Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Please give me some names of East Texas towns you mention........I've never heard such wild tales before! Oh......the Civil war was fought over states rights not slavery or racial isssues......another fopaw!
The Jasper incident where James Byrd was drug behind a truck and murdered didn't have a racial component
Bob,it is called faux pas.But my statement wasn't.I simply quoted a friend who has actually lived in the town and he used that as a metaphor to describe the race relations there,and wasn't actually commenting on the Civil War.That is why I said someone told me and put quotation marks around the quote,to show that someone else said it.Understand?The town was Crockett and the person who told me this was a minister who had served a church there,so I think I can trust him.
My mother lived in Tyler or Longview for a while,I can't remember which.She is very UNprejudiced and was always sort of upset at what she perceived as a racist attitude among some people here in west Texas.So she thought living in ET where blacks are more numerous would mean that the relations and attitudes would be better.She was shocked to find it the exact opposite.She said she had never seen such racism anywhere before,and didn't again until Ft. Smith,Ark.Again,I think I can believe my mother.The Jasper crime was never presented as a bad drug deal,it was presented as a hate crime.See here.
The other incident I mentioned happened in Vidor.Just Google Vidor,Texas, and look for the websites about the incident,or go here
www.kordelski.org/vidor1.html (broken link) .
This is just what I know firsthand.How many other little towns might be similar I don't know.But the problem exists and is documented.
Just some numbers on random ET towns.You have to understand that the average ET town has about 20-40% black population,on average.Marshall is 40%.Lufkin is 27%.Palestine is 25%.But Liberty City,pop 1900, is 92% white,4.5% black.Cut and Shoot,pop 1200,is 91% white,0.5% black.Gun Barrel City,pop 5145,92.5% white,1.1% black.Vidor,pop 11,000 ,95% white,no blacks.When the average black % in the immediate area around every one of these towns is about 20%,do you think the African Americans know where they are not welcome?And this is from just a 5 minute search.I'm quite sure an exhaustive search would find others.And this is specifically the information I gave to the questioner asking about ET,to check out the towns individually for this very problem.And I stand by that advice.
Last edited by lifertexan; 05-11-2006 at 06:31 PM..
Howdy Carol! O.K. So I only moved to Texas (from FL) 6 months ago. I am having a a great time and the people seem very friendly. I had lived my whole life 34yrs. in FL (Clearwater/Tampa) and my husband was transferred here, which was very exciting. I like both places for different reasons. Anyway.we are having to sell because of a promotion and new adventure being offered to us. Part of me is a bit sad to leave. Texas already has a piece of my heart. Anyway, we are selling 3 and a half acres 2,200 square ft... beautiful new home (2004, I think). It is 18 miles east of Abilene... in Callahan county. Abilene has around 126,000 (2000 census) and the city that we live in (actually the outskirts) has only about 2,000. We live on what I would call a mountain- I can see I 20 from my back porch and a train comes round the mountain across the highway. When I look out my front window, I see GREEN. In October, there was really a fall... Most of the trees are not huge, but plentiful. The winter was dry (for me) plus they were in a drought... Then, SPRING! 'my land" and all around... on the little mountains around us were wildflowers... Bluebonnet, Indian Paintbrush, Verbena, Foxgloves...We have bunnies galore and roadrunners and mocking birds and cardinals. We have seen a wild turkey and a skunk. My husband, kids, and I hop in the car and drive four minutes to the DQ in the evening only to see a family of deer right on the side of the access road. I had never lived in the country and I adore it... this is sort of perfect cuz Abilene is 20 mins. up the road and if we want "more" it's only 2 hrs. to Dallas and Fort Worth. We did install a storm shelter right away and I feel very comfortable with that. Most people around here say the haven't seen a tornado for 20 something years. It is one of the only things that worry me here. My biggest disappointment was the lack of snow this past winter. Being from FL, I want it!!! It did snow once right in my little city... but the ground wasn't cold enough for it to accumulate too much. They say they get a good snow every other year or so. DARN. Anyway, if I can answer any qeestions about this area for you, feel free! Good Luck! Our house will be for sale shortly... about 220,000. If you're interested? I don't know what you're looking for, but you can live out here much more cheaply. There are some more expensive homes in Abilene, as well.
Wow, one thing I love is a difference of opinion. Thank you all so much for that information. I still like East Texas. This weekend I will be there to look at houses in the Big Sandy area, Gilmer, Gladewater and wondered what you think of those areas. I hear that Longview is a nice place to be near. Tyler, I guess was a big city. I will see when I get there.
I noticed lots and lots of trees. Being from the high desert that will be very different for us. I did an aerial of the city's. Pretty cool too.
Any problem with these towns? What kind of wild life is there? Is the weather going to be bad in those areas? Like tornados and such. I am also afraid of them.
