Racism in Castle Hills (Dallas, Weir: appointed, section 8, apartments)
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I guess it took me awhile to finally give in to post this and been trying not to, but I just had to as I have been somewhat disappointed and surprised.... Not one to throw out racism here or there, but man this is crazy. The following happened to me and I wonder if anyone else has had similar experiences in CH:
1. November of 2009....We (wife and two kids) went to look at the homesites in the gated community not the million dollar homes, but the other ones the patio homes and when we got there the lady selling the homes acted so weird. She repeatedly told us "you dont want to live here, there is not backyard" uh "its ok" "but you have two kids oh no no" uh can we just see the model...hand on my back slightly pushing me out..."on the other side of us are some other homes and be straight forward with them on what you can pay" uh...ok..We left all wondering if she was on crack...racism however never crossed my mind..
2. Weirded out...We decide to build in Phase 6 or castle hills north...signed a contract...
3. We move in...a couple of months go by...great time...I have landscaping being done by a group of 5 people of my brethren..my inlaws who are as white as snow are on the other end of my front yard as work is done by the guys on the other side where I am at. The security guy drives past me and up to my inlaws rolls down the window and asks them "you all ok" which they nod and say yes. Then slowly creeps away. I think no big deal guy thought I was just one of the 5 meskins. He continually drives by and stops at the stop sign on the corner..over and over and over and over...and..over. THis is the most I have seen security in the months I have lived there...no big deal guy thought something was amiss...
4. July 4 rolls around my sister and brother with their family comes into town and we go see the fireworks in CH as any proud american should do...we find a nice spot by two couples of the Anglo persusion who are sitting on a hill with no one around them for 20 yards. I leave to go the car and come back to one of the guys yelling with each firework i hate you osama, i hate you iran, i hate you abdamanijed, etc...im thinking youre an idiot, but I actually agree! I hate them too! LOL...BTW i look middle eastern.....Later on my sister says that while I left one of the girls kept commenting how she wish people would see their fireworks in their own community...huh??? still racism? I wouldnt buy it...nah...
5. School starts for my daughter at the local middle school...WOW!!!!...thats all i gotta say...dont need to go into details...
I know I know...there are good people and bad people...racists white folks, racist brown folks, racist black folks...again im just wondering if these are isolated incidents in CH or is this what I should expect from CH??? And please dont respond with the usual why the race card, quit being so sensitive, etc...like I said I never thought of racism or bias until I put all of the above together and began to question where the heck did I move to..especially the July 4 experience..man that was terrible...and all I want to know is if other people experienced the same thing IN CH...
Man, I feel bad for you! I don't know anything about Castle Hills (or anywhere around there, for that matter), but it sure doesn't sound like a place I'd want to be. As you pointed out, there are racist idiots everywhere. I have a similar story from the 1980s and it happened inside a gated community in Dallas. I had a male friend from college visiting who happened to be from Africa. We were sitting around in the community pool on a hot day and were approached by security wanting to know who he was (they knew me). I was mortified. I think one of the neighbors probably called to let them know there was a young black man in the pool.
I think it's more snobbery than racism- unless you count in inherent racism present in the assumption that you can't afford to live there based on the color of your skin.
Just wait until after Halloween- there is always a group of people whining about kids that are obviously not from the neighborhood trick or treating there.
You should know there are a lot of people that dislike Phase 6 and some don't even consider if to be part of Castle Hills. They will say it's because phase 6 isn't attached or accesible to the older part of the neighborhood, but I think it's pretty obvious it's really because the homes are less expensive, and they feel like it cheapens the Castle Hills brand. So you may feel less than welcome by other residents just because you didn't buy in the core of the neighborhood.
I really hope that attitude is the rare exception, but it can be difficult not to let a couple of bad apples spoil the bunch- especially when the bad ones tend to be more vocal with their bad attitudes.
Id rather be your poorer than me so I dont like you being around me than your brown and I think you should mowing my lawn not living next to me. Mostly I worry about my kids I have raised them to treat everyone the same and to never use the "man is holding me down" etc. I could care less that I am not in the core community. We looked there, but didnt find what we were looking for and the one home I did love my wife hated the floors so guess who won that battle. I did notice some of that elitist mentality of you are not in CH from reading up on CH when I first started looking and stumbled upon City Data. Just figured it really wouldnt happen...dang it...maybe i was wrong...
I love where I live I just could do without the idiot speak. I am so hoping its isolated and I am completely wrong not for me, but for my kids sake!
what type of things are your kids experiencing? Middle school is tough as it is, so what are they telling you. I was just wondering about your kids because as a parent I can feel your pain.
Wow your story sounds so common. You try to convince yourself that what your experiencing is not racisim but the little things add up to one big thing. Been there done that. I suggest you not condem a entire community because of the actions of a few. Some people will open up to you while others will never change. There lost not yours. Goodluck and enjoy your new home.
I'm sorry. I believe it is isolated in that not everyone nor are most people like that but sadly it does happen .
Please don't think just because you are a different color than white when looking at houses that they do that. I've had it happen as well and I'm about as white as they come. Three times actually in 3 different areas of the metroplex. Cracks me up because I'm the "SAHM" that does not have to work for my husband to support us in a very, very comfortable lifestyle and I get a home salesperson that tries to look down their nose at me. Tells me real quick that really isn't the area I want to live in even if I could afford to buy the ENTIRE neighborhood, lol. When I was able to look back in hindsight about how those areas turned out and where we actually did end up buying..... things happen for a reason and most of the time for the best. One time the salesperson kept telling me over and over and over that the houses "start at x" and saying it more like, "you can't afford this" without directly saying it. Funny as I was driving a nice car and dressed nicely. I wanted to go back later and shove the contract we did write on a house in her face as the house we ended up buying was TWICE the price of the most expensive house in that hood. LOL!!!
