African American community (schools, gated communities, engineering)

[karmathecat]

" Just say progressive. "

But even that now seems to be associated with a political party.
I think I'll just leave it with open-minded.

I'm not making any assumption about the OP. I do not know his education level ( criminal justice and social field leave a lot open to interpretation about educational achievements ) or his views on anything. I think I explained that my use of the word liberal was probably read differently than I intended for it to be.


When I travel back east, I encounter many people of races and ethnicities that I don't see regularly here in NM...a large AA population, a much larger Asian population, Indian population. And it feels weird to see very view Hispanics and Native Americans.

I actually saw an African gentleman in Uzbekistan and we even had that eye contact thing going...it's sort of like " Well, you're probably not a native to this place, either" feeling.

[jeffohray]

Originally Posted by robmoorejr

Hello, I am African American 29 male, my wife and i and 3 children are looking to move to Alburquerque next June from Pennsylvania and wanted to see how the area was. I see there is not many blacks there, but is it a decent place to raise a family. I have been applying to jobs there, my field is in criminal justice and Social field, please let me know where to look.

Thanks

Rob

If being near other AA's is important, NM is not a good choice. There is one small area near the airport that has a high percentage of blacks but it is a tiny community.
In Abq, I think what you will find is a general ambivalent attitude towards skin color. Good people are quickly accepted by most here.

What I find interesting is that most of the negative remarks that I've heard have come from the lips of non-natives. People from back east or the central states, where blacks and whites have been commingling a lot longer seem to come with their old baggage.

Generally speaking, NM is a conservative state and by that I mean "tradition" and not what is typically meant by the word conservative. It's quite interesting.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by jeffohray

If being near other AA's is important, NM is not a good choice. There is one small area near the airport that has a high percentage of blacks but it is a tiny community.
In Abq, I think what you will find is a general ambivalent attitude towards skin color. Good people are quickly accepted by most here.

What I find interesting is that most of the negative remarks that I've heard have come from the lips of non-natives. People from back east or the central states, where blacks and whites have been commingling a lot longer seem to come with their old baggage.

Generally speaking, NM is a conservative state and by that I mean "tradition" and not what is typically meant by the word conservative. It's quite interesting.

I agree with you on the conservative part: NM is very traditional so from that standpoint, conservative, but basically ABQ is liberal on certain things.

As for the op, I think he has said, he isn't looking for an AA neighborhood, just doesn't want his kids to feel out of place, nor does he want them to feel they are not accepted. He will be fine in ABQ in my view.

Nita

[abqsunport]

Back to what EnjoyEP said, I couldn't agree with him more. Nob Hill isn't at all exclusive to the educated. Personally, I have an MBA, and a JD and I live next to a Masters of Engineering (Sandia), an Aerospace Engineer (used to work for GE, now job hunting), a MBA in Finance who used to be head of finance at Intel, now working for a startup, etc. Many in my neck of the woods are conservative politically (like myself), but are completely accepting to other races. One of my best friends is Black...I do see color, but I don't see it as an issue. There will always be the few that find it a huge issue, but the majority are unfased and unaffected.

[poochini]

i know several mixed race families here, and we will soon be joining their ranks in Albu. You can find hair salons and churches if that is of interest, but in general the racism is going to be found in a more working-class/lower-class context of people. Educated middle class people tend to be more easy going, as is the case elsewhere in the country. They don't care, really -- I have a friend who is from Belize and she is dark dark dark. Her ex is white and the kids are very light with red hair. She was in a store (in Santa Fe, but it's the same kind of people) and some local Hispanic women were talking to each other in Spanish and said "look at those kids calling that MONKEY 'mommy.'" B/c she is a native Spanish speaker, she understood everything they said. I can't believe she didn't tell them off, but she is a quiet type. Now... this is a very isolated case, of course but I think it shows one thing that we black people have to be aware of all the time -- racism exists, and it often goes hand in hand with ignorance and a desire to "stay in the past." So as I'm sure you've dealt with that before, you should find New Mexico in general to be pretty hospitable, partly b/c there are fewer Black people so the "issues" that come up tend to be less focused around us. That said, Albu has a bigger AA community than Santa Fe, to be sure, and there is also an office of African American Affairs (part of the government) which keeps a mailing list with activities in the Black community Many of these are more old-school and conservative (socially) than my interest, but there are touchstones. Good luck.

