What is Vidor like today and how relevant (or exaggerated) is its reputation?

[War Beagle]

That Facebook page is hilarious.

[DanielWayne]

I know people from Vidor or who have family in Vidor that match some of the pictures in that page.

[jodyrobin]

I move to Vidor Texas in the year 2000. When I first moved here I heard a lot of rumors but I never saw racial problems. Now is the year 2014. There are many families of multiple races now living in Vidor Texas. Vidor is still a small town and it has taken time to grow and understand it, but I absolutely love it.

[Jabberjaw]

If you want a not-so-positive opinion that isn't full of crock, yes, we have revenants of racism here; nearly every town, Northern, Southern, Eastern, or Western does. Our biggest problem is the old reputation.

[JonDeaux]

Originally Posted by LC Corts

i seen a documentary on the only black man in vidor, and sad to say after his interview he was found dead killed , probably by one of the White residents of that town.....IM white and dont tolerable ignorant backwards behavior...just be careful...good luck...

"probably by one of the white residents" means you don't know who did it and are just guessing.

If the man in the documentary was taller than most and lived in the public housing then he was the only black man left in a Vidor public housing unit that was "stuffed" by the gov't with blacks because they thought it was too white. All of the other people they put in the place left and went back to Beaumont because they didn't feel comfortable. When the tall black man eventually left and went back to Beaumont he was killed by one of his own on the streets of Beaumont, not in Vidor. He was safer in Vidor than in Beaumont.
That is the story told to me by relatives in Vidor who have lived there since the late 60's. The town sprang up as a "white flight" town by blue collar people who left Beaumont to escape racial problems in the schools there during the desegregation and bussing years. If the people could be characterized in any way it would be that they prefer not to be exposed to drug and crime problems found in larger towns like Beaumont.

[Oildog]

Originally Posted by JonDeaux

"probably by one of the white residents" means you don't know who did it and are just guessing.

If the man in the documentary was taller than most and lived in the public housing then he was the only black man left in a Vidor public housing unit that was "stuffed" by the gov't with blacks because they thought it was too white. All of the other people they put in the place left and went back to Beaumont because they didn't feel comfortable. When the tall black man eventually left and went back to Beaumont he was killed by one of his own on the streets of Beaumont, not in Vidor. He was safer in Vidor than in Beaumont.
That is the story told to me by relatives in Vidor who have lived there since the late 60's. The town sprang up as a "white flight" town by blue collar people who left Beaumont to escape racial problems in the schools there during the desegregation and bussing years. If the people could be characterized in any way it would be that they prefer not to be exposed to drug and crime problems found in larger towns like Beaumont.

I lived in Beaumont when that happened. The black guy Bill Simpson was killed by black gang bangers the day he moved back to Beaumont.

'Gentle Giant' Escapes Klan Fear in Vain : Violence: Bill Simpson was the only black person in one of the meanest towns in the South. He left it to be gunned down by a suspected black gang. - Los Angeles Times

I've heard Vidor has moved forward as a community as its what had to be done to move ahead economically. But 20 years ago I witnessed the guys in sheets marching.