This beautiful/amazing/welcoming/friendly Yorkshire I’ve never witnessed

[Agsjsgkahs]

I appreciate this is probably provocative

But I’m from Yorkshire, a shit hole town in West Yorkshire, very close to where happy valley was filmed. I lived there for 18 years and went to school in a neighbouring, and also not great town.

I now live in Scotland, but wherever I go people clock my accent and tell me what an amazing place I’ve come from, amazing to live, couldn’t imagine ever leaving, x,y and z live there. So friendly and welcoming.

The town I am from is inherently racist and the schools are more or less (unofficially) segregated on race lines. Racist language seeps into many conversations, largely but not exclusively, aimed at the Asian community.

I went to a Catholic school in a neighbouring town and even this attracted harassment. My friend who is mixed race (her own description) was called all sorts of horrible slurs and told to go home.

People who claim benefits were hated upon, and most people seemed to think they were paying everyone else’s benefits. (My party trick is to tell them what being a net contributor to society means).

We of course have a conservative MP. And I would say are a new Tory heartland.

I have also lived in North Yorkshire which was not much better, and definitely even more racist and xenophobic.

I’ll give it to the county that it’s green, and maybe parts are nice to look at. Not West Yorkshire.

I have never lived in South Yorkshire or the East Riding so maybe this is the Yorkshire people speak of, but the West Yorkshire I left four years ago and North Yorkshire I left weeks ago certainly isn’t.

So basically, is it just me that’s sick of being told I come from some paradise, that really isn’t

I'm in a council estate in an ex-mining village in west yorks and yes, the casual racism and benefits bashing is rife. We have a labour MP but I think that's because the Brexit voters were split between Tory and the Brexit Party. People here are, on the whole, friendly and welcoming but at the same time are angry because of the way they've been treated by the last decade of Tory rule but blame it on "them foreigners".

It works both ways though. Some towns and cities in WY are almost 50/50 mixed. Many gangs have been convicted of racially aggravated crimes toward white girls. It isn't just white people who can be racist, or am I being too "blunt"?

Funnily enough there's an interesting programme on R4 right now related to this.

I'm from Scotland and this is pretty much what people say to me - they can't understand why I haven't lived there for 20 years!

It's interesting that most of the South Yorkshire posters are saying that this isn't the Yorkshire they recognise.

I'm not even Yorkshire born and bred, but a Londoner who moved North. Admittedly, when I first moved to Leeds the people I worked with had the attitude of "why would you want to leave London to come here?", but that soon changed.

Having lived in London, Leeds and South Yorkshire I wouldn't say that anywhere I have lived was more friendly or more hostile than anywhere else I have lived. That said, it is probably because of white privilege. I will be the first to say that where I live now is not very culturally diverse, but that comes from the mining background of the area, where apparently the miners were hostile towards any outsiders.

There's no city in Scotland that doesn't have bits like you describe. Some have very large bits like you describe.

But moving somewhere else always makes things seem less "raw". As does getting older.

FWIW I think Britain has massive social tensions - of a few different varieties - simmering under the surface wherever you go. Some places are insulated from it, but there's usually somewhere nearby where the problems are more acute.

Agree with @Hellocatshome. I grew up in South Yorkshire in a supposedly 'shithole' area yet people were friendly, there was almost no crime etc.
I've moved to West Yorkshire and can tell immediately that people are far ruder and just less nice in general. There seems to be many more shitty and run down areas in West Yorkshire too.
I had beautiful countryside within a couple of mins walk where I'm from and could walk for miles, but where I live now (supposedly semi-rural) there's nowhere to actually walk to).

I guess it's like most places though, you get your good and your shit areas, your nice people and your horrible people.

I wonder how much the size of the non white population affects behaviour. Here in Scotland we , apparently love immigrants according to Nichola - but possibly that's because there's v few and they are assimilated ( broad local accents). However there's still the awful anti catholic / Protestant divide so it's replaced by something else.
I think busy vibrant places with jobs for everyone the people don't have time for these old ideas - that's the problem imv.

I am from and live in South Yorkshire. Overall I think folk are friendly and relatively easy going. It’s cheap to buy a house compared to many places in the UK too. Never really thought about it but I do think where I live everyone knows everyone, and generally look out for each other.

I live in the same neck of the woods and I totally agree with you! I was born in a big city renowned for its friendliness. The reputation that Yorkshire has for its friendliness is unrecognisable to me. Nosy, yes; wanting to know all your business, yes; but friendly and welcoming? Not a chance!

