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ATL is in the lead but to be fair most of ATL's popularity and hype comes from hip hop culture, I love the ATL thou. DC and Houston are in the mix as well.
+1 on what mutiny said. Atl has been a black mecca long before Outkast, Ludacris, TI, and Lil John came along
I'm well aware of DC having more black professionals. I also agree it is more well rounded. But that doesn't make it more of a black mecca to me. Utopia sure.
I am in awe of the greatness that is atlanta. The beautiful skyline. The tree lined streets. The blacks in high places. The routine black celebrity sightings. The black elites and executives that are all over the place. The plethora of places you can go to attend a predominately black anything. You can be gay and black. Tech geek and black. Inspiring entertainer and black. Author and black. Etc etc. The list goes on.
Atlanta has more glitz and glamour. It's a place where a black kid can look towards a number of black elites in the city and really believe there is no ceiling. Where lots of blacks have mansions and luxurious cars. Where they have that high rise corner office overlooking the city. Where there is plenty of culture and history.
To me, DC Proper doesn't compare to Atlanta as far as a Mecca is concerned. PG county contributes to that a lot but lacks the glitz and glamour of a big city. To get a big city feel where there is glitz and glamour you go to a city's core. I didnt feel like we ran DC while walking through the core. It was multi cultural and cosmoplolitan. And the parts we ran in the core were ran down.
Despite that, I felt like DC provided more opportunities and was more of a black utopia than Atlanta. I felt there were a higher percentage of blacks that appeared to be doing well. If Black Mecca means a sacred place for black people with tons of culture, history, black professionals and elites,, Atlanta fits that without a doubt.
I think the major difference with Nashville was that an early city/county consolidation prevented Blacks from gaining considerable collective political power.
I think this has something to do with it. While the Nashville/Davidson County metro government representation is there, it would be higher if Nashville was at its pre 1963 consolidation limits. Nashville > Metro Council > Metro Council Members
Race-obsession and racism are two different things. There is little racism in the United States in the way of overt racial animus. The U.S., however, is probably more race-obsessed than the U.K. since race has been an explosive domestic issue here for far longer. The "race obsession" in the U.S. seems to be pretty consistent moving from region to region.
Good answer. I agree with this. I live in DFW and it doesn't feel racist here. Race obsessed is the right word to describe it. And I agree that Houston would be the black mecca of Texas but the whole SW Dallas County, SE Tarrant County is not too far behind and may one day claim that title.
But to answer your question. Non blacks in Houston seem to be more comfortable around blacks than the non blacks in DFW. It is probably because Houston metro is more diverse all over. They may actually have experiences to go off of when it comes to interacting with blacks. There are huge chunks of DFW where non blacks don't really have to interact with blacks. Their interactions with blacks have a higher chance of being influenced by what they've seen or heard about blacks rather than what they've experienced.
Also just a theory but, there are more light skin black people down there and southernboy told me the large amounts of creoles add to that. Statistics have shown lighter skinned people get treated more favorably. Those light skin people have darker friends and family members that they will spread love to and introduce. DFW has a lot of light skins too, Hou jus has more and DAL def doesnt have as many creoles from Louisiana.
DFW doesnt feel like a racist place. The non blacks just seem more uncomfortable around blacks in certain areas. Like, If you move into an area with a lot of whites here. They'd probably still greet you and seem friendly but it may appear to be phony and less genuine. Like they are catious and taking a wait and see approach. In Houston the greeting feels more heart felt and sincere. Like they are giving you the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. There are places like that in Dallas too but I'm more so talking about the majority white areas of the northern burbs.
I like Houston personally but originally I did not see it as a Black Mecca because its mostly seen as a Latino and Asian and white town. I now see Houston as a mecca for everyone considering it is the fastest growing city in America in the past 4 years.
Not true at all. LOL
It's definitely an everybody mecca though! There are tons and tons of blacks here, and most of us are doing very well.
I was going by what you guys were saying. Houston must be much less race conscious than places like Berkeley and Stanford since Black students on those campuses are still self-segregating despite sharing a campus with some of the most liberal whites in America. So it sounds like Houston might be able to teach the rest of America to not be so race-obsessed.
I agree. However, Houston is still in the south; to a small extent, go figure. For the most part, people here are friendly and don't care about who you are.
+1 on what mutiny said. Atl has been a black mecca long before Outkast, Ludacris, TI, and Lil John came along
I'm well aware of DC having more black professionals. I also agree it is more well rounded. But that doesn't make it more of a black mecca to me. Utopia sure.
