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Black Mumsnetters

This board exists primarily for the use of Black Mumsnetters. Others are welcome to post but please be respectful.

If you heard of a nice town/village where black people were moving to, would you join them?

119 replies

Sugarintheplum · 19/02/2021 23:47

I'm just wondering.

I used to live in the US and they had black areas with good schools, attractive houses (like Fox Hills for eg), and we just don't really have that here.

If one emerged, would you be tempted?

OP posts:
BlackIsBlackIsBlack · 24/02/2021 18:41

staring..gee, although I kind of wish we were starring..

Hopelessatusernames · 24/02/2021 23:51

This reply has been deleted

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DedlyMedally · 25/02/2021 02:25

This reply has been deleted

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Sugarintheplum · 25/02/2021 03:32

Hopelessatusernames Wed 24-Feb-21 23:51:51
If only there was a whole continent that could solve all the issues raised in this whole forum.

Yes, imagine being told to go back to Africa on Black MN. And I thought I had seen it all!

I'm including the post in my post so that even if someone comes along and deletes the message it remains for all to see.

It's nearly made my day. It's like being pelted with daisies. As if that could impact us in any way.

HOOOOWEEEEE I go to my bed laughing!

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DeeCeeCherry · 25/02/2021 04:12

I'd join them. I like the idea.
It's about us feeling safer, comfortable. That back home community feeling.

I see a pp has mentioned Huddersfield - I can't take it when it snows up there, but I really like Huddersfield, it does have a community feeling. The same as I get in Handsworth.

I'm sure some would cry "segregation" but they're not worrying about that when gentrification actively runs Black people out of an area where many of us are, and results in services aimed at us being closed down too. So I'd ignore what they have to say.

Black America was worse off after de-segregation and remains so until today. De-segregation only came about as a result of non-Black eyeing Black people getting on with it, their own "Wall Street", services and organisations. They didn't like it.

& If we're being realistic about things, Rosa Parks victory resulted in several Black-owned bus companies going bust shortly afterwards.

So yes if a nice town/village emerged and we were the majority (by far) I'd be off there

BlackIsBlackIsBlack · 25/02/2021 07:15

If only there was a whole continent that could solve all the issues raised in this whole forum

Cows have no business in horseplay..

Starseeking · 25/02/2021 08:31

@Hopelessatusernames

If only there was a whole continent that could solve all the issues raised in this whole forum.

Oh @Hopelessatusernames what a wit you are! It only took 78 posts to display such erudite thinking. I salute you.

Peach1886 · 25/02/2021 09:27

You're very welcome @BlackIsBlackIsBlack, I do completely see that it's far from easy, although obviously I don't have that lived experience. For what it's worth I make a point of being smiley and saying hello to any Black or Asian visitors out in the countryside in our part of the world, to hopefully help them feel welcome. I know not everyone is like that, but one of the things about having such a sparse population is that we do generally all try and rub along together (various ethnicities, gay and straight families) and people are judged on their merits and whether they try and fit in...which is what a PP was saying about needing to work at it at first, it's not about having to prove yourself because of your skin colour (although I can 100% see why your experience shows otherwise), up here it's about showing that you want to fit in to the way day-to-day life works, and that you're not the sort of "off-comer" that won't value what is already here, and will want to be part of that - including, most importantly, the huge community spirit that exists in these parts. Which if I understand correctly is what some of you are looking for...

curlingtoes · 25/02/2021 09:43

Hopelessatusernames

If only there was a whole continent that could solve all the issues raised in this whole forum.

We will as long as the royal family and half of the white British population also go back to Germany, Denmark, Greece, etc where their ancestors they're all REALLY from. Otherwise, we're all British then and staying put. So you can feel free to wallow in pain and misery.

IamtheAuthority · 25/02/2021 10:21

First we were told to work harder at being accepted because we are Black (and somehow it is our fault we are treated badly - sadly even after the explanations about the negative effects of respectability politics this is still being touted as advice to Black people by non-Black posters) now to go back to Africa! All on BMN! 👏 👏 👏

yepthatsmeagain · 25/02/2021 11:39

Totally get this topic.
Some PPs have mentioned Huddersfield. I was brought up there and yes it is very diverse. There's a large black community and it has always had a reputation for being a 'friendly' town. I think that's why it's attracted so many migrants from all over the world,

But it does have pockets of deprivation, and is the second lowest paid area in the country in terms of salary levels. In order to earn well, you have to travel to cities like Leeds/Manchester. This may change with the pandemic and the onset of remote working.

And the town centre is dismal, but there is a huge regeneration project about to start. Can't wait for that actually, because Huddersfield really does have some beautiful buildings in its centre. These really do need to be show cased.

The thing is with Huddersfield, because it is so diverse when you go to surrounding areas it can be quite a shock when you're met with the staring. You know the staring I mean. So if you want to get out of the town, for different scenery you have to go to the local cities which are equally as diverse.

I must say, the pandemic has forced me to explore our local country side more, and people I come across are generally friendly.

And the houses are cheap, a 3 bed semi here is roughly 10% of the price of the equivalent in London. I've had 2 neighbours , both of whom are not white, move from the south in the last couple of years because there's no way they could afford to buy down south.

But as a PP said, the bloody snow can be a pain. With that and the hills, you can definitely be isolated for a few days when there's snow fall and it's Baltic weather.