[poochini]

And PS this is no diss to Hispanic/Latinos, so don't even go there with the cross-posting. I have to just give this brother the info and lay it on the table, as I've lived it.

[sgl11453]

I think this is an interesting discussion. I am white and my middle school daughter is adopted from China. We moved here a year ago from a community in California where asians were the predominate race. (I was the minority at the grocery store and at school functions). I was curious what my daughter would face here, as there aren't that many asians in abq. (Although I do see more asians than african americans) Generally speaking it's been a positive experience. She says no one has said anything mean to her, but she and I did overhear some middle school boys talking about the presumed size of an asian boys you-know-what. And she did say some boys at school make fun of a Pakistani kid at her school. These of course are mean-spirited comments. About the only thing she has experienced directly occurred this summer. She was a Counselor in Training at a Summer camp and all the little kids kept asking her if she knew martial arts. They didn't ask in a mean spirited way, it's just that most of these kids only know asians from the media, and lots of asians on TV and in the movies are given marital arts roles.

I do think race matters and I do think racism occurs in this country. Sometimes in very overt mean spirited ways and sometimes due to ignorance and lake of awareness. But I also think that some differences that are chalked up to racism are more about class differences than racial differences. I live in an fairly upscale neighborhood and most of my neighbors are white, but we also have a fair number Hispanics and Asians. We all get along and like each other -- probably somewhat based on the fact that we are all educated upper middle class and that similarity in back ground makes us identify with each other. It even trumps political leanings. (There were an equal number of McCain and Obama bumper stickers and yard signs last Fall) So I don't think any of my neighbors would have a problems with an African American moving in. We probably would be concerned with anyone who moved in and didn't keep up their yard, had a sofa parked on the lawn, old cars up on blocks or painted their house a tacky color. It wouldn't matter what race they were.

[spottie]

Originally Posted by mortimer

I worked in Alabama with a black woman who traveled to Albuquerque
on business and she said it was just weird. Not bad/good, just weird.

Yeah, we moved from Mississippi, and its just really weird not seeing lots of black folks here! Original poster should move next to us and abate our culture shock

[ABQConvict]

I agree with EP that liberal =/= non-racist just as conservative =/= racist.

That said, I have lived in the Nob Hill area for almost 20 years and must say that it is one of the most PC places I've ever been (for better or worse as I believe PC is a form of social engineering and really only masks people's true feelings).

Nevertheless, Nob Hill and environs are some of the most diverse and tolerant areas of the city.

When I worked in landscaping I was the only white on the crew which was mostly Hispanic, Mexican and Native American. When we were sent out on jobs we had a code to describe the neighborhood. 'Lemonade' meant an area where the clients were apt to be friendly and accomodating (that is, they may serve a group of swarthy workers a glass of lemonade while we rested from the work of digging holes through their rock (I mean dirt).

Nob Hill was definitely 'lemonade'. People even used their own glasses instead of paper cups! If we had a Nob Hill address to go to it was a good sign that we would be treated respectfully.

Wealthy areas with 'sporty' residents (skiers, hikers, etc.) tended to be better than areas with a lot of status automobiles. If we approached our address and saw driveways full of Beamer SUVs and Jags we would say 'No lemonade'

The worst areas were gated communities where we would be watched like a chain-gang, and more established areas of the Westside and RR. Newer areas of WS and RR were a crap shoot. There we some young families who were quite nice as well as 'other types' who would use very demeaning language (Sons of bitches, donkeys, etc.) about us.



ABQConvict

[ApartmentNomad]

Originally Posted by ABQConvict

That said, I have lived in the Nob Hill area for almost 20 years and must say that it is one of the most PC places I've ever been (for better or worse as I believe PC is a form of social engineering and really only masks people's true feelings).

. . .

The worst areas were gated communities where we would be watched like a chain-gang, and more established areas of the Westside and RR. Newer areas of WS and RR were a crap shoot. There we some young families who were quite nice as well as 'other types' who would use very demeaning language (Sons of bitches, donkeys, etc.) about us.

Maybe they were trying to save you from suffering exposure to the influence of social engineering!