how do white people treat bi-racial couples in cumming georgia and surrounding areas there (Atlanta: transplants, house)

[onemadwhitegirl]

my son is biracial and his wife is white and they are planning on moving to cumming georgia but we are scared for him to move to georgia because we have heard so many bad stories of what they do to black people in georgia his father in law works at a rehab center in cumming georgia and thats where they will be living and whenever we have spoke to her dad on the phone he kind of changes the subject when we try to discuss this subject with him.pleaase someone respond with the truth about what it is really like for blacks or bi racial coples before our son makes the wrong move.
onemadwhitegirl in virginia

[carrot]

uh...if it was 1968 maybe there would be a problem (Forsyth Co. was notorious a few decades back)...but seriously, nowadays, not even remotely a big deal....I think you gotta go further out of town to have a real problem...like Alabama.

Keep in mind, it seems as though most people living in metro ATL are either northern natives or sons/daughters of northern natives...

I am not black though, so this is just my perception...the opinion of an A. American living in this area would be good too...

[jxu66]

Your son's family can find home in North Fulton and commute to Cumming. It won't be too bad since it is reverse commute. Alpharatta area is a lot more acceptable in general.

[fanaraj]

I agree that in 2007 you should have no problems! I would hope that any city would embrace diversity & understand that tolerance benefits everyone & racism benefits noone!

[atlantagreg30127]

They would probably have more of an issue if they knew someone was named "onemadwhitegirl" than they would have with a mixed race person these days. Those stories you hear were written a few decades ago.

Mixed race is the more common phrase used here, by the way - not biracial - though I doubt anyone would be offended by either/or.

It's all about respect, not racial makeup. If someone moves to Cumming/Forsyth with 8 kids who scream all day and two Pit Bulls who bark all night, yeah, the neighbors are going to give you hell (white, black, mixed or whatever). But if you're good neighbors and keep your yard up, there shouldn't be a problem. Sure, if you move 90 miles outside of the city there are pockets of redneckism, but that's in a lot of places. Cumming is now pretty much just considered an outer suburb of Atlanta with all the growth up there.

[backfist]

We're an interracial family--I'm Black, my wife is White and our kids are biracial. We've ruled out Cumming/Forsyth County because it's too homogenous.

When my wife and I got married back in 1986, Forsyth County was still notorious for its belligerent segregation and bigotry. Atlanta residents, if they were adults at that time, know that 20 years isn't an awful lot of time for some people to get over their bigoted hangups. As well, many of those folks still live in Forsyth. Yes, Forsyth is growing and is home to transplants from other parts of the country. But I'd wager a bet that the majority of those Forsyth transplants aren't necessarily coming from Chicago or DC or Philly. If your son is about being inclusive, and desires to live in a neighborhood where a mix of people is the norm, then Forsyth isn't the place. And the residents, for the most part, don't want it to be.

I agree with jxu66; your son might want to consider living in outside of Forsyth and moving to North Fulton or Gwinnett.

[Atlanta Native]

Hi!

I live in Atlanta but as a teen lived in Cumming, and am still familiar with the area from visits to my parents home.

There is a very good book called "Savage Sundown," you could get on Amazon, which explains the towns bigoted history. Basically, in the early
1900's, I think, several black men, drunk on moonshine, raped a white woman. The whites killed those men, and in rage, ran other blacks from the county and began the legacy of hatred.

Generations since then grew up on hate and fear, not even knowing why--just parroting their parents. Such is always the case of ignorance and bigotry. Sadly.

When we moved there, from Atlanta, in the early 70's, we did not know it was a white county with this vicious history. I't didn't take long to see it was all wrong. I met so many that had never even seen a black person in their life! They were amazed that I had and were very curious.

Today, there are some brave black families, and mixed couples opening the county. I don't know the percentages. So many that live there are from Atlanta and without the baggage of hatred. And some, move there because it is predominantly white and want it that way. So! More ignorance--the same anywhere.

