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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask if there are black people in hull?

135 replies

izzy5678 · 04/12/2014 16:27

Im black and considering moving my family to hull due to housing shortages in my area.
Just wanted to know if it is common to see black people in hull as I do not want my family to be ostracised.

I was bullied extensively in high school due to the colour of my skin everyday for 5 years. Absolutley ruined me as a person.

I left school 6 years ago and to this day am still suffering the affects of the daily abuse I received all those years ago and would not want that for my children, hence my reason asking this question.

Thanks in advance and please don't take offence anyone x

OP posts:
EachandEveryone · 04/12/2014 20:37

Where's Sirius? Is it new? Tbh St Mary's isn't all that. They seem to push the children into gcse's much too early. I guess that's another thread!

Most hull primaries are great. I know from friends and family that still have children in school.

If I was the op I'd be worried about where they placed me Preston Road

CandidConfessions · 04/12/2014 20:37

Hull isn't exactly a seaside town, Hornsea or withernsea etc are but they are not exactly diverse.

LoonvanBoon · 04/12/2014 20:43

Sirius is near Anlaby Park in West Hull, Each - I think it is quite new / a rebrand. Yes, the GCSE thing at St. Mary's is v. odd. I wouldn't want to move to any city without having a choice about where I was going to live, TBH.

Agree, Candid, that I'd also be worried about the "seaside town" phrase having been used. Is it definitely Hull that's the possibility, OP, not places like Withernsea?

BreakOutTheKaraoke · 04/12/2014 20:47

I live in Hull. As lots have said, there aren't a high number of black families, but very little racism (that I have noticed). I work in a large shop in the city centre, which attracts a high amounts of students, and it surprised me when I started work how many more families were black than I had ever noticed.

My daughter is in year 6 of a primary, there is only one black student who has been in the area since birth, and two portuguese additions in the last two years. These girls both had very little English when they started, but were accepted in the class with no issues. Probably worth mentioning that there are no staff in the school who are black though, it is fully white.

I live on one of the council estates of Hull, it has changed a lot in recent years. It's a lot better than what is used to be! I see very little crime in the way of mugging or fighting, although petty theft is probably more common. But more bike from the shed, that break into your house. I enjoy living here. I live on less that minimum wage, but feel I have quite a good standard of living. I am also able to afford a mortgage on my own (bought before the standards tightened though!).

One thing I will mention is the lack of things to do here. I don't now how much nightlife there is in your current area, but here it hits 7 o clock and everything is deserted. Barely anyone walking around the city centre, for example. The avenues area is the exception to this, but it is purely restaurants/cafes/bars, over two long-ish roads, so not a big area or much to do at all.

BorisBaby · 04/12/2014 20:55

I agree with sheffield tbh jobs and cheap housing. I have friends in Hull and would never move there and I enjoy moving around the UK.

mwalimu · 04/12/2014 20:55

Tbf OP, I don't think white peoples opinion of whether an area is racist, is of an use.

And surely, the main point is that you are being forced to move 100s of miles to get suitable accommodation? Are you a SP with 2 young kids? Do you have a support network where you are now? Does their father live local to you now? Do you want to move?? If not, have you spoken to your MP?

Dawndonnaagain · 04/12/2014 21:01

Haha! No fucking racism in Norfolk. Do come and tell my dd that, she's awfully bored with pointing out where Pakistan and Gibraltar are on the map.

revealall · 04/12/2014 21:01

Can't you do HomeSwap or similar or us that only Housing Association?

At least that way you can look at individual estates areas which would be more helpful.

SpringBreaker · 04/12/2014 21:05

Croydon is such a multi-racial area that I am very shocked you got so much racist abuse at school. I live close to Croydon though, and have friends who are single parents, and there is a lot more affordable housing in the area now. Moving up north would be a huge difference to living in SE London.

Starbucksguardian · 04/12/2014 21:09

Croydon is expensive but are you sure you can not get anywhere with housing benefit. It breaks my heart seeing people who live in my city (London) not being able to live here. I live in Sutton so very close. I think you should stay in London if you can afford it. The employment opportunities are so much better and you could quite possibly get a higher paying job in the future. How about Crawley it's not that far away and a lot cheaper.

Starbucksguardian · 04/12/2014 21:11

Btw Crawley is diverse but nothing compared to Croydon.

Original poster
izzy5678 · 04/12/2014 21:11

revealall I can't do homeswap as my flat is temp accomodation :( although Ibe been told I'm lookino at a 10years+ wait before being offered a 2 bedroom place as I am in band 3a

OP posts:
SpringBreaker · 04/12/2014 21:13

I am in Cheam so not far from you Starbucks. (waves)

OP, my stepdaughter was in a similar housing situation to you and was temporarily in Thornton Heath for a while, but found a private flat in Worcester Park which accepted housing benefits. There were quite a few available.

