For those considering a move to Huntsville/Madison (York, Cherokee: transplants, real estate)

[acrossthepond]

I have seen numerous inquiries on this site concerning moving to Huntsville/Madison with concerns about bi-racial attitudes. I just wanted to weigh in with my observations.

I moved here four years ago after 17 years in Europe and find this area to be most acceptable to all backgrounds. I live in Madison in a neighborhood where homes run in the $400K price range. My family is white and on the street where I live are two black families and and oriental family. My next door neighbors are a bi-racial family. Crime hasn't gone up, property values haven't gone down and all the neighbors get along fine. Grant you that if you go looking under rocks long enough, you will find a problem sooner or later.

From what I have gathered people here are more concerned where the money will come to build a new high school, when the roads will be improved, and for some reason, why police write you a ticket when you exceed the speed limit. Others discuss about why Bob Jones High School Football team is not doing better or where is the best place to take one's daughter for cheer lessons. Never once have I heard race or ethnicity enter the conversation about these issues.

There is a church here for everyone who wants one and the neighbors are not going to hound you if you did not show up last Sunday. Employment is high. The Huntsville metropolitan area is very cosmopolitan.

Yes Virginia, it is rocket science. I usually tell people we do two things in this area. Build rockets and grow cotton. Huntsville spans both areas. The area is affordable, the climate is what it is; hot in the summer and mild in the winter with very little if any snow. It isn't California or New York but I think that is a compliment.

If you are considering a move in this direction, come visit us and make up your own mind. I know first impressions mean a lot but after four years here, I think I made the right decision.

[Yoo Shin]

First of all, "Oriental" refers to the "East" and was mainly used to describe people of Hindu based religion in the East pre 19th Century. Today the term "Oriental" is mainly used in reference to historical eastern cultural styles or form. Example, an Oriental vase, or an oriental rug. "Asian" is more suitable to describe the people that are eastern decent.

Second to compare your experience in Europe to that of Madison/Huntsville is hardly relevant. There very clear and deeply different histories of race, religion and culture and can hardly be compared. I agree that it's fairly openly diverse here compared to parts of Europe where it can be clearly divided.

I doubt you have or would encounter what some "minority" or bi-racial persons would face on a daily bases or just in life in general. I myself am 1/2 Black/African American (father) and 1/2 Korean (mother). My Great Grandfather was Cherokee and there's obvious physical traits that run through my father's side of the family and are apparent in me.

I'm 33 years old and I've lived in all corners of the U.S. and have experienced various levels of racial/cultural sensitivities. I will say this, in that most negative racial/cultural elements exist in environments where people are simply "stuck" in their ways, with generation after generation of passing on certain "beliefs" and attitudes regardless of income or socio-economic status.

Now, my wife is white, and is from Louisiana. When we started dating her family flat out disowned her. They were and had held strong racial attitudes toward blacks until they actually got to meet me. 3 years later, after sharing with her family who I am and understand who they were, we have an absolutely amazing relationship and their "beliefs" have truly changed.

My wife and I didn't face much if any racial tension in regards to our relationship in Houston where Hispanics/Mexicans can be the majority in some areas followed by Asian/Indian, but moving here was a bit different. Everything from when we're in line at the grocery store or a restaurant where the cashier or waiter assumes we're paying separate, or even when we were house hunting and the real estate agent would recommend certain areas based on whether we wanted to be in a "black area" or "white area".

And yes, I still hear people use "Colored", or "Negro". Just like I did when I lived on the other side of town 15 years ago when I moved here for the first time. I have coworkers that have also relocated from other parts of the country, and we get into discussions and I'm asked all the time about how we deal with it, and I simply reply that it's pretty much like any where else I've lived and I try to leave it at that.

[Southlander]

Today, the terms "colored" and "Negro" have very negative connotations.

But 40 and 50 years ago, they were the "polite" terms one used. The only other term was the infamous "N" word, which was looked down upon even by my parents, who were born in the 1920s in western North Carolina.
"African-American" hadn't been invented...even the term "black" was considered less than polite.
VERY occasionally, I hear an 80-year-old use the term "colored" or even "Negro" (locally pronounced "Nigra"), and they truly mean no disrespect.

Just an FYI.

[Yoo Shin]

Originally Posted by Southlander

Today, the terms "colored" and "Negro" have very negative connotations.

But 40 and 50 years ago, they were the "polite" terms one used. The only other term was the infamous "N" word, which was looked down upon even by my parents, who were born in the 1920s in western North Carolina.
"African-American" hadn't been invented...even the term "black" was considered less than polite.
VERY occasionally, I hear an 80-year-old use the term "colored" or even "Negro" (locally pronounced "Nigra"), and they truly mean no disrespect.

Just an FYI.

Indeed there may be no disrepsect or mal intent but it is an indicator of a rooted belief and attitude.

