Need advice about Austin. (San Antonio, Anton: live, friendly, Hispanic)

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

Whites (or any race) are least likely to be upfront and admit that they dislike Hispanics. They will do it behind closed doors with their closet friends but never out in public or at work, how do I know? Because I've heard the snide comments and put downs.

Your comments are quite racist. So you heard some white people making snide comments and now you are going to brush the whole lot of them with the same broad strokes?

[artsyguy]

If I and other minorities were treated poorly on a consistent basis then yes it is a major problem for us and is in no way racist.

Originally Posted by Jennibc

Your comments are quite racist. So you heard some white people making snide comments and now you are going to brush the whole lot of them with the same broad strokes?

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

If I and other minorities were treated poorly on a consistent basis then yes it is a major problem for us and is in no way racist.

To lump any group together by race and then making a sweeping generalization IS racist. My sister was raped by a guy who happened to be black when we were teenagers. Frankly, rape is worse than any snide comments you ever had to endure. Yet I don't blame an entire race for the bad actions of one scummy individual.

[Scottolini]

Austin has been named the best city in the United States for Hispanics. The city is around 35% Hispanic. The Austin school district is well over 50% Hispanic. The city has a Hispanic police chief, has had a Hispanic mayor, Hispanic fire chief, etc. There is a Mexican-American Cultural center and Mexi-Arte Museum downtown. There are Mexican food restaurants, taquerias all over town. Hispanics are not discriminated upon in this city on a large scale. As a matter of fact, Austin is a sanctuary city for immigrants. Tons of Spanish radio stations, several Spanish newspapers, a couple of Spanish tv stations with it's own local news en espanol.

[url=http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/news/2005/hispanicmag_05.htm]City of Austin - Austin named No. 1 City for Hispanics[/url]

[Scottolini]

I just had to post to respond to the ignorant, hateful, idiotic responses i read from some posters on this thread. After reading the same on other threads, I've decided to not waste my time posting on this site. It raises my blood pressure too much to read some of the garbage people post here. Hopefully my previous post will be enlightening to the OP, though. Peace!

[Mamazalez]

In response to artsyguy's comment...

I can only speak from my own perspective, as a college-educated working-class white girl who lived in Austin from 1994-2000, before moving to Seattle (and now planning to move back). But, in Austin, I had a really diverse group of friends, both at work and in my social life. These friendships developed naturally--race was never really an issue (I'm not saying that racism doesn't exist in Austin, though).

In Seattle, on the other hand, there's a funky hypersensitivity about race, which combined with the overall friendship-challenged region, has meant the few friends I have here are much less diverse. A very close friend of mine, who is half-black, half-Vietnamese, moved up here from Dallas and found the same vibe, got sick of it and moved back to TX. IMHO, Seattle is much more socially segregated than Austin, or even Okla., where I grew up.

That's one reason I want to get back to Austin--I believe the social climate will be healthier for my kids, one of whom is half-Latino, and I miss the diversity myself.

Again, that's just my experience. Sounds like I lived in a different Austin than artsyguy.

[jobert]

Don't listen to Artsyguy, he doesn't even live here. He lives in Dallas and pops into the Austin forum occasionally to crap on the people living here. I don't even know why he bothers. There are people who live elsewhere in the US who drop into the Austin forum to crap on it because life sucks where they live and it eats them up that people living in Austin are enjoying a beautiful city with a beautiful vibe.

[1mintjulep]

Originally Posted by Mamazalez

Again, that's just my experience. Sounds like I lived in a different Austin than artsyguy.

No, I think artsyguy lives in a different dimension.

[artsyguy]

Nope, I lived in Austin for one year. I didn't particularly enjoy the occasional rude glares and flippant remarks frequently made towards me.

I'm going by what I see. What I saw was the white people hang out with white people, asians hang out with asians, and blacks hang out with blacks in general. Every group was segregated and not fun to be around. Regardless if you want to admit it or not, your attitude comes out in negative ways such as being flippant, stand off ish, or making glares that are completely uncalled for, that type of demeanor is not what I call diverse, welcoming, or friendly.

In Dallas I have yet to meet anybody that does what I found to be prevalent in Austin. I have yet to be ripped off/scammed at any restaurants, I have yet to be ripped off at a university level, I have never had my car stolen by people pretending to be mechanics, I haven't been invited to a diverse church only to find out 99% of the people are white and unfriendly, and I have yet to be given constant poor customer services by professionals in Dallas.

Originally Posted by 1mintjulep

No, I think artsyguy lives in a different dimension.

Originally Posted by jobert

Don't listen to Artsyguy, he doesn't even live here. He lives in Dallas and pops into the Austin forum occasionally to crap on the people living here. I don't even know why he bothers. There are people who live elsewhere in the US who drop into the Austin forum to crap on it because life sucks where they live and it eats them up that people living in Austin are enjoying a beautiful city with a beautiful vibe.

Originally Posted by Mamazalez

In response to artsyguy's comment...

I can only speak from my own perspective, as a college-educated working-class white girl who lived in Austin from 1994-2000, before moving to Seattle (and now planning to move back). But, in Austin, I had a really diverse group of friends, both at work and in my social life. These friendships developed naturally--race was never really an issue (I'm not saying that racism doesn't exist in Austin, though).

In Seattle, on the other hand, there's a funky hypersensitivity about race, which combined with the overall friendship-challenged region, has meant the few friends I have here are much less diverse. A very close friend of mine, who is half-black, half-Vietnamese, moved up here from Dallas and found the same vibe, got sick of it and moved back to TX. IMHO, Seattle is much more socially segregated than Austin, or even Okla., where I grew up.

That's one reason I want to get back to Austin--I believe the social climate will be healthier for my kids, one of whom is half-Latino, and I miss the diversity myself.

Again, that's just my experience. Sounds like I lived in a different Austin than artsyguy.

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by Scottolini

Austin has been named the best city in the United States for Hispanics. The city is around 35% Hispanic. The Austin school district is well over 50% Hispanic. The city has a Hispanic police chief, has had a Hispanic mayor, Hispanic fire chief, etc. There is a Mexican-American Cultural center and Mexi-Arte Museum downtown. There are Mexican food restaurants, taquerias all over town. Hispanics are not discriminated upon in this city on a large scale. As a matter of fact, Austin is a sanctuary city for immigrants. Tons of Spanish radio stations, several Spanish newspapers, a couple of Spanish tv stations with it's own local news en espanol.

City of Austin - Austin named No. 1 City for Hispanics

I've lived in both- extensively- and I have to disagree. San Antonio is MUCH more Hispanic friendly. That's according to Hispanic family that I have. Everyone's opinion is valid....