Racism in Biloxi??? (crime, casino, to move)

[kiwinene]

I was born and raised in Biloxi. I have traveled throughout the south and I would say it is one of the most liberal areas in the region (most definitely in MS). The only area that is comparable in MS to the level of diversity would be Hattiesburg, a college town. If you "have" to move to Biloxi, you will find it to be very welcoming, and most people will be more curious about your cultural background than adverse. Just be prepared for the questions because we Southerners are naturally nosy and truly know no strangers. Welcome!

[hdibbi]

thanks again, it is very nice to see welcoming people like you..

[texdav]

I have always found the people in beloxi very nice and freindly. Most people in mississippi are in fact gracious; as they say.

[Vernal54]

What about in the 1960s, wasn't there "racism" in Biloxi then?

[jhadorn]

Originally Posted by Vernal54

What about in the 1960s, wasn't there "racism" in Biloxi then?

Was there racism in Biloxi 50 years ago? Yes. Is there racism in Biloxi today? Yes.

Are you any more likely to experience it than you would be anywhere else in America? IMO, No.

[brookhavennative]

I've seen racism in every single place I've lived, from Indiana to Nebraska and so on. The South and Mississippi in particular doesn't have a monopoly on it. Can there be a sticky thread that explains this to avoid monotony? I'm beginning to think the entire world thinks we were all rioting on the campus of Ole Miss in '62...(Which is dash cunning of me considering I wasn't even born until 1985, so..)

[GrandviewGloria]

The word is 'Xenophobia', not 'racism'. There are people of all colors in Biloxi. And people there who consider themselves 'white' are generally not particularly white. The blond people who used to work sixteen hours a day shucking oysters for the New Orleans market during the Gilded Age are long gone. Most of the time, people will not be able to tell you're not a local.

The coast is dominated by a criminal element. The population is extremely gritty/grungy... ranging from pitiful to just plain scary. People from the rest of Mississippi avoid the coast, except for the kind of people who go to casinos.

There are nice people and nice enclaves down there, but those nicer folks are extremely adept at avoiding everybody else.

And yes: you are far more likely to encounter tactless and overt racism and xenophobia down there. Lots of drunks/druggies/dregs, who lack the ability to keep their mouths shut and simply avoid people with whom they do not wish to interact.

But if you stay away from drunks and druggies and biker bars, you'll probably do fine.

And there's always Spring Break to look forward to! That's when college kids from the finer Fraternities and Sororities around the state make the scene quite lively! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57BmLJOCjhA and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFSVGACX7P0

[MS Intrigued]

[quote=GrandviewGloria;27550261]
And there's always Spring Break to look forward to! That's when college kids from the finer Fraternities and Sororities around the state make the scene quite lively! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57BmLJOCjhA and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFSVGACX7P0[/quote]

Watched your links - well all of the second one and a short amount of the first. I'm not really into rap music as it's not my generation. The second youtube was downright scary for a mother with young daughters. You do however continually tend to either point out only the negatives or show what it is really like. I'm never quite sure.

As I said before, we went down to the Gulf Coast this summer for about 10 days to have a look around. We do not gamble and we did have a very nice time. We saw a few sights (the lighthouse, Jefferson Davis, swamp tour in Slidell, children's museum in Gulfport, train station in Bay St. Louis and a few other things). Sitting underneath an oak tree in BSL was quite nice.

You see, we have been looking around for relocation near ocean. We have not made a final decision as it's not something to be taken lightly when you are a family.

Florida has it's qualities but it's very congested and getting to work every would be an accomplishment in itself. And it seems unless you stay near Pensacola (from reading only) Florida has lost much of its
southern charm. I lived there on the Atlantic Coast for over ten years so I have some knowledge.

The Gulf Coast of MS was relaxing (although storms are still a consideration), it was easy to get around, the traffic was not bad at all. In fact, only when we went to the Outback in D'iberville did we find any traffic congestion. Believe it or not, several high schools on the coast are rated quite well in comparison to many Florida high school ratings.

I usually read your MS posts and I'll bet some of what you say is true but I always hope much is over-exaggerated. Everyone looks at things a bit differently. And I kind of think you like to go for the shock factor.

[GrandviewGloria]

[quote=MS Intrigued;27558247]

Originally Posted by GrandviewGloria

And there's always Spring Break to look forward to! That's when college kids from the finer Fraternities and Sororities around the state make the scene quite lively! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57BmLJOCjhA and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFSVGACX7P0[/quote]

Watched your links - well all of the second one and a short amount of the first. I'm not really into rap music as it's not my generation. The second youtube was downright scary for a mother with young daughters. You do however continually tend to either point out only the negatives or show what it is really like. I'm never quite sure.

As I said before, we went down to the Gulf Coast this summer for about 10 days to have a look around. We do not gamble and we did have a very nice time. We saw a few sights (the lighthouse, Jefferson Davis, swamp tour in Slidell, children's museum in Gulfport, train station in Bay St. Louis and a few other things). Sitting underneath an oak tree in BSL was quite nice.

You see, we have been looking around for relocation near ocean. We have not made a final decision as it's not something to be taken lightly when you are a family.

Florida has it's qualities but it's very congested and getting to work every would be an accomplishment in itself. And it seems unless you stay near Pensacola (from reading only) Florida has lost much of its
southern charm. I lived there on the Atlantic Coast for over ten years so I have some knowledge.

