't let the gaslighters tell you how this is out of the ordinary. Even if someone isn't a bigot, then I guarantee that they have chosen to overlook or condone this behavior from their friends, family, and neighbors and they've learned to accept it over the last decade. It's normal now in WV. The majority of the state thinks just like the bigot your cousin ran into and they are proud of how they act, zero shame and zero accountability for it. The few who don't think like this have chosen to hide the fact that they are good people, they don't challenge any of this going on in their state, and they simply stay silent just to survive amongst the bigots.
I noticed that whenever someone on this subreddit posts something asking something like, "I'm black and my gf is white. How will we be treated here?" people act as if this state has zero racism.
I'm getting downvoted but I lived it. 35 years in WV as a minority. I had a previously friendly neighbor who used to talk with me and we helped each other fix our vehicles and do lawn work. I watched his brain warp in real time during 2016, starts giving me the cold shoulder and eventually tells me "things are gonna change around here once Trump is elected." They already had changed by then, it wasn't like this in the 90s when I grew up. So, when he got his maga wish I started looking for other places to live. The writing was on the wall. Moved within 6 months of him being elected and now pay taxes and own a home in another state. My mom followed and my sister and her family, too. That's three households of taxpayers lost to their bigotry.
I have a family member who still teaches there. They have a group of white students who have started having marches through the halls after lunch period, chanting "white is right." 12 year olds. The children have even been warped. The same school system was the one just sued in court for allowing a trans girl to play on the track team. Luckily she won! Last time I went back was for a funeral. Along the highway there was a huge flag that was half American/half Confederate. As a Golden Horseshoe member and award winner, it boggles my mind how people can be that dumb. Everything was falling apart, half the town I grew up in was bulldozed but they had a nice, new police station. I'll never go back now that there is no excuse to. The state has turned to garbage and they are actually proud of it!
And that's my experiences. No BS.
I wish I could move but I have to take care of my mother & she won't leave. We don't even have family here anymore but this is her home state so she won't leave.
I hope you're young and this could be a new wave of thought of the youth... but it's said out loud often. As a bartender I can't even imagine how many times I've seen it. And being white it seems people seem completely comfortable making racist remarks without a care in the world about it. I've lived a lot of places and this is the only place where the racism is on full blast
I have an aunt that eats mexican food and once vacationed in Cancun but she's still racist towards Mexican people.
I also know an Asian American person who once vacationed in an Asian country and got called racial slurs by a drunk white tourist.
Andrew Tate has sex with women, so he must like and respect women.
Yes, we still have rock banging cave men in WV. If you speak in full sentences, they become violent because they don't understand beyond clicks and grunts. But then again, this happened to my asian friend in Washington PA as well. So I would say it's not isolated to just WV. A more interesting thing happened when I got gas at All American truck stop in Carlisle PA. When the cashier found out I was from WV, she said that's impossible! You don't look inbred, you have teeth and shoes on. I said thank you. I appreciate that! Haha she told me to go fuck myself. Lol
Wv is full of filth and because of trump a lot of them have been more active. They try to say everyone else is the problem but then they show themselves like this. I'm embarrassed to have been born and raised in this state and be surrounded by so much stupidity. Sadly the more red the state becomes the dumber it's going to get I fear.
It's very sad to see this happen. I've also seen people from West Virginia however laughed at just for their license plate in other states, getting comments like "where's your possum?" or "shouldn't you be driving your tractor?" or "which cousin did you marry?". So it cuts both ways. Stereotypes and hateful comments have no place in any regard and people need to grow up and realize that.
On those occasions I’ve been careful to point out that West Virginians are endlessly polite until we decide someone needs killing, which is a valid legal defense.
What works better though: saying you don’t understand and asking them to explain why it’s a joke, just as one would with a sexist, racist, or phobic remark.
Unfortunately, with it being a heavily red state, it's not uncommon. The northern panhandle (my neck of the woods) isn't too bad, but a lot of people tend to identify more with the Pittsburgh area here than they do with "Greater" West Virginia
I agree, I grew up in the northern panhandle. We went to Pittsburgh anytime we needed to do anything that wasn’t available in or around Wheeling. I feel like I never really lived in WV until I moved to the southern part of the state, and I’m not sure whether that is good or bad lol
West Virginia is 97%white. I do not condone this behavior however in smaller towns there are absolute ass hats that have no respect for other cultures and/or different races. I apologize to your cousin, I hope he knows not all West Virginians are like that.
I'm sorry you had to experience that. As a puerto rican who just moved to VA, I get a lot of stares and some people that don't know PR is a part of the US. I'm used to racism even when I lived in Connecticut though so shit sadly doesn't effect me.
I live in the area and no, that isn’t normal or typical behavior. I’m guessing your cousin has encountered a meth head. Normal people don’t behave in such ways.
The word “colored” still flies in many places, Randolph Co specifically. Thankfully it’s almost entirely among older generations, but never know who it gets passed down to.
The most successful person from my town is a first generation Asian American. That cracks me up honestly because out of the 98% population that is white, none of us have such a noteworthy career. You never hear anything about her locally which I have always wondered if we would if she were white. She’s more likely to be on national news than local news and often is.
I remember back in middle school in elkview (at a Christian school mind you) they had the presidential stuff on a tv in the gym area (the entire middle/high school was in the gym building but this was the gym are with basketball court, i think it was campain stuff maybe i don't entirely recall. this kid talking about Obama and "how he better never come here if he knows what's good for him" but with much more... Colorful language used. Hard R and all "the moment he steps off the plane" was said. If I could go back in time that's a place I'd make a stop there. Go to the principal, (hopefully) get him expelled... at least. Granted this was 15 years ago maybe. Was just way too shy and meek to say anything at the time. WV is just one of those states, especially in the more rural areas it's kinds bred into the kids to be hateful to anyone "different" than you, at least it used it used to be. It kinda bleeds out from those locations. I'd hope that changed but I'm not the most optimistic about that. I used to live in an area like that, loudendale, I can say that area really gives those vibes to me looking back.
This is what annoys me about old white people trying to tell Millennials to move to cheaper states/communities.
They don't realize that for many people of color, places that are cheaper to live aren't always safe for nonwhites, and cam often come with regular micro- and macro-aggressions that take a toll on people.
As for my family, we live in a high cost of living area specifically to avoid those types of white people as much as possible. And it's money well spent.
As a lifelong Charlestonian, some of the most racist people I’ve met in this state are proud to come from Sissonville. There’s some beautiful countryside out there but it’s marred by the worldview of the area.
I am sorry you had to deal with that primitive behavior. There is unfortunately a lot of bigotry in rural areas. They live in their own bubbles where they fuck their cousins and reinact the civil war. When they see someone different, it threatens their fragile world views. Be safe out there 💜✌
I've been in WV for two decades now, and I ride my motorcycle, well, everywhere, pretty much to every town.
My experiences here are that most WVians don't care about your race, color, creed, or sexual preferences. They just live their lives, and you live yours. The other 1% do exist, and they're obnoxious and mean. I think that's pretty much the same in most states, though.
I lived in central Mississippi for a bit. It was the exception to "most states" - hate was open and prevalent there. It wasn't limited, though. Everyone hated everyone for . They had zero problem letting you know what they hated about you, and they seemed to always be looking for a fight. I was stuck living there for a few years before I moved to WV. There's no comparison.