Moveme: howdy neighbor. We live in Apple Valley. So your getting out too. Lots of people are. To much crime here for me and the new houses next door from me are about 3000 sq feet. I lost my view.
BobTex, I not only love green, I need it. I've lived in the desert for 30 years and it is so brown. I feel the need to see colors. You know the old saying. Shinks say that, to cheer you up in the winters, paint your rooms a bright yellow. hehe. I would rather move to Texas. Thanks for you reply.
Thank you Marty A. I am glad to hear about East Texas being friendly. I think California has forgotten what hospitality was. I look forward to people who are.
Well, Bound, I hope you enjoyed your visit to ET this weekend. You won't find a better example of small town America than around here.
I live about 1 hour north of Gilmer. I love it here. 14 years of 4th of July Celebrations on the square, Dairy festival Parades, Cow milking contests, Fall Festivals, hometown football games. Having friends and aquaintances at everyplace you go.
Yes, there are drawbacks, everyone knows your business.... or they think they do! But it is also nice to have parents of your childrens friends for support as they grow and challenge us, nice to be 5 - 10 minutes from every school campus, football field, soccer field, park, and my office.
In a small town, you can run and pick up your child and take them to the doctor when their sick and the doctor knows you, your husband, your kids go to the same school, you go to the same chamber of commerce events, festivals and football games. When you go out to any event; you will most likely stop on your way to your seat to say hello to people you know, and they stop to say hi to you.
And when we make the 1 hour plus trip to Rockwall or on to Mesquite, Garland, McKinney, Plano or Frisco to shop, we often run into friends from home who have made a day of it to come to "The Big City" to spend a day shopping and eating.
Yes we have the necessities we need in a small town, WalMart, Lowes, a small outlet mall, etc.; but it is nice to go to Dallas and shop once in a while. For me and my girls, and my granddaughter, it is a day of bonding.
To add to what lifertexan said about tornadoes, they really shouldn't influence your decision.
I grew up in west Texas in a small town named Andrews. Basically right in the middle of the infamous "tornado alley" and the only story of a major tornado event was when a tornado passed right in front of the High School back in the 60's. It didn;t do any damage though. You do become accustomed to "tornado watches and warnings" during the Spring and Summer months.
It's funny how used to them you get. When I 1st moved to Louisiana I had a friend call me to tell me about a tornado watch and I started laughing. To them it was scary, to me it was a usual occurance!!
Hi all. Thanks for the great conversation about Texas. Yes I did go to Longview this past weekend and got lost a thousand times but I loved it.
Boy, are your freeways hard to read at the last minute. Lots of info on your polls and if you don't read fast you wind up going the wrong way. I guess it would take a while to get used to it like most places. I will never forget what the loop is. hehe
What a beautiful place to live. We, my sister and I got sick the first night we got there so most of our time was spent in bed. ): so sad. I didn't get a chance to go and check out any homes with the Realtor. I was really upset over that. We stayed for 4 days and three of them were in bed in a hotel. Yuck did we feel terrible. Some people said we must have gotten a bug.
We tried to go out and eat so we could meet some people and we did. Very nice people like you said. Of course back to bed we went. I went to several of your stores looking for prices on food and such and you really are a lot cheaper than California. I guess you knew that.
We wanted to check at your local Car Registration place. I think you call it the DM something, I forgot. Not like we call it DMV office. I wanted to see how much they charge for renewals and tags and if you have smog checks there. So I didn't get a chance.
We went to Tyler and it was pretty nice. Kind of busy like here so I would like Longview better. The houses we saw on the side of the roads were what we would call very beautiful Ranch Homes. So very well kept and beautiful. How do you do it?
Saturday night was the 4th of July for us coming in from Dallas to Longview at 3:30 in the morning. Lightening everywhere. The sky lit up like it was day time. Scared the mess out of us. 5 lightenings hit in a row. Bomb, bomb, bomb. We thought for sure one would hit us. It didn't and we lived. (:
I asked everyone I met, how do you like Texas and never got a negitive answer. The worst thing was the humidity but if you have air conditioning you will be fine. So I liked it very much and the only thing that bothers me is, how do I get 8 dogs to Texas a live. My dogs are my kids and I will never leave them here. We thought maybe we would get a van to move our all our stuff and someone to move our trucks and rent a motorhome and take them from rest stop to rest stop. I am so afraid of loosing one of them. That would break my heart. So that is my story. Texas is wonderful like you said.
Thank you all for letting me know what it is like to live in Texas.
Carol
Hey everyone, my roots are in east texas. My sister lives in Lufkin, my grandparents are from Trinity county and out in Huntington. My mom was born out in Etoile if anyone wants to get a map out. LOL. I was actually married in Lufkin too. My parents are east texas folks who moved to Brenham back in the 60's which is central for my dad's career, he taught there at the local jr. college. I lived at one point from age 12 to 15 in Groveton which is Trinty county. Personally too, I have lived a lot of places in this state.
