Where in rural TN should an old, black, Californian move to? (Memphis: crime, how much)

[veganwriter]

Okay ... that's the best way for me to phrase that.

I've driven through TN several times and I admire the beauty of the state. But I keep hearing about how polarized race relationships are everywhere except Nashville.

I have that Baby Boomer dream of moving to a bit of cheap land in the country and raising some dogs, chickens... maybe a goat or two... hell ... might even add some heritage pigs! ((chuckle))

I am soooooo tired of drama.
I don't want to change anyone, and at 58, I sure am not trying to "show off" about anything to anyone. That said, we all know people will see whatever they want to see, so life in most small towns is going to include some measure of people trying to get into your business and/or "hating" on you for at least the first ... four years??? ((LOL))

Is there any part of TN that I can find a cheap piece of land with a house good enough for the VA inspectors to qualify it... and were folks will let you live with "friendly emotional distance?"

Open to all and any candid and honest remarks.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by veganwriter

Okay ... that's the best way for me to phrase that.

I've driven through TN several times and I admire the beauty of the state. But I keep hearing about how polarized race relationships are everywhere except Nashville.

I have that Baby Boomer dream of moving to a bit of cheap land in the country and raising some dogs, chickens... maybe a goat or two... hell ... might even add some heritage pigs! ((chuckle))

I am soooooo tired of drama.
I don't want to change anyone, and at 58, I sure am not trying to "show off" about anything to anyone. That said, we all know people will see whatever they want to see, so life in most small towns is going to include some measure of people trying to get into your business and/or "hating" on you for at least the first ... four years??? ((LOL))

Is there any part of TN that I can find a cheap piece of land with a house good enough for the VA inspectors to qualify it... and were folks will let you live with "friendly emotional distance?"

Open to all and any candid and honest remarks.

I wouldn't say race relations are polarized "everywhere except Nashville." I don't think that's true or fair, exactly. There are certain places where it might be a little more prevalent, but in general, I think it is becoming less and less of an issue.

To be frank, I would suggest that for a black man looking specifically for a rural environment, West Tennessee would be the best fit overall. The rural population in West Tennessee is more black/white than anywhere else in the state. Middle Tennessee (especially the southern end) might be an option. But generally speaking, the rural areas get whiter as you go east. Not suggesting that there is outright racism in those parts, but you might find yourself in the extreme minority, and in a place where few blacks have ever lived (so locals might not have a lot of exposure to race relations either).

Perhaps try somewhere a little outside of Jackson? Jackson is a small city (63,000 or so) in Madison County, but has a lot of beautiful land around it. It might be what you are looking for as far as farmland. Plus you are strategically located if you are looking to visit a bigger city (Memphis or Nashville).

[JMT]

Check out Overton County. It's a very rural county just north of Cookeville. While the county is overwhelmingly white, race relations there are just fine. The mayor of the county's only town, Livingston, is black and is wildly popular.

Clay County, adjacent to Overton County, is also a thoroughly rural county with dirt cheap land that also has good race relations. There's an AA community there called Free Hill. Free Hill was established when a wealthy land owner freed all her slaves and gave them 2,000 acres as their own. It's a gorgeous area.

[BirdieBelle]

Point of fact: I don't think the OP stated he/she was male or female. But anyway ...

One thing people from Elsewhere don't usually get is that a rural experience here is not always going to be the same as a Walden experience.

Because of that, you may not encounter racism as much as you might encounter just plain old poor, uneducated people.

Folks in search of "beautiful, cheap" land sometimes have a romanticized image of friendly, unassuming salt-of-the-earth neighbors all seeking the same uncomplicated life when, in fact, you may find more folks on some kind of gov't gov't assistance with plenty of relatives who may or may not have been incarcerated at some point.

That's why I also would recommend somewhere outside of Jackson. As a Memphis native who went to school in Knoxville and now lives in Middle TN, IMHO you will have an easier time NOT standing out there.

[njkee]

For what it's worth, I'm a newcomer to east TN and have been pleasantly surprised at the lack of racial problems I've seen. The area is predominantly white, but it is not all that unusual to see mixed race couples with kids and no one seems to give them a second look. When a woman brought her black boyfriend to church (up in the mountains) everyone was very kind and went out of their way to speak to him. I'm sure there are bigots here (as there are everywhere) but not nearly as many as there would have been 20 or 30 years ago.