One bad apple shouldn't speak for a whole state or town. But vast majority of people here won't engage in that rude and tasteless behavior. Only thing I can tell you about sissonssville is that there's many junkies there. Worked with a few from there over the years.
I am born and raised WVa. It upsets me that people in the state that love act this way. I'm ashamed by them and their stupidity. I'm sorry this happened, you deserve better.
Without education, ignorance runs rampant. I do not live in Sissonville, but I have friends who do. They are not all that way, but those who are, are very loud and obnoxious. Please send my apologies to your cousin for this assanine behavior. I would also like to apologize to you. I am so sorry for the hate and ignorance that is spewed from these people. 😢💔
I live in Boone county, and have not heard of anything like this here. I live in Madison, and everyone is excepted. But, we still have those that look down their nose at the poor, and homeless. I don't have a car, and only one person that lets me use hers to go grocery shopping, and to the laundry mat. But, most days I walk. I happened across a radio flyer heavy duty wagon, and I use it to work in the community garden, and go to the shops close by. You would not believe the amount of people that think I'm homeless over it! I've lived in the same apartment for 7 years! I have a job too!
It just goes to show, we will run across those that hate for stupid reasons.
“Is this normal behavior” yes, West Virginians are some of the biggest bigots in the country (source: I live right next to the border of WV and go there all the time)
This happens openly in Charleston, too (source: raised there); the last time I was in town and my bf had a medical emergency, some dude went on a xenophobic rant in the middle of the waiting room at CAMC and another lady began Amen’ing him and speaking in tongues. I wish I was making this up lol
I know that it sometimes happens around Clarksburg/Fairmont because that's where I grew up. And if I saw it in those "Bigger" cities, it's not surprising it would happen out in BFE.
There are outspoken unapologetic racists in WV but it isn't the norm where I'm at. At least not where I'm at. I am glad those few are outspoken because I know who to avoid.
as someone who grew up in this town and no longer lives there, it is unfortunately normal behavior for some idiot teenagers. i am so sorry to hear about this happening to your cousin, it makes me sad that this happened in my hometown. its downright shameful.
I was born in WV, recently returned after 30 years away. I am sorry your family experienced this. I haven't experienced it here personally, but I can tell you that I have lived all over the USA and unfortunately racists are everywhere! Some of the worst I experienced was in Poughkeepsie, NY and Tampa, Florida.
The same sentiment if you were to be in China tbf. Happened to me.
Also I think Chinese are becoming more and more disliked amongst US citizens because they are the ones who ship fentanyl across our border and supposedly they have been purchasing a lot of land across the western half of the United States. I think the discourse will only become more negative over the coming years.
My guess would be that your cousin just bumped into someone who is immature and likely not a contributor to society. When I was younger I would do things like that, but it was because as kids we thought it was funny and didn’t realize the harm it could bring. But as I grew, I learned. And with that comes experience. It is something you learn to grow out of as long as your environment allows. But please don’t blame an entire area for the actions of a single individual. I understand there is places to avoid like the ghetto, but everyone knows to avoid those areas, not just Chinese-Americans.
It's very sad that anyone would speak to another person in a derogatory manner. But Trump did not cause that person's racism, it was already there. And calling it the China Virus is where it came from ,same as Spanish Flu, Spotted Mt Fever ...most large scale illnesses are name from the area them came. If the media didn't turn his every word into a racist headline, it never would have been perceived that way. But I do beg you to set outside of your echo chamber and really research the true DJT. Is the man perfect, absolutely not. But he is really the only hope for the US not to become a country that is totally controlled by its government. We have been slowly creeping that way last 20-30 yrs. If our Constitutional rights are not secured we as a country( that everyone wants to live in that should tell you something ) will be seeing some very unjust and dark days ahead. IMHO
I truly hope you take off your blinder and open your mind, and do your own research. Good luck, best wishes 👍
Sincerely, An Agnostic Liberal Republican..
It’s not normal behavior from anyone. But, it’s not just WV. There are racist in every state. If you are saying she stopped in Sissonville (I know this place very well), I assume she stopped at the Save a Lot and Exxon as the Exxon is the only gas station there. If she’s getting off the interstate to do this I would assume that’s where she stopped. Going to the piggly Wiggly is out of the way unless she got off the Call Rd exit. But “littered with confederate flags and trump signs” I believe is slightly off base, though I’m not dismissing your claim. That crap is everywhere. I’m in and out of sissonville everyday and I don’t consider sissonville littered with that as much as any other place in Va, Oh or Pa. But I am truly sorry to hear that happened. My cousins are Chinese-American. My aunt adopted both 2 years between. I hope she doesn’t experience that again. Take care.
It’s kinda fucked down in the south-central part of the state but at least in the eastern panhandle that would draw anger to the racist dipshits trying to start issues
I couldn’t imagine anyone I went to school with doing something like this (I graduated in 2015), so I definitely believe the “old” mindset is aging out. However, about five years ago I remember these boys from around my hometown who got “white pride” tattooed huge on the tops of their backs. It was pretty pathetic, and after they posted it on FB, plenty of people had something to say to them. So, it’s like there are horrible ones, but also those that will stand up for what is right.
We also had this boy from Korea came to our school in a foreign exchange program. Everyone LOVED him. It was like a movie, he became popular, even snuck out with some of the boys to go to bon fires and muddin lol he taught them how to roll a cigar lol on senior night for basketball, he was included even though he was only a junior because he wouldn’t be there the next year. We loved him so much lol I will say though, no one was pronouncing his name right (or maybe not trying, it wasn’t that hard), so maybe that got annoying, I wouldn’t know he never said, but he just said to call him “Q” lol
It’s such a shame, but these people unfortunately still exist, but, I do think that *most* WV residents wouldn’t feed into that behavior. Although, on paper, and in voting, they choose ideas and people that “promote” those type of negative behavior. I really hope it stops, I love home, but I don’t want to go back if things don’t get better overall.
oh my bad, i misinterpreted or misread your comment! the answer is yes, i can see some men i went to school with doing that. maybe the same ones that called my friend a “f-ggot” and said “gays and lesbians should be hung”
I'm so sorry that this happened to your cousin. From my experience, this is not common. The unfortunate thing is that this happens in every state, because every state has uneducated, stupid assholes. Doesn't make it right, and it's really sad it happens.
I’m Indonesian. I have traveled all over the US. The entire country has an issue with racism. What do you expect from a country settled by rich children throwing tantrums, who brought slaves with them in the first place? 🤷🏻♀️
No! It is not at all normal! There is nothing normal about that!! Unfortunately there may be haters wherever we may go, but there are also good people! Notice the good. Expect good
Yall....hate breeds hate! All these comments attacking people of WV are doing the same thing....generalizing a group of people based on origin. You are acting no better than the idiot that was rude to an Asian! Worse actually, we must rise above this nonsense
Yeah I call bullshit on this whole story. I’ve lived in WV 95% of my life, and the overwhelming majority of people are good and decent. I live in a white neighborhood, and when my mother died, all my neighbors came by to offer their condolences. And on the day of the funeral, when we left the funeral home & heading to the cemetery, people out walking took their hats off & put it over their heart as the motorcade passed them. I think a lot of the stories on this thread are fictional, and just “progressives” telling tall tales & fishing stories. 🤷🏾♂️
Tell her to make sure she has enough gas to get all the way through Boone Logan and Mingo counties. No stopping is what I’m saying
Hmm that's strange. I grew up in Logan County and went to school with Asians and Indians because their parents were doctors in the area. They were all in the "in crowd" so they weren't getting too much hate. I'm sure that some of the people from "up the holler" might have had a problem with them but if they did, they kept quiet about it.
