Black transplants in Raleigh? (Charlotte, Durham: apartment, chapel, how much)

[Relocate88]

Hey all,

I'm a single black female thinking of a move to the area and just curious to hear from other black transplants on their experience living there.

I just want to know:

The "racial climate", especially if you're coming from the North. I know there is going to be racism every where but just curious to know if it's about the same as living most places or if it's turned up a notch because it's the south.

I keep hearing that Raleigh is one of the "go to" places for blacks to move and just wanted to know from black people who have moved there if this is really true. In terms of any racism:

What have been your experiences looking for/ and being on the job?
Looking for an apartment/house?
Living your everyday (going to the grocery store, going out with friends ect..) life?

And is there a noticeable black culture there: like black owned businesses, cultural events ect...) I know it might not compare to DC or Atlanta but I'm just wondering if there is something there to feel connected to the black community. (I'm asking about Raleigh and all of it's Wake county suburbs.)

I'm not trying to start a debate between non blacks and blacks about whether Raleigh is racist or not, I'm honestly just interested in hearing about the personal experiences of black transplants to the area.

Thanks in advance

[HatchChile]

I am not Black but I am a racial minority, and I live in Durham. When I started looking at Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill areas about 3 years ago, I quickly ruled out Raleigh because it was too "corporate/government" for me.

I absolutely LOVED how inclusive, diverse and artsy Durham was. Chapel Hill wasn't for me as it was too small and I do not plan to have kids so schools didn't matter to me. So I landed in Durham and I still love it. Here are my observations from my neighborhood to my everyday life and how much diversity I see/experience:

- I had no problem finding a job when I moved here. I am in IT.
- My workplace is pretty diverse. My manager is a White woman but the main boss everyone reports to is a Black woman;
- My neighborhood is pretty diverse. Most of my neighbors are biracial (black/asian/indian and white); I am myself in a biracial marriage
- My primary care provider is a Black ***** woman. My partner's PCP is a young Black man -- we didn't just choose them, they were the ones who were accepting patients when we moved here, and we wanted to get appointments as quickly as possible. We figured we can always choose someone else if we they weren't thorough. We ended up sticking with them because we really like them.
- Check out Durham's City council and see how inclusive and diverse it is

Anyway, I know you want to know about Raleigh but I recommend you look at Durham as well. Durham is a very progressive and activist city. Pre-Covid there was always something happening. I think they still hold Black Wall Street events in Durham -- basically a conference for Black entrepreneurs. Durham has a very distinct identity. Because of Covid, we haven't made tons of friends here but people are super friendly and there is a pretty strong feeling of community.

EDIT: So CityData is censoring the word "que*r", of course.

[skaternum]

It isn't just Raleigh. You should consider the whole Triangle area. In general, the Triangle has decent race relations. In my neighborhood on the outskirts of Apex, we have blacks (including a single black woman across the street from us who is fully enmeshed in the social structure of the neighborhood) and Indians. The CD data page has lots of info of racial demographics. Durham has the highest % of blacks, but Raleigh, Cary & Apex aren't bad.

[getatag]

[quote=HatchChile;60165871]I am not Black but I am a racial minority, and I live in Durham. When I started looking at Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill areas about 3 years ago, I quickly ruled out Raleigh because it was too "corporate/government" for me.

I absolutely LOVED how inclusive, diverse and artsy Durham was. Chapel Hill wasn't for me as it was too small and I do not plan to have kids so schools didn't matter to me. So I landed in Durham and I still love it. Here are my observations from my neighborhood to my everyday life and how much diversity I see/experience:

- I had no problem finding a job when I moved here. I am in IT.
- My workplace is pretty diverse. My manager is a White woman but the main boss everyone reports to is a Black woman;
- My neighborhood is pretty diverse. Most of my neighbors are biracial (black/asian/indian and white); I am myself in a biracial marriage
- My primary care provider is a Black ***** woman. My partner's PCP is a young Black man -- we didn't just choose them, they were the ones who were accepting patients when we moved here, and we wanted to get appointments as quickly as possible. We figured we can always choose someone else if we they weren't thorough. We ended up sticking with them because we really like them.
- Check out Durham's City council and see how inclusive and diverse it is

Anyway, I know you want to know about Raleigh but I recommend you look at Durham as well. Durham is a very progressive and activist city. Pre-Covid there was always something happening. I think they still hold Black Wall Street events in Durham -- basically a conference for Black entrepreneurs. Durham has a very distinct identity. Because of Covid, we haven't made tons of friends here but people are super friendly and there is a pretty strong feeling of community.

EDIT: So CityData is censoring the word "que*r", of course.[/QUOTE]

Censorship stays several months/years/decades behind vernacular. Humans are an inventive lot for pigeonholing people and things through descriptive adjectives or nouns.
It is positively amazing how correct some of the descriptive phrases can be, as evidenced by the way we all acknowledge the object of the word whether we agree or not.

