Looking to relocate- 'My husband's black and I'm white- will we be okay there? (Gulfport: crimes, neighborhoods)

[thatgrl]

HAve you moved yet? if so how have you found it to be?

[Katereb]

Welll, I have read all the above and tend to agree for the most part on all. I was born and raised in Mississippi and yes, there are racist here. They are in the lower percentage and like someone else said, it is mostly the older 60+ group. Seeing mixed couples in public is not uncommon, but it is still not fully accepted. I belong to a church which includes all races. We run buses into lower poverty areas and usually bring 30 to 50 to church. We also have a wonderful black lady, who just recently joined our church , who is married to a black man. He has come to socials and seems to be accepted and greeted with the same love as anyone else would be.
I understand your feelings about the children and I have heard other children with the remarks of racism when it is a mixed family. Usually the remarks are by the blacks. If anything, the black women look down on white women married to blacks. Just my observation - we'd love to have you.

[LeoDiamonds]

Hello I am originally from southwest Mississippi like 1:30 minutes away and to be honest with i would agree with the first person. Every time you hear the state name Mississippi the first thing on people's mind is racism, but its not like that and your kids should be fine. Everyone talks about someone; this happens everywhere you go. I can say this though in my area it is not too many interracial couples. Like the last person quoted do not move to a small rural area like where i am from because the older generations are set in their old ways so you should understand where i am coming from. I can also say this i would give anything to be back in the state of Mississippi because i can faithfully say everyone to me is nice as hell southern hospitality all the way you could not be in a better southern state than all the rest

[LeoDiamonds]

that is a shame about the delta because places like that give mississippi a bad name.

[KYRS]

Hi. I have lived in Alabama for years but on the coast. We had to move to N. Mississippi for a job 3 years ago. We visited Jackson first. We saw the segregation that occurs in larger cities. We are raising our children to see everyone as equal and wondered how they would respond to living in a city like this. So we drove further on, up to Tupelo. Tupelo is a small city, not too far from Memphis. It is small town in some ways, but a progressive city in others. Mississippi has come so far in the last few decades! The state is currently prosecuting old clan members who got off when tried for racial crimes in the 60s. These older men are going to jail finally for these crimes. The state is trying to heal and people are finally being held accountable. Race is still an issue here. Economics is a great part of that. We moved our children to Tupelo because racial divisions were not as visible. We live in a nice subdivision here. One next door neighbors on one side are black, on the other white. I'm thankful that our children are growing up in a situation where they see on a daily basis that there is no difference. We could live anywhere and teach these things to our kids, but kids learn from what they see. The kids attend a private Christian school here where all races are welcome. Many in the community are worried about the school growing because they fear Tupelo might grow into Jackson where the average white family goes to private schools. That's not the intent of our school, but I think that fear is valid and shows that people here are concerned that race not divide our city. Recently however I heard an older woman use the n word (but not in front of my children who have never heard it) in conversation and was shocked. I asked my husband if he had heard this before. I didn't think people spoke like that anymore, but he said he had heard men use it. Some days my husband and I experience something like that and we think we need to move. Other days we feel like we're just part of city and state that cares and wants to heal. The issue of a civil rights museum comes up. A newspaper (Wall St Journal, I think) reported that Mississippi has a muppets museum but not a civil rights museum. That sounds like people here are very racist! But I've been to the muppets museum and it is not really a museum at all.

[KYRS]

I also took my kids to an African exhibit at a musuem in Birmingham. We had a very uncomfortable time at the end when it suddenly became an exhibit about race. They had a segregated bus exhibit you could walk through. My kids have never experienced this and I didn't feel like it was helpful to have them "experience" a racist way of life. My daughter was concerned. An African American girl was crying and her mother was trying to explain these things. How should Mississippi heal? Do we look back or do we look forward. Another black family lives 2 doors down. The mom and dad have successful careers and live just like we do. That's what I want my kids to see.
As for advice, I would visit several cities. I would eat out in restaurants, go to the parks and see what you experience. I would rent an apartment (we did for a year). Some subdivisions will welcome you; some fear a loss in property value. Find one like mine where the race has already been dealt with. (My black neighbors have lived there since the beginning of the development over 10 years ago). And realize that many in these small towns have never lived anywhere else and their extended families live there as well. Some places are easier on new comers because people move in and out periodically. I would be glad to show you around Tupelo if you come. Send me an email if you want to see the area. Good luck. Kyrs

[Willy99]

I was born in Jackson and raised on the Gulf Coast and in my experiences, I've seen more racism and discrimination in big, metropolitan areas like San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C., New York, etc. where, particularly in S.F., segments of the population were divided by an interstate or highway and it seemed so much worse than around here (Biloxi). Remember, Mississippi has a larger percentage of blacks per capita than any other state and the funny thing is, some of the northern cities (especially in the northwest) who always thumb their noses at the south start to become more intolerant bit by bit once they start having to deal with the influx of blacks. I've seen it first hand. I grew up around blacks and I know many people, including a few very close friends of mine, who have been in long-term mixed relationships here in MS. You'll be fine.

[LoneWolf2421]

I was born and raised in North East Mississippi near Tupelo. I would not advise you to move to that part. People there are real conservative. They do not take to kindly to mixers. Especialy the rural areas. You might get along ok in Tupelo with them haveing a fair amount of blacks there. In the surrounding rural communities you might experiance a lot of problems. Whites and blacks get along fairly well but Whites dont take to kindly to mixers. The Klan is Active in many of these Rural Communities. Especialy Itawamba Co., Monroe Co., And Southern Lee Co.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by Willy99

I was born in Jackson and raised on the Gulf Coast and in my experiences, I've seen more racism and discrimination in big, metropolitan areas like San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C., New York, etc. where, particularly in S.F., segments of the population were divided by an interstate or highway and it seemed so much worse than around here (Biloxi).

Sorry to butt in (I came across this post by accident), however I have to say something... you seriously think racism is worse in San Francisco??? I've lived here for most of my life, and have also traveled & lived in other parts of the world - and you are very wrong about that. First of all, we can't help which neighborhoods are cut off by the freeway... that's simply how the city is built, and really most parts of town have a highway cutting through (like most of California's big cities).

Secondly, while some of our neighborhoods are "ethnocentric", that's not due to any forced segregation or discrimination AT ALL. It's mostly just historical, cultural, and self-imposed... but despite all of that, we generally get along very well here. I'm one of the only White residents in a Chinese neighborhood, but have never been made to feel unwelcomed; and we're on the edge of a Black neighborhood, where I'm also perfectly comfortable. You rarely - if ever - hear about hate crimes, "race wars", open discrimination, or anything like that... I know some people would love to think otherwise, but racism really is less prevalent in this part of the country. While I'm White, I also happen to be Jewish, and have only heard ignorant comments while traveling outside of CA.

[auntbee]

I live in a small town in Mississippi and I honestly don't see this as being a problem. There are probably bigots anywhere you go in this country. My daughter just moved from a small town in the delta and there were more mixed race couples in that small town than I ever saw around Jackson. One of them was the police chief and nobody seemed to care. I haven't seen any where I live now, but I have plenty of black neighbors and I like them better than some of the white ones.