King or Danbury, NC

[Yve]

Thanks everybody for all the information. From what I gather it would be best to live in Forsyth county and commute to Stokes. I don't have children so the school issue is not a concern. It's just me and my dog. Thanks again.

[erineieio]

My thoughts are that you moving either King or Danbury would be major culture shock verses Orlando. Definitely try living in apt. in Winston-Salem so that you can still be close to the city life and commute to Stokes County for work. There's TONS of people who do the same thing everyday. If you find that you want to live further into the country you can always move closer Good luck!

[cwayne45]

Originally Posted by Yve

I wanted to find out info on King and Danbury. I have a job opportunity to work recruiting and training foster parents in Stokes County. I'm an African American female and was wondering what life is like for minorities (racism or discrimination issues??). I live in Orlando now so it would be a change for me. Also is there a lesbian/gay community or is it pretty conservative?

We are real conservative! May we recommend you stay in Florida. This is a Christian community.

[cohaagen]

Stokes County is a community with some diversity, but not necessarily the heterogeneity of a more urban area. As for racial issues, regardless of where you would live up there, you would be subject to some degree of discrimination at some point, but not necessarily on a regular basis.
Both Danbury and King are quickly becoming bedroom communities for the larger cities, and unlike in the 60s, this doesn't necessarily mean "white flight". Many urban-to-rural transplants are not even from this state, so they're new like you.
That being said, when my family moved to Lawsonville (near Danbury) in the early 80s, the locals quickly assured us not to worry about the "n*****s" because they "don't let them in." Black families in the area are primarily those who have been there for generations, and their elders largely retain that older black southern tendency to view their own place in society as one of lesser importance than their white neighbors. This will, hopefully, change with the current generations who choose to remain in Stokes.
I can't speak of the current schools in either Danbury or King, but I would imagine that they are likely around 90% white, and 10% Hispanic or black. Many Hispanic families have moved there in the past 20 years to work farms. When I attended Lawsonville Elementary in the 1980s, there were 2-3 Hispanic children from one family. All other students were white (during that period, I would estimate that there were around 150-200 students in the entire K-6 school). I moved before 6th grade, so I'm unsure of how the schools have changed.
Since the 80s, there have been MANY individuals and families from other states who have relocated to Danbury, King and points in-between. When I lived in Danbury, the community seemed very open. Like you or not, such communities tend to support their own but, again, I'm speaking in terms of different segments of the white population and couldn't say how they feel, as a whole, about blacks. It's a rural area in the Bible Belt, so there are many, many worthless people like cwayne45. I wouldn't count on a large black community, though, and certainly not a large homosexual community (although that's not to say that the homosexual population is smaller than any other rural area, they're just taught to hide such "deviant" behavior).
I suppose us open-minded folks can't win every battle at once. Maybe things will change one day.
That's my info. My advice, however, is in agreement with previous posters. If you relocate to the area, try suburbs or the city first and commute, and perhaps spend plenty of time in King and Danbury to get a feeling for it.

[roadpony]

C'mon people, this thread is almost a year old. Good grief!

Anyway, it certainly reinforces the original advice that the OP would be best served by living in W-S and commuting to Stokes County.... unfortunately.

[livinginstokesnc]

I have lived in the northern part of Stokes County for 2 years. I spent the majority of my life in Winston-Salem. That's where you probably want to move to, and commute as another person posted. Stokes County does not tolerate much in the way of "different". My children are biracial and they have been harassed at school based on their skin color as have other biracial children here and they are called the "n" word. I'm looking to move. I have never seen such backward people in all my life. They are NOT friendly. King is ok except they have a statue of Jesus beside the Confederate flag-bit of a discrepancy there. Danbury, NC is AWFUL! Even Virginia is better than the northern part of Stokes County. Good luck! btw I am caucasian and it's hard for me to stomach these people.

[livinginstokesnc]

It's people like cwayne that give southerners a bad name. how do you call yourself a Christian and then treat people like crap? you are so far from being a Christian that it's disgusting!

[CalmWaters]

I have a post pending for this thread. Is there a way to delete one's own post? I did not realize the original post was so old!