Am I the only one in this situation ?

[laylalex 7,284]

39 minutes ago, Sego said:

Hello and thank you very much for your detailed answer!!

 

My fiance is definitely in love with California and share some of your views but from outside moving exactly when there are so many riots happening and all is quite scary! Thus being pregnant, makes me wonder about long term safety for my child. I guess it is everywhere the same but when it is your own country there is less uncertainty as you know your own place better than a foreign country, you speak the languages very well etc etc. 

 

I've visited several times and we will settle in Sacramento for now, considering a move to SF after couple of years maybe. We also spent some time in Tahoe and I really enjoyed the  more"country side" and small city vibe. We're even considering settling in a similar vibe place if we are tired of cities but cities are great to find a job (at least it is easier). 

 

My fiance came to France several times and really liked it here so maybe that's why with all of this happening it makes us wonder more than it should! I mean I should be in California since couple of months already and living the protest from within land I am sure I will not be as scared as I am now.

But thank you again for sharing such a detailed answer!!  

Sacramento is a lot more fun than people give it credit for. It can get VERY hot in the summer so be prepared! Tahoe's AMAZING. I think in our eventual game plan a move back to the Bay Area is in the cards -- right now, we are here because he is on a work visa and when they told him his job was moving from San Francisco to Santa Monica, he had to go or quit. He likes his job and his company, but he's kind of stuck until we marry and adjust status and get his green card. 

 

This state is filled with lovely and amazing people and some of the most beautiful land in the country. It will make you fall in love with it and break your heart and then put it all back together. 

 

1 hour ago, Henry357 said:

Why is being treated like a human considered a privilege?  It should be a basic expectation of society that you treat every person with basic decency and respect

That's not really what I'm saying at all. I believe people of every color and ethnicity deserve respect and decency. However the reality in America is that as white woman -- and especially as a upper middle class woman -- I have WAY more privilege. I am aware of it, try to be aware of it, and use it to be helpful to others so we might all be treated equally.  

[Boiler 45,499]

1 hour ago, laylalex said:

Well, this is kind of a one-off. I don't anticipate anything like this happening again. And yes, being "safe" means more than low crime. There's actually quite a bit of crime where I live but it's petty thefts and tourists getting drunk and getting in fist fights, not armed robberies or house invasions. I am a white person; my fiancé is so white he's practically glowing (Scottish skin). We move through life untouched by the injustices of racial discrimination. I have black and Hispanic and Asian friends in my close friend network, but their experiences aren't mine. All I can do is use my privilege to be an ally.

 

LA is still a segregated city, more so than my experience of living in Berkeley or even back east when I went to college. There are places where a black person sticks out, and it isn't necessarily in "nice" areas.

 

I grew up in Burbank (a "safe" city) as I mentioned, and I didn't have a black friend until I was 10. There just weren't that many African American families in my part of the city in the early 90s. Hispanic people are in pretty much every community; this was their land before white people muscled in in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

 

What I'm trying to say, I think, is that "safe" places aren't necessarily the ones that are the least likely to experience crime. They are the ones in which you feel you can live your life more freely and less circumscribed by dangers in whatever forms they come in: a punch from a stranger- or a loved one-- or the thousand injustices of discrimination.

Where in Burbank did you live?

The Portolá expedition (Spanish: expedición de Portolá) was a Spanish voyage of exploration in 1769–1770 that was the first recorded European land entry and exploration of the interior of the present-day U.S. state of California.

 

Now does the count as white people or was that until the Gold Rush.

 

Must be really confusing to be a Spanish person in the US, how are you pigeon holed?

[laylalex 7,284]

3 hours ago, Boiler said:

The Portolá expedition (Spanish: expedición de Portolá) was a Spanish voyage of exploration in 1769–1770 that was the first recorded European land entry and exploration of the interior of the present-day U.S. state of California.

 

Now does the count as white people or was that until the Gold Rush.

 

Must be really confusing to be a Spanish person in the US, how are you pigeon holed?

White if you're white, something else if you aren't. "Brown" people are often "white" people, which goes to show how artificial it all is anyway. 

[Boiler 45,499]

1 hour ago, laylalex said:

White if you're white, something else if you aren't. "Brown" people are often "white" people, which goes to show how artificial it all is anyway. 

If I had come across the term Hispanic before I moved here I am pretty sure I did not know what it meant, not sure I do now.

 

At the time of the Armada a lot of the fleet was wrecked off the Welsh coast, perhaps I need to do a DNA test, I do tan easily.

[HRQX 4,145]

17 minutes ago, Boiler said:

not sure I do now.

The term "Hispanic" is purposely ambiguous: https://news.berkeley.edu/2014/04/29/hispanic-label/

[laylalex 7,284]

32 minutes ago, Boiler said:

If I had come across the term Hispanic before I moved here I am pretty sure I did not know what it meant, not sure I do now.

 

At the time of the Armada a lot of the fleet was wrecked off the Welsh coast, perhaps I need to do a DNA test, I do tan easily.

Oh, I have a friend from Somerset who is convinced his dark looks and tendency to tan mean he's an Armada baby.

[Boiler 45,499]

1 minute ago, laylalex said:

Oh, I have a friend from Somerset who is convinced his dark looks and tendency to tan mean he's an Armada baby.

Point proven!

[TBoneTX 45,288]

The OP has had her questions answered, and this thread is off-topic now, so it's closed to further comment.

 

VJ Moderation