Edison Rocks!

As those of you who have looked at my YouTube profile may know, I live in Edison, New Jersey. Actually, September 29th will mark the 6th anniversary of when we moved into our house ( Michael was born on October 15th of the same year, so we were cutting it rather close. ).

Well, a few days ago, I came across this article. Apparently, Edison has been ranked as one of the top ten places to grow up in the United States. Of course, just because "U.S. News and World Report" says something, doesn't make it gospel, but it's nice to know that Edison was ranked that high. Choosing a place to buy a home can be a very stressful experience. You are always worried about making the right choice, especially for your kids. I've always felt that we made a good choice for our kids, and it's nice to have some validation of that.

BTW, as nice as Edison is, not everything is sunny and bright. I just came across the following comments attached to the article:

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Edison

When you are traveling around to write stories or visiting as a tourist, you don't get the real feeling of living in certain cities or towns. What used to be nice areas in Edison are now overcrowded and dumpy because of the multitude of Asian Indians who moved there. Also, I read stories about San Jose that include many Latino gangs and crime. The United States is not what it used to be.

Kathleen of NJ @ Aug 27, 2009 11:27:43 AM

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For Kathleen

This comment is for Kathleen---Edison is a great town. The Asians (Indians, Koreans, Chinese, Japanese) are one of the main reasons they made it to the top 10 list. The academic ratings of the school is that much better cause of them. If you havent noticed, most of America is full of minority groups, that's what makes America--the FOREIGNERs. The only natives to the US are the Native American Indians. It said to see close minded, ignorant people like yourself.

Ananda of NJ @ Sep 03, 2009 11:18:18 AM

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edison

agree with kathleen about edison.

north edison of NJ @ Sep 06, 2009 00:46:58 AM

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The comment above by Kathleen and "north edison" are emblematic of a lot of the racist attitudes I've detected from a certain segment of the white population.

You see, the demographics of Edison are changing rapidly, and it's a change that a lot of the white people in Edison are having a hard time accepting. I would guess that about 99% of the families that have been in Edison for more than 20 years are white. However, the vast majority of the people that move into Edison these days are Asian. In the last 6 years about 10 new houses have been built on my block. Asian families have moved into all of these houses ( assuming you consider my family to be an Asian family - which you should considering 3 of the 4 people in the house have Asian blood ). The new houses are significant bigger than the old houses. All over Edison, you've got Asian families living in large brand-new houses next to white families living in small one-story houses. When I get off my commuter train at the end of my work day, about 95% of the people that get off the train with me are Asian. So, it seems that most of the folks in Edison who have ( presumably ) high-paying Manhattan jobs are Asian.

The bottom line is that the resentment from white people around here is so thick you can cut it with a knife. I'm not implying that all ( or even the majority ) of white people in Edison are racist, but I certainly overhear white folks in Edison making racist comments from time to time. 4 years ago, a Korean fellow won the Democratic primary for Mayor in Edison. A Republican hasn't won an election in Edison in more than 50 years, so winning the Democratic primary pretty much assures that you are going to be mayor. However, the thought of an Asian mayor freaked white people out so much, that a strong campaign challenge was mounted by a white opponent int the last month leading up to the election. The Korean fellow ( Jun Choi ) wound winning the election by the skin of his teeth. Four years later, he was beaten in the next democratic primary. I'm not saying that race had everything to do with it, but it certainly was factor.

Of course, things aren't really that bad. It's not like Edison is Mississipi in the 1960's. However, I just think we should acknowledge the USA ( and the world ) still has a long way to go on race relations. If a relatively affluent, solidly Democratic city in a solidly Democratic state still has issues with racism, just imagine how things are in the American Deep South. The little things I see in Edison probably say a lot about why Obama is getting so much angry resistance from a certain portion of the population.

Anyway, I really wasn't posting this to talk about race. I just wanted to post the link to the article, but when I noticed the "Kathleen" comment on the article, it just made me want to rant.

It's almost 2 AM now, so I should really get to sleep.

Rich