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Post by fjackson on May 17, 2007 18:20:48 GMT -5
I am going to be moving to Amarillo to be close to my aging mother while my husband is deployed. We are going to settle there once he finishes his commitment in about 18 months. We are originally from Gary Indiana. My mother moved to Amarillo about 15 years ago when she remarried. My husband and I have always loved the area. We are going to buy a house. My mother currently lives on the North side of town in an older area. We looked around the city a few weeks ago and decided to concentrate our search on the SW part of town. We fell in love with the Westover area because our son could walk to school and the park and the home are newer and in our price range. The academic performance looks good at all the schools in the area and I plan to go to the University in Canyon so it will be a short drive.
Since my mother is older I have learned to take her advice with a grain of salt but she does not think we will be welcomed on that side of town and that my son will be picked on at school because we are African American. She mentioned an incident that happened at a high school in that area where some white and Hispanic kids began throwing bananas at some black kids at a basketball game and yelling racial slurs. That sounds absolutely awful! My son has only been in schools near military bases which tend to be diverse with people from all over the country. He is a top student. I would like honest feedback, don't sugar coat it. Do you think we will have a problem in that area? Do you think the kids will accept my son? I'm sure my mom is looking at the situation as if it is the 1960's, but would like input from the locals. This will be our first home purchase and we don't want to have to move.
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Post by horribilis on May 18, 2007 6:33:12 GMT -5
I have never had children of my own, and I live just east of SW Amarillo in a nice neighborhood that for all I know is 100% white, so I am probably not much help.
What I did pick up on in your post however was the uncertainty you are feeling about the move in general, and I have been there before. I moved here just over 7 years ago and am now married happily to a local woman and feel quite settled in. I am not outgoing and sometimes I wonder how I met the wonderful person I am now married to, so I did fight the perceived feeling of being an outsider. For the first year and a half I was here I resented the closed in feeling of the "natives" but I think it was mostly in my own mind. I am honest enough to admit if I was more outgoing and relaxed I would have blended in right away.
I love the people here so I am very happy for making what turned out to be a wise decision to move here. I wish I knew more about the school stuation here, but if you meet any other parents, that will be the predominant topic of discusson.
I would say to look around and test the water. Try renting in an area first before buying until you get a sense of what the neighborhood is like. I don't like to generalize, but speaking for myself I judge people by by character, not skin color as Dr. King said I should. I think people here are pretty much of the same mindset. You do hear about the occasional outrageous acts like what was printed in the paper, but incidents like that are not typical for the community in general.
Again I say that as never having been a parent, let alone a parent in this schoold district so I better let others more qualified than me to speak to that topic. I wouldn't be afraid to move here. If you are a good American citizen then forget about the African part, that is what will get you accepted here.
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habiba
Junior Member
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Post by habiba on May 18, 2007 14:58:23 GMT -5
I come here in 1981 from the mid east and never have a problem. The people here are great. I was worried about backlash against me after the gulf war and 9/11 even though I am not muslim but I never have any problem. I now live in the SW part of town and have all good neighboor. I lived in Eastridge for a long time during the 80's. When I move there it was mostly white. A lot of Asian starting moving in to work at the meat plant and I never see any conflict. Of coures there are some bad apple like the banana kid, but that is just spoiled brat, and not the norm here. You will probably be the only black family on your block but everyone will be nice. Westover is a great area, with great schools and well built homes. I think you picking a great spot.
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Post by joe on May 18, 2007 23:26:03 GMT -5
I agree with the others in that you should not allow an isolated incident of questionable motivation carry much weight. The school and child involved in the incident have expressed their sorrow for the incident. Moves are often stressful enough without added anxiety. Folks around here are pretty decent.
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Post by Buff's Sister on May 20, 2007 20:15:54 GMT -5
I completely understand your concern because of an isolated incident in the near past.
However, we chose Westover as the area to build in because of the schools that our children would grow up in. My son is in Kindergarten right now and has a couple of African American children in his class. He has become really good friends with both of them and they seemed to be well-liked among their classmates. I don't know if it's the age of the children or they way they were raised, but the color of their skin doesn't seem to matter.
