Um, you do realize that we're talking about the upper Midwest?

Do you know why the Civil War was fought? One reason was that the North (which is the region that includes the upper Midwest) did not want slaves while the South did. In fact, even back during the Revolution, you were more likely to find free blacks in the North than you were to find slaves.

Crispus Atticks was the first man shot in the Revolutionary War. He was a free black man.

But, anyway, in the Civil War, the North (the part which includes the upper Midwest) fought to free slaves. The South fought to keep them.

Many of the Northern soldiers had never seen a black person until they invaded the South. That is because, guess what, there were very few slaves in places like Iowa. For example, in St. Cloud, Minnesota, there were only about 5 slaves in the 1850s. If you read the legal documents and records from the 1800s you will find that slavery was mostly a Southern institution.

Therefore, when you talk about native black culture in America - you do realize that you are talking about SOUTHERN culture? Because the number of black folk in the upper Midwest after the Civil War was close to ZERO?

However, in the 20th century there was the Great Migration in which blacks IMMIGRATED to the North, including to Midwestern cities like Detroit and Chicago, for work.

These black folks were not slaves taken from Africa. They were people who voluntarily immigrated from their homes in the American South in search of opportunity.

Just as with the immigrants who later came from Vietnam or Egypt, the Midwestern culture expected their new neighbors to assimilate. That is a part of that culture.

Is it unreasonable to expect blacks (and others) who move to the upper Midwest, or Japan, or Germany, to assimilate? Well, since people are voluntarily moving there - maybe it's a good idea to figure out the culture beforehand.

To me it just seems common sense to avoid places that would not suit me.

For example, I don't want to live in an overtly racist place, so there are parts of the US I would avoid moving to. Culturally, these include places that used to have "sundown towns".

Another personal example - I like living in places where women have equal rights. Obviously therefore I would not move to Saudi Arabia. However, I do wonder why some hardcore Muslims move to places like France and then get upset because their daughters don't want to wear hijab.