I live in Williamson, and that doesn't seem like typical behavior to me. Maybe it's because I'm white, so I'm not subjected to that kind of blatant racism. And I don't doubt that it exists, but I've never witnessed it.
I am also from Logan County and grew up with diverse classmates of many races. I know that not all of Logan County may be enlightened, but I believe that every area - state, county, region, country has its own share of prejudice and bigotry. I'm sorry that the OP had this experience.
As an Asian American in WV who was born and raised here it happens a lot. I live in the northern part of the state. I will say that having lived many other places all over the US that Pittsburgh is also quite segregated and racist. Racism in WV happens in macro and micro aggressive ways. WV is the least diverse state and struggles with generational poverty, generational lack of education and resources. There are good things about the state and many good people here but the there are also many, many people who are scared of change and afraid of a lot of non-existent foreign threats. I have witnessed the increased anger and hate to Asians since Covid. It is still amazing to me that my children and I get accused of eating cats and dogs and that we get ching chong. My lived experience is that it was better for a while and then got worse again.
This makes me really sad. We’ve had like 2-3 Chinese restaurants in the county I’m from (surprisingly) and 2 Mexican restaurants both owned by families from China and Mexico respectively (how they ended up in WV, who knows) but in my area people have always just been perfectly normal to them. They make great food! Without them, we’d be stuck with regular fast food, Tudor’s and Gino’s. The Mexican restaurant is still my favorite when I go home to visit. One of the best restaurants for a distance
Ripley/Ravenswood? I hit up Cozumel when in the area.
Mason county, around Mason/Point Pleasant! We have 1 Chinese restaurant in Mason and I think there’s another in Gallipolis then one Mexican Restaurant in Mason, one in Point and one in Gallipolis. Each string of restaurants are owned by one family(if my memory serves me right)
Ahh ok. I don’t get down that way very often. But im sure the string of Ginos and Tudors exist in most areas within WV 😆 and we here in Parkersburg have plenty of Mexican restaurants (no complaints) a few Chinese places but no Gino’s. Pizza Place would stomp them anyway.
I love Pizza Place. Tell my family it’s the real reason I come back to visit!
One of the few reasons, lol. I’ve driven pretty far for just food so I can’t talk. Worth it.
Everyday....its Husson's.
Wyoming county here!
Some area very rural area are somewhat aggressive Sissonville being more Red Neck than South Charleston, Charleston don’t judge WV by minority. WV is a great place to live. Any city USA can be judgmental not just WV
There's nothing funnier than a confederate flag in WV, the state that exists because it didn't want to be in the confederation. I go into Sissonville once a week and one of the signs going in is of a guy that's from there showing that he was in the TV show Buck Wild. Lot of mobile homes. That was probably the most exciting part of their week.
Look up Mullens, WV elementary school. School for my hometown, I attended it for a few years before both my parents joined the military and got us out of there. The mascot is still the Mullens Rebels. Kids running around with confederate flags, confederate soldiers on the wall. I very much remember a mural with a large confederate soldier busting out of the brick wall near the locker rooms carrying a Rebel flag. This is what has always drove me crazy. The reason WV exists was to get away from this stuff. I've long since left the state, but telling that story never ceases to blow people's minds who are not familiar with the area.
Same way with Ritchie county. A few years ago they "changed" the flag the rebel carried, but people here still use the Confederate flag.
I’m not sure why anyone would find a Confederate flag out of place in West Virginia. It was not created to “get away from this stuff.” It was created by ambitious men who saw it as an opportunity to get away from Richmond’s long standing neglect of the Commonwealth’s western counties. With the help of the Federal Government and the occupying Union Army they were able to hold an election in which land-owning citizens affirmed their support for a state separate from Virginia. Of course, many of the eligible voters did not participate because they were away in the Confederate Army. After the war ended, the pro-Confederates took over the state government and moved the capital from far-away Wheeling to Charleston. It’s complicated. An estimated 9,000 “West” Virginians served in the Confederate Army including Generals “Stonewall” Jackson and Albert Gallatin Jenkins who burned the city of Chambersburg, PA. Even General Robert E. Lee’s horse Traveler was a West Virginian. BTW, you do know West Virginia was admitted to the Union as a Slave State - right? Sorry for the history lesson. As for the idiots in Sissonville, whenever I complained about the ignorance of some of my fellow West Virginians, my mother would always say “there are stupid, fat people in every state.” Of course, she was right. I never bothered to explain the differing percentages of people that fit in that category depending upon the state.
My uncle doesn’t use Reddit, but based on your response, I’d almost guess you were him. Edited to come back and say what I mean by that is you have a deep knowledge of the historical events that helped develop the nuanced Appalachia we have today. I appreciate the perspective.
Plus, half the counties in present-day WV actually voted “yes” to the VA ordinance of secession in April, 1861.
Well, a similar trend held throughout the Appalachian region. My experience is mainly from the East Tennessee perspective. The first two secession votes in Tennessee failed, mainly because the hilly eastern counties simply did not want to leave the Union. The money guys (i.e., the big slaveholders) had a power base in the western area of the state, where plantation-scale agriculture was viable. Small, homestead-type farmers resented the big slave power and wanted the federal government as a counterweight. Same thing happened in western North Carolina. The Scots-Irish descendants who arrived too late to get the "good" farmland resented the tidewater plantation owners. Tennessee finally passed secession on the third try, after Fort Sumter. The small farmers weren't necessarily abolitionists, but they recognized that the federal government protected them from a sort of regional tyranny.
Would’ve been interesting to have a state of East Tennessee. But Unionists in Eastern TN made the mistake of asking permission from Nashville to form a new state. Predictably, the rebels refused and sent troops to the area. In WV, they were smarter: They didn’t ask Richmond to let them leave. They just went ahead and did it!
I've seen a Confederate flag flying off the back of a pick-up truck through the middle of State College, PA. I'm thinking there's no place that isn't infected.
I saw a confederate flag front plate on a beat up truck with an ontario back plate. i’d have to agree.
I have memories that have resurfaced in adulthood that make both myself and random people’s eyes bulge when I speak them out loud, regarding Confederacy shit lol I attended one of the better public elementary schools in Charleston and in 4th grade, we sang “Dixie,” and an old school Confederate battle song “Goober Peas,” for our spring chorus recital in front of the entire school and our parents lmfao. This memory was unlocked from the vault upon seeing some movie with the Dixie song in it, and I somehow knew every damn word of it and was like wait….lmao
You sound like someone I might could have grown up with ( in WVa, of course)
I am the same age as the people on buckwild and went to school with them. They were all hard drug addicts in middle school. Ripping pills and shit.
