[sancraft]

I am having a problem. I'm looking for rural land to homestead and have found some very beautiful property in my price range. However, when I have visited some places, I got a very chilly reception or when I've pulled the demographics of other places that I like, I find there are 0 Black people there. I just don't see moving to a place where there is absolutely no one there who looks like me. It would be just me and my 2 teenaged daughters, so I don't feel that I could feel safe there (if I get the vibes that I have gotten from some places). And my girls are nearing dating age (16 and 13), so who would they date? I love my lifestyle and don't want to give it up. Can someone tell me where to go to find friendly, open minded people and at least a few Black folks in the mix? I am at such a loss right now. I just don't know where to go.

 

[agmantoo]

eastern North Carolina....beaufort county area
You will need some type of professional skills if you plan to enter the workforce.
Otherwise, the job opportunity stinks. Good rich farm land at attractive prices does exist there. I lease a tree farm to a deer club made up of different races that live in the area and my observations are that they all seem to get along in harmony.

 

[BamaSuzy]

Try just outside some of the big cities....like we live about 35 or 40 miles from Birmingham Alabama....Our rural area is primarily white but we have blacks, hispanics, Asians, and lots of others who also moved to this area because it is a "bedroom" community for the bigger cities...

But make sure wherever you go that there are no zoning restrictions or whatever on your property so you can do what you want to! Make absolutely certain there are no land use restrictions!

But by living in the rural areas outside one of the cities you will have a base of many cultures. Good luck! It would be so much nicer if we didn't go by colors and just looked at people inside! A homesteader is a homesteader is a homesteader....I guarantee my laying hens, soon-to-be dairy goats, Angora rabbits, cats and dogs don't look and say, "Hum...there's that gray-haired white lady coming with our feed..." They just think...."Hum....here comes our feed!"

 

[BamaSuzy]

Oh---and some of the more rural areas in south Georgia or in middle or upper Florida or the Florida pennisula might be just what you're looking for.

 

[Maura]

I live near Caro, Michigan. There is a small black population here. As Bamasuzy said, near big cities (near black populations basicly) white people will be more open to black people, or you may find areas already pioneered.

 

[jerneeon]

I'm sorry you are going through that. That sort of thing always angers me.

Areas in Washington and Oregon are pretty open although there are pockets of people who are not.

 

[Alice In TX/MO]

If you don't want winters, but you don't mind mosquitoes, the Anahuac area, east of Houston, Texas, may be what you want. It is the Coastal Plain, however, and has no hills.

 

[Meg Z]

I'm sorry you're running into this problem. I'm from Georgia originally, and I hate to see folks down there act like idiots.

So, come up to NC (as someone else mentioned, so here's another vote). There's a huge racial diversity around Ft. Bragg...go figure. There's land to be had in surrounding counties for reasonable prices. The zone/climate is 7/8, similar to the Augusta, Ga. area. There's some land for sale a couple miles down the road. I'll give you some chickens for a house warming present!

Meg

 

[fin29]

I would look around areas that contain military bases. Here in Maine, the most rural racial diversity occurs in the 10 miles surrounding one.

It sucks that you have to take that b.s. into consideration these days.

 

[caroline00]

just outside of Rolla, MO or anywhere that there is a multicultural university. I am noticing a couple of black families near us and they seem to be accepted in most places especially in the Christian community.

WE are due South of Rolla a bit more than an hour. Personally, if you came to MO, I would aim for Rolla to be my shopping, church, schooling area.

 

[John_in_Houston]

If you don't want winters, but you don't mind mosquitoes, the Anahuac area, east of Houston, Texas, may be what you want. It is the Coastal Plain, however, and has no hills.

Vidor and Orange are just down the road from there, though. Are those still areas of Klan activity?

 

[Tango]

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Texas and Florida have the most active numbers of KKK, and Neo Nazi groups of any other state in the U.S. I get this garbage racist stuff from my neighbors who don't know I am hispanic because I don't look it . They talk to me about blacks, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans taking over. I'd rather share my community with you than with them. I think the "face" of the country is changing and will continue to change over time as people from the burbs and urban areas flee their homes in favor of a healthier country life. With them they bring healthier attitudes toward diversity. I think the northeast is probably a better place right now than the southeast but in a few more years, who knows?

