Washington & Lee and Racism.

[JamesD]

W&L Law seems way different than W&L undergrad.  I would not have been able to tolerate going to college at W&L.  But the law school seems much more decent... not super rich or preppy... very accepting. 

[mivida2k]

The KKK is far from disfunct.  In fact their membership has grown.  There is ignorancy everywhere you go.  You just have to decided whether you want to deal with it and whether being around someone who wants to fly the flag of an enemy of the United States (and still say that they are patriotic) is what you want. 

The Southern Povery Law Center keeps track of hate crime stats.  You may want to contact them.

[Alamo]

The KKK is far from disfunct.  In fact their membership has grown.  There is ignorancy everywhere you go.  You just have to decided whether you want to deal with it and whether being around someone who wants to fly the flag of an enemy of the United States (and still say that they are patriotic) is what you want. 

The Southern Povery Law Center keeps track of hate crime stats.  You may want to contact them.

From the Southern Poverty Law Center website:

"Since the 1970s the Klan has been greatly weakened by internal conflicts, court cases, a seemingly endless series of splits and government infiltration. While some factions have preserved an openly racist and militant approach, others have tried to enter the mainstream, cloaking their racism as mere 'civil rights for whites.' Today, the Center estimates that there are a total of 5,500 to 6,000 Klan members, split among scores of different -- and often warring -- organizations that use the Klan name."

In other words, what's left of them is in shambles, and they're not considered any more inside the mainstream in rural virginia than terrorists are within the Muslim mainstream.

And with what do you substantiate your assertion that Klan membership has grown lately?  Every source I've seen says the exact opposite.

The ignorance that may or may not pervade the area (depending on who you ask) notwithstanding, W&L Law is a bastion of enlightenment.  The Law School publishes the Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice; while I cannot speak to its quality or reputation, the fact that W&L law publishes this journal does speak for the respect that diversity commands at the law school.  There are people from all backgrounds at the school - I talked to many of them at the admitted students weekend I went to.

Also, you say "There is ignorancy (not a real word, BTW) everywhere you go.  You just have to decided (sic) whether you want to deal with it . . ."  This is a blatant contradiction.  Ignorance is everywhere you go, so we all have to deal with it, unless we all want to stay in our safe little homogenous groups wherever we go.  Is that what you would have us do?  I think that's terrible, both for us as people and for the world we live in.

[denk]

- the KKK has been defunct for over 60 years, and never actually burned crosses anyway, it just makes for good fiction.

This is 100% insanity.

Even the questionable website you provided showed pictures of cross burnings taking place in the 80's.

[gopyiz]

This will come off as abrasive, but this is one of the more ignorant threads I've come across.  I know I steered clear of going to Columbia because it's in Harlem and we all know black people live in Harlem and that black people like to shoot and rob people.  Right?  This is about on the same logical level as your assessment of Washington & Lee.  Also, they must do a lot of lynching in Lynchburg, just like there is a lot of harrisoning in Harrisonburg and a lot of St. Petering in St. Petersburg.  Lynchburg's name is derived from settler John Lynch, who constructed a ferry in 1757 across the James River at the modern city site and had nothing to do with bringing about the term lynching.  Additionally, all of this is moot as W & L is not even located in Lynchburg.  To the OP, if these types of generalizations are actually guiding your decision as to where to attend law school, rather than actual research, then I have a feeling you may be foregoing a lot of great opportunities because of your ingrained bigotry.  Opinions like yours do just as much to propagate racial tension as those who you so fear.

[denk]

This will come off as abrasive, but this is one of the more ignorant threads I've come across.   I know I steered clear of going to Columbia because it's in Harlem and we all know black people live in Harlem and that black people like to shoot and rob people.  Right?  This is about on the same logical level as...

Sorry, but I totally disagree.  First off, I worked at Columbia, and lived in Washington Heights (where the rents are not outrageous) causing me to travel through Harlem to go to work.

I suggest we disambiguate between appropriate discrimination and unfair discrimination.

Appropriate Discrimination: Taking the FACT that a certain area has a history of crime into consideration.

Unfair Discrimination: Taking an attribute (ie SKIN COLOR) as a determiner for a completely unrelated attribute (ie., intelligence.)

These two things are not related.

[Lenny]

I'm assuming you understood that gopyiz was being sarcastic when discussing Columbia and Harlem.  If not, pay attention a little better.  If you did get the sarcasm, then I have absolutely no clue what your response is supposed to mean.  Maybe I am just dense - I mean, I did go to W&L and we all know its just a bunch of ignorant rednecks with pickup trucks, gun racks, and pointy white hats down there. 

Gopyiz - thanks for a very good post.

[denk]

Oh, yes - I completely get his post.

My point was that it *was* sketchy at times, having to walk through that part of Harlem to get home and back.  And Washington Heights DID used to be gang/drug/murder central in NYC.  It's better now, but a lot of New Yorkers don't realize it.

My point is that the examples (about Harlem N. of Columbia) were silly.  It definitely is a more dangerous place than, say, downtown Portland Oregon.  An elderly man was knifed in my subway station the day before I moved in.  A Julliard student was victim of a ritualistic murder in the neighborhood a week later.

And - the South, in general, IS a much more hostile place for people of color than is the North.  These are just the facts.

I believe that if a person (1) Isn't ready to accept the risk of a semi-dangerous neighborhood and (2) they don't have $1200/mo to spend on their room in a shared apt, they should avoid Columbia.

I also believe that if a person of color prefers to be in a minimally prejudiced environment, then they should avoid the Deep South.  That's just freaking common sense.

And these two beliefs are based on facts, not irrational stereotypes.

[SCgrad]

I didnt know it was named after general lee! That is somewhat frightening. A few miles from a university founded by falwell? Yikes! I think I will steer clear of this area.

go to cooley.  he was a great man.

[Alamo]

I also believe that if a person of color prefers to be in a minimally prejudiced environment, then they should avoid the Deep South.  That's just freaking common sense.

I can't argue with this.  But W&L is not in the deep south.  Not only is none of VA really deep south, but Lexington is in the Shenandoah Valley, which almost became part of West Virginia in 1863, and before that was included with West Virginia in an 1850 measure to divide the state that narrowly failed.  It was never heavily slave-owning territory, and the area has a different character than the deep south.  Not to say that you won't experience any more prejudice in the Lexington area than in Berkeley, but it's not Mississippi.