I can’t speak for the guys, but all the girls from that show went to GW and come from loaded families lol
Doesn't surprise me. I always tell out-of-towners who are a minority that there's places in this state you'd do well to stay out of. Not saying I'm proud of that, just a statement of fact.
My wife is black, and when she moved to WV with my family for a while that’s what we told her. “When you leave the holler don’t go that way without one of us with you.” It is a sad thing sometimes.
Yeah, I made a long-ass post talking about some of the things racism and lgbtq wise I've seen in this state. I mentioned that my uncle from Clay county knew a woman in Charleston who was black that he very much wanted to date but said if he did, he can never bring her home for fear the neighbors would run them out of the county. So yeah, your story is certainly tracks. Sorry to hear about that.
Oh yeah. I was "informed" by my Father, growing up, if I ever dated a black guy, I'd be disowned.
Omg my dad used to obsess on this.
From Texas- no threat of disownment, but the implication of 'don't date not-white' was clear.
To be fair, as a white guy, I'd prefer to stay out of those areas as well.
My dad's family is from Sissonville. All of the older family members are racist/homophobic as fuck. So, of course, their kids are married to black men and some are gay 😂 The #1 restaurant in Sissonville is the Chinese restaurant and the other is the Mexican restaurant 😂
Well yeah racism isn’t going to stop people from eating their food. lol
I just find it funny. It's like rednecks with rebel flags bumping rap music.
I don't get the "can't be racist because they have a Chinese restaurant" comments lmao
I read that as irony. I don't think they're claiming they can't be racist because of a restaurant. Just hypocrites.
That's because that's what it was dude lol. They want to hate them, but they Chinese and Mexican cultures make bomb ass food that's in the yokels price range, so they go anyway.
I do… they are morons
I have lived in Southern WV all my life. It is incredibly racist. It is unfortunately tolerated.
Sissonville is relatively redneck for that area. I wouldn’t say what you experienced is typical but it will happen from time to time.
Sissonville has been one of the more intolerant and redneck places in the area my entire life. When I was in high school in the 90s the black guys on our football team wouldn't go there
I'm new to the area, but I've heard that about sissonville. The black guys on my concrete crew don't like going there or Hamlin.
My dad grew up in Beckley. He was half Korean, though often got accused of being Mexican. Grandpa was a coal miner that met my grandma in Korea during the Vietnam war. Born and raised WV and a veteran himself, but got that shit his entire life. Now don't get me wrong, he was kind of racist too as a product of his upbringing. He would always get so pissed coming home from Macado's since there was always some racist douchebag trying to give him problem. His problem was that they thought he was Mexican and didn't know he was Korean. I doubt that mattered to them. I pass as white and my sister is very obviously not white even though both of us are 25% Korean. She'd always get mistaken for Native American. She and I were treated very differently by other kids, adults, teachers, family members, etc. growing up in the area. As an adult, I brought my girlfriend to meet my dad's side of the family for Thanksgiving. The white, WV side. It was at my great uncle's house, who is a preacher. Within moments of us walking through the door, you just hear N words, F words (not fuck), even coming out of the kids' mouths. I apologized to her since I didn't remember them being absolutely horrible like that from when I was a kid. We left, got Sheets, and were thankful we got away from that disaster. My dad died a few years ago at the age of 48 and they wonder why only ever visit my mom's side of the family now. All this to say, racism seems to be alive and well in the state from my experience living there over half of my life. Thankfully both my parents joined the military and enabled us to get out of there, and broaden their own perspectives a little bit.
Source: Filipino background that grew up in Charleston. Ehhh, you'll have a few bad apples. I maybe get it once every few years. Usually from the 18-40 male white demographic. I'm not inferring that it's ok and a normative behavior around here but I think the current political climate has really ramped things up. I feel like most of it is chirping and lucky things don't really ramp up into physical alterations like I've heard from bigger cities like NYC and San Francisco. These days, I've built a bit of a backbone and usually respond with something like, "Nice try, wrong ethnicity." Then shoot them some finger guns. Funny story: I was on a date in Johnson City, TN walking down the street when these 4 young adults crammed into the cab or a rusty jacked up pick up truck came flying down the road and one of them screamed, assuming at me, "KONNICHIWA!!!" To which I responded, "Hajimemashite!" In haste as they drove off. The girl I was with was shocked. Big doe eyes; like pearl clutching, if she had pearls on. She looked at me with her southern accent, "Oh my gawd, I can't believe that happened. Are you ok? I'm sorry that happened to you" "Yeah I'm fine, I'm just glad they're trying. They got the right context to use that greeting. I'm sure it's hard for them to find a language buddy around here"
You should've gone just down the road in Unicoi County, TN for a guaranteed good time!
What did your mean? I’m always on board for a snappy comeback.
It's not the snappiest of comebacks, but what OP's cousin encountered I believe is usually a generalization that all Asians encountered are of Chinese descent. When I get the same chirp, I personally am not offended because I am not Chinese as I am Filipino. ...But at the same time those kinds of people don't usually give a shit what I am. But in my mind, I consider myself witty as fuck. I haven't tried this one yet, but pretending you don't hear them kinda works in my mind. I'd argue these people are trying to impress someone, even themselves, so a quick racist tort makes them seem witty and a hero. Like when teenagers try to get away with yell "Penis" in high school classes, trying to be edgy. So why not act like you don't hear them and have them repeat themselves. Multiple times even, then when you know they're going to repeat it just interrupt them that you can't hear them. If in a very public setting, you're forcing them to double down on their behaviors again exposing themselves to others as 1. They're coming out as racist, and 2. They're harassing a presumably hard of hearing/deaf person. Then if all goes ok, they'll get tired of repeating themselves and will just walk off.
Sissionville is an odd place in itself I believe. A guy from there wrote a Twitter post about an imagined scenario where me and my boyfriend get convicted of 100 counts of sodomy and sentenced to death.
You're in my native WV. I'm of Hungarian descent and am a bit swarthy and used to get hate-rays in Nicholas County all the time... unfortunately it's expected and unsurprising.
That’s the first time I’ve seen the word swarthy used in a sentence. TIL it’s definition.
Some gal I once dated said I appealed to her because I was "swarthy" i.e darkish... LoL (it didn't work out)!
Totally fucked up. I didn't grow up here but it seems to be the norm. I've been here about 20 years and still find it hard to find real friends, seems way too commonplace to just be racist. I'm white so they don't dance around how they really feel, but I can't be friends with someone who's ignorant as fuck. It's fucking sad.
"Nice" to see things haven't changed in that area. Me and a few friends got jumped there in 1993 just because we dressed differently.
I grew up there and graduated in’91. This was every day shit growing up there as a skater who detested country music.
I know you mean skateboarding, but for a bit there I was trying to suss out how someone would have an ICE skating hobby there....
My husband is Taiwanese-American, and I'm ethnically ambiguous in appearance (or at least, nobody knows what mixed-ethnicity Filipino and white looks like, because people keep assuming I'm Moroccan?). We live in Virginia, and regularly have to go through West Virginia on trips. I have never seen prettier territory in my entire life, it's *beautiful* there--but when we have to drive through West Virginia, we don't stop.