The Gulf Coast of MS was relaxing (although storms are still a consideration), it was easy to get around, the traffic was not bad at all. In fact, only when we went to the Outback in D'iberville did we find any traffic congestion. Believe it or not, several high schools on the coast are rated quite well in comparison to many Florida high school ratings.

I usually read your MS posts and I'll bet some of what you say is true but I always hope much is over-exaggerated. Everyone looks at things a bit differently. And I kind of think you like to go for the shock factor.

Florida had 'Southern charm'? I'm sure it did, at least in the northern part: but it's just funny to hear 'Southern charm' associated with a state we Southerners regard as an extension of Yankeeland. In fact, we think of Florida as having been settled by outlaws, and as having then been a magnet for people of less than sterling character (doctors who exploit the elderly, for example, and fortune-hunters in Palm Beach). I mean, there were genuine Norman aristocrats who had plantations in Florida. The Russ House in Marianna comes to mind. Russ House - Botanical - Jackson County, Florida It was quite lovely, until the local Chamber of Commerce had it's way with the place. But in that same town is the notorious boys' reformatory Dozier School: Report reveals 19 unmarked graves found at Florida boys' reform school | Mail Online . If I remember correctly, that same Chamber of Commerce vigorously defends the boys' school. Frankly, this sort of thing is what we Southerners think of, when we think of Florida's culture (that is, the parts of the state we don't simply consider to be Northern Latin America and The Extreme South Bronx.... except for that part between Pensacola and Destin, which is peopled by actual Southerners, which I'd hear referred to as "the nice part of Florida").

And wasn't it Steinbeck who described the system of endlessly re-incarcerating newly-released convicts (who were forced to do road work) as 'vagrants' as having been the way Florida got its roads built? Southerners read Steinbeck, too, despite Americans' conditioning by the MSM, to view us as being universally illiterate.

Southerners tend to think of Florida as being distinct and separate, in the way that Mississippians think of that state's Gulf Coast as being "not really part of Mississippi". In Jackson, prominent politicians from the Coast were called "...white boy fronts for the Mob... just look at their mothers' maiden names...". Such statements were really unfair, considering that the Coast also featured "The Dixie Mafia", which was open to all, in very non-racist sort of way, with no requirements of one's being 'family'. I'm sure you'd consider it too shocking and over-exaggerated; but there is a book on the subject, called Mississippi Mud. I was told by various people in Jackson that it accurately describes the scene down on the Coast. Frankly, I only read half of it. The 'victims' and the Author seemed to be only half-a-step above the perps, in terms of character. Too depressing. When I read about crime, I want to do so through the eyes of someone like Truman Capote or Dominic Dunne.

Really, I'm surprised that someone as cautious and ladylike as yourself would consider either Florida or the Mississippi Gulf Coast as viable possibilities. For someone of your sensibilities, I'd recommend Salt Lake City or Overland Park, Kansas. A lot of Protestants in those places: but there are sizable Catholic congregations in those communities, too. Then again, if one's cautious approach to life includes eschewing things which don't sound nice, then it may be possible to skew one's information-gathering process in such a way as to enable one to develop a rosy view of just about anyplace.

Rap Music is not of your generation? I don't like that awful noise either: but it is of my generation. And I'm well into my forties. Rap music began in the early Eighties. It was everywhere, by the time I was 20. Did you have your young daughters extremely late in life? Or did you adopt?

Some Mississippi Gulf Coast schools are better than some Florida schools? Florida schools rank fifth, right? Mississippi's rank 45th, I think. But you do realize, don't you, that there are many neighborhoods in Florida that are indescribably bad. And there are enclaves on Mississippi's coast which are pretty nice. In my post, I did mention those nice enclaves: did I not? But yes: it is certainly possible to compare the worst schools in Florida to the best schools on the Mississippi Gulf Coast - and reach whatever conclusions one wishes.

Sorry you found those videos distasteful. Actually, they were rather upscale and restrained, compared to other Biloxi spring break vids on YouTube. And I didn't mention what I've heard repeated about business owners down there. They send their young female employees out of town for Spring Break, for their safety - as in, "I don't want to hear of you setting foot here, until this is over." That's not about 'prejudice'. It's about fear of employees' being caught in (things it's not nice to describe) like those which are rumored to be widespread at that event every year.

But there are other cultural venues on the coast, such as this one. It's the Gulf Coast's equivalent of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. You may wish to hit 'mute', as there is language which some may regard as being unrefined: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33HrKKTNBRo See? Your young daughters can meet nice, clean-cut young men such as this, who listen to Phil Collins on special sterios! I'm curious as to why young men feel the need to use their trucks as personal massagers, but maybe they've taken the Chastity Pledge, are saving themselves for marriage, and need an 'outlet'. But see? He's even offering his handkerchief to a young lady, perhaps. Then again, he may just be cleaning up a bit, after his Phil Collins epiphany.

And here are more lovely young people whose parents must be ever-so-proud! Everywhere you look, it's just culture, culture, culture... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh5-Y7PlUs0

Just remember, when somebody yells "Po Po", RUN!

[heyimjason]

Nobody in Biloxi is going to care about your color. Unless you're going to be talking to someone for more than a few minutes, they probably won't even bother asking about your accent or where you're from, because it's just not important. If anyone ever did ask, it would simply be out of curiosity.