Cedar Rapids diversity? (Burlington, Washington, Grant: fit in, 2015, house)

[DaFromCa]

Hi,
I hope you all are having a great day and I thank you ahead of time for being open and honest with your opinions and answers.
My husband had been offered a job in Cedar Rapids. It's a great Op for him but I have been reading many posts here about racism. Most of them are from several years ago. So I wonder if it's still that way. I've read about segregation like ways. AP classes at Washington high school are being offered as a legal way to segregate racial/economical differences. I've read that the KKK is present, that flyers have been delivered to biracial families homes, a biracial families home was tagged with racial slurs. Interacial couples are treated badly. That races don't mix in relationships. That etc etc etc. I've read people actually moved because of it.
So, is all this rasicm still happening in today's Iowa? My family has never had to deal with it in any way. We are a mixed race couple. Black/Latin/White/. So my children are mixed. Our's and our children's circle of friends and those they (teens) date are diverse as well. Both the boys and girls in my family date all races though they tend to date white or Latin races and we all have friends of all races and walks of life. My house is ALWAYS full of teens of all races. Yes we are that crazy teen filled house on the block.
So will our lives still have this richness of life if we moved to Cedar Rapids? Will they and we have that diverse circle of friends? Will the fact that they are mixed limit their dating pool. I ask since we may settle there and it's prob where they would meet their further spouses. They are open to all races but will all races be open to them. I know there may be "some" white people that don't accept or prefer not to date a non white person or befriend them. But is that the majority? Like I said, we've never really dealt with it before so want an honest open answer to this. The job won't be worth it if we will be discriminated against because we are a mixed race family. Other then the freezing winter that will take some serious getting used to, this seems to be the only thing not pleasant about Cedar Rapids. Although I've read there isn't much to do.

So I guess that would be another question. What do people do? Especially teens?

Thanks again

[Qwerty]

Take what you read with a grain of salt. You will meet plenty of people of all races and interact with them as you choose. Your children will become friends with like-minded individuals.

[DrEilers]

I would say what your friends describe is utterly unfounded. Obviously I can't say there is no racism in Cedar Rapids, that unfortunately doesn't exist anywhere, but I lived there from 1991 to 2008 and never saw anything like what you described. I went to Washington High School from 1998 to 2001 and it is probably the most ethnically diverse high school in CR, about 60% white I believe. My niece is biracial and is in that school district and has had no trouble making friends. Granted she is only 9, but I have never heard her describing any incidents of racism.

[Dewey59]

In the 18 years I lived in CR, I never experienced or even heard about the kinds of things you are describing. No, it is no where near that bad. However, there are definitely racial tensions in CR. There was an effort a few years ago to make CR more diverse - a noble cause, but poorly executed. They created a marketing campaign that advertised better social programs in CR by putting up billboards in Chicago. The result was an influx of not only racially diverse people, but also morally diverse. This has, unfortunately, created some racial tensions in the city, even though, of course, it is less about race that it is about background. The company I worked for there had people from all over the country and the world of every color and ethnicity imaginable. There were never any problems. I suspect that if you and your kids are responsible, law abiding citizens, you will fit in just fine in CR. To your point of what to do, there is not a lot, but for the kids, the best bet is to get them involved in the numerous extracurricular activities provided by the schools (sports, band, etc.). CR is a good place to raise a family. It still has traditional values, but it is not backwards. Get ready for the ugly winters and the brutal taxes though. Best of luck to you!

[atler8]

From the CNN site today, here is a thoughtful & timely look at Cedar Rapids & it's history of diversity in terms of it's Syrian population.

Syrian refugee crisis: Fear and hope in an Iowa city - CNN.com

[jinxer]

As someone who has lived here since 2007 I think Cedar Rapids has it's share of racism just like ALL of Iowa does. I won't stay because the taxes are awful. Mine have gone way up since I have been here. I used to live in Burlington IA and hated it my whole life. Cedar Rapids does not have the same level of racism that Burlington does. I see lots of biracial families here and it is accepted. That is one thing that brought me here is the fact that color didn't seem to matter much.