Is Highland Park racist? (Dallas, Plano: housing, rich, money)

[sftransplant]

Originally Posted by aceplace

You mean it is racist to identify racism in some other society? Balderdash.

I'd apply a pretty strict definition to the term "racism". It's a lot more extreme than just preferring to associate with people like yourself, or even common xenophobia. Racism is armed, violent conflict, for the purpose of exterminating another society.

The arab middle east is a perfect example of racial divide... the willingness, in a significant part of the population, to kill others because they are dissimilar to oneself.

If that is what racism is, thenn Highland Park is not racist. I'd see no particular willingness among, say, the boys in Highland Park high school, to walk into an African American night club with explosives strapped to their backs.

Wow, this is getting hilarious!

Your limited and extreme definition of racism isn't quite what this thread is about. I'm sure the OP's intent was not to find if people in HP are willing to kill minorities.

[Affinitytx]

I feel like you'll find Highland Park one of the safest and prestigous areas in Dallas to reside. Dallas is such a culturally diverse area anymore that racial lines are blurred. You may want to visit a local church, crime watch meeting or PTA to get a better feel for the area.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Highland Park can be quite racist. You have to remember that Rich in the South isn't like Rich in other parts of the country. There is a lot of old money in which people inherit their money but they themselves are not very sophisticated. I found this to be the case in Dallas. There is a lot of oil money there. Remember, Dallas is less than 200 miles from Oklahoma and Arkansas. We are not talking about living near the east or west coast here

This thread brings back memories.

When we, a brown family, moved to DFW in 1989, my father looked at Highland Park and West Plano as two places to live.

At the time, there was big news of Herschel Walker (former Dallas Cowboy) being given trouble about buying a house in Highland Park. The real estate agents advising my family confirmed that better racial atmospheres/tolerance could be found in West Plano (and indeed, I wound up growing up with many professional athletes - of all colors - as my neighbors...along with professionals, CEOs, etc).

And who hasn't seen numerous articles like these:

Burnt Orange Report's Journal - June 9th 2003

I am one of the first people to start rolling my eyes when cries of "Racism! Racism!" are heard. But sometimes there's a bit of truth to all that.

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by stan4

This thread brings back memories.

When we, a brown family, moved to DFW in 1989, my father looked at Highland Park and West Plano as two places to live.

At the time, there was big news of Herschel Walker (former Dallas Cowboy) being given trouble about buying a house in Highland Park. The real estate agents advising my family confirmed that better racial atmospheres/tolerance could be found in West Plano (and indeed, I wound up growing up with many professional athletes - of all colors - as my neighbors...along with professionals, CEOs, etc).

And who hasn't seen numerous articles like these:

Burnt Orange Report's Journal - June 9th 2003

I am one of the first people to start rolling my eyes when cries of "Racism! Racism!" are heard. But sometimes there's a bit of truth to all that.

Love the Black Panthers story! LOL!

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by sftransplant

Wow, this is getting hilarious!

Your limited and extreme definition of racism isn't quite what this thread is about. I'm sure the OP's intent was not to find if people in HP are willing to kill minorities.

Perhaps your definition of "racism" is trivial, in view of the long history of ethnic violence, conflict, and hatreds in the world.

When a Serb army goes into Bosnia and commits what amounts to genocide, or Hutus and Tutsis kill each other in Rwanda, what is the relative importance of social attitudes in Highland Park, Texas?

[+ or -]

I think it's funny how people bash West Plano for being nouveau riche, but seriously, if an affluent non-white person moves to Dallas, where the hell are they going to live? Certainly not HP.

It's not like the playing fields here are exactly equal...there are many moneyed non-whites who could have probably otherwise afforded a house in the Park Cities but opted against it because of its history and, lets face it, its institutionalized racism.

By the way, whoever suggesting that the sole definition of racism is as extreme as wanting to kill or ethnically cleanse an entire race clearly has a myopic view of the concept. Of course, if a black person moves into a historically all-white area, they aren't likely to be killed, but to ignore the social ramifications and consequences (such as dirty looks, being talked about behind their backs), I think is short sighted.

We can pretend all we want that racism doesn't exist, and that this country's racist past isn't the reason why places like HP formed in the first place...a white oasis that did everything it could to keep non-whites out. But I just think it's unrealistic to ignore the social impact this has had, continues to have, and will have in the future in explaining why HP has remained 98% white.

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by + or -

I think it's funny how people bash West Plano for being nouveau riche, but seriously, if an affluent non-white person moves to Dallas, where the hell are they going to live? Certainly not HP.

It's not like the playing fields here are exactly equal...there are many moneyed non-whites who could have probably otherwise afforded a house in the Park Cities but opted against it because of its instituionalized racism.

Personally, I would never live there, and I'm white.

Personal taste has no part in this discussion.

[stan4]

+ or -, that is exactly what I'm saying. And what I've heard over and over from others.
Which is fine.

Now I'm an adult and still non-white and affluent on my own...I'd still pick Plano over HP, but now more because of the surrounding area, amenities, distance from shady parts of town rather than the racism, etc.

[Lakewooder]

Having lived through the busing/integration/desegregation/court order era (avoided by HPISD and its Judge Taylor) - 'institutional racism' was a big issue - see Institutional racism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[+ or -]

Originally Posted by aceplace

Personal taste has no part in this discussion.

Except when it's an area you wouldn't live in. You're in no position to tell anyone what they can and cannot post.