Leaving the WI Cold to Head South...Racism Issues? (Atlanta: apartment, to rent)

[Emeralds52376]

[SIZE=2]Hello :-)

I am 31 year old single mom with 8 and 9 year old boys. We currently live in Appleton, WI - approx 68,000 people. I love the city we live in (the schools are great, it's extremely safe, cheap, my commute to work is only 7 minutes). I am just sick of the cold, ice and snow! It was -47 below for a whole week and we are supposed to get another 12 inches of snow this weekend. I want to move somewhere warmer with a much milder climate!

I have looked at several cities in SC, but was told that SC would not be the best place for me since I am white and my boys are bi-racial. I was told everything from there are still plenty of KKK stores on mainstreet to the fact that bi-racial children and black children are ostrisized (spelling). And that it's not in my or their best interest to live in a state that still freely flies the confederate flag.

I was told beware of 'blackstabbers' & that Northerners are not welcome at all. I was also told that many people are still fighting the 'war'. Call me naive or whatever you wish; but I truly was shocked by this. I live a predomiantly white city and my boys have never been treated poorly or treated differently than their white friends. The school they go to is very diverse; many mexican migrant workers, a few russian students, many asian students, white students, and only a small number of black or biracial students. Don't get me wrong, I have experienced racism here while I have been in smaller towns by older people - but nothing like what I'm told I'll experince if I move down south.

I would love to live in the south (north carolina, northern florida, ga) But I am just not sure where to begin. I have visited Atlanta twice, I loved visiting it; but I'm not sure if I'd like to live in that area - I honestly don't know!

I'd love to live in a city of less than 100,000 people with good schools and many activities to keep us busy. Sports, theatres, museums, malls, parks are important to us. As well as nothing too pricey or commercialized. I currently work in the insurance industry (not selling; LOL). I don't have to stay in this field though.

My mother is moving with us too and she is retired and looking forward to a warmer climate.

I would like to rent an apartment or duplex for a while until I am sure on a city and most of all a neighborhood.

Thank you for all your help, ideas and suggestions. Please - don't hold back in your comments. I was brutally honest and would like to hear the same.
Thanks again!
[/SIZE]

[Atlantasfinest]

You should try posting in the Atlanta forum. You should get more answers on some outer suburbs that will probably fit what your looking for.

[mccarley]

I live in Mississippi. I'm white.
I believe you are getting bad advice. I suspect the person giving you this advice has never lived in or even visited the South. You will be welcomed in the South. I'm not saying there are no racists in the South, there are, but you said you had experienced racism in Wisconsin. Come down and visit.

[Frankie117]

Curious that so many people from the North and West see the South as a huge racist part of the country when in fact that is simply not true, what gives?

Those who say there is racism in the South have probably never been to it, or lived in it.


And one last thing, generally in the South we did accept Northerners and outsiders, but they come in so many numbers now that it seems like more of a burden then a pleasant surprise.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by Frankie117

Curious that so many people from the North and West see the South as a huge racist part of the country when in fact that is simply not true, what gives?

.

Well, what gives is that the South has generally demonstrated a lack of tolerance towards anything and anyone different over the decades. Whether it be people who practice different faiths (or none at all), people of different ethnic backgrounds, people from other countries, gay or lesbian couples, people with mixed marriages, heck, even people who want to gamble or guy liquor on Sundays - the South is not known for it's warm embrace of anything that usually doesn't adhere to a homogenous southern baptist way of morality. It also doesn't help when occasional news reports hit the web, like that preacher north of Atlanta a couple of years back who refused to allow a couple to bury their dead child in the church cemetery because it was mixed race.

The good news, is that "all of the above" is thinning out in some areas of the South, due to the fact that so many people from other areas are migrating here, as well as the old timers who kept a lot of these things going are simply getting old and dying. They're being replaced by younger generations that generally speaking are more tolerant than their parents were.

There are still places in the FAR suburbs around Atlanta where you might get some stares for having mixed kids. Stares - but you won't see burning crosses or see your neighbors sell their homes because you moved in, either. Again, mostly that's in the far burbs, not closer in to the city or the closer burbs that are much more mixed. Now, in the inner city your kids MIGHT catch some hell from black kids. I've known a couple of people over time who have had mixed kids who went to public school intown (which are majority black), and they said their kids were teased by black kids who would call them various names for being mixed. After moving their kids to burbs like Kennesaw or Gwinnett schools (where there's more of a race-mixture in the schools), they didn't have a problem. I doubt however, that you could call this "racism" so much as just kids being mean, as I've never heard of black or white adults in the city saying/doing anything.

Yes, you will definately see a difference in culture if you move from a smaller city in Ohio, down here. Some of those differences will be welcome. Others will make you go, "What the hell is wrong with these people??". Your best bet is to try to swing some time via vacation leave from your job, and come down here and spend some time. A couple of weeks if you can? Maybe rent a place first here, and don't cut all your ties back home so if you wind up not liking it, you can go back more easily if you feel you need to?