Wilf83 · 04/12/2014 21:13

I don't think the OP was asking whether Hull was racist but whether there was a large black population in Hull. She used the word 'ostracised'.

2old2beamum · 04/12/2014 21:15

Bit late but North Norfolk is definitely not racist. We live in a small N.N coastal town (near Holt) we have a Afro Caribbean DD who is disabled Shock we have had no racist remarks she is Lottie end of!!

Original poster
izzy5678 · 04/12/2014 21:16

SpringBreaker Croydon is a very multicultural place. My school was very multicultural as well. But I was bullied by other black people at school because my skin was a darker shade of black compared to thiers, so was completely ripped apart for it

OP posts:
2old2beamum · 04/12/2014 21:22

Just read Hatespiders post she sums my feelings up. North Norfolk is fabulous whatever your race, colour or creed!!!!

Original poster
izzy5678 · 04/12/2014 21:27

mwalimu I don't want to move as I need my family as they support me, I'm a single parent and their dad isn't supportive.

I've got a 1 and 2 year old and we live in a cramped 1 bedroom flat for 2 years almost and it's difficult to cope after a long time.
Plus ongoing issues with the neighbours constantly smoking all sorts in the hallways, group's hanging around, constant shouting and banging etc ( it's mainly single people living in the block of flats)

OP posts:
jamdonut · 04/12/2014 21:32

I'm in a seaside resort in East Yorkshire about 35 miles from Hull. Admittedly it is predominantly white in this area,but the very few children from chinese/black/mixed race families seem to have very little problem, probably because they ARE in the minority. I can think of 2 asian,1 black ,4 chinese and a handful of mixed race children in the school I work at.

I moved here 11 years ago, from London area. There are quite a few families that have moved here recently from The South. It is not an uncommon accent!

SpringBreaker · 04/12/2014 21:48

If you want to stay in the area, then I would definately suggest looking for a private rental which will take top up HB payments. There are affordable ones in sutton/mitcham/worcester park/north cheam and the areas are certainly not racist too

ouryve · 04/12/2014 21:55

Newcastle and Gateshead are, on the whole, a little more cosmopolitan and diverse than Hull, I think, Bisgetti. Neither has a noticeably large black population, but Newcastle has a large asian population and Gateshead one of the biggest Jewish communities outside of London and there are two large universities with a very diverse range of students, so people aren't quite so shocked at "different".

I agree about the Holderness being the land that time forgot. Bog all mobile reception (my parents can only get three) and hardly any DAB stations, for starters. it's UKIP territory, too. They elected Godfrey Bloom there, FFS.

Hornsea's a pretty crap place to live on benefits with no car. My parents live near there, now and they finally got a small Tesco, a couple of years ago. They had to travel into Hull for ASDA or Morrisons, before then.

Agreeing that the Preston Road/Marfleet areas of Hull are dire, even though it's been rebuilt since my gran lived there. Longhill is grim, too. There's just no greenery. Jobs are thin on the ground. My sister manages to stay in work, but BIL has always been in and out of work and my brother is self employed and spends a lot of time working in Leeds.

Starbucksguardian · 04/12/2014 22:02

Don't go to hull stay in South East Hastings, Folkestone all in easy reach of Croydon have u thought about Woking, Medway or Eastbourne as well so many cheaper areas than Croydon not as far away as hull plz don't move to Hull you need family near.

EustaciaBenson · 04/12/2014 22:03

I thought people in Croydon were being offered Walsall as one of the areas to move to, its very multicultural around here!

DecaffCoffeeAndRollupsPlease · 04/12/2014 22:12

I made a mistake in my last move two years ago, and am living somewhere that's supposedly lovely, was recommended to me by friends who live here but, it is intimidatingly white. If it weren't for the fact I'm in the important school years and so need to stay put, I'd be off like a shot. Can't even get a haircut here.

I dream of Redditch or Wolverhampton. I dream of not hearing the n word and knowing that if I try to pull the utterer up on it ending up with a tirade of bollocks about how they're not racist coz... and I need to lighten up, and even- how dare I try to tell them what to say, they've got a cousin who has a friend who's black so it's obviously me with the problem.

I'm glad this thread has been responded to with helpful suggestions, some of the threads on here recently have made me feel like I was living on another planet, for all the denial of racism and suggestions of pc gone mad etc.

Crikey, bit of a detail there. Anyway, sorry for your circumstances OP, I hope you manage to find somewhere suitable and affordable to live.

DecaffCoffeeAndRollupsPlease · 04/12/2014 22:14

Or Walsall, as mentioned above, I could blend in there and not be too far from family.