 

[southerngurl]

I have been told the leader of the KKK is about 10 miles (as the crow flies) from where I live, so this would likely not be the spot. Actually, I don't think you have to much to worry about from them anymore. I'm pretty sure they are mainly just a bunch of fat white guys sitting around talking about how much they hate black people, never really do anything. Living in town you would be ok, but out in the boonies is where the occasional nut will reside.

I get this garbage racist stuff from my neighbors who don't know I am hispanic because I don't look it.

:haha:

 

[3girls]

I think your best prospects are on the West Coast. Probably easier on the wet side than interiors of WA & OR. I lived in the city and on a farm in Western WA for a number of years, and it seemed to me to be pretty loose there.

Thru no fault of mine, I was born white. But I am delighted to see evidence of a black homesteader. I have often wondered why more people of color have not been involved in the environmental, homesteading, gardening, etc. circles. Someone has to be the icebreaker, but it is hard to ask your kids to do so. I hope you do find a compatible community with really neat companions for the kids.

Best wishes,
Sandi

 

[Cyngbaeld]

Don't know if this helps, but... The worst discrimination I have seen is in any area that has two or more large populations of different ethnic/racial backgrounds. When most of the people are of one background and the people of other backgrounds are truly in the minority, you will see much less discrimination. I think it may be because the people in the minority are seen as less of a threat to the predominant group, but when their numbers increase there begins to be more tension. This is true no matter which group is in the majority and which is in the minority.

 

[timmcentire]

We live in a rural county in Tennessee where there is a very low population of blacks, and an even lower population of other races. I'd say the white population is well over 95%.

However, from what I can tell, everyone is pretty much treated equally. Everyone seems friendly. Our library was managed by a black lady who was also the sheriff's dispatcher. Her brother also involved locally. They are well-known and well-accepted. Families of oriental and hispanic origin have set up businesses here as well. They have all been welcomed.

I think the important thing is that a person or family will be accepted if they can integrate with the society that they enter. True for all races.

I've seen and experienced racial prejudice many times. Can't say that I've seen it here. I think in a lot of rural areas the only prejudice that you'll find is prejudice against mean people and lazy people, and that is non-race specific.

 

[trixiwick]

Don't know if this is too far afield for you, but we're up in Chester County, Pennsylvania and I think it might suit your needs. "Town" for us (though we're a few miles out of it) is Oxford, PA and there are a good number of black folks there. Not so many in the outlying farmland, but some - and a good mix of other assorted folks (Hispanics, Amish) that adds up to a fairly diverse community for a rural area. I think if your girls went to the Oxford schools they'd find plenty of friends of various colors. We're about 1.5 hours away from Philadelphia, so I guess that helps! Also, we live about 2 miles from Lincoln University, which is "the nation's first historically black university." It was an agricultural college originally and then diversified.

I hope this helps!

 

[VAkat]

If you look up Columbia pop 806 (where we were originally talking about) the population is made up of: 52.3% black, 38.1% white It's been pretty much the same as not only I remember but my Dad who will be 70 in a few weeks & grew up there remembers too. It hasn't changed & everyone is comfortable.
You can check the population of most cities, big & small in the US by going to
www.city-data.com
The cool thing about this site is that say you want to live near Richmond, type that in, then you can click around near the bottom of the page until you find a city close by who's demographics you like.
Good Luck!!
KAT

 

[Star In N.C.]

Here's my vote sancraft

Asheville, NC

Savannah, TN

Grover, NC

Greenville/Spartanburg, SC

Any of these places because they are about very diverse race wise. And right now real estate is cheap there


Star

 

[Haggis]

Vidor and Orange are just down the road from there, though. Are those still areas of Klan activity?

Many years ago, when our children were still being born, we lived a while in Vidor and I worked as a longshoreman in Beaumont, Orange, and Lake Charles. We had a child born in Vidor. We also lived in Kirbyville and Jasper, and had a child born in Jasper.

I guess we were just some ignorant hippies 'cause I didn't know those areas were rascist until we moved away and we read about them in the papers years later.