-Has lived in mostly white neighborhoods with a spritz of racism (i.e. some of my neighbors were borderline neo-Nazis)
I don't know exactly everyplace you have resided at in the city but I do think it's safe to say that your comment about some of your neighbors being neo-Nazis is an exaggeration. Now if "some" to you means one or two, well ok. You're going to have those type of wackos everywhere. However, your post leads one to belief that you mean more than just a few.
More than just one or two. I could safely say about 3-5% in some neighborhoods. Remember, I grew up in the Lower Northeast. The "N-bomb" was heard far more frequently here. I just went back to my old corner pub and man this one white woman in her 50s made comments about every African American in the place. I swear she made Archie Bunker look like a bleeding heart liberal. I've had neighbors who use it like a very common noun.
I'm not going to deny that there are people in the Northeast that are racist but calling people neo-Nazis is a bit much. By the way, I do know which areas you are referring to when you say there were more racist feelings and I do agree that those feelings are more common in those areas than in most other Northeast neighborhoods.
Neo-Nazi was a bit much, but I was pointing out some, though very few, are quite close to that. I've actually heard comments such as "they should bomb every ni--er out of their f---in house or deport them to North Philly." I'm not being dramatic here. I know those comments sound very stupid, but they've actually come out of people's mouths in this very own city. IHMO, it's scary what some people think.
In terms of NE neighborhoods, I can't pinpoint one particular neighborhood because there are some people who don't have these feelings and it's not just one nieghborhood. From what I can gather, Bridesburg and Port Richmond (Taylor's areas) are very protectionist of their old neighborhood and don't look too kindly on outsiders moving in.