I am in awe of the greatness that is atlanta. The beautiful skyline. The tree lined streets. The blacks in high places. The routine black celebrity sightings. The black elites and executives that are all over the place. The plethora of places you can go to attend a predominately black anything. You can be gay and black. Tech geek and black. Inspiring entertainer and black. Author and black. Etc etc. The list goes on.
Atlanta has more glitz and glamour. It's a place where a black kid can look towards a number of black elites in the city and really believe there is no ceiling. Where lots of blacks have mansions and luxurious cars. Where they have that high rise corner office overlooking the city. Where there is plenty of culture and history.
To me, DC Proper doesn't compare to Atlanta as far as a Mecca is concerned. PG county contributes to that a lot but lacks the glitz and glamour of a big city. To get a big city feel where there is glitz and glamour you go to a city's core. I didnt feel like we ran DC while walking through the core. It was multi cultural and cosmoplolitan. And the parts we ran in the core were ran down.
Despite that, I felt like DC provided more opportunities and was more of a black utopia than Atlanta. I felt there were a higher percentage of blacks that appeared to be doing well. If Black Mecca means a sacred place for black people with tons of culture, history, black professionals and elites,, Atlanta fits that without a doubt.
I like you. I really do, but a lot of your points are reasons why I feel that DC is more of a black mecca than Atlanta. It sounds like you are describing why Atlanta is more of "black Hollywood" than DC instead.
Good answer. I agree with this. I live in DFW and it doesn't feel racist here. Race obsessed is the right word to describe it. And I agree that Houston would be the black mecca of Texas but the whole SW Dallas County, SE Tarrant County is not too far behind and may one day claim that title.
But to answer your question. Non blacks in Houston seem to be more comfortable around blacks than the non blacks in DFW. It is probably because Houston metro is more diverse all over. They may actually have experiences to go off of when it comes to interacting with blacks. There are huge chunks of DFW where non blacks don't really have to interact with blacks. Their interactions with blacks have a higher chance of being influenced by what they've seen or heard about blacks rather than what they've experienced.
Also just a theory but, there are more light skin black people down there and southernboy told me the large amounts of creoles add to that. Statistics have shown lighter skinned people get treated more favorably. Those light skin people have darker friends and family members that they will spread love to and introduce. DFW has a lot of light skins too, Hou jus has more and DAL def doesnt have as many creoles from Louisiana.
DFW doesnt feel like a racist place. The non blacks just seem more uncomfortable around blacks in certain areas. Like, If you move into an area with a lot of whites here. They'd probably still greet you and seem friendly but it may appear to be phony and less genuine. Like they are catious and taking a wait and see approach. In Houston the greeting feels more heart felt and sincere. Like they are giving you the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. There are places like that in Dallas too but I'm more so talking about the majority white areas of the northern burbs.
Thank you!
This is what I've been trying to convey for a while. These statements imply that blacks are all over Houston and are not confined to one area like many metros in the US.
To me, DC Proper doesn't compare to Atlanta as far as a Mecca is concerned. PG county contributes to that a lot but lacks the glitz and glamour of a big city. To get a big city feel where there is glitz and glamour you go to a city's core. I didnt feel like we ran DC while walking through the core. It was multi cultural and cosmoplolitan. And the parts we ran in the core were ran down.
Black people don't "run" Atlanta either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SouthernBoy205
It sounds like you are describing why Atlanta is more of "black Hollywood" than DC instead.
I like you. I really do, but a lot of your points are reasons why I feel that DC is more of a black mecca than Atlanta. It sounds like you are describing why Atlanta is more of "black Hollywood" than DC instead.
Atlanta is beautiful though!
I understand what he's getting at. DC doesn't give you as much of a Black feel within the city itself (outside of the Black neighborhoods) because it's the nation's capital; you've got the national mall, the White House, the Capitol, federal offices, embassies, lobbyists, etc. that gives you much more of a diverse feel. Atlanta has a traditional CBD with most of its diversity in the suburbs, so you have a proportionately bigger presence of professional Blacks in the core. Also, gentrification is happening much more rapidly in DC which diminishes the Black feel. I was on U Street this past summer and never before has it felt so White to me; I was really surprised. Auburn Avenue would probably be Atlanta's equivalent of U Street and while you see more White faces there than you've seen in the past, the difference between the two is still pretty significant.
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