Is Colorado Springs racist? (Denver: home, neighborhood, high school)

[RaeDesi449]

Do you live in Colorado Springs? If so, would you say that there is a lot of discrimination there? (Ethnicity, Sexual orientation, religion) Are there any areas in Colorado that are very racist or very accepting? I'm just curious because I've seen some articles that talk about the racism in Colorado. I've also seen and heard of vandalism to African American property. Is it really that bad? Colorado is so beautiful. It would be a shame if a bunch of bigots ruined it.

[phetaroi]

It just seems very White to me.

[esas]

I've only been here for a year....never experienced / seen any racism....but it is the most ethnically un-diverse place I've ever lived.

[Miss Hepburn]

People can be racist...there are some here, sure...and in some other places.
I don't see it...no black friend or client has ever mentioned it.

[otowi]

I've lived here my whole life and seen or experienced only a handful of overtly racist events in that time - some grafitti/vandalism, and a hiring discrimination - but generally I'd say this is an open/tolerant place, with a few bad bugs in the mix who generally keep their nasty opinions to themselves but sometimes let their stupidity hang out.

I grew up in one of the more diverse parts of the region - Widefield - which was actually touted about a decade ago nationally for its diversity and integration. A lot of its diversity comes from its military proximity and doesn't entirely equate to just a higher proportion of dark skin. It is still about 75% "white" but the remaining 25% is an interesting mix -not just 'black' or just 'hispanic', etc. - and has nearly double the national average of mixed-race and that is increasing all the time. A fair percentage of whites in the area are also culturally diverse - coming from other countries, etc. That is one of the things that made it notable - people mixing across race/color/ethnicity/linguistic/cultural lines much more than in other areas that are statistically more 'diverse'.

People who choose to live in the north side of the Springs are going to see a different city that is much less diverse, but the tolerance aspect still tends to hold true. While not perfect, it is one of the better places in the country, imho, where people of different races intermix freely and have a higher degree of relative economic equality than many more 'diverse' areas. I think the biggest threat to that relative equality is actually Harrison District 2, which is as close to a case of 'white-flight' that we've got.

[Kar54]

First, I believe the word "racist" has been way overused and has lost most of its original meaning. I moved here from Denver 16 years ago. I'm married to a South Korean. Despite my wife's English being somewhat "broken", she/we have never experienced any discomfort or the feeling that we are treated differently than others. Obviously our sons are mixed. They didn't encounter problems in school (District 3). To me, COS seems more integrated than Metro Denver. When I lived up there, Hispanics were concentrated on the west and north sides, Blacks on the east. The Springs doesn't seemed to have developed that way. It could be the rapid transition from small town to large city over the past 50 years. The military probably impacts attitudes as well. It may be different for AA folks, but I work with a lot of Hispanics. They seem to be comfortable and appear to like it here. The city is not what I'd term "diverse", but average for a town this size in the Mountain West.

[Mike from back east]

Been here in this city, and in this forum, for ten years; never really seen or heard of serious racism.

Lots of military here so a variety of races are present all over town.

The city is as free of racism as most any place you could consider. I would guess that rural areas will have a bit more racism as my observations from various states is that racists like to get away from cities to rural areas where there is a nearly all white population; i.e., white-flight still exists within some hearts.

There is racism everywhere, but from what I've read in these forums, in the media, and in the newspapers is that there's a ton more racism back east than out here.

My bottom line for the OP is to put the race issue on the back burner and focus more on affordability, schools, and commuting issues.

[Janet from California]

We moved here last July from the Bay Area (Silicon Valley), California, one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the country. Since our 12 yo adopted daughter is half-Korean and half-Mexican, I thoroughly researched Colorado Springs concerning racial prejudice. And as others have shared, I didn't find any complaints concerning any serious racism here in the city. The Mama Bear in me wanted to protect my daughter. I even personally talked to a few AA locals in the city about this issue and they confirmed what I had read. In fact, I talked at length with an AA nurse while I was hospitalized last year about this issue. And she shared that the only racial prejudice she experienced was usually from the older generation she was caring for who would refer to her as "colored". She exclaimed, "I'm not a fabric!" And then I shared that my personal trainer back in California was a young Asian woman who hated being called, "Oriental". She exclaimed, "I'm not a rug!" I was a little concerned, though, since we bought a home on the northeast side of town, west of Powers, which is predominantly Caucasian. Well, all of our neighbors and their children have openly welcomed our daughter and have been so genuinely kind to her. And when we're out shopping along Powers, downtown or other parts of the city, I haven't noticed or, like Kar54 shared, "never experienced any discomfort or the feeling that we (my daughter) are treated differently than others".

So, IMHO, I wouldn't be concerned about this issue. And, YES, Colorado Springs and the rest of Colorado are so beautiful! We LOVE it here!

[otowi]

It might be worth mentioning that Colorado Springs has always been integrated. People of different races have always been next door neighbors here and gone to school and played together. I flipped through my grandmother's high school yearbook from Colorado Springs High School (Palmer) in the 30's and there were similar proportions of AA and Hispanic faces as to today and pictures of them playing on sports teams together and so on. My grandparents and parents played with neighborhood kids of different races and maintained some of those friendships for life. One generational difference, though, is that interracial dating and marriage was less common and more likely to be considered taboo than today.

[stoneclaw]

I'm a black man who lived in Colorado Springs for pretty much my whole life and left at 24. During that time, I was profiled and stopped by the police probably about a dozen times, even walking home from school. So no, it's not a racist town at all.