It would be naive for me to say that racism or problems do not exist here, because as I said at the beginning, the South has never been known for being the most tolerant place in the U.S. towards a lot of things, and even today, it still isn't. However, it's accurate to say that many stories you hear ARE overinflated and not as widespread as you may think, too. You'll never know unless you give it a test drive.

[South Ga Girl]

My entire family lives in Greenville South Carolina. It's a nice size town with lots of culture. My cousin is white and her husband is black she has 2 bi-racial children and they are in private school. She lives in a very wealthy part of Greenville and her children have never been seen as different or had problems with others kids. If you stick with a little larger town you'll be fine. I grew up in a very small town in Ga when my father was transferred and that's where the racism was.

[Ollie1946]

oddly, having lived up north a couple of times, PA, my white boys were ridiculed for having southern accents. racism and other isms are endemic to our culture sadly enough. while i understand your cold weather woes, why would you otherwise leave a place you are happy with? in the south you are going to have hot and very humid summers and i do mean long, hot, humid and insect ridden summers. have you considered that the quality of life down here might be to the other climatic extreme? why put your kids through a move for no reason other than climate?

be that as it may, here in Athens, Ga i do not think you would have a bad time racewise. in our small baptist church we have multiethnic and multiracial people including a biracial married couple. they are treated respectfully and are warmly welcomed despite what other writers might suggest due to their own prejudices against churches.

the problem with Athens-Clarke County is the school system. but there are 4 private schools which welcome students of all races. in my son's graduating class which was 95% white, a black kid was the class president.

i can only speak for athens. it is a progressive town but i have no idea what sort of job situation you would find.

but don't move if where you are is as good as you say.

[Ollie1946]

btw, Athens chief of police is black, county sheriff is black. that is in a county/city where the black population is only around 25%.

[deja-zebbie]

I'm going to try this again, I hope a partial post doesn't pop up somewhere, 'cause I pushed the wrong button on my computer.

Emerald, please remember that a lot of people who are LIVING in Georgia NOW are NOT from Georgia. People who move here bring their behaviors, likes, and dislikes with them. If they have prejudices (and not just racial, either), I don't think that they generally drop them at the state line when they enter Georgia.

Also, when there is a lot of influx, there can be a sort of "clash of civilizations" on a minor ...but important level. We saw this in the Western city which was my home before we moved to Georgia. We had such a tremendous influx of people who had NO connection to or knowledge of our area, that sometimes talking with them could be unsettling. The problem wasn't just that a lot of these folks had no knowledge of our area, it was that a lot of them had NO INTEREST in their new state. Then there are always the people who spend their time talking about how much better things are where they used to live, how "we" do it/did it, etc. I'm not in any suggesting that you or your family are like this, I'm just saying that there can be a lot of different influences that go into the mix of whether people are well received or not in a new area.

We've had lots of discussions about racism on this list (on other threads) and some of us feel that ----while one can find racism to some extent in most places -- that a lot of what is "passing" as racism may not racism, per se, but rather a clash of VALUES and behaviors connected to those values. One of my favorite lines from a post on other thread is, "if you dress and act like a thug, don't expect to be treated as a gentleman".

Recently there was a newbie to Georgia posting on a different thread about racism in Georgia. She used where her sons had to park at work as an indication of racism. While I don't live anywhere near where this woman lives I was intrigued, and I did check out how parking was and is handled in the manufacturing plants NEAR to us. It's handled the SAME way, i.e., management and office workers close to the plant, workers to the back of the lot. Funny thing, according to my sources, parking in OUR area was handled the SAME way for years ---->before the plants were integrated. That's just one example of how an experience that is attributed to racism MIGHT not be racism.

BTW, I want to make it clear that I am NOT trying to minimize racism.

There have been posts on other threads about the manner in which people speak i.e., what's consider "normal" in one locale, but be considered disrespectful in other. I mention this to raise the issue that sometimes a difference in style of speech can account for an unfriendly rjesponse.

We moved to Georgia a few years ago and love it. We live in a rural area with a rich culture. And, we've had a lot of fun with sometimes being referred to as "Yakees" (Yankees from Arizona????) and having our Western accents referred to as "New York accents". We would NEVER move back to our former home. Thing is, where we moved to is a good match FOR US.

If I were in your shoes I would, as one of the posters, suggested post to the Atlanta list if you are planning on making Atlanta your home. And, if you decide to make your move to Georgia then I'd SURE take the time to investigate various locales till you find a place that is a good match for you and your family.

All the best,
zebbie

[censusdata]

Kentucky has historically been racially progressive.

The first library opened to African Americans in the US was in Louisville, the only Supreme Court justice to dissent in Plessy vs Ferguson was Danville native John Marshall Harlan, and the baseball commissioner who allowed Jackie Robinson to break baseball's color barrier was former KY governor Albert 'Happy' Chandler.

In a civil rights history class, you'll never read about any 'sit ins' or church bombings happening in Louisville or Lexington like happened in the Deep South