Are there Colleges and Universities in the Atlanta GA Area Where there are good race relations? (Roswell: neighborhoods, schools)

[Grace&Peace]

I moved to the Atlanta area four years ago and I have found it to be very unfriendly. Unfortunately moving back to where I came from is not an option right now. I am concerned about sending my children to college in GA because it seems that neighborhoods and schools are racially integrated but the people here have chosen to socially segregate themselves along racial lines.



Please let me know if you know of any colleges and universities in GA that have good race relations among the students. UGA, Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern would be a good place to start.

[Mattie]

Anybody can reach across racial divides to make friends at all the schools. My kids have friends of other racial backgrounds. Why would you expect a school to provide an integrated experience that you can provide for yourself?

[Eresh]

I work at Clayton State and the campus climate is quite friendly and diverse. I see lots of students with friends who are of varying ethnic backgrounds.

[jhtrico1850]

What?????

You already chose your 3 why not settle on those?

Seriously, what's wrong with, idk, Georgia State?

[straightfromatown]

"Race relations" are no longer an issue at any of the schools you mentioned. Young people (especially those in college) have moved on from racial issues. maybe it's time you do the same.

[Grace&Peace]

jhtrico1850

Hi jhtrico1850,

Thanks for your answer. I have never heard of IDK. I am new to Georgia and I don't know all of the colleges. I will look it up along with Georgia State. We live in a North Fulton town and we have had the worse experience ever here. So I am hoping my children's lives will improve when they go to college to avoid having to have to move again.

[Grace&Peace]

Straightfromatown, thanks for your comment. However, I don't think you know what it is like to be a minority in America even if the president is biracial.

When Obama became president my white neighbors did not wake up and begin to see me as someone worthy of saying hello to. The children at school did not suddenly decide to end their self imposed segregation to socialize with people of different races.

Yea I know it is 2009. But things have not changed much when it come to race relations in America.
Where I live in Atlanta there are people from every race here, but they only socialize among their own race. My children are biracial and I am concerned that things are much harder for them, since there is no biracial lunch table at school.

If things have changed and I have missed the boat may be my town and the towns I have lived in were excluded from the change. May be you, your friends and family live in that happy town that my friends and I have not heard of yet.

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by Grace&Peace

I have never heard of IDK. I am new to Georgia and I don't know all of the colleges. I will look it up along with Georgia State.

Grace, "IDK" means "I don't know".

[anadyr21]

Originally Posted by Grace&Peace

I moved to the Atlanta area four years ago and I have found it to be very unfriendly. Unfortunately moving back to where I came from is not an option right now. I am concerned about sending my children to college in GA because it seems that neighborhoods and schools are racially integrated but the people here have chosen to socially segregate themselves along racial lines.



Please let me know if you know of any colleges and universities in GA that have good race relations among the students. UGA, Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern would be a good place to start.

It is not unusual to see SELF-segragation at racially "integrated" schools or even places of employment. It's not always based strictly on race, but may be based on interests, age, or religion. I have non-traditional college students that tend to self-segregate based on age, regardless of race. However, that doesn't mean they don't develop friendships and relationships with the other students.

That said, it also isn't unusual to see a motley crew of students who have become BFF, and no one would give it a second thought. It's seems to be more often the parents that get hung up on the racial differences.

Straightfromatown, thanks for your comment. However, I don't think you know what it is like to be a minority in America even if the president is biracial.

When Obama became president my white neighbors did not wake up and begin to see me as someone worthy of saying hello to. The children at school did not suddenly decide to end their self imposed segregation to socialize with people of different races.

Yea I know it is 2009. But things have not changed much when it come to race relations in America.
Where I live in Atlanta there are people from every race here, but they only socialize among their own race. My children are biracial and I am concerned that things are much harder for them, since there is no biracial lunch table at school.

If things have changed and I have missed the boat may be my town and the towns I have lived in were excluded from the change. May be you, your friends and family live in that happy town that my friends and I have not heard of yet.

You said you live in North Fulton and have had bad experiences racially. Honestly, I'm curious where exactly in N. Fulton you live that things are so bad. My family is a minority in N. Fulton and we have regularly been in establishments where we were the only people of color. We've gone into my in-laws neighborhood also, and we get nothing but smiles, waves, and hellos from their essentially all white neighbors. Not once have I felt excluded or discriminated against. My son's best friends are biracial children of 2 completely different races from ours, and his friends from school are everything under the sun.

This is not to dismiss any of your claims on race relations. I agree with some of the things you have said; being a minority in America, there are certain psychological aspects that I don't think others quite understand. However, I think race relations are much better now than they were when we were growing up.

The colleges you listed would be just fine. But again, realize that a certain amount of self-segregation is normal and isn't about discriminating against other races. It's more about finding people with similarities, and yes, sometimes it's strictly because of race.

[Grace&Peace]

Hi Anadyr21,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I have lived in towns where I was one of five black people in town. I am used to living in mostly white suburban towns, but this is the first time I have had this severe of a problem. May be it is just an Alpharetta, Duluth, Roswell, Milton and Johns Creek cultural problem. Where I live my problems are common because I have spoken to other parents in interracial families and other people who belong to other small minority groups in my neighborhood and church.

I am not accustomed to discussing topics like this on line so I will not give a lot o f detail.
I don't really understand the culture in the Atlanta area yet. I grew up in NYC, where I knew which areas were off limits to me and my family, but here I have no clue. In NYC people you don't know will give you this kind of information, but in this area that information is not available to me. Most of the people I know are from out of town and they don't know the culture of the area either. I am from a town in NYC where being different is considered great and surprisingly being new is also a good thing. However, it seems to me that in the area of Atlanta where I live, sameness is mandatory and being new is a stigma. Since I do not know other areas of Georgia I made this post on line to get some idea about the colleges in the area. I am just trying to see if I will need to move back to NYC to give my children a normal social life or if college away from North Fulton will be the solution for them.