As for the school situation....... UGH!!! I HATE THIS!!!!!!! My youngest was a witness to a very bad racial situation...... IN THE THIRD GRADE! . That day she got in the car and all of a sudden burst into tears. She was playing w/ one of her friends at recess and this one small group of bossy girls came over to her friend and said point blank, "we can't play with you because you are black." They turned and walked off. I asked my daughter what she did and she told me she told her friend that she could play with her and that she liked her. I told my daughter that SHE did the right thing and those other girls were just jealous and what they did was wrong. I asked her if the friend started to cry and she told me no because they both went off to play and had fun. Sad thing is I know the parents to every single one of the "mean girls" and they are all in middle school now and just as mean and bossy. They don't have any other friends. It didn't take me long to notice not long after meeting the parents that they had a bit of a racist streak in them. Guess who doesn't come to my house any longer for social gatherings I don't care to be around people that will play this fake friendly thing to your face but really don't want anything to do with you because of the color of your skin.
As for my oldest daughter........ I am SOOOOOO glad that my younger daughter is now at the school she went to for middle school. It is night and day different than where she started out when it comes to accepting others. My oldest has gone to school since kindergarten w/ kids from ALL backgrounds. They cross all ethnic groups and socio-economic backgrounds and they ALL get along Trust me, if you are ever in earshot of me when someone says ANYTHING about the neighborhood around the magnet schools my oldest has gone to you will hear my comeback and it shuts people up FAST! I'm pretty point blank about it and make no bones about my background or my husbands. Most of the people know where we live now and such but they didn't know us when we were growing up. When I tell them it looks just like the neighborhoods that we grew up in they really don't have anything to stand on.
Oh, and not far from where you live my sister taught at an elementary school for a few years in that area. There were some nearby apartments that people had moved into to get their kids into a "better" school district but the homeowners around did NOT like their kids talking to "those apartment kids". Did not matter if they were white, hispanic, black or whatever. They lived in "apartments", GASP! The horrors And they were not government subsidized or Section 8.
Honestly, it is like I tell my kids. When you know you are doing the right thing do not let someone that is trying to "run you off" succeed. Keep doing what you are supposed to be doing and do the right thing and make THEM the uncomfortable ones.
My heart goes out to you. Nothing sucks more than when you want it so desperately to be just "rudeness" and "snobbery" that could happen to just anyone than when you start to realize that you are being specifically targeted for your ethnicity. The July 4th story really got to me. People insist that Latinos assimilate to Anglo norms and then when they do, they STILL face prejudice and racism! This reminds me of the time when I had to deal with an incredibly racist secretary...at the same university my father, a physics professor, taught at! It makes me wonder if there really is any point to even trying to appease these people anymore. And of course, it leads to resentment, anger and cynicism towards those who gleefully do the targeting. Then later on they'll claim they're the "victim".
Just wait until after Halloween- there is always a group of people whining about kids that are obviously not from the neighborhood trick or treating there.
I don't live in CH, but wanted to comment on this phenomenon. I must admit that it irritates me immensely when kids come around on Halloween without costumes, sporting plastic grocery bags, without even saying 'trick-or-treat' and expecting to get candy. While I always give it to them, and I never say anything to the kids about it, it does bother me. I don't care if it's a fancy store bought outfit or if it's some old clothes, constructions paper, and mom's eyeliner for face-paint, but you gotta put a little effort into it. You have to keep in mind that I always give full-sized to jumbo-sized candy, and my house is usually totally decked out. (One year I made my garage into a mini haunted house the kids had to go through to get the goods.) I also admit that I often suspect many of these offenders do not live in the neighborhood, but #1) I have no proof #2)that's not what bothers me (I know some neighborhoods are more fun than others to trick-or-treat in and that's totally cool to head over there if your apartment/neighborhood is lame) - it's the lack of true participation in the 'holiday'
Anyway, it sounds like a pretty crappy situation for the OP - hopefully it's not as widespread as it seems.
In high school three of my good friends were (and still ARE!), black, "Tex-Mex" as he said and one who moved to our school from South Korea - I'm white. We all went on to SMU except the Korean guy (University of Chicago) - I have remained friends with them all these years and I've seen some shocking things happen to them and said to them (many times when somebody didn't realize they were with me). I think it's a lot better now but when we are 'out of the neighborhood' sometimes things still happen.
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. That day she got in the car and all of a sudden burst into tears. She was playing w/ one of her friends at recess and this one small group of bossy girls came over to her friend and said point blank, "we can't play with you because you are black." They turned and walked off. I asked my daughter what she did and she told me she told her friend that she could play with her and that she liked her. I told my daughter that SHE did the right thing and those other girls were just jealous and what they did was wrong. I asked her if the friend started to cry and she told me no because they both went off to play and had fun. Sad thing is I know the parents to every single one of the "mean girls" and they are all in middle school now and just as mean and bossy. They don't have any other friends. It didn't take me long to notice not long after meeting the parents that they had a bit of a racist streak in them. Guess who doesn't come to my house any longer for social gatherings 
I don't care to be around people that will play this fake friendly thing to your face but really don't want anything to do with you because of the color of your skin. 
Trust me, if you are ever in earshot of me when someone says ANYTHING about the neighborhood around the magnet schools my oldest has gone to you will hear my comeback and it shuts people up FAST! I'm pretty point blank about it and make no bones about my background or my husbands. Most of the people know where we live now and such but they didn't know us when we were growing up. When I tell them it looks just like the neighborhoods that we grew up in they really don't have anything to stand on. 