[goldenlove]

I haven't lived in any part of Raleigh where I didn't have black neighbors. I've also had hispanic and middle eastern neighbors. All in the same neighborhood.

I live in Zebulon now, in a neighborhood with only 15 homes. While the majority is white, we have a neighbor who is black and two neighbors who are hispanic. In this area, that's considered diverse.

[Royal James]

Originally Posted by Relocate88

I just want to know:

The "racial climate", especially if you're coming from the North. I know there is going to be racism every where but just curious to know if it's about the same as living most places or if it's turned up a notch because it's the south.

The notion that racism is worse in the south is an outdated myth that isn't true, and probably never was.

[Tigeru]

This was a slave state. If that wasn’t racism then what was it?

[NC Observer]

Originally Posted by Royal James

The notion that racism is worse in the south is an outdated myth that isn't true, and probably never was.

Any student of history would know that the South has a past steeped in racism; Jim Crow laws were prevalent throughout the former Confederate states until the 1960’s. Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the South.. These laws were enacted in the late 19th and early 20th century to disenfranchise and remove political and economic gains made by black people during the Reconstruction period.

Today, the South is most likely the least racist part of the country. The Triangle, in particular, is home to people of all races and nations. Cary-Apex has a sizeable Russian and Indian population.

[Big Aristotle]

Originally Posted by HatchChile

I am not Black but I am a racial minority, and I live in Durham. When I started looking at Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill areas about 3 years ago, I quickly ruled out Raleigh because it was too "corporate/government" for me.

I absolutely LOVED how inclusive, diverse and artsy Durham was. Chapel Hill wasn't for me as it was too small and I do not plan to have kids so schools didn't matter to me. So I landed in Durham and I still love it. Here are my observations from my neighborhood to my everyday life and how much diversity I see/experience:

- I had no problem finding a job when I moved here. I am in IT.
- My workplace is pretty diverse. My manager is a White woman but the main boss everyone reports to is a Black woman;
- My neighborhood is pretty diverse. Most of my neighbors are biracial (black/asian/indian and white); I am myself in a biracial marriage
- My primary care provider is a Black ***** woman. My partner's PCP is a young Black man -- we didn't just choose them, they were the ones who were accepting patients when we moved here, and we wanted to get appointments as quickly as possible. We figured we can always choose someone else if we they weren't thorough. We ended up sticking with them because we really like them.
- Check out Durham's City council and see how inclusive and diverse it is

Anyway, I know you want to know about Raleigh but I recommend you look at Durham as well. Durham is a very progressive and activist city. Pre-Covid there was always something happening. I think they still hold Black Wall Street events in Durham -- basically a conference for Black entrepreneurs. Durham has a very distinct identity. Because of Covid, we haven't made tons of friends here but people are super friendly and there is a pretty strong feeling of community.

EDIT: So CityData is censoring the word "que*r", of course.

Good points about the area and why I prefer Durham. I also prefer South Durham and was here pre-Southpoint Mall (though did move to DC and Charlotte for a while but landed back here). South and SW Durham is convenient to parts of Raleigh, RTP and easy access to I-85 to Gboro, Charlotte, etc.

No shade on Raleigh but a lot of people distort Durham's as a crime-infested hellhole. When in fact, all cities have problems and Durham's culture and heartbeat really is a min-mini-version of Atlanta. The OP will not have a problem with race in Raleigh or the area as a whole, however, there are jerks everywhere no matter where you live in the US, just push the ignore people and keep it moving.

Raleigh tends to be more corporate and conservative but that's what makes the area great, a good balance of people and culture.

My vote to the OP would be the South Durham area. Durham has a strong AA community, diverse with easy access to Raleigh and the RTP.

[Royal James]

Originally Posted by Tigeru

This was a slave state. If that wasn’t racism then what was it?

First of all, I didn't say racism never existed in the south.

Second:

"African slavery is so much the outstanding feature of the South, in the unthinking view of it, that people often forget there had been slaves in all the old colonies. Slaves were auctioned openly in the Market House of Philadelphia; in the shadow of Congregational churches in Rhode Island; in Boston taverns and warehouses; and weekly, sometimes daily, in Merchant's Coffee House of New York. Such Northern heroes of the American Revolution as John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin bought, sold, and owned black people. William Henry Seward, Lincoln's anti-slavery Secretary of State during the Civil War, born in 1801, grew up in Orange County, New York, in a slave-owning family and amid neighbors who owned slaves if they could afford them. The family of Abraham Lincoln himself, when it lived in Pennsylvania in colonial times, owned slaves."

Slavery in the North

Racism has been, and is, a feature of our entire country.