Is OK a family friendly state? (Muskogee, Choctaw: new home, tornado, living in)

[Snowman05]

Originally Posted by stephenMM

I don't know about Fort Smith, but I've been in Little Rock for 1 year, 5 months and 13 days. Yes, I'm counting the days. Don't get me wrong, it IS the South so people are generally friendly and pleasant. That's why I came, and have zero regrets about that. But the crime is bad, and Fort Smith is the same, at least from what my friends here tell me.

It's also a lot more conservative and Republican if that makes any difference. What I can't handle is how the Black and White communities are totally, totally separate, including having self segregated areas! It's not what I'm used to and I don't like it.

My take on Arkansas is that it is more backwoods than Southern. I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and have lived in Houston, New Orleans, Knoxville and Savannah. Florida cities too, but Florida ain't the South. Arkansas is not like any of the Southern places I have lived, it's just "different". Love the people in general, but looking forward to moving to another place in the South.

I've lived in NJ (originally) NC WA and something I learned about law enforcement is, crime stats don't always reflect the actually crime going on. Back when NJ was tough they went after people and crime was recorded. The south generally doesn't play around with criminals, particularly in small towns. In WA cops are just a formality, who mostly respond to drug overdoses and show up an hour later if at all. They are afraid to even flash their sirens. So while I think there's a lot of crime in the south, the stats are some of the highest in the country because cops do their job and therefore crime is reported and counted towards the crime rate. Violent crime is harder to overlook. In the northwest u have a ton of property crime, much that is never recorded. Property rights hardly exist. If you are caught trespassing in the south u risk getting shot at.

AR OK don't have the same 18th century history that the East Coast has, so the culture is only a version of southern. But it seems most who live there trace their forefathers from the east. Even in WA some families are culturally southern, with grandfathers who came in the 1900s. They don't identify as mainstream Washingtonians.

[ketchikanite]

Originally Posted by stephenMM

I don't know about Fort Smith, but I've been in Little Rock for 1 year, 5 months and 13 days. Yes, I'm counting the days. Don't get me wrong, it IS the South so people are generally friendly and pleasant. That's why I came, and have zero regrets about that. But the crime is bad, and Fort Smith is the same, at least from what my friends here tell me.

It's also a lot more conservative and Republican if that makes any difference. What I can't handle is how the Black and White communities are totally, totally separate, including having self segregated areas! It's not what I'm used to and I don't like it.

My take on Arkansas is that it is more backwoods than Southern. I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and have lived in Houston, New Orleans, Knoxville and Savannah. Florida cities too, but Florida ain't the South. Arkansas is not like any of the Southern places I have lived, it's just "different". Love the people in general, but looking forward to moving to another place in the South.

Folks in the south don’t really care what you like. Blacks and whites often have separate neighborhoods because that’s what THEY like. That doesn’t mean they don’t interact with other or have animosity towards towards each other. Worry about your own self!

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by ketchikanite

Folks in the south don’t really care what you like. Blacks and whites often have separate neighborhoods because that’s what THEY like. That doesn’t mean they don’t interact with other or have animosity towards towards each other. Worry about your own self!

You nailed it but folks do not want to hear it.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by Threestep2

You nailed it but folks do not want to hear it.

It also needed to be said that this is not a southern thing at all. Just about any city in the country of any size that has a significant Black population demonstrates this demographic housinf pattern.

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by eddie gein

It also needed to be said that this is not a southern thing at all. Just about any city in the country of any size that has a significant Black population demonstrates this demographic housinf pattern.

It is called human nature.

[Snowman05]

A lot of it is socio-economic. The segregation lasted so many decades it may take an equal number of decades to undo all the effects. People gravitate to their own community like racial or religious, what side of town they grew up. I've seen the same segregated towns in NJ. You drive one mile and under the highway, suddenly the city you're in is 90% black. This is slowly changing but there are powers that be who benefit from groups fighting each other.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by Snowman05

A lot of it is socio-economic. The segregation lasted so many decades it may take an equal number of decades to undo all the effects. People gravitate to their own community like racial or religious, what side of town they grew up. I've seen the same segregated towns in NJ. You drive one mile and under the highway, suddenly the city you're in is 90% black. This is slowly changing but there are powers that be who benefit from groups fighting each other.

Since this is an OKC board it is interesting to look at OKC. From its very first day it was "segregated" by the river. South of the river was mostly Texans/southerners. North of the river was mostly Kansan/northerners.
Because the Kansans were the powers that be behind the Boomer movement... they gained the early seat of power and prestige... on the north side. And the south side became the working class side of town.

[chicken_nuggets24]

You could say it's an OK state for families.

[Snowman05]

Originally Posted by eddie gein

Since this is an OKC board it is interesting to look at OKC. From its very first day it was "segregated" by the river. South of the river was mostly Texans/southerners. North of the river was mostly Kansan/northerners.
Because the Kansans were the powers that be behind the Boomer movement... they gained the early seat of power and prestige... on the north side. And the south side became the working class side of town.

That sounds similar to the Indian tribes relocation. The Cherokee came from the east, so settled the east side. Choctaw south and so on.

I find the Indian relocation and Sequoyah history very interesting.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by Snowman05

That sounds similar to the Indian tribes relocation. The Cherokee came from the east, so settled the east side. Choctaw south and so on.

I find the Indian relocation and Sequoyah history very interesting.

I have never really been able to find much info on how and why the tribes got placed where they did in regards to their removal to Oklahoma. I do know that that the very first of the "old settler" Cherokee got removed to Arkansas. And the part of Oklahoma that the Cherokees got was basically the part closest to where they were living in Arkansas.

I believe the Choctaw were the next to agree upon removal. They ended up in the closest area of Oklahoma to their ancestral lands. Creeks (Muskogee) were from the Alabama area and they ended up with lands west of the Cherokee in Oklahoma. Chickasaw were from northern Mississippi and west Tennessee. They ended up west of the Choctaw. Seminoles were most resistive and they were last to get removed. They ended up basically west of the Creeks.