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by veganwriter

Okay ... that's the best way for me to phrase that.

I've driven through TN several times and I admire the beauty of the state. But I keep hearing about how polarized race relationships are everywhere except Nashville.

I have that Baby Boomer dream of moving to a bit of cheap land in the country and raising some dogs, chickens... maybe a goat or two... hell ... might even add some heritage pigs! ((chuckle))

I am soooooo tired of drama.
I don't want to change anyone, and at 58, I sure am not trying to "show off" about anything to anyone. That said, we all know people will see whatever they want to see, so life in most small towns is going to include some measure of people trying to get into your business and/or "hating" on you for at least the first ... four years??? ((LOL))

Is there any part of TN that I can find a cheap piece of land with a house good enough for the VA inspectors to qualify it... and were folks will let you live with "friendly emotional distance?"

Open to all and any candid and honest remarks.

I would say since the entire USA is a free nation you can move anywhere you want to.

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

Point of fact: I don't think the OP stated he/she was male or female. But anyway ...

One thing people from Elsewhere don't usually get is that a rural experience here is not always going to be the same as a Walden experience.

Because of that, you may not encounter racism as much as you might encounter just plain old poor, uneducated people.

Folks in search of "beautiful, cheap" land sometimes have a romanticized image of friendly, unassuming salt-of-the-earth neighbors all seeking the same uncomplicated life when, in fact, you may find more folks on some kind of gov't gov't assistance with plenty of relatives who may or may not have been incarcerated at some point.

That's why I also would recommend somewhere outside of Jackson. As a Memphis native who went to school in Knoxville and now lives in Middle TN, IMHO you will have an easier time NOT standing out there.

No, the post didn't say that but the profile says "city boy yearning to be a country boy".

[SKYSEA]

I am a white retired law enforcement officer from So. Cal. We have retired to Cookeville and find very little prejudice. I spoke to a black gentleman when I first moved here and asked him why there wasn't the presumed white vs black and black vs white prejudice I experienced in South Central Los Angeles. This gentleman explained that black people in the South had truly experienced prejudice in the past and when they achieved equal rights they no longer think there is a battle to be fought or fear of rejection due to skin color. His comment was that the people in Los Angeles only thought they were denied equality because people kept telling them the white people owed them something. What they owed then was equality to achieve whatever their dreams through hard work and education. While there are small minded people everywhere, it all comes down to a man being judged by his character, not his skin color. Seems like somebody famous said that.

[veganwriter]

THANKS EVERYONE...

That's a huge help and a lot to go on.
I actually got tired back in '07 and drive flatbed truck over the road for a few years. Cookeville is not only a beautiful area, but my experience was that it was very friendly and folksy... but that's some SERIOUS snow in the winter, eh?

I heard several truckers commenting that they planned to retire in Cookeville.

... you know ... I want to add this: I like hard work and I can hear the echos of it in the words posters have replied with. That's some real practical information about living around people who've done time.

Crime is hard to get away from, isn't it? I was looking at Louisiana where my father was from, and while the land is cheap, the YouTube videos were filled with more thugs than hell has room to house. Sad. It's all over. Even farmers are lining up at Methadone clinics in Indiana.

Business 101 taught that in Capitalism, to have a top, you gotta have a bottom. Lots of time, energy and money goes into keeping those at the bottom.. AT THE BOTTOM. It doesn't seem to be a Democrat or a Republican issue. More like values ... and the way those in power "Socially Engineer" various aspects of media.

Running out of space.
Tired of drama.
Tired of hearing my neighbors getting dressed in the morning.
That dog and those chickens I want might have to live behind some really high fences!! ((chuckle))

Again, many thanks to all. My search will begin.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by veganwriter

Cookeville is not only a beautiful area, but my experience was that it was very friendly and folksy... but that's some SERIOUS snow in the winter, eh?

Cookeville averages 8 inches a season. I hope this doesn't open up another dialogue about how much snow they got in the late 50s...

They get serious snow in New England and lots of other places but there really isn't anywhere in Tennessee that gets a lot of it, now or then. Maybe you have the area mixed up with some other place that you've been?

Regarding prejudice, I think most of the South has moved on from that. Maybe not in the deep South. Who knows. But it's been my experience that the North seems to have more of that stuff, especially in the Midwest. By the way, I'm a Yankee.