Someone once described Yorkshire as England’s Texas, as a Yorkshire lass I can see the parallels.
I think the Leeds and Sheffield are generally the most diverse and integrated, I also like Hull, but it gets bad press.
I find parts of Yorkshire to be in a time warp tbh, social behaviours of the 80s still accepted🙄

[quote Agsjsgkahs]@RampantIvy

Thanks for your reply.

And yes I’m from a place near Halifax.[/quote]
I grew up in Halifax in the 70s/80s and now live not far away.
I do actually recognise a lot of what you describe but I think there was a lot of positives too.
I actually love Yorkshire, it’s not the shiniest of places (except Harrogate) but we have some amazing countryside and I have to say the people are largely great. Most people I meet on a daily basis are really friendly and my community is incredibly supportive.
Leeds was a total shitehole about 20 years ago but the shopping, restaurants and theatres are so much better now and we don’t need to go to Manchester for leisure
Of course it’s not paradise, there is racism and poverty and the weather is rubbish a lot of the time but my experience is very different to yours

I'm from near where you are describing and think the issues you have raised are very specific to certain parts of the town/area.

Like most places there are good bits and bad bits! I now live the other side of the Pennines and there are very similar issues in some parts ( Oldham for example) it's certainly not unique to Halifax!

I never said the town I live in is superior, but I lived here for three years before, and I definitely prefer it.

I said the hospital and hospital staff were far superior and I stand by this.

Thanks everyone for your responses, I appear to have hit a few nerves, but I knew I would.

Not as far as I’m concerned
I grew up in Sowerby Bridge - I’m tough as nails!!

It’s ok OP, once persons paradise is another persons purgatory and I’m glad you’ve found somewhere to live that you like

@Flaxmeadow

you aren’t being too blunt, but you are being a prime example of what I was talking about and do that thing of hiding behind bluntness.

White people in Britain can’t experience racism because of the direct relationship between racism and power. White people can experience racial prejudice, but it is not racism unless backed by power. Reverse racism is a myth but the people of my hometown would adamantly tell me otherwise. You could google this and educate yourself in minutes.

@Hoppinggreen

Thanks x

@SusannaM

I'm not originally from York's, but have lived in W. and S. Yorks and I pretty much agree with everything you've said. It gets prettier but whiter the further N. you go, but still small minded. Although that said the most racist, small minded place I've ever lived was Lincolnshire, it was jaw dropping, Lincoln was lovely, but the rest of it, just no.

I'm from W. Yorks and now live in Lincolnshire. I have to agree with this completely.

It’s the biggest county in the country so lots of sweeping statements here based on anecdotal experiences of small parts of the county.

I’m from Bradford which is a rather strange city. Lots of segregation, it’s a little like 1950s USA tbh. Large areas which are primarily white, large areas primarily Asian. Some schools have 0 white pupils, others are mostly white. I did experience racism growing up, white people knew not to go to the areas mostly populated by the Asian community because they were considered shitholes.

I now live in a small village close to Wakefield and it’s totally different. Largely white area but never experienced or witnessed racism. More friendly people here than in Bradford actually. My DH went to the private school here and grew up in a similar sort of place so he was used to this way of living but I was not. I couldn’t believe how people greeted you in the street here, it would never happen in Bradford! I remember telling DH I couldn’t believe how many people said hello to me in the street, he couldn’t believe I found that so surprising. It is a tory area but I think the majority of affluent areas are…

I have some experience of North Yorkshire, not so much south. Beautiful places right across the county which is probably the image people not from Yorkshire have. Most people are just regular people, I don’t know anyone who is small minded and bigoted but then it’s just who I choose to mix with I guess. Overall it isn’t a bad part of the world, it’s like anywhere in the world though with some parts worse than others. You’ll never find a completely perfect place, it doesn’t exist.

I agree I could write some of this post about some towns in Scotland.

Generally when you move as a young adult you are moving for economic opportunity so you more often than not naturally end up somewhere more salubrious than where you started.

I believe Yorkshire as a whole has a bigger population than Scotland.

I agree. It’s the pits. When I leave I’ll never return.
And I live in the bit that everyone wants to move to.

Op you want to cause ructions them and hit a nerve.😂 Spend a few years in a rough part of Scotland and them you can compare honestly.

Then not them, apologies.