The problem primarily would be with those that have lived there their whole lives and of course could be happened upon anywhere--at parks, stores, etc. And could be anyone, including local athorities.

Unfortunately, bumping up against predudice is like anywhere else--you have to know you are dealiing with a narrow mind and just hope they are not dangerous.

I would call the local authories in Cumming and ask for some statistics as to if multi-racial, or bi-racial couples and their children, have problems with the locals.

Also, look up the Bahai's of Forsyth County--a group that believes in equality of all men, and is also includes mixed and bi-racial couples, with children in the schools. You can ask if they have had problems. They can tell you first hand. They are largely responible for opening the county up to this, I think.

Hope this helps!

[Yeorwned]

Is it just me or does this poll make no sense?

[backfist]

Same. I understand the original poster's questions, but I can't quite figure out the poll.

Onemad~

What, particularly, are you asking in your poll question?

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

It's all about respect, not racial makeup. If someone moves to Cumming/Forsyth with 8 kids who scream all day and two Pit Bulls who bark all night, yeah, the neighbors are going to give you hell (white, black, mixed or whatever). But if you're good neighbors and keep your yard up, there shouldn't be a problem. Sure, if you move 90 miles outside of the city there are pockets of redneckism, but that's in a lot of places. Cumming is now pretty much just considered an outer suburb of Atlanta with all the growth up there.

----------------------------------------
I'll go into more details even though I know it's opening a can of worms, here.

Just as some think that there is "old racism" by whites up in that area from decades ago, there is also stereotyping by blacks still in place which label that whole area as redneck. Yes, there are come "bumpkins" up there, but you'll also find people like that in Dallas, Covington, Buford, Griffin... anywhere that's more than a few miles outside of the city of Atlanta, and guess what? You'll find people *in* the city of Atlanta who make some very let's say "colorful" remarks about black people, too.

One of my managers at the office is from the Canton/Cumming area and still lives there. He's a very good example of a down home southern country boy in that area. Older, kinda slow, takes an hour to say one sentence and has to tell a freakin' story for everything. Still, overall he's not a bad guy and would help out a person who needs it in a pinch. If a black family moves in near him who are nice folks, he'll talk about his nice new neighbors - yes, he may use a phrase such as "those black folks who moved in down the way", but that's not racist. It's the way they talk in that area, for good or bad. You're not going to change generations of grammar overnight. However, yes, if a black family moves in and within two weeks the cops are at their house 3 times and they have Pit Bulls running around loose, then he will use "the N word" to describe them - but guess what? I've heard *black* people use that same word to describe that kind of person as well. Is it racist? Well, it's a racist WORD, but does that make the person racist? Not necessarily - they're using a word that's been used in an area to describe trashy people for decades - again, perhaps today considered a horrible word, but it's grammar. Poor grammar, offensive grammar, but regional grammar regardless, that's been around for over a 100 years. You again, can't make people change their speaking habits overnight regardless of how bad it is.

People remember a couple of decades ago the march where Jesse Jackson and Hosea Williams took busloads of black people up into that area and marched around in protest. They were met by some rednecks who threw rocks and slander toward them, and every media camera caught that. It was hardly thousands of goobers waving pitchforks - just a couple of dozen of idiots which you could find in *any* community in the U.S., making people think the entire area up there is filled with that type of person. And let's face it, Jackson and Williams (now deceased) are very much "in your face" types of protestors... I know black people who can't stand Jackson and hated Williams as well. People in general do not respond positively when you do an in-your-face at them, regardless of their race.

The point: It's a suburb. Subdivisions, fences, sprinklers, two car homes, and up there, a few chicken farms. If you're a decent person who respects their neighbors REGARDLESS of your skin color, then you won't have a problem if you move into any of the many newly established communities up in that area. If you disrespect your neighbors, then like anywhere else and anyONE else, you won't get any respect in return.

NOTE: And oh yeah, count me as one of the people who have no clue what those poll choices mean. That grammar/wording is even worse than in Forsyth! ;-)