Just my opinion but racism and cliquishness can be found in many areas around Texas, not just East Texas. There are also some fabulous areas to live in around here that aren't cliquish at all. I love Lufkin but would not live there for the health care issues but as a town it is fine. I though would not want to live in the country like I did growing up. I would say the worst town I lived in was Hallettville Texas which is near San Antonio. I never felt more like an outsider and actually had the local catholic priest forbid a girl from being my friend because I was not catholic. The kids in Hallettsville were very ugly to me and constantly made fun of me. I remember after one semester there, my mother came and got me and moved me and one of my siblings to Houston with her because of all the ridicule my brother and I recieved. We were awkward and somehow being new and awkward was a great combo to get picked on... ( my mother and late father divorced). Amazing when we moved to Tomball Texas, we were accepted and actually made friends. Being protestant wasn't an issue either. My brother told me the other day that not much has changed that way. Alot of it has to do with that they are small towns that don't have a large populus of college educated people. Also too Hallettsville is a slavic area and many of the german and slavic ways with dealing with outsiders made it more hard for people to come and adjust to their communities. Fortunatly for my parents in Brenham( very german) they were apart of the college community and as a result they loved the town, for us the kids, we had to mix with the local kids thus see the workings of people who had lived their all their lives. The kids were very mean to me there too as well as my sister who had left my parents care to go live with my grandparents in East Texas when she was 11. She was made fun of every day that she went to school there and just could not handle it. My siblings joke that we did not grow up with beer in our bottles, so they made fun of us for that. LOL I promise you too that I have known other families who have moved to these areas who had issues. Many of the central Texas communities are strongly luthern and catholic and very slavic or german in ancestory. I can remember growing up hearing german on the street and my next door neighbor was from the old Czech Republic and often would be speaking her native tounge. We never spoke to her often because often she would be screaming at us. It is tough being a kid as it is isn't it? My baby brother though never ever had an issue because he was very athletic and very nice looking so as a result he did not have issues.
For the poster who said Sulpher Springs is great, I know it has to be. I have another brother who lives over in Greenville and he only wants to move because he can get a good deal on land out in Wolf City which isn't that far from there. He loves North East Texas. Most of the people around there are friendly.
I would say to the first poster too that this state is a progressive state but yes racism can be a problem in tiny communities around the state. I would tell you to live in an area that is close to a larger town. I do agree to an extent with the first responder to this thread. Actually some communities going towards Austin and San Antonio are wonderful, they have lots of hills and pretty cedar trees too. My father had a chance to live in Boerne and really liked it before he died. He was the chief appraiser over there but his health was getting the best of him and wanted to return to teaching because of stress. When he died, he was living out in Kirbyville close to Jasper. He liked it out there, he was a small town boy though who had lived around racial attitudes his whole life ( he wasn't racist) and he never allowed that to bother him. He went along his business and was happy at the end of his life.
Yes East Texas has more of a flavor of the old south than any other area I have lived, there really is. Each region has it's own style and ways. My father 's grand parents seemed to be the most wild of kin I have ever had and simply because they were from Trinity county, home of Jesse James many relatives. Rumor had it Jesse James had come through to recover from a gun shot womb. My grandmother too was a young girl who witnessed 2 gun men coming into a play at the school ready to shoot up people. She escaped with her grandmother and brother through a window and had a scar on her legs till the day she died from the welps she got from the weeds she ran through trying to get away from the school.
Here is the story if anyone is interested... http://www.rootsweb.com/~txtrinit/na...ogprschool.htm
back on subject....
I saw some blue green properties online the other day that looked really nice. If you want the link, let me know.
Hello,
I am from Mississippi and looking to move to texas my brother use to live in killeen but I am unsure as to where I would like to live in texas. I don't want to be in a area with high qualls of racism I am a sf afro-american. with a boston terrier and I am wanting to leave Mississippi not to end up back in the same environment as racism. I wanting to live in an area semi city and country of course away from alot of tornadoe activity and has houses in the range of 110-125. Also a job where it is 20- to 30 minutes from home. I would love any suggestions if anyone has any.
For a person seeking acreage, I would suggest the Monahans, Texas area. They have good schools, reasonable taxes and nice dry climate. A small town atmosphere is available there.
Only about 40 miles from international airport, and 35 minutes from metropolitan shopping, with many local supermarkets, churches, restaurants, and medical care.
A nice day trip to Big Bend and Davis Mountains are good for recreation.
Water wells and septic systems are used on acreage and animals should be welcome.
caprockvista
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't know what you're looking for, but you can live out here much more cheaply. There are some more expensive homes in Abilene, as well.
Happy in East Texas
But it is also nice to have parents of your childrens friends for support as they grow and challenge us, nice to be 5 - 10 minutes from every school campus, football field, soccer field, park, and my office.
