travelhappyfