Interracial Tulsa (Broken Arrow, Bartlesville, Short: neighborhoods, university, place to live)

[tulsagal]

Hi, I am moving to Tulsa soon for a job. Has the area moved on from the days of the Race Riot? Is there any intermingling among blacks and whites as friends or otherwise? I'm doing research and can't quite get a feel for interracial relations. I will be visiting before our move.

I am white and my husband is black. In the meantime, can anyone give me any info? Do you ever see interracial couples in Tulsa? Will we have any problems?

Thanks!

[Synopsis]

tulsagal,
I don't currently live in Tulsa, but while I was there I saw inter-racial couples and they didn't seem to feel out of place. Of course, I didn't go up to them and ask.. :-)

As for the days of the race-riot, the residents of Tulsa have progressed far beyond that time but (rightfully so) do not want to forget that horrible event. I believe there are tributes in various places around the city about the victims of the race riots. I seem to recall the city of tulsa making some kind of tribute or official apology. You may do a search on that.
I don't think you would have any problems there that you would have anywhere else. Tulsa, and Oklahomans in general I've found are not concerned as much with skin color as they are the character of your heart.

I suggest that you go to the tulsanow forum and ask the people there. This is a good forum but there are far more posters on the Tulsanow forum, residents of Tulsa, that could give you a better perspective. My thoughts are you would be welcomed with open arms. The tulsanow forum is located at www.tulsanow.org. Sign up so that you can begin posting, and ask away. There are several different discussion groups on tulsanow (forum chat, discussion, politics), I suggest you bring up the topic in the "Discussion" forum. It's a shame that such a question has to be asked in this day and age, but it is always wise to check out a place before moving.

Good luck to you and your husband!

[Synopsis]

This is off a tulsa tv channel's website, about 5 months old. Apparently residents and politicians in the city want to pay tribute to the victims of the riots. It's a good thing, IMO. Something this horrible needs to be remembered so it will never happen again.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- A Denver sculptor says he hopes one of his current projects, a memorial to the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot, will help focus attention on a story that is mostly unknown outside of Oklahoma.

Ed Dwight's 27-foot-tall bronze sculpture is nearly finished. It will be known as the "John Hope Franklin Greenwood Memorial of Reconciliation" and will be located on land just below an elevated portion of I-244 northeast of downtown Tulsa.

Franklin is a former Tulsa resident and Duke University historian whose research produced formerly unknown details of the riot, which lasted two days, destroyed 35 blocks of the prosperous Greenwood neighborhood and resulted in at least 38 fatalities, although the death toll likely was higher.

The riot had almost faded into history before a 75th anniversary memorial service was held in 1996. That resulted in a state investigation, calls for reparations and up to $5-million in public funding for the memorial.

[tulsagal]

Thank you, kindly Synopsis for all the wonderful information. Happy New Year to you!!

[Synopsis]

Happy New Year to you as well tulsagal! Best of luck in your move!

[catpiperx]

Inter-racial posts are always an interest to me. I am married to a black/hispanic man (I'm white)and we've been together for 17 years. We have 2 daughters....we live in CA(supposedly the MOST liberal state in the Union)well, we've had our share of stares, lookie loos that wanted to "see what our kids" looked like when they were babies(duh, they LOOK LIKE BABIES)

Everyone thinks that CA is so hip and ahead of the times, we live in North CA by the bay and like I said, we get the stares and we've learned to just STARE right back w/a smile on our faces!

My husband's career has had us move to So Cal and Nevada(both Reno and Las Vegas)and now we may be moving to TX...as always, I ask about "racial" relationships and how people will react, I've come to the conclusion that it truly doesn't matter where you are, you will get the ones that have the urge to stare or not accept it. In fact my best friend's mother hasn't seen me in 17 years because she doesn't "approve" of me being in "that type of relationship and having THOSE types of kids?" What type of kids does the human race have??????

I also read with interest people that say we shouldn't have children because they are the ones that suffer, well what I say to that is this, it is up to the parents to raise their children to understand that yes, even in 2007 there are going to be problems w/people, are my kids well adjusted? yeah, pretty much like normal kids. They know they are black/white/hispanic and are proud of who they are. Is that realistic? I think so, and they also know that there are knuckleheads out there.................there are ALWAYS going to be no matter where you go!!!!!