Poppins88 · 26/02/2021 07:40

I spent over 10 years living in Devon and later Yorkshire, myself and my brother were the only black people in almost every room we entered. I wouldn't wish what I went through in that time on my worst enemy: the stares, the microagressions, the constant questions (where are you really from? Why do you do your hair like that?) the overt racism - the list is endless. To this day I am in therapy to deal with the impact of being constantly "othered" and I have a difficult relationship with my mother as I cannot understand for the life of me why she subjected us to that. I also found when I returned to London that I wasn't able to easily connect with other black people as I had spent so long being the token black girl that I had no understanding/experience of our food, music etc.

I would give my right arm to live in the community you've described, it would be like heaven.

BlackIsBlackIsBlack · 26/02/2021 20:05

Poppins88

A quite similar experience to me. I was born in the capital and then adopted some 200 miles away, where I was the only black kid in school. When the kids were kind, I never thought about it. When the kids were cruel that's all I could think about. Most of the time, it didn't matter, until it mattered.

Starseeking · 26/02/2021 21:40

I'm so sorry to hear of those experiences @Poppins88 and @BlackIsBlackIsBlack. Friends of mine are currently bringing their DC up in an extremely undiverse area.

He was laughingly telling us about how his DD came home excited as if she'd won the lottery when another Black girl briefly joined her class (she left soon afterwards). He doesn't see the lack of diversity as a problem, because HE personally loves living in the countryside. He is someone who was born and raised in Deep South London, so perhaps takes the type of childhood where the majority of people look like you for granted.

EwwSprouts · 26/02/2021 22:31

White, northern & semi-rural. Saw this on active and was interested to learn more.
All I would offer is that my child sees the world very differently to my older brother. He has friends who have grandparents all over the world. They're all welcome round here and we socialise as parents too if we've made a connection. None has ever mentioned trouble buying or renting a house. I recognise this may be skewed as most work for the NHS. Which makes me remember my aunt (now in her 80's) still has a best friend from nursing days who is black, they're both in Cheshire.
Sorry a bit of a ramble but wanted to provide a little anecdotal hope.

PonDeReplay · 27/02/2021 20:53

I listened to a radio programme on BBC Sounds recently which is relevant (it’s called Black Flight and the New Suburbia in case anyone wants to find it).

Anyway, it’s from 2016 which feels ages ago, but looks at the trend for large numbers of people from black and ethnic minorities to move out of cities and into the suburbs. This looks like something that is happening more generally so that suburban areas are becoming more diverse. It’s interesting and might make it easier for others to follow suit. I think a couple of places like Pinner and somewhere in Essex were mentioned.

SkedaddIe · 28/02/2021 13:44

My family and a lot of friends are part of that wave @PonDeReplay I'd definitely recommend it.

I think I'd like a black canvey island equivalent too as long as we had political representation to ensure that we got a fair deal with resources too.

Cowmilk · 02/03/2021 15:48

I would definitely move there.

Travelbutterfly · 02/03/2021 16:47

Would move in a heartbeat

OlympicProcrastinator · 03/03/2021 19:03

I would but not with my children. I’d retire there though. Unless there were lots of families who went first and I could be sure my kids wouldn’t suffer.

Starseeking · 03/03/2021 19:19

@OlympicProcrastinator

I would but not with my children. I’d retire there though. Unless there were lots of families who went first and I could be sure my kids wouldn’t suffer.

Why would you think your DC would suffer?

Bluebirdhumming · 04/03/2021 21:09

I'd move in a heartbeat!

I live in Manchester. I still cannot get used to being othered on a daily basis. It's bloody exhausting. Nevermind the bloody racism and "That doesn't really happen in England in this day and age though, does it?!" brigade. I'm exhausted for my DC.

nicewheels · 05/03/2021 10:38

I'm non-white (but not black) and I've found this thread so interesting.
I was brought up in a very white area, and just had to get on with it, I now live in a very white area and don't want to move as I have settled here, but I long for more diversity....it would be the single thing that would improve my day-to-day life (other than a lottery win).
Just not to be the only non-white at work/in the supermarket/at the pub/in the gym etc would be bliss.
For my skin colour/background Windsor and west of London (I'm not very off but quite middle-class) works well, but I can't afford to live there, but actually S London is where I feel most welcome by the local community - I lived there for a couple of years and it was friendly, I spoke to more of my neighbours there than I do living in my current address for more than 10 years - despite the 'thriving community' I currently live in.
Funnily enough my white bf had no problems with people being friendly to him when we moved in to my current area.

EvelynBeatrice · 05/03/2021 11:08

Come to Scotland please! I had a long talk at Edinburgh school gate years ago with black mum who said she worried her son would feel too different as school very white albeit many Asian and Chinese children, some Middle Eastern as well as lots of European kids from university families. I think things worked out ok for him - he did well and seemed happy enough - but I saw what she meant. Scotland has a large population with Asian forebears but otherwise much less diversity than down south.
I had a good chat on bus pre Covid ( as we do up here) with a hijab wearing lady with two incredibly cute little girls(one of whom I had to stop falling off back seat as she was executing a dance move on seat edge). She was married to a diplomat (the lady, not the little girl!) and said she’d lived all over the world. She said Edinburgh was where she had felt safest and most accepted. I’m sure we have our racist folks like anywhere else I’m afraid and the absence of racism towards one group doesn’t mean that it isn’t there for others, but I was still cheered by that conversation.

Sugarintheplum · 21/03/2021 13:28

Saw this and remembered this thread:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-56252018

LGBT older adults setting up their own residential community. People seem to think this is fine.....

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