Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
To be purely honest (and depending on what career field you’re in), Dallas is where you’d want to be from a purely professional standpoint…if (and I might ruffle some feathers with this) it still weren’t so highly segregated. DFW is notorious for not hiring blacks in important roles…I’ve heard the horror stories of getting called in for high-level interviews, only to be turned down for that specific role or offered a lower position within the company once the interviewer realized that the interviewee is black. Not sure why it’s that way…but it is.
Houston is FAR more welcoming in that aspect, and if you’re really into black culture, there’s fewer places you’d rather be. Houston has it all in that it has a highly booming black culture AND you can pretty much get the job you want (though probably not as high level as it would be in DFW…they are far more corporate). I know this sounds biased, but I swear I’m not trying to be. This information is based on personal experience (I’ve lived in both areas) and the experiences I’ve heard from others.
W
Who told you DFW is "highly segregated"!? I've lived in both metros. Go to the Woodlands, Kingwood, or Pasadena and you'll see segregation. I know minorities, professional people in Irving, Arlington, FW, Keller, Plano, NRH, Flower Mound (Celtic Marcus Smart high school), McKinney (Family there), Allen (Kyler Murray, Arizona QB hometown), Plano(has had a two-time Black Mayor), Little Elm (elected its first black mayor last year).
Who told you DFW is "highly segregated"!? I've lived in both metros. Go to the Woodlands, Kingwood, or Pasadena and you'll see segregation. I know minorities, professional people in Irving, Arlington, FW, Keller, Plano, NRH, Flower Mound (Celtic Marcus Smart high school), McKinney (Family there), Allen (Kyler Murray, Arizona QB hometown), Plano(has had a two-time Black Mayor), Little Elm (elected its first black mayor last year).
I don't know if segregation is the right word, but Houston has groups of diversity scattered around.
In Dallas, you struggle to find an area more than 20% Black outside of Garland/Dallas border north of I-30. This singular line dictates were so much of the black population live. Even with DFW being nearly 45% white. South of I-30 especially on the Dallas side you have to get to Midlothian to even get a majority white city, with Sunnyvale teetering on the edge and Forney emerging as well. This is the entirety of the southern half of Dallas side of DFW. Even heading to FW it's Burleson and Mansfield as the larger communities.
On the flip side, in Houston. Woodlands is in between Conroe and Spring. Kingwood borders Atascocita and Humble. Pasadena borders Deer Park and Clear Lake City.
The Dallas suburbs are very diverse, but their is a massive line that you can draw that separates 75% of the black community, and maybe 80%+ of the black community on the Dallas side.
I don't know if segregation is the right word, but Houston has groups of diversity scattered around.
In Dallas, you struggle to find an area more than 20% Black outside of Garland/Dallas border north of I-30. This singular line dictates were so much of the black population live. Even with DFW being nearly 45% white. South of I-30 especially on the Dallas side you have to get to Midlothian to even get a majority white city, with Sunnyvale teetering on the edge and Forney emerging as well. This is the entirety of the southern half of Dallas side of DFW. Even heading to FW it's Burleson and Mansfield as the larger communities.
On the flip side, in Houston. Woodlands is in between Conroe and Spring. Kingwood borders Atascocita and Humble. Pasadena borders Deer Park and Clear Lake City.
The Dallas suburbs are very diverse, but their is a massive line that you can draw that separates 75% of the black community, and maybe 80%+ of the black community on the Dallas side.
This I agree with. While DFW is certainly no Chicago, the metroplex’s diversity is generally geared towards less directions than Houston.
I'm a born and raised Black Texan. Grew up in Northeast Texas to be exact. Also lived in Atlanta and the Bay Area briefly. And I've lived in Central Texas( went to school in Waco), been living in Houston now close to 15 years and I'm very familiar with DFW.
From my experience, Texas doesn't seem any more hostile than any other state in America when it comes to Black people.
And I'm speaking solely on cities/towns that have a decent to heavy concentration of Black residents. This is not me saying racism doesn't exist. Yes it definitely does however that same racism that happens in Texas happens literally everywhere in America.
And based on my experiences I've had worst experiences with racism just VISITING places outside of Texas than in Texas.
I can recall my entire FAMILY being followed inside a retail store in Palo Alto. That has never happened to me growing up in East Texas. A region btw, that even Black people from DFW and Houston consider the "Mississippi" of Texas aka Klan country. See how that works? LOL
But I probably experienced more overt racism in the Bay Area(not Oakland though) than I ever had in Texas. And the Bay is a super liberal place. My conclusion is people in America are more likely to show their true colors when it's less representation.
But I never if ever experienced any hostility in Texas. I probably expect it in some podunk backwoods area where we're not around but I'm not on pins and needles constantly in danger here in Texas.
Thank you so much for this. Its really great to get that perspective!
I wonder to what degree Texas' reputation as being hostile towards people who are black is earned vs. what percent is simply perception? Ill never forget training a girl who was black and from NYC who swore she'd never set foot in Texas because she was sure she would be lynched. I don't think I am stepping out of line to say that is a ridiculous opinion to have, but she was very sure of that opinion. She obviously got it from somewhere and less extreme versions of that perceived hostility are not uncommon.