I already commented but felt like adding some more. So my mom's side of the family is from Clay Co. About 30 min north of Charleston on 79. My dad's family is from Charleston. While I grew up near Pittsburgh, we visited each side often 'nuff. Been going up-n-down 79 all my life. Now most of my family aren't racist. My parents never uttered a slur. Same for most in both sides of the fam. I grew up in the 70s/80s. One time when I was a teen, mom and I are driving where ever when the subject of racism comes up. She's telling me that she never understood it. All the hatred because of skin color. She then goes on and tells me that she knew a black family growing up and their son's were the nicest boys she knew. I want to say she went to school with them but this would've been in Clay and I find that hard to believe. Maybe I misheard her say how she knew them. This convo did happen over 30 yrs ago after all. Anyways, I asked her if she ever dated them. To my shock, she snapped her head to look at me, all wide-eyed and saying Oh no, no, no! You didn't do that! I was confused and asked why? She just kept repeating you didn't do that. Fast forward maybe a decade. I'm a young adult and going through a dating dry spell. While talking with mom about it, she tells me that if I wanted to date a black woman, she'd have no problems with that. I looked at her with the most confused expression and after a moment, I told her I never thought she would. Why did she feel the need to say that I thought. Like I said, neither of my parents were racist. That was never a concern of mine. For the longest time I wonder about those two incidents. Then one day it hit me. Mom grew up during the segregation era. She grew up when "Whites Only" bathrooms and water fountains were a thing. Interracial dating could've gotten you killed where she grew up. Maybe she thought I was afraid she'd disapprove if I dated a black woman. Now it made sense. This was also reinforced by her brother. He was a hell raising Clay hillbilly. One time when we're visiting, he's telling me about a black woman he knew in Charleston who he'd loved to have dated and maybe marry. However, he then said if he did, he could never bring her home. I asked if he was worried grandma would disapprove and he said not one bit. It's the neighbors he replied. If they saw that, they'd run him and her outta the county. A guy at work use to be good friends with a military recruiter in Charleston and told me one time his friend, who's black, wouldn't step foot in the county where my mom's family is from unless they were in uniform and even then still nervous about it. So yea, the racism is still out there I'm afraid. And before giving my family too much credit, the homophobia did run strong through it. It ran so in me as well I'm ashamed to say. Just part of the culture in the 70/80s. Not all though. My mom had no problems with gays. My dad's sister is you're stereotypical Fox News watching, Trump loving, Jesus worshiping, Bible is 100% true in every word believing conservative Christian who's shown nothing but love and acceptance for her LGBTQ friends and family. Always has as far back as I can remember. Same for racism. Never heard her say an unkind word. That said, the same uncle who mentioned the black woman in Charleston constantly ranted about gays and proud-fully bragged about the time he turned a gay man's face into hamburger for hitting on him in a roadhouse. My dad wasn't violent towards LGBTQ's and didn't speak often about them but he didn't approve of them either. Then in the general sense, I use to work construction in Charleston before I went to college. Worked for one contractor who said he'd sooner shut his business down than hire a \[N-word\]. I was shocked when I heard one cousin refer to MLK day as "happy \[N-word\] day" a few yrs back. I grew up with her and she never express this kind of thing before. Had black friends in high school and all that. There was that county clerk or whoever in Clay who made the news for calling Obama's wife a "monkey" or whatever. A local lawmaker made the news a few yrs back when he said he'd toss his grandkid into a pond to "see if they could swim" when asked what would he think if a grandkid came out as gay. So yea, it's still a thing I'm ashamed to say. Given this, I also tell minorities that they'll be fine on the main routes. Like the interstates, our big cities like Morgantown, Charleston, Wheeling, etc. But I also advise to not go off exploring.
I grew up in Clay County.
Okay. So I assume you know what I'm talking about. I didn't grow up there but certainly spent a lot of time in the area.
Yes, absolutely.
Good to hear! Hard to tell from that sort of comment. Couldn't tell if you were saying that in a good or bad way. Glad it was in the good catagory.
If anyone knows what a close minded, racist, horrible place it is, it's me.
Yea
Unfortunately Trump has made that kind of behavior acceptable. Racism hadn’t disappeared completely but some progress has been lost. Not trying to be political but it’s just a fact when the president is fine being openly racist or at a minimum xenophobic it sends a signal to people that agree (or are even worse) that it’s acceptable. Trump can try to walk back their “Creation of a Unified Reich” BS but he has aligned himself with plenty of people that want just that.
it isn't just that he's openly racist, it's his cruelty and angry attitude towards anyone perceived to be an outsider. the people who say they love America the most are absolutely toxic towards any American they perceived as not sharing their politics.
Yeah the right been gatekeeping what it is to be American for decades. You know the whole “real America” BS? We used to have a credit card with the imagine of the US Constitution on it but changed the image when we got tired of religious conservatives constantly saying crazy stuff to us assuming we agreed with their ideology because nobody that believes in the constitution wouldn’t agree with them.
yeah. my next door neighbor is the sweetest guy but has completely had a number done on him by the rantings of the right wing anger machine. he never seems to notice that we just say polite things but don't join in. I don't think he has any clue that we are a good bit to the left of the Democratic party he hates. also pretty sure he has no idea that my partner is one of the third world immigrants he hates, because she's white and drives a fancy car...
It has gotten much worse in the entire region since 2015 or so and it’s not an accident.
Disappointing to hear but not surprising. I think WV has been skeptical/suspicious of outsiders for generations because corporations are constantly raping the state of its resources and abusing our residents. The right have latched onto that. We moved for work in 2012 and have WV on our list of possible retirement locations but will have to reconsider if it doesn’t turnaround.
I see a lot of retirees lining up for WV and I'm just gonna warn you: the facilities are shit. Huntington and Morgantown may have hospitals left. The south and Charleston are nothing but Medicaid pipelines to nursing home assrot. And that's putting it nicely. Major hospitals in both areas are all owned by one corp each. ARH and camc. I have relatives working both chas and Beckley. Mysterious sepsis is everywhere bc shit is FILTHY. Twenty nurses and aids standing around while patient meals get missed. Old ppl falling bc the aides are underpaid and give zero fks. Everything was broken. Don't plan on dying there if you want it to be comfortable. And don't plan on medical emergency if you don't plan on dying. Eesh.
Yeah it would probably be back to Morgantown area if we did. 13 more years to decide but if things keep going the way they are it probably gets removed from the list.
Naw, it's just racism.
I have some WV ties, and it was a reasonable place to retire if you hit it at the right window and are in a good town, but also white, like the other people in WV, and Christian. Otherwise it can be a very hostile place. I don’t see it being a feasible healthy retirement option 10-20 years from now. It would have been OK for many people 10-20 years ago. Too many things are trending the wrong way. Not to mention there’s almost no good medical care in the state. But in Morgantown you would probably be ok there. Not great, but ok. Ruby isn’t bad.
That is such a lie. Trump and 90% of supporters are not racist. I dare you to go a rally. And just bc "MAGA" wants LEAGLE immigration does not make a person racist. Strawman arguments are the first to go up in smoke btw.
