Middle-aged lesbians, Black, thinking of Austin (Houston, Dallas: inspection, to live, restaurant)

[DexterCat]

Originally Posted by migol84

wow, so its really this bad in Austin? or are these just isolated experiences you're talking about? and do you happen to know a good portion of the 800,000 and know what they all think?

unless austin miraculously progressed away from this (wouldnt surprise me though) in the last 5 years, yeah, these werent isolated incidents. ive seen it happen in the downtown area on 6th street (there used to be a white supremacist that worked at one of the bars that would scream 'white power' on the way to his redneck'd out truck after work around 2am on weekends), on the drag/campus (mostly the homeless kids yelling out racial and homosexual slurs), seen it happen a lot on the west side in the westlake areas (fits the typical whitey is racist against anyone not white mentality to a key).

sure, austin might seem more liberal than most cities, but it has a very ugly side to it as well that gets little attention. its like that dust you keep sweeping under the rug. eventually, its going to come out.

you remember lesie? the downtown drag queen in a thong/bikini? that dude gets all kinds of hate screamed at him on a daily basis.

but yeah austin tolerance love peace blah blah blah

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by DexterCat

(there used to be a white supremacist that worked at one of the bars that would scream 'white power' on the way to his redneck'd out truck after work around 2am on weekends),

(mostly the homeless kids yelling out racial and homosexual slurs),


you remember lesie? the downtown drag queen in a thong/bikini? that dude gets all kinds of hate screamed at him on a daily basis.

but yeah austin tolerance love peace blah blah blah

Out of 1.7 million people, its common sense there will be people like this.

When is the last time a homeless kid's opinion about someone else life matters? Like they have much room to talk...

A man in a thong would get screamed at in ANY city. That is downright disgusting. They have them all over New Orleans (The Quarter), people are used to them, and some people aren't.

[atxcio]

The rhetoric from folks who have left the Austin area (for whatever reason) to the cheaper pastures of other TX metros all tends to sound the same after a while. It's probably best for everyone that way.

[love roses]

Originally Posted by redfish1

Austin isn't really Texas. It's more like seattle or san francisco in the middle of Texas imo.
Austin is known for this which is why there are so many transplants living there or looking at living ther like the OP.

I disagree. Austin IS Texas. Just because of media spin telling everyone in other States that it's not doesn't make it so. It's one of Texas's more libertarian/liberal cities....but then again Houston and Dallas are pretty open as well. Contrary to some opinions, Texas, even in a lot of the smaller towns, has progressed into the millenium with the rest of the country. It's not all stuck in the civil war era.


But, since the OP asked about Austin I'll say that she and her family will be just fine.

[love roses]

Originally Posted by atxcio

The rhetoric from folks who have left the Austin area (for whatever reason) to the cheaper pastures of other TX metros all tends to sound the same after a while. It's probably best for everyone that way.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. The people who are saying Austinites aren't tolerant of people who live alternative lifestyles? It may just be the anesthesia and pain meds wearing off, but even people in Austin seem to sound the same after a while. I think some people are just trying to say that Austin isn't the sole oasis of "safety" in Texas and that the other cities tend to get a bad rap in comparison, which I agree is unfair.

[80SC]

OP:

If you wish to avoid the liberal hypocrisy and veiled racism of places like Seattle and Portland, I suggest you skip Austin all together

As a black male, I have experienced far more racism here than I ever did in Dallas. I have also become more acutely aware of my race living here. Not because I go looking for racism around every corner (as clueless white people often assert), but because I tend to regularly encounter people who make it an issue.

Please don't fall for the "liberal" hype.

While Austin is a bastion of progressive thought in an otherwise staunchly conservative state, it is important to distinguish that it is not a place that attracts a significant amount of racial diversity, unlike Dallas and Houston. This manifests in whites who have little if any interaction with people of color and feel it's perfectly okay to make appallingly inappropriate remarks in conversation, or a general sense that you are invisible and your experiences don't count or aren't important.

In short, Austin represents a certain kind of liberalism, and more often than not it doesn't include people of color. Don't believe me? Try discussing issues of racism as they affect racial minorities in Austin and see how far you get, as this gay Asian guy was unfortunate to find out: OPEN POST: Minority Experiences with Racism in Austin. Do you see how the majority of posters attempt to marginalize and mock the racism he is experiencing?

Does this sound like a liberal and accepting place to you?

Before you move here, I suggest you do some serious research and assess the amount of racism you are comfortable dealing with, because I can assure you you'll experience much more of it here than you would otherwise in Dallas or Houston.

This article by Tim Wise sheds more light on the kind of "liberal racism" you're likely to encounter in Austin: Daily Kos: With Friends Like These, Who Needs Glenn Beck? Racism and White Privilege on the Liberal-Left

[80SC]

Originally Posted by DexterCat

sure, austin might seem more liberal than most cities, but it has a very ugly side to it as well that gets little attention. its like that dust you keep sweeping under the rug. eventually, its going to come out.

I concur with your sentiments 100%.

The most unfortunate aspect of racism and discrimination in Austin is not that it actually happens but that attempts to discuss it are often met with outright denial and hostility - usually from the people least likely to experience it in the first place (whites).

There seems to be this concerted effort on the part of many Austinites to just turn the other way and stop listening when people of color complain about racism. Or worse yet, actually tell people of color to "get over it". And as someone of mixed ancestry whose phenotype displays lighter skin and more European features, who is otherwise "assimilated", I can tell you that even I am not immune from it.

The bottom line is that in Austin you're either white or you're Othered, and as such, you will experience a heightened sense of racial awareness - a phenomena you aren't likely to encounter in more cosmopolitan cities.

[whogo]

Originally Posted by annie_himself

A man in a thong would get screamed at in ANY city. That is downright disgusting. They have them all over New Orleans (The Quarter), people are used to them, and some people aren't.

Heck, the wife would yell at me if I was wearing a thong in the privacy of our home.

[alexiana]

Speaking as a lesbian who's lived in Austin for two years, I can say that being gay is largely a non-issue here as it is in most cities of significant population. I will not, however, gloss over the realities of racism in Austin, which no one likes to talk about but most definitely exists.

The problem is that no one wants to hear about it. Like Seattle, Austin has its head so far up a certain orifice, due largely to a fabulous national PR campaign and consistent praise that collectively, people just tune out when any negative criticisms arise. But that doesn't negate the fact that non-white people I know have complained of feeling invisible here.

Of course you won't probably encounter cross burnings or even people making racial slurs, but we both know that that's not the only kind of racism/exclusion that exists. It's a quieter, more nuanced sort... Exactly like the kind you've alluded to when referencing Seattle. If I were you'd I'd check out Dallas before I made any final decisions.

[ScoPro]

Maybe I ought to move to Boston where there is no racism.