Do you feel that most of this is only perception or do you feel Texas still projects things that make it justified?
I think Texas has infrequent instances of atrocities, but they leave a clear and lasting WTH image of Texas. Like I said they are infrequent to you can spend years there and wonder why Texas has that reputation.
One instance that had people thinking wth is going on in Texas was that cop who arrested a black man in Galveston, tied his hands with rope and rode on horseback to the station while the detained black man walked tied up behind like he is some farm animal.
Another instance, somewhere right before or after 2000 there was the case in Jasper of the white guys who tied the black man to their car and dragged him around town to where pieces of him were spread all over the place.
Like I said these instances are few and far in-between, but the oddity of it gives it oversized weight in people's opinions. The shooting in Buffalo is a much bigger threat to me, but the ubiquitous nature of shootings would make it take up less space in peoples minds than someone being dragged to death over 20 years ago.
Thank you so much for this. Its really great to get that perspective!
I wonder to what degree Texas' reputation as being hostile towards people who are black is earned vs. what percent is simply perception? Ill never forget training a girl who was black and from NYC who swore she'd never set foot in Texas because she was sure she would be lynched. I don't think I am stepping out of line to say that is a ridiculous opinion to have, but she was very sure of that opinion. She obviously got it from somewhere and less extreme versions of that perceived hostility are not uncommon.
Do you feel that most of this is only perception or do you feel Texas still projects things that make it justified?
A lot of it's perception. Living in DC and having a social group that was more black than anything else, I used to hear these tropes of Texas all the time. I definitely experienced more racism in Virginia and California than I ever have in Texas. DC and Maryland were much better in that regard in my experience. But that's just me.. I've lived in Texas longer than all those other places combined and only had one experience I could chalk up to racism (and it was in Austin).
It's funny though, now years later most of those same friends have visited Houston and generally sing its praises (Dallas too). Normally, all it takes is a visit or two to kill that noise.
Now I will say parts of rural Texas do have a reputation for racism, but I've never experienced anything personally, even in deep east Texas (Tyler/Longview area) which definitely has that reputation among many.
Who told you DFW is "highly segregated"!? I've lived in both metros. Go to the Woodlands, Kingwood, or Pasadena and you'll see segregation. I know minorities, professional people in Irving, Arlington, FW, Keller, Plano, NRH, Flower Mound (Celtic Marcus Smart high school), McKinney (Family there), Allen (Kyler Murray, Arizona QB hometown), Plano(has had a two-time Black Mayor), Little Elm (elected its first black mayor last year).
I didn't say there weren't ANY professional blacks in DFW. I was one of them briefly. You can always find a few exceptions in an argument if you look for it.
I'm speaking GENERALLY. It's been documented in a few articles out of DFW (I don't feel like looking them up right now) that quite a number of professional blacks have experienced this. I'm not one of those who go around blaming "The Man" for everything...but I do notice racism when I see it.
I think Texas has infrequent instances of atrocities, but they leave a clear and lasting WTH image of Texas. Like I said they are infrequent to you can spend years there and wonder why Texas has that reputation.
One instance that had people thinking wth is going on in Texas was that cop who arrested a black man in Galveston, tied his hands with rope and rode on horseback to the station while the detained black man walked tied up behind like he is some farm animal.
Another instance, somewhere right before or after 2000 there was the case in Jasper of the white guys who tied the black man to their car and dragged him around town to where pieces of him were spread all over the place.
Like I said these instances are few and far in-between, but the oddity of it gives it oversized weight in people's opinions. The shooting in Buffalo is a much bigger threat to me, but the ubiquitous nature of shootings would make it take up less space in peoples minds than someone being dragged to death over 20 years ago.
This is probably it. Those examples were so odd and ancient-retribution sounding that they are imprinted on the brain forever. Who DOES that??
Thank you so much for this. Its really great to get that perspective!
I wonder to what degree Texas' reputation as being hostile towards people who are black is earned vs. what percent is simply perception? Ill never forget training a girl who was black and from NYC who swore she'd never set foot in Texas because she was sure she would be lynched. I don't think I am stepping out of line to say that is a ridiculous opinion to have, but she was very sure of that opinion. She obviously got it from somewhere and less extreme versions of that perceived hostility are not uncommon.
Do you feel that most of this is only perception or do you feel Texas still projects things that make it justified?
I think the more a black person gets to travel to areas that are much less minority in population, you will truly get an idea for racist behavior or just being comfortable.
Those things aren’t investment in Black people though. Those things don’t build Black wealth. The things I posted build Black wealth. The things you posted just make the community look better from a cosmetic standpoint which “will” just make other races want to move there. Maybe Austin should invest in Black businesses and Black culture in east Austin so Black professionals will want to live there.
Say what???? All those things he mentioned make the neighborhoods that have them more desirable, which increases home values and thus wealth for homeowners.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
