How welcoming is the TC area to interracial couples/biracial families? (Minneapolis: daycare, home)

[phlinak]

Since 2003, our family has been living in the Anchorage, Alaska area, but we are originally from the East Coast (my wife is from Baltimore and I'm from Philly).

Our family visited the Twin Cities area from May 28 - June 5, 2009. We had never been to the TC before and quite frankly we didn't know what to expect. Being an interracial couple with biracial children, we have occasionally encountered bigotry and ignorance (from both blacks and whites). However, we were made to feel very welcome by the friendliness and openness of the people just about everywhere we went. (An added bonus was the ease of traffic and parking compared to Philly, Baltimore or DC). We visited both zoos, Valley Fair, the MOA, and a bunch of other places including the Metrodome to watch a Twins game other places. A good time was had by all!!

Who knew we would fall in love with the TC area!!!

In fact, we had such a positive experience that we are planning to return sometime this summer or early fall for another visit. If this trip is as enjoyable as the first trip, we are seriously considering relocating to the Twin Cities area but after reading some of the posts concerning racial disparity, we're wondering if our positive experience is the norm or not.

Are interracial couples/biracial families welcomed in the TC area?

If you are currently living or have previously lived in the Twin Cities area, please feel free to share your experiences and insight (good and bad).

[moving123456]

I am in an interracial marriage and have never found it to be an issue. I never even considered that it might be a problem here. Nobody seems to care about our races being different in my experience.

[StilltheSame]

More than 50% of my work group in downtown are in interracial marriages. I realize its high but I think its also indicative.

[uptown_urbanist]

The Twin Cities have historically had a reputation for being open to interracial marriages, even while it was still illegal in some other parts of the country. Many of my childhood friends have parents of different races, and now many of my friends are married to people of different races (and are now starting families). It's pretty common, and while I've never asked if my friends in interracial relationships have had any problems, they've never mentioned any negative encounters. Not to say that it might not happen, but I think it would be pretty unusual.

[LittleMathYou]

Originally Posted by phlinak

Since 2003, our family has been living in the Anchorage, Alaska area, but we are originally from the East Coast (my wife is from Baltimore and I'm from Philly).

Our family visited the Twin Cities area from May 28 - June 5, 2009. We had never been to the TC before and quite frankly we didn't know what to expect. Being an interracial couple with biracial children, we have occasionally encountered bigotry and ignorance (from both blacks and whites). However, we were made to feel very welcome by the friendliness and openness of the people just about everywhere we went. (An added bonus was the ease of traffic and parking compared to Philly, Baltimore or DC). We visited both zoos, Valley Fair, the MOA, and a bunch of other places including the Metrodome to watch a Twins game other places. A good time was had by all!!

Who knew we would fall in love with the TC area!!!

In fact, we had such a positive experience that we are planning to return sometime this summer or early fall for another visit. If this trip is as enjoyable as the first trip, we are seriously considering relocating to the Twin Cities area but after reading some of the posts concerning racial disparity, we're wondering if our positive experience is the norm or not.

Are interracial couples/biracial families welcomed in the TC area?

If you are currently living or have previously lived in the Twin Cities area, please feel free to share your experiences and insight (good and bad).

TC is very welcoming to all races, so I don't see why interracial couples would experience anything different. This is the same area that voted in the first Muslim congressman in U.S. history.

[kurls]

I agree with everyone on the board thus far and we have a bi-racial family. I have read (don't have the source handy now) that outside of the west coast the TC's had the highest percentage of bi/multi culural families and children in the US. We previously lived in Denver which was also fine. We travel to Atlanta to visit family a few times a year and that can be "different" but to answer your question we have never felt any significant discomfort in the metro twin cities.

For example, our son's daycare seems to have about a third of its children from bi-racial relationships. Minnesota has a reputation for being a "white" state but the diversity in Hennepin and Ramsey counties are certainly not under that stereotype. If you can tolerate the winters, which can't be worse than Alaska , you might really like it here. We plan to raise our kids here before getting a winter home somewhere warm to alternate residences once they finish school.

[Zuey]

Not at all. I have known some people and around TC who are coming from the interracial families. You should be fine knowing that there are no real problems with that.

[kurls]

I would suggest looking at:
Brooklyn Park or Center, Minneapolis, St Paul, Bloomington, Coon Rapids, or anywhere else that strikes your fancy. Some posters will tell you how bad some of these places are but if you are coming from Philly and B-more I think you will probably laugh it off.

I don't want to say its Mayberry(not) and we do have murders, drugs, gangs, and some rough neighborhoods in most of the cities I mentioned but I always think its best to judge for yourself what you feel is safe or not after experiencing it on your own.

[kurls]

And to follow up on your question of racial disparity there is something going on with an achievement gap between black and white students here. If your family values education and those values are shared by your kids I am sure they will do fine as even the "bad" schools here are still much better than what is offered in other parts of the country. IMHO

Economic disparities also exist, MN has a very large Somali and Liberian, also Hmong(asian) immigrant population so you could attribute some of that disparity to being newly placed in America. Also our migration trends brought many AA families from cities like Milwaukee, Chicago, and Detroit to Minnesota so its possible that may have an underlying factor on education levels. I can only speculate as I am not a demographer, but we have found this to be a great place to live. I would only leave it for California.

[mmhl]

We have a multi-racial family and have never had a problem in the Twin Cities at all. People in the Twin Cities are pretty open minded as a whole