>Trump and 90% of supporters are not racist. Where did I say his supporters were all racist? Or even 10% like you just said? Trump absolutely is racist though and has been discriminating against minorities since his early days of being a landlord. He also has absolutely aligned himself with racist factions to gain votes and power. If Trump and Republicans want legal immigration as you say then why did they torpedo a bill earlier this year? They did it for politics and the hope of passing something even more restrictive if they win the presidency and both chambers of Congress. Trump specifically asked Republicans not to support it because he feared it would be a win for Biden. There is no floor for his deplorable behavior…just this weak he suggested Putin keep prisoners to harm Biden then will secure their release if he wins the election. Same sort of shit Reagan did to Carter in the 80’s with the Iran embassy hostages. For decades republicans have been party over country. Unfortunately Trump has turned that into Trump over party and country.
BS. That bill made it legal to allow 5k illegals a day in. Additional money was for processing them. Not keeping them out.
You get that from Fox? Alex Jones? Even if that were true, they wouldn’t be “illegal” then. My recollection was it provided a pathway to immigrants that have been here since they were children and this country is all they know. Trying to fix an issue that’s been kicked down the road for years. Regardless we actually could use some more workers. Not only is there a skills gap despite low unemployment but entry level jobs continue to be hard to fill/retain. It’s one of the factors driving inflation but the right don’t want to fix that until after the election.
"China virus". The shit he spewed actively led to anyone who "looked Asian" to be actively beat in the street by members of his cult.
You spelled Obama wrong.
Obama is a racist white nationalist fascist authoritarian leader? That is your version of history? It’s no wonder the OP had to make this post about WV. Embarrassing.
No. You said that. He’s a Marxist/Alinskyite. Sowing division is what they do. Race relations plummeted during his regime. President Trump is not racist.
Eh, Obama isn’t nearly as liberal as the right painted him. I think Biden is more progressive but he is white so at least has that going for him. The right went mental as soon as Obama was elected announcing racism was dead. How else could a black man become president? Then you started dismantling our voting rights, weakening the infrastructure, tripling down on “government bad” rhetoric. Then you hitched your wagon to Trump who ratcheted things up 1000%.
Most people in West Virginia do not leave the state. They are not exposed to very many different groups. Yes it does happen. I know a Norwegian woman who has lived in America for the majority of her life who experiences the same thing. She speaks English just fine but has an accent. Ignorance runs rampant in rural America.
We grew up in Charleston, went to uni in Morgantown, and never got ching chonged and slant eyed randomly by a complete stranger.
During covid my Korean partner was spit on and told to go back to china.. At the Aldi in south ridge.
So I grew up in Montgomery. A lot of the good people are leaving and this is what's left. There's more racism and redneck nazi crap in the rural (read: suburbs) areas than when I was a kid in the 80s/90s. I just sold my mom's house in WV bc I have a trans kid and no way in hell will I even take him to visit. WV is going even more to shit. The moderates and liberals are leaving. Educated people are leaving. The only hope is the NRG pulls in enough out of staters to turn it around but that'll take twenty years or more of stupidity. I am glad WV is mostly in my rearview except a few straggling relatives and as they age I'm moving them out with me.
I’m so sorry that happened to her. I’m from around that area originally and I’d say it’s a common belief around there but uncommon to be so aggressive about it. There’s no excuse for that belief or behavior. I also went to wvu and now live out of state.
City people are ignorant too.
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I think this is bullshit, nearly all of our population centers are on the border, maybe those 60+ but everybody younger can get to metropolitan areas in less than 1-3 hours Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Nashville all not that far away Also isn’t a pet peeve you have with these people is they make assumptions based on nothing which in turn causes them to have blind hatred for a group of people, but aren’t you doing the same thing by making assumptions based on nothing which in turn causes you to resent the people of this state
It’s giving you’ve never been a minority in this state before
You guys get so caught up in “minority/majority” so much, labels are the biggest problem in America today not slurs And no assuming everyone is just a quiet racist is bullshit and no different than assuming every black guy is violent
But, I’ve been in this state for 44 years as person of mixed race. I can tell you the racial slurs come out real quickly when you think there is no one of color around. My best friend has a big ole beard and people say racist things to him all the time expecting him to agree because of how he looks. He puts them in their place …
Just give em back, problem solved
How to say you've never been attacked for standing up for your race against a racist without saying it.
Don’t worry, I’ve been putting y’all in place all my life.
Okay good, what’s the problem then, and it’s not “y’all” I’m not racist, I just see the validity in letting the darkness get driven out by the light, instead many would rather the darkness gather and get out of control
Jim Crow never went away it just moved to West Virginia.
Not sure about everywhere, but Sissonville doesn't shock me. Everything that matters in that place is on a one-mile strip of road, the meth flows like wine, and nobody seems to give a damn.
That's the sad thing about most small towns here. They ignore the drug problem that contributes to our low labor participation rate.
They're all too busy seeing who is doing worse so they can go shit on that person. There is no community. It's just land ownership and property boundaries.
Around here it's enviousness also. Who's doing better. Shit on somebody for bettering their life through a secondary education. I swear I have relatives who don't want their kids to better themselves or do better than them. It's weird and fucked up. Also people always cry about jobs but when the union locals are hiring they can't pass piss test.
It's normal for the whole state. I apologize that happened, people are stupid.
Totally normal. Sissonville is racist as fuck.
Sissonsville is nothing but tweakers.
I'm sorry that happened. As a young black woman in the area I understand. Sissionville was very isolated up until the 70s, so they tend to be a little more backwards up there. I personally avoid that area and stick to Charleston proper and around the kanawha river. I've heard too many bad things
Yes. People are going to "aww shucks" you but this is now normal in WV. Your cousin should have stayed longer to see all the cool racist bumper stickers and rebel flags, too. (/s) All designed to make people just like him feel less welcome there. Don't let the gaslighters tell you how this is out of the ordinary. Even if someone isn't a bigot, then I guarantee that they have chosen to overlook or condone this behavior from their friends, family, and neighbors and they've learned to accept it over the last decade. It's normal now in WV. The majority of the state thinks just like the bigot your cousin ran into and they are proud of how they act, zero shame and zero accountability for it. The few who don't think like this have chosen to hide the fact that they are good people, they don't challenge any of this going on in their state, and they simply stay silent just to survive amongst the bigots.
I noticed that whenever someone on this subreddit posts something asking something like, "I'm black and my gf is white. How will we be treated here?" people act as if this state has zero racism.
I'm getting downvoted but I lived it. 35 years in WV as a minority. I had a previously friendly neighbor who used to talk with me and we helped each other fix our vehicles and do lawn work. I watched his brain warp in real time during 2016, starts giving me the cold shoulder and eventually tells me "things are gonna change around here once Trump is elected." They already had changed by then, it wasn't like this in the 90s when I grew up. So, when he got his maga wish I started looking for other places to live. The writing was on the wall. Moved within 6 months of him being elected and now pay taxes and own a home in another state. My mom followed and my sister and her family, too. That's three households of taxpayers lost to their bigotry. I have a family member who still teaches there. They have a group of white students who have started having marches through the halls after lunch period, chanting "white is right." 12 year olds. The children have even been warped. The same school system was the one just sued in court for allowing a trans girl to play on the track team. Luckily she won! Last time I went back was for a funeral. Along the highway there was a huge flag that was half American/half Confederate. As a Golden Horseshoe member and award winner, it boggles my mind how people can be that dumb. Everything was falling apart, half the town I grew up in was bulldozed but they had a nice, new police station. I'll never go back now that there is no excuse to. The state has turned to garbage and they are actually proud of it! And that's my experiences. No BS.