If you want any specific information on the schools in that area, pm me and I will give you anything you would like to know!
Good luck with your search for a great home and school for your children.
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Post by princessbaybay on May 21, 2007 1:08:11 GMT -5
Everyone has made good points....
I just have 1 to add...
Amarillo is not like Houston, Dallas LA or other larger cities where you don't make eye contact with anyone for fear of being attacked or whatever...
LMAO! People here will look at you...so don't take it wrong.... and it is ok to look at them back.
I have been back for six months...and that has taken a little getting use to.... but now it is kind of refreshing... had I not looked back I might of missed some friendly faces and nice smiles. Now I look back a people all the time.
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Post by ras619 on May 21, 2007 11:09:35 GMT -5
Everyone has made good points.... I just have 1 to add... Amarillo is not like Houston, Dallas LA or other larger cities where you don't make eye contact with anyone for fear of being attacked or whatever... LMAO! People here will look at you...so don't take it wrong.... and it is ok to look at them back. I have been back for six months...and that has taken a little getting use to.... but now it is kind of refreshing... had I not looked back I might of missed some friendly faces and nice smiles. Now I look back a people all the time. Very very true - good point. AND, "most" of the time when driving around many people may wave with more than one finger.  |
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Post by fjackson on May 21, 2007 13:49:09 GMT -5
I would like to thank everyone for their input. I found the story about the banana incident on line. Let's just say it sounded a lot worse when my mothers 85 year old neighbor told it to me. I plan on spending some time in area parks, library and restaurants with my son when I return in a couple of weeks. I think I was just getting nervous with the move and my husbands deployment. I'm sure we'll fit in just fine after getting to know most of the folks. It is just a bit different then the other places we have lived. You have a beautiful city. Amarillo is probably the best kept secrete in the west.
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Post by princessbaybay on May 21, 2007 14:53:48 GMT -5
Everyone has made good points.... I just have 1 to add... Amarillo is not like Houston, Dallas LA or other larger cities where you don't make eye contact with anyone for fear of being attacked or whatever... LMAO! People here will look at you...so don't take it wrong.... and it is ok to look at them back. I have been back for six months...and that has taken a little getting use to.... but now it is kind of refreshing... had I not looked back I might of missed some friendly faces and nice smiles. Now I look back a people all the time. Very very true - good point. AND, "most" of the time when driving around many people may wave with more than one finger.  I use to have a bumper sticker to remind them to wave all their fingers at me! |
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Post by petiepanzer on May 22, 2007 7:47:47 GMT -5
I don't think you will really have any trouble over there. Sure, Amarillo has a few racists, but not any more than any other place around the country. I don't think your son will be singled out in school because he is not white, either. I think there is still bullying going on in schools, but it is usually for reasons other than race today. As far as the banana incident was concerned, it was only 1 student that threw 1 banana. As I understand it, he got suspended for the remainder of the year and chose to finish out his high school education elsewhere. He was an idiot and so were his parents, but there are stupid people everywhere, not just Amarillo.
Westover is not a bad location, especially if you want to attend school in Canyon. I am looking at getting a new house right now also, and I have looked at some over there. There is one thing that anybody considering purchasing a house over there should take into consideration: the Westover neighborhood is right next door to a trailer park. Unfortunately, it is a typical trailer park and there are a number of problems that come about as a result. They have a lot of problems with Meth use over there, the typical DV calls, and they have even had a murder or 2 over there. Now, as far as I know, the trailer park residents stay in their own enclave and don't bother the people living in WP too much. It might be a different atory, though, in school amongst the children. It's just something to consider.
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habiba
Junior Member
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Post by habiba on May 22, 2007 16:51:22 GMT -5
Overall Amarillo is a blue collar working mans town, and yes some people here live in trailor. I think it is mostly older people in the trailor park near the Westover area and I never hear of anything bad. We all admitt we have our share of problem in every part of town. For the most part the people are a good family oriented people. You can find small detail about any area, but overall you can not go wrong on SW side of town where you are looking. Neighboorhood and school is good and people are good.
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I use to have a bumper sticker to remind them to wave all their fingers at me!