My kids know that their parents love them and we keep them well rounded and surrounded w/plenty of love and laughter! I think that goes a long way...especially since MOST families are divorced(we've been together MARRIED for 17 years!)and to think that it was ONLY the year 1964 that CA ALLOWED interracial marriages!!!! So much for progressive/liberal, eh?

We are a family that just wants to have a piece of the American dream, we go to church, love sports, love our family/country and get along w/everyone we meet..............


Ok, off my soapbox for now!

[Mudrake2]

I was a long time resident of Bartlesville and Tulsa during the 80's and 90's. Tulsa's black community never recovered from the Riot in the 20's. The north side of town is decidedly black or was in the early 90's. My kids still live in Broken Arrow to the south. There is definitely an underlying racism in the older generations. My inlaws come from Lenapah to the north west and it is a multi racial little town, but no intermixing. I had a black friend at Phillips Pet Co in Bartlesville during the 80's. He was the driver for the CEO of the company at the time and a company shuttle bus driver. I had him over for a beer one evening and we were sitting on my front porch. He turned to me in all seriousness and asked if my neighbors were going to mind that he was at my house. I was incredulous. I later found out that his family was from Lenapah too but they knew not my inlaws. Now we are talking about a town of maybe 100 people.

The fact that in 1980 a town, the headquarters of Phillips Petroleum, still had defacto segregation; the Blacks and Poles,(former zinc smelter workers) lived on the west side of the RR tracks and the rest of us whites lived on the east side said volumes about the underlying dynamics of the town. A former girlfriend from Denmark, ultimately married a black man and still lives in Bartlesville, but at the time it came out of her interracial relationship, a lot of people stopped patronizing her beauty shop. I think the situation has improved with the younger generations but old habits die hard.


Moderator cut: forum does not allow signatures

[WindDrake]

Originally Posted by catpiperx

(duh, they LOOK LIKE BABIES)

LOL! I so can relate to that. If you look at my post I am looking for a place to live with my daughters (1 is black/white and the other is white) where people are more concerned about us as a human race not color. Still giggling! I asked a lady once when my oldest was born and she "stole" a glance and then sighed "What were you expecting, a puppy?"

[shad8974]

I dont think you will have a problem at all. I live in OKC/norman. But i am familiar with tulsa and i know that the racial tensions existed many many years ago- in fact race riots or just anger were happening across the board in the early 1900's(this was just a really bad example). But we all live in a modern world and actually oklahoma has a lot of diversity- because people literally come in all directions because of our centralized position amongst the states. I believe many come and go(oklahoma)- so stats can be decieving.

One question for tulsans- i heard from a friend that a statue will be erected on one of the taller hills so all can see. That would be cool- im wondering if this will be the same piece and monument to address the riots?

[jeffncandace]

Originally Posted by tulsagal

Hi, I am moving to Tulsa soon for a job. Has the area moved on from the days of the Race Riot? Is there any intermingling among blacks and whites as friends or otherwise? I'm doing research and can't quite get a feel for interracial relations. I will be visiting before our move.

I am white and my husband is black. In the meantime, can anyone give me any info? Do you ever see interracial couples in Tulsa? Will we have any problems?

Thanks!

I lived in Tulsa from 1993 to 1999. As an FYI, I'm white. My sister lived there from about 1996 to 2006. Short answer-Yes! Tulsa has moved on from the days of the Race Riots. My sister was with a black man and had my niece with him-although she is now married to an Italian. There were lots of black-white couples in Tulsa when I was there, and I'm sure that has only increased since I left. You shouldnt have any problems there in terms of idiots staring at you and your hubby because your melanin is differents shades. In terms of segregation, it's about the same as any other American city. By that I mean some neighborhoods (Tulsa's "North Side", for instance) are mostly black, and some (south side) are mostly white, with a plethora of 'hoods in between that have all sorts of colors. For the most part, I really liked Tulsa, and you should to.