[flstatenolefan]

Originally Posted by Yoo Shin

Indeed there may be no disrepsect or mal intent but it is an indicator of a rooted belief and attitude.

Yes, but wouldn't you expect an 80 year old to have rooted beliefs and attitudes that are much different than those of your own? My grandmother passed away about 6 years ago, but I remember her using the word "colored" to describe ladies that would visit her from church. She meant nothing by it and only used it as a descriptor to distinguish one person from another if she did not remember names. I called her out on it one time in my youth, and she sincerely looked like she might cry because she never would hurt anyone because of the color of their skin. Is it PC today? Of course not. But, my sweet 90 year old grandmother had no malice towards anyone regardless of race, and I'm sure that would be true of the majority of elderly that still use those terms.

To me, the much more frightening form of racism is the hidden form--people that know the politically correct way of saying things, but still harbor hate and prejudice and act on it when they know they will not be caught. Example: not renting to someone because of the color of their skin, but saying they have already rented the place. Or, not hiring someone because of their race, but telling them it's because they do not have the qualifications needed.

[A&M Bulldawg]

I don't think that Huntsville is too racism considering the fact that the city is diverse and 7/10 people who live here out from out of state.

[madisonmamma]

Originally Posted by acrossthepond

I have seen numerous inquiries on this site concerning moving to Huntsville/Madison with concerns about bi-racial attitudes. I just wanted to weigh in with my observations.

I moved here four years ago after 17 years in Europe and find this area to be most acceptable to all backgrounds. I live in Madison in a neighborhood where homes run in the $400K price range. My family is white and on the street where I live are two black families and and oriental family. My next door neighbors are a bi-racial family. Crime hasn't gone up, property values haven't gone down and all the neighbors get along fine. Grant you that if you go looking under rocks long enough, you will find a problem sooner or later.

From what I have gathered people here are more concerned where the money will come to build a new high school, when the roads will be improved, and for some reason, why police write you a ticket when you exceed the speed limit. Others discuss about why Bob Jones High School Football team is not doing better or where is the best place to take one's daughter for cheer lessons. Never once have I heard race or ethnicity enter the conversation about these issues.

There is a church here for everyone who wants one and the neighbors are not going to hound you if you did not show up last Sunday. Employment is high. The Huntsville metropolitan area is very cosmopolitan.

Yes Virginia, it is rocket science. I usually tell people we do two things in this area. Build rockets and grow cotton. Huntsville spans both areas. The area is affordable, the climate is what it is; hot in the summer and mild in the winter with very little if any snow. It isn't California or New York but I think that is a compliment.

If you are considering a move in this direction, come visit us and make up your own mind. I know first impressions mean a lot but after four years here, I think I made the right decision.

I agree...

I feel one of the things that makes our area so great IS the cultural diversity!
My son has a friend who is from Scotland...sometimes he wears his kilt to school. How cool is that? I think it is wonderful that our children get to experience different ethnicities and cultures.

[Charles]

I guess it depends on from where a person is coming. Those of us from LA and DC would say Huntsville doesn't have that much diversity. (The Los Angeles Unified School District counts 91 different languages spoken by its students.) Meaning, what is the percentage of people in Huntsville that are not black and are not white? There may be diversity but it is nothing compared to the the coasts. This is reflected by a lack of diverse dining options.

Here are some statistics from City-Data for 35801:

95.5% of residents of Huntsville speak English at home.
1.4% of residents speak Spanish at home (62% very well, 16% well, 17% not well, 4% not at all).
2.0% of residents speak other Indo-European language at home (82% very well, 13% well, 4% not well).
0.9% of residents speak Asian or Pacific Island language at home (51% very well, 43% well, 6% not at all).
0.3% of residents speak other language at home (70% very well, 14% well, 16% not well).

Foreign born population: 686 (3.1%)

White population: 19,499
Black population: 2,168
American Indian population: 118
Asian population: 265
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population: 2
Some other race population: 83
Two or more races population: 290

Six out of the seven of ten transplants referred to above kind of look like this:

(image not protected by copyright)

[mm42]

35801 is not really representative of Huntsville as a whole, but the point is well taken. There is very little diversity here. Huntsville is about 70% white, 30% black, and only tiny fractions of other ethnic backgrounds.

[milledj]

As a transplant (16 years ago) I find that Huntsville's attitudes are about as diverse as in Detroit. Sometimes racism is more out in the open here, where there were places in Michigan that I heard from truckers, if you are black, you had better not stop in x for the night. Hidden is not better. The numbers on diversity are interesting and I was surprised. I would have thought that the diversity would be greater. Perhaps ethnic groups are more active here, or I hear about them from the Public Radio station more. I do feel that because of the scientific community, we are blessed with a more educated public, and therefore a more open-minded, tolerant community that many places. Perhaps the word hasn't gotten out to the general public, who may think of AL as the old stereo-typed, backwater place (Ever see Top Gear's drive through the Deep South including AL?).