Racism in Montana? (Billings, Missoula, Great Falls: high school, university, live in)

[sugashonuff]

My husband is hispanic and I am white; we have a daughter who is obviously both. We are considering moving to Montana, (following the jobs), but I am nervous about Montana's lack of diversity. For those that live in Montana, is racism a large problem?

[trwmontana]

Where are you considering moving? Sometimes location means everything, i.e. rural location as compared to a university town. I happen to be white and have lived in Montana, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Compared to the SW, Montana is certainly less diverse. And, obviously, no one can accurately gauge the majority response to a minority. Billings has a growing hispanic community. Great Falls, with the air force base, has a larger percentage of African-Americans than anywhere else in the state.

I attended high school in a rural town and had a hispanic friend who seemed to have little problem fitting in. Also, I should mention, I have known people who were half Chinese and had no problems in high school. In fact, they were both quite 'popular' and had many friends.

[MontanaGulcher]

I'm sure Missoula will be welcoming, and so would my property in the mountains. Years ago, a black family moved down the road and a white supremacist moved in the same year. The black family mysteriously had their cabin burned down, and the racist departed and somebody mysteriously burned down his cabin too.

[MontanaGulcher]

Actually most Hispanics work harder than the yuppie/hippies who smoke pot all day.

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by sugashonuff

My husband is hispanic and I am white; we have a daughter who is obviously both. We are considering moving to Montana, (following the jobs), but I am nervous about Montana's lack of diversity. For those that live in Montana, is racism a large problem?

I am of the same background as your daughter. I spent a lot of time traveling through Montana this year. I don't think it will be an issue.

Where are you coming from and where are you planning on moving to in MT?

[carila]

I live in Billings and I believe that pretty much everyone fits in here. Obviously, no matter where you go you run into some people who are intolerant -- it's their loss. One of my daughters friends is half Mexican. A family friend is Puerto Rican so her kids are half. We also have friends that adopted children that are half African American. Another family friend is Japanese although her kids never lived here. I met a lady at the grocery store from Nepal. Not one of these people have ever mentioned issues with racism here although our Puerto Rican friend had problems with it when they lived in Pennsylvania.

My best friend growing up is half Native American. If I ever noticed prejudice in Billings, I noticed some toward her from a few kids at school that didn't know her well. On the other hand, when she was in college, some Native Americans called her an apple. If you're like me and never heard it before, it means red on the outside and white on the inside.

In general, I believe most Montanans are friendly, hard working people that are inclined to accept everyone based on their character. I think that comes from our original heritage of settling the West. People couldn't afford to be prejudiced against their neighbors -- times were hard and you had to help each other out. I read a biography once about an African American man in the 1800s who grew up in White Sulphur Springs, a very small town in Montana. He went to school like all the other kids and he didn't think himself different. One little girl's red hair was just as rare as his dark skin and no one said anything about either of them. He grew up and moved to Chicago and things were a lot different there.

Well, with all that said, we'd love to have you move to Billings!

[trwmontana]

You are talking about Taylor Gordon. Great example and great book (Born to Be). He moved from White Sulphur Springs to Harlem (NY) and was an accomplished pianist and always had a positive memory of Montana and connection to his hometown.

[magoomafoo]

I think as long as you stick to the larger towns...Great Falls, Missoula, Billings or Helena you would have no problem. The smaller towns seem to be mainly made up of locals who are 3rd and 4th generations and cliquish (sp?).

[AQHA]

I think Montana is white for a reason. People in Montana don't seem to be that thrilled about various races coming in. It's not something folks will talk about openly, even on a forum, but there is a feeling of relief that we're not having to deal with the same racial issues other states are currently dealing with.

I would say to move anywhere you like; but go knowing that you will be more of a minority in Montana than most other states, and people will notice you and sometimes treat you accordingly.

[gaduchman]

Montana is white because it's so damn cold there most of the year. Ethnics tend to go where there are some of each - bigger towns seem to absorb them more readily. Carila - I'm a native and I've found more racism in places that don't have a lot of our kind there - namely the midwest and mid-south.