General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: White DUers: Tell Your Stories [View all]mainer
(12,022 posts)I am a minority who grew up in California, then got married and moved to Hawaii. As a medical professional, working in a Honolulu hospital, I came into contact with people of all races. I felt very comfortable there, and I also felt accepted for the first time in my life. Then I got to talking with a white nurse who was from Kansas, and she said she thought Hawaii was the most racist place she'd ever lived in. When I asked her why, she said she felt discriminated against for the first time in her life.
I thought: welcome to my world on the mainland.
When white people move to a place where they're not the majority, they suddenly feel under attack, threatened, and outraged. Suddenly they are NOT in control and NOT top dog. And they think that makes the place racist.
(Just to add, my hubby is white and he lived for years in Hawaii and he'd go back in a heartbeat because he never felt under fire there.)