Vermilion Ohio...not accepting of Blacks? (Cleveland, Lorain: 2015, neighborhoods, theater)

[LaPetiteBijou]

Hello, I am involved in an IR relationship. There has been a lot of resistance...well let me say fear with me going to Vermilion for family events. In 2015 is the city still unaccepting of blacks or people of color, in general? My BF literally becomes silent on the matter and just says sorry. Please I am not trying to start a fight on here, but rather trying to understand. I am not from here and don't know much about Cleveland or surrounding areas. I have done some research but the information is limited.

[WRnative]

I really can't answer your question specifically, but Vermilion does have a very small African American population compared to other locations in the immediate area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermilion,_Ohio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorain,_Ohio

It might just be an issue with the immediate family, especially if it's a family with a strong ethnic identity that isn't thrilled about an interracial relationship. I know one family with a strong ethnic identification where the father seriously wants his very American daughters to look for a spouse in the homeland....

There are many areas of Cleveland where interracial relationships aren't that big of a deal in the 21st century.

Just speculating.

[kpl1228]

I will say this....a few years back, the "European" restaurant located in downtown Vermillion (no names, right?) was truly nasty when they participated at the International Festival in Lorain and had a food booth. Could not believe they things they were saying to and about the African American booth next to them. They confided in us because we were white..."Can you believe they even let them in here? They're not even a 'country' they're a race!" They thought we'd approve and give them white guy points (and our business)....they were wrong.
My wife and I glared at them and gladly ate at the booth next door a few steps away, smiling and giving them money for very good food, while the angry white guys glared and felt picked on. And the African American booth had been obviously getting that treatment all day, based on the eyerolls and head-shaking we got from the very nice woman who had obviously heard everything the other booth had said to us.
So yeah, I get the vibe from some, but that's ethnic NE Ohio in a nutshell in many ways. Otherwise, never heard or seen anything bad in Vermillion, but others more familiar may have.

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Vermilion is close enough to urban areas that it is probably not going to be much of an issue if you're looking for overt racism. I think in many suburban areas that are predominantly white you'll probably find some closet racists like in kpl's anecdote. Actually you'll find those people anywhere. I wouldn't be too concerned unless you're directly anticipating issues with your significant other's family.

[MasseyBrown]

I'm sorry this has to be a concern for you. I live in a city where interracial couples and mixed race children as so common that almost no one takes notice any more.

[Samr11h55]

I have lived in v town most of my life. None of my colored friends that don't live here will enter the town. There is still a 6pm alarm that sounds every day that used to correlate with signs that told colored people to be out by 6pm. Kkk was painted on the south water tower for decades. Crosses have been burned in yards and more than 1/2 people I went to school with were very openly racist.

[teacherdad]

Venom doesn't sound like a great place to live.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by teacherdad

Venom doesn't sound like a great place to live.

Vermilion, "Harbour Town" or the "Village of Lake Captains," actually is one of the most physically charming cities in Ohio and with perhaps what is considered the best restaurant in northern Ohio.

Discover Vermilion »

Chez Francois Restaurant | The best French Restaurant on the North Coast.

However, I don't live near Vermilion, and I certainly don't know if it's a racist community. Almost 100 percent of the community is white, so it wouldn't be surprising if that description is accurate to some degree.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermilion,_Ohio

Yet, I would bet that a large percentage of the community is welcoming of minorities, even though, as noted in this article, a lot of its population hailed from Tennessee during the great industrial migration. Likely, some racist cultural values persist to this day among elements of the population, aggravated by the collapse of northern Ohio's industrial economy.

https://www.theatlantic.com/national...o-ohio/510251/

I wonder how local political and civic leaders would respond to the racism charge (however, consider that racism is still a major concern in Cleveland, despite its African American leadership, and now in the city of Euclid, with a large African American population, with several recent charges of excessive police violence against African Americans).

I can think of many worse places to live than Vermilion, but perhaps my opinion would be different if I were an African American.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by MasseyBrown

I'm sorry this has to be a concern for you. I live in a city where interracial couples and mixed race children as so common that almost no one takes notice any more.

Not any different in many communities in northeastern Ohio, such as Cleveland Hts. and Shaker Hts. among cities closer to Cleveland. Growing up in a relatively tolerant community in northeastern Ohio after WWII, the most discrimination, often venomous, was directed at a Japanese American/GI family. I later learned that many WWII veterans in the community had been in the Marines or the 37th Infantry Division, an Ohio National Guard unit that fought in the Pacific theater.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/37th_I...(United_States)

Later, I came to know well a similar family in Shaker Hts., admittedly several decades later, that was extremely well accepted in the community.

Just personal reflections on bigotry in northeastern Ohio.

I also remember well how distrusted my father was once in central Ohio, where he was raised, when he stopped to ask a farmer standing in his driveway for directions. A lack of familiarity and ignorance breeds contempt, which is one reason I'm so disturbed by the public financing of ethnic and religious private schools through vouchers.

[TheProf]

Originally Posted by LaPetiteBijou

Hello, I am involved in an IR relationship. There has been a lot of resistance...well let me say fear with me going to Vermilion for family events. In 2015 is the city still unaccepting of blacks or people of color, in general? My BF literally becomes silent on the matter and just says sorry. Please I am not trying to start a fight on here, but rather trying to understand. I am not from here and don't know much about Cleveland or surrounding areas. I have done some research but the information is limited.

Maybe it's time for a new boyfriend.

That said, I'd stay away from Vermillion. I've heard similar stuff about it. Your better bet is to stay at one of the closer-in, inner ring suburbs, like Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, Beachwood and maybe Lakewood on the West Side...

There are a number of diverse/accepting neighborhoods inside Cleveland as well, such as Shaker Square (esp nearby Larchmere), University Circle, Detroit-Shoreway and Ohio City... and downtown, of course, but you'd been in for some high rents and no traditional house-yard experiences.

Hope that helps... but seriously, if your boyfriend doesn't want to have a heart-to-heart about these issues, you're likely headed to long term problems and hurt down the road especially in the volatile racial climate ginned up by Donald Trump.