Race consciousness in Austin (Dallas, Howe: lawyers, elementary school, wage)

[carolinajack]

wow, i have read all of these posts and i am afraid to move my family to Austin. I thought it would be more accepting of an interracial family with an Asian daughter, but what i am hearing sounds so very intolerant. thank goodness i have family in North Texas, i think that might be a better place to move.

[carolinajack]

thanks artsguy, its seems like you are right

[carolinajack]

Originally Posted by + or -

I'm a black male in my early twenties who's currently attending UT. Because I attend UT, I find my social interactions and networks are primarily white - peers of roughly the same age group. However, after five months of Austin life (I transferred from a Dallas uni), I must admit I am a bit taken back by the blatant, in-your-face race consciousness among not only my peers but also many Austinites in general.

Allow me to elaborate.

Firstly, I want to distinguish between racism and race consciousness. The former is a strong aversion toward a group of people, often encompassing a belief that a certain group or groups conform to a set of stereotypes. Often times, these beliefs are rooted in a belief that another group is superior to the affected group.

The latter of course, is a consistent awareness of a ethnicity, race, or skin color and often entails direct or indirect comments, jokes, and/or various disparaging remarks.

I have found, sadly, that while I would not classify Austin, as a whole, as a racist city, I would most certainly allege that it does suffer from severe racial consciousness.

For instance, I cannot go to a social event (a party, a get to gether, or something more formal) without several comments about my blackness. This has been the case in restaurants, car dealerships, and even the grocery store. Needless to say, most of my dealings are in nicer, more affluent parts of the city, downtown, and of course the UT campus.

It seems like people in many of these places are very aware of my race, and make a point to say something about it. Personally, I don't get it - I know I'm black, you know I'm black, why does some kind of statement acknowledging this fact need to always be made?

As someone who grew up in an affluent and predominately white part of north Dallas, I must admit that I did not experience such race consciousness (directly, atleast) as I have in Austin. This is particularly surprising to me because I was always told that Austin is, by and large liberal, racially tolerant, and very relaxed.

Although I don't discount the claims of liberalism, particularly in regards to social issues, the city is just not diverse at all, and I cannot doubt that this is partially why people here are so enamored with me and the color of my skin.

I realize one cannot make broad generalizations about a city's character, but I must admit I am very disappointed in this trend. Austin has aspiractions of being cosmopolitan, but until more here are willing to embrace differences in others (particularly ethnic ones), I just don't see how that is possible.

you know, a friend told me he was on an interracial dating site for Texas and found that Austin had fewer white women looking to date interracially than the other cities and even smaller towns. with a so call, progressive university it is very suprising-not really since i have lived in many-why the most progress open minded in theory dont really practice their views in public

[artsyguy]

Did you read my post about the "so called progressive university"?

Originally Posted by carolinajack

you know, a friend told me he was on an interracial dating site for Texas and found that Austin had fewer white women looking to date interracially than the other cities and even smaller towns. with a so call, progressive university it is very suprising-not really since i have lived in many-why the most progress open minded in theory dont really practice their views in public

[carolinajack]

i am glad i am hearing this now, i had a realtor and was considering buying a house in Georgetown/Round Rock area. now i will have to call him back and discuss this, he is white and probably doesnt have a clue what goes on.

[Moonlady]

Carolinajack - please don't let the opinions of one disgruntled person change your mind. You really need to come here for a visit and see for yourself. It's not that bad, really.

If you read artsy's other posts you will see that he holds a grudge against Austin so his view is quite biased.

[latikeriii]

Austin is a nice place to live but don't believe the Liberal hype. The keep Austin weird thing is overstated and many Liberals are hypocritical, grew up in close-minded small towns, and many won't "change" their beliefs that they grew up with just because they move to larger, more Liberal cities. This isn't specifically an Austin thing, go to the Liberal White areas of Portland, SF, parts of NYC, parts of Chicago, and so on and if you are a minority then you will get some looks and weird comments. Of course, this goes both ways as many of the so-called Liberal Whites move into gentrying minority neighborhoods(for example, I saw a lot of whites in prime Harlem today) and i'm sure many of them catch h*ll but at the same time, they don't make efforts to "fit in" those communities or even speak with the residents.

In addition, most of the surrounding counties of the Austin area is conservative so Austin isn't a monolithic Liberal city. I can go on forever but i'm just too tired to. Anyways, people can't comment about your experience unless they've been in your shoes. To the person who wants to change her mind about Austin, visit it first, take a long look for a few days, and then make a decision. I never really felt uncomfortable but I can empathize with the OP.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by carolinajack

wow, i have read all of these posts and i am afraid to move my family to Austin. I thought it would be more accepting of an interracial family with an Asian daughter, but what i am hearing sounds so very intolerant. thank goodness i have family in North Texas, i think that might be a better place to move.

I don't think you can pass judgement on Austin based on Artsyguy's comments, his opinions are clearly some of the most intolerant on this forum when it comes to anything about Austin.

[TexasHorseLady]

Agreed, artsyguy's life seems to consist of badmouthing Austin, and yet he won't give a straight answer as to which of the many stories he's told about what his actual experience of Austin is. Did he live and work here and hated the town because there's no gayborhood and he blames that for not being able to get a date? Did he live and work here and his co-workers were clearly prejudiced against him because of his sexual orientation? Did he never live here, but only visited his cousin here? Did he attend UT here? All of these are stories that he's told at one time or another about his "experiences" with Austin, but when asked directly which one is the truth, he never responds.

So, yes, pull out the salt shaker when reading his take on Austin.

[Paulmmm]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

I don't think you can pass judgement on Austin based on Artsyguy's comments, his opinions are clearly some of the most intolerant on this forum when it comes to anything about Austin.

Agreed. For a person who (according to some of his own postings) never lived here, never worked here, never went to school here, and only visited here a couple of times on weekends, he sure does have a lot of intolerant, rude, and insulting posts about the city and its people.