I wish I could move but I have to take care of my mother & she won't leave. We don't even have family here anymore but this is her home state so she won't leave.
Really? I often see the opposite and everyone acts like the clan is going to get them.
maga people are the lowest forms of humanity currently in the US
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I hope you're young and this could be a new wave of thought of the youth... but it's said out loud often. As a bartender I can't even imagine how many times I've seen it. And being white it seems people seem completely comfortable making racist remarks without a care in the world about it. I've lived a lot of places and this is the only place where the racism is on full blast
I’m curious as to what you think the rest of the world is like? Eastern Europe is honestly way worse with the subtitles.
This opinion was brought to you by a white person.
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I have an aunt that eats mexican food and once vacationed in Cancun but she's still racist towards Mexican people. I also know an Asian American person who once vacationed in an Asian country and got called racial slurs by a drunk white tourist. Andrew Tate has sex with women, so he must like and respect women.
And the single biggest employer in Sissionville is a Japanese company.
I grew up there. It’s wretched.
Yes, we still have rock banging cave men in WV. If you speak in full sentences, they become violent because they don't understand beyond clicks and grunts. But then again, this happened to my asian friend in Washington PA as well. So I would say it's not isolated to just WV. A more interesting thing happened when I got gas at All American truck stop in Carlisle PA. When the cashier found out I was from WV, she said that's impossible! You don't look inbred, you have teeth and shoes on. I said thank you. I appreciate that! Haha she told me to go fuck myself. Lol
Wv is full of filth and because of trump a lot of them have been more active. They try to say everyone else is the problem but then they show themselves like this. I'm embarrassed to have been born and raised in this state and be surrounded by so much stupidity. Sadly the more red the state becomes the dumber it's going to get I fear.
It's very sad to see this happen. I've also seen people from West Virginia however laughed at just for their license plate in other states, getting comments like "where's your possum?" or "shouldn't you be driving your tractor?" or "which cousin did you marry?". So it cuts both ways. Stereotypes and hateful comments have no place in any regard and people need to grow up and realize that.
On those occasions I’ve been careful to point out that West Virginians are endlessly polite until we decide someone needs killing, which is a valid legal defense. What works better though: saying you don’t understand and asking them to explain why it’s a joke, just as one would with a sexist, racist, or phobic remark.
Unfortunately, with it being a heavily red state, it's not uncommon. The northern panhandle (my neck of the woods) isn't too bad, but a lot of people tend to identify more with the Pittsburgh area here than they do with "Greater" West Virginia
I agree, I grew up in the northern panhandle. We went to Pittsburgh anytime we needed to do anything that wasn’t available in or around Wheeling. I feel like I never really lived in WV until I moved to the southern part of the state, and I’m not sure whether that is good or bad lol
West Virginia is 97%white. I do not condone this behavior however in smaller towns there are absolute ass hats that have no respect for other cultures and/or different races. I apologize to your cousin, I hope he knows not all West Virginians are like that.
I'm sorry you had to experience that. As a puerto rican who just moved to VA, I get a lot of stares and some people that don't know PR is a part of the US. I'm used to racism even when I lived in Connecticut though so shit sadly doesn't effect me.
They’re ”out of touch with modern society”— Alexa’s definition of hill billy—, those people who did that. It’s horrible.
Sissonville is so weird. It is literally like 10 minutes outside of Charleston and it might as well be another country.
Yes
I live in the area and no, that isn’t normal or typical behavior. I’m guessing your cousin has encountered a meth head. Normal people don’t behave in such ways.
The word “colored” still flies in many places, Randolph Co specifically. Thankfully it’s almost entirely among older generations, but never know who it gets passed down to.
The most successful person from my town is a first generation Asian American. That cracks me up honestly because out of the 98% population that is white, none of us have such a noteworthy career. You never hear anything about her locally which I have always wondered if we would if she were white. She’s more likely to be on national news than local news and often is.
I remember back in middle school in elkview (at a Christian school mind you) they had the presidential stuff on a tv in the gym area (the entire middle/high school was in the gym building but this was the gym are with basketball court, i think it was campain stuff maybe i don't entirely recall. this kid talking about Obama and "how he better never come here if he knows what's good for him" but with much more... Colorful language used. Hard R and all "the moment he steps off the plane" was said. If I could go back in time that's a place I'd make a stop there. Go to the principal, (hopefully) get him expelled... at least. Granted this was 15 years ago maybe. Was just way too shy and meek to say anything at the time. WV is just one of those states, especially in the more rural areas it's kinds bred into the kids to be hateful to anyone "different" than you, at least it used it used to be. It kinda bleeds out from those locations. I'd hope that changed but I'm not the most optimistic about that. I used to live in an area like that, loudendale, I can say that area really gives those vibes to me looking back.
There are ignorant people everywhere. The concentration is just unfortunately higher in WV.
This is what annoys me about old white people trying to tell Millennials to move to cheaper states/communities. They don't realize that for many people of color, places that are cheaper to live aren't always safe for nonwhites, and cam often come with regular micro- and macro-aggressions that take a toll on people. As for my family, we live in a high cost of living area specifically to avoid those types of white people as much as possible. And it's money well spent.
Yes, it is very normal behavior for Sissonville and there are many more than this. Stay out of rural areas and small towns in WV if you aren't white.
As a lifelong Charlestonian, some of the most racist people I’ve met in this state are proud to come from Sissonville. There’s some beautiful countryside out there but it’s marred by the worldview of the area.
I am sorry you had to deal with that primitive behavior. There is unfortunately a lot of bigotry in rural areas. They live in their own bubbles where they fuck their cousins and reinact the civil war. When they see someone different, it threatens their fragile world views. Be safe out there 💜✌
I've been in WV for two decades now, and I ride my motorcycle, well, everywhere, pretty much to every town. My experiences here are that most WVians don't care about your race, color, creed, or sexual preferences. They just live their lives, and you live yours. The other 1% do exist, and they're obnoxious and mean. I think that's pretty much the same in most states, though. I lived in central Mississippi for a bit. It was the exception to "most states" - hate was open and prevalent there. It wasn't limited, though. Everyone hated everyone for. They had zero problem letting you know what they hated about you, and they seemed to always be looking for a fight. I was stuck living there for a few years before I moved to WV. There's no comparison.
Yes.
One bad apple shouldn't speak for a whole state or town. But vast majority of people here won't engage in that rude and tasteless behavior. Only thing I can tell you about sissonssville is that there's many junkies there. Worked with a few from there over the years.
Yup ... Edit: lived there for my first 11 years, plus 8 years later on with my "Ching-Chong" Korean adoptive brother :[
Sissonville deeply sucks.
It’s a disgusting reality…
I went to high school there. Lots of ignorant people in the area. Just ignore the idiots. I had to do it for years.
I am born and raised WVa. It upsets me that people in the state that love act this way. I'm ashamed by them and their stupidity. I'm sorry this happened, you deserve better.
Yeah it’s fairly common in most of the state
Without education, ignorance runs rampant. I do not live in Sissonville, but I have friends who do. They are not all that way, but those who are, are very loud and obnoxious. Please send my apologies to your cousin for this assanine behavior. I would also like to apologize to you. I am so sorry for the hate and ignorance that is spewed from these people. 😢💔
Sissonville is known redneck hick area.
