Life for a Puerto Rican living in North Carolina (Raleigh: transplants, chapel)

[kio]

I'm a fairly young Latina (mid-late 20's) thinking of moving from the northeast to NC, but questioning the move, after reading these post & hearing some things I wonder how life is for a Latina, mostly a Boricua ( Puerto Rican) there? I've heard there is a lot of racism & I really don't even want to go there but also maybe it's time to have more of us down there & take over the place! (joking) I just wanted to move a little south but not too deep, so Florida or Georgia is out the picture. Curious if anyone has any comments and/or suggestions on life in NC for a Rican especially.....

[Barkingowl]

We have Puerto Rican neighbors & they're like any other good neighbors anywhere I suppose. They also have family living in the neighborhood.

[macjr82]

what part of NC are you considering relocating to? I'd say any larger town from Raleigh eastward (and by NC standards that's about 20k pop) will be pretty tolerant. All of the larger towns in eastern NC tend to either be by military bases (Goldsboro, Jacksonville, New Bern, Havelock, Fayetteville), college towns (Greenville, Wilmington). The farthe westward you get, the less tolerant. But other places like the triad (greensboro, winstom-salem, high point) and charlotte you shouldn't have any problems as well.

[Waterboy526]

We live in Raleigh and my wife is half Puerto Rican (looks closer to 100%) and it's not even an issue. I would say that "if" it were going to be an issue, it would probably only be one in your small towns/rural areas that are farther from the "big" cities.

In my view of living in Raleigh for 3 years, only ignorant people tend to be the ones that are discriminated against.

[superk]

Originally Posted by kio

I've heard there is a lot of racism & I really don't even want to go there but also maybe it's time to have more of us down there & take over the place!

I know that there's definitely a lot of that in the Northeast. Not going to find it anywhere near as much around here.

[faabala]

There are hundreds if not thousands of Puerto Ricans in Fayetteville. They have a very active community and are always out in force at our International Days Festival.

[goi_cuon]

I'm living in Jacksonville. I haven't been here long, but the town seems to be full of Mexicans so another Hispanic face won't be out of place! I'd be happy to have you as my next door neighbor, especially if you will help me with my Spanish and teach me to cook your marvelous cuisine!

Don't be afraid of Florida. I'm a Florida native and have lived there many years. Unless you move out into the sticks, you aren't in the south. There's a saying in Florida: The farther south you go, the further north you are. Florida, historically, is full of Cubans. As a girl growing up in Lakeland (which was small then), I learned to love boliche, ropa vieja, arroz con pollo, frijoles negros and bisteck palomilla. You can keep the yuca! Today there is a growing Mexican community, and as Miami has historically served as the "capital city" of the Caribbean, the population is wonderfully diverse.

Good luck with your decision!

[vicodin]

hey faabala, when is the international days festival?

and what i really wanna know is where can i find some pastelillos in the triad? or anywhere in nc for that matter

[faabala]

Here you go.

Arts Council

One of the best events in town.

[cheerbear]

You are right to be concerned. I grew up in coastal NC and the rural part of it tended to quite racist, especially towards Latino people (part of the reason why I left the area; I got tired of the provinicialism). You should avoid small towns and try bigger cities with more transplants, i.e. Chapel Hill. Raleigh is another possibility, but take care; there's a redneck population there as well, especially when you are talking about NCSU students (not all of them are, but some are). So downtown Raleigh may be a better fit for you if you want to live there.