Interracial couple in Moscow, Idaho? (Boise, Lewiston: high school, university, to live)

[Rhodes152]

Hello all,

I was wondering how accepted an Interracial couple (Myself being White and my wife Black) would be in the area of Moscow, Idaho and Pullman, Washington.

I have read in some articles that in the past there have been some racial issues in that area, I was wondering if that still goes on at all?

We currently live down in Driggs, Idaho and the people here are wonderful and friendly.

Thanks all

[rickers]

You all will be fine, welcome to the boards.

[jufrbo]

Moscow is a super liberal college town.

[tindo80]

There are weirdos everywhere, but Moscow has a particularly open climate. Honestly, Moscow is such an amazing nice little small town. Most folk seem to get along very very well. There is one 'group' worth taking note of, and a few random college kids who like to stir up trouble for people who look different, but that is extremely rare. For Moscow, that is. Go up north to Potlatch or over to Palouse or out to Troy, and all bets are off.

To be honest, interracial couples get a much more welcoming treatment in Moscow Idaho than they do from many of the folk next door in Pullman (WA), although many assume WA to be more open to that sort of thing and Idaho not to be (It should be noted interracial relationships are very common in most of washington...SE is a little less tolerant, and even then its nowhere near as bad as other places).

If you look around you will actually see many more interracial couples in Moscow at events and clubs and bars etc. Not necessarily because there are more in Moscow, but because many from Pullman feel more welcome associating in and spending their money in Moscow than Pullman (Pullman has been having increasing problems over than last 10 years with intolerant folks doing intolerant things).

[nwexplor]

I know six mixed-race couples (2 black-white and 4 asian-white) in the Pullman-Moscow area and I have never heard any complaints from them--over more than ten years. There are kooks with talk-radio opinions that they like to share but I don't think you'll have a problem.

[Sage of Sagle]

Yeah. Just spent a week in Moscow at U of I. I find myself thinking that outside of being a LITTLE less racially diverse than UCLA or UCSD (I think fewer minorities CHOOSE to live where it's really cold based on talking to friends of mine who are black or hispanic), it felt about the same as when I went to a Cal State University. It's really a moot point...

[tindo80]

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

Yeah. Just spent a week in Moscow at U of I. I find myself thinking that outside of being a LITTLE less racially diverse than UCLA or UCSD (I think fewer minorities CHOOSE to live where it's really cold based on talking to friends of mine who are black or hispanic), it felt about the same as when I went to a Cal State University. It's really a moot point...

You have a point there. U of ID is an AMAZING school and cheap as all heck too. Unfortuantely it has the image of a small town (though it has all the amenities of a medium sized town), and to a person unfamiliar with the inland northwest, it seems out in the middle of nowhere, so it goes unnoticed. A person would not think it is as diverse as it is, but its easy to meet folks of any type there.

Moscow is full of the nicest, most down to earth people one will meet south of Spokane and north of...well I guess Lewiston is pretty nice too. It also has a growing indy scene that is getting more and more attention of late.

[Rhodes152]

Good replies, thanks everyone!

[boisefan88]

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

Yeah. Just spent a week in Moscow at U of I. I find myself thinking that outside of being a LITTLE less racially diverse than UCLA or UCSD (I think fewer minorities CHOOSE to live where it's really cold based on talking to friends of mine who are black or hispanic), it felt about the same as when I went to a Cal State University. It's really a moot point...

While I agree that Moscow and the U of I are tolerant places for minorities and interracial couples, and that the diversity is somewhat surprising for being up in the middle of nowhere Idaho, U of I is nowhere close to being as diverse as most Cal schools, but especially UCLA and UCSD.

Facts taken from each schools' websites:

Idaho:
Enrollment by ethnicity:

• American Indian or Alaska Native: 137
• Asian or Pacific Islander: 260
• Black/African American: 123
• Caucasian: 9,426
• Hispanic: 493
• International: 481
• Other: 716

Total University of Idaho Enrollment: 11,636

Percent Caucasian: 81%


UCLA
Total UG: 25,928 (2007)
African American / Black: 865 (3%)
American Indian / Alaskan Native: 108 (<1%)
Asian / Pacific Islander: 9,968 (38%)
Hispanic: 3,812 (15%)
International: 1,075 (4%)
White: 8,861 (34%)
Race unknown: 1,231 (5%)

UCSD:

• UC San Diego’s current undergraduate enrollment is 22,500.

Our student population has changed in response to the shifting demographics in California, increased selectivity, high school preparation levels and other demographic and economic factors.

• Approximately 64% of undergraduates are students of color, including African American, Asian, Mexican American, Filipino, Latino, and Native American, which represents a 27% increase in the past decade.
• 44% are Asian.
• 30% are of the first generation in their family to attend college.
• 36% do not speak English as their first language at home

Ethnicity
African-American: 326 (1%)
Asian: 9,072 (41%)
Mexican-American: 1,997 (9%)
Filipino: 1,065 (5%)
Latino/Other Spanish: 621 (3%)
Native-American: 91 (0%)
Caucasian: 6,274 (28%)
Other/Undeclared: 2,602 (12%)



As you can see, UofI is not even close to being as diverse as these two UC schools. It's interesting to note that while UCLA and UCSD have over double UG populations as Idaho has total students, Idaho still has a thousand to a few thousand more caucasian students than each school. 8 of 10 in Idaho are white. A little over 3 of 10 at the other schools are white.

My nephew and niece both went to Idaho, and they enjoyed their time there. My nephew felt it's a diverse enough place, but also admitted that's coming from a white perspective and from someone who has spent his entire life in Idaho (more than 90% white), so any diversity felt significant. But, as I thought, he said minority students generally have a good experience in Moscow. The biggest problems are the cold, isolation, and that it's a smaller town an hour and a half removed from a city.

[Pharaoh41282]

LONG POST, SORRY!

The fact that people even ask these types of questions about Idaho bothers me... I'm leaving the Marine Corps in a couple years and looking to move to a place where I can have a nice home, my dogs have a big yard to run around in, etc... I'm from San Francisco, and I DON'T want to go back there. You have to make $100,000 to barely survive! My wife and I have more melanin than some. Being in the military and being from San Fran made me a very tolerant person of all peoples. I refuse to believe that ANY place (save a couple towns in the DEEP south) can even have a hint of visual racism... but that's probably not true.
To make a long story short, I've searched RACISM in this forum because 95% of the people I've told that I'm thinking Idaho (regardless of race) says "they won't like you up there." Granted, none of these people are from Idaho, but I have to do some research. The only person my wife has ever known to be from Idaho was a little on the not-so-well rounded side of the street. Not racist, but not very open-mined. To me prejudice is ignorance, but racism is hate. If you're ignorant to the fact that Black people can have good jobs, do good things, and speak proper English, then allow me to help change your mind... But if you hate me, I'll probably let you know how I feel about that. It's easy for someone in the majority ethnicity in Idaho to say "it's all good," but I'd like to hear from a minority member on the subject of racism in the Boise area.
When it all comes down to it, no matter where I go in this country I am subject to an a$$-whipping. I can get mugged in San Fran for walking through the slums with my nice shoes on. I can get shot in L.A. for wearing a blue shirt in Blood territory. I can get jumped at a Raiders game for cheering on another team. I was even threatened while in uniform by an anti-military group in California. I just want to know if Boise or the surrounding area is a place where my wife or I could become victims of SERIOUS racism (not dirty looks or stupid comments, those don't bother me).