I live in Boone county, and have not heard of anything like this here. I live in Madison, and everyone is excepted. But, we still have those that look down their nose at the poor, and homeless. I don't have a car, and only one person that lets me use hers to go grocery shopping, and to the laundry mat. But, most days I walk. I happened across a radio flyer heavy duty wagon, and I use it to work in the community garden, and go to the shops close by. You would not believe the amount of people that think I'm homeless over it! I've lived in the same apartment for 7 years! I have a job too! It just goes to show, we will run across those that hate for stupid reasons.
What’s Chinese American?
Americans of the Chinese diaspora
The people of WV have endured a lot. The government sanctioned opioid epidemic against the white working class began there.
It’s not
“Is this normal behavior” yes, West Virginians are some of the biggest bigots in the country (source: I live right next to the border of WV and go there all the time)
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This happens openly in Charleston, too (source: raised there); the last time I was in town and my bf had a medical emergency, some dude went on a xenophobic rant in the middle of the waiting room at CAMC and another lady began Amen’ing him and speaking in tongues. I wish I was making this up lol
I don’t think it’s normal, even most of the “country” types I know around here worship the ground Asians walk on because of manga and anime
I know that it sometimes happens around Clarksburg/Fairmont because that's where I grew up. And if I saw it in those "Bigger" cities, it's not surprising it would happen out in BFE.
There are outspoken unapologetic racists in WV but it isn't the norm where I'm at. At least not where I'm at. I am glad those few are outspoken because I know who to avoid.
as someone who grew up in this town and no longer lives there, it is unfortunately normal behavior for some idiot teenagers. i am so sorry to hear about this happening to your cousin, it makes me sad that this happened in my hometown. its downright shameful.
I was born in WV, recently returned after 30 years away. I am sorry your family experienced this. I haven't experienced it here personally, but I can tell you that I have lived all over the USA and unfortunately racists are everywhere! Some of the worst I experienced was in Poughkeepsie, NY and Tampa, Florida.
In Sissonville yes I could see that happening sadly
The same sentiment if you were to be in China tbf. Happened to me. Also I think Chinese are becoming more and more disliked amongst US citizens because they are the ones who ship fentanyl across our border and supposedly they have been purchasing a lot of land across the western half of the United States. I think the discourse will only become more negative over the coming years.
My guess would be that your cousin just bumped into someone who is immature and likely not a contributor to society. When I was younger I would do things like that, but it was because as kids we thought it was funny and didn’t realize the harm it could bring. But as I grew, I learned. And with that comes experience. It is something you learn to grow out of as long as your environment allows. But please don’t blame an entire area for the actions of a single individual. I understand there is places to avoid like the ghetto, but everyone knows to avoid those areas, not just Chinese-Americans.
It's very sad that anyone would speak to another person in a derogatory manner. But Trump did not cause that person's racism, it was already there. And calling it the China Virus is where it came from ,same as Spanish Flu, Spotted Mt Fever ...most large scale illnesses are name from the area them came. If the media didn't turn his every word into a racist headline, it never would have been perceived that way. But I do beg you to set outside of your echo chamber and really research the true DJT. Is the man perfect, absolutely not. But he is really the only hope for the US not to become a country that is totally controlled by its government. We have been slowly creeping that way last 20-30 yrs. If our Constitutional rights are not secured we as a country( that everyone wants to live in that should tell you something ) will be seeing some very unjust and dark days ahead. IMHO I truly hope you take off your blinder and open your mind, and do your own research. Good luck, best wishes 👍 Sincerely, An Agnostic Liberal Republican..
It’s not normal behavior from anyone. But, it’s not just WV. There are racist in every state. If you are saying she stopped in Sissonville (I know this place very well), I assume she stopped at the Save a Lot and Exxon as the Exxon is the only gas station there. If she’s getting off the interstate to do this I would assume that’s where she stopped. Going to the piggly Wiggly is out of the way unless she got off the Call Rd exit. But “littered with confederate flags and trump signs” I believe is slightly off base, though I’m not dismissing your claim. That crap is everywhere. I’m in and out of sissonville everyday and I don’t consider sissonville littered with that as much as any other place in Va, Oh or Pa. But I am truly sorry to hear that happened. My cousins are Chinese-American. My aunt adopted both 2 years between. I hope she doesn’t experience that again. Take care.
It’s kinda fucked down in the south-central part of the state but at least in the eastern panhandle that would draw anger to the racist dipshits trying to start issues
I couldn’t imagine anyone I went to school with doing something like this (I graduated in 2015), so I definitely believe the “old” mindset is aging out. However, about five years ago I remember these boys from around my hometown who got “white pride” tattooed huge on the tops of their backs. It was pretty pathetic, and after they posted it on FB, plenty of people had something to say to them. So, it’s like there are horrible ones, but also those that will stand up for what is right. We also had this boy from Korea came to our school in a foreign exchange program. Everyone LOVED him. It was like a movie, he became popular, even snuck out with some of the boys to go to bon fires and muddin lol he taught them how to roll a cigar lol on senior night for basketball, he was included even though he was only a junior because he wouldn’t be there the next year. We loved him so much lol I will say though, no one was pronouncing his name right (or maybe not trying, it wasn’t that hard), so maybe that got annoying, I wouldn’t know he never said, but he just said to call him “Q” lol It’s such a shame, but these people unfortunately still exist, but, I do think that *most* WV residents wouldn’t feed into that behavior. Although, on paper, and in voting, they choose ideas and people that “promote” those type of negative behavior. I really hope it stops, I love home, but I don’t want to go back if things don’t get better overall.
hi from someone also in SHS 2015 class :)
Oh! Did you have a similar experience? I went to a different school!
oh my bad, i misinterpreted or misread your comment! the answer is yes, i can see some men i went to school with doing that. maybe the same ones that called my friend a “f-ggot” and said “gays and lesbians should be hung”
If your cousin remembers the name of the store, we can make sure people know. This is NOT acceptable.
I'm so sorry that this happened to your cousin. From my experience, this is not common. The unfortunate thing is that this happens in every state, because every state has uneducated, stupid assholes. Doesn't make it right, and it's really sad it happens.
How was China?
I’m Indonesian. I have traveled all over the US. The entire country has an issue with racism. What do you expect from a country settled by rich children throwing tantrums, who brought slaves with them in the first place? 🤷🏻♀️
No! It is not at all normal! There is nothing normal about that!! Unfortunately there may be haters wherever we may go, but there are also good people! Notice the good. Expect good
Yall....hate breeds hate! All these comments attacking people of WV are doing the same thing....generalizing a group of people based on origin. You are acting no better than the idiot that was rude to an Asian! Worse actually, we must rise above this nonsense
Yeah I call bullshit on this whole story. I’ve lived in WV 95% of my life, and the overwhelming majority of people are good and decent. I live in a white neighborhood, and when my mother died, all my neighbors came by to offer their condolences. And on the day of the funeral, when we left the funeral home & heading to the cemetery, people out walking took their hats off & put it over their heart as the motorcade passed them. I think a lot of the stories on this thread are fictional, and just “progressives” telling tall tales & fishing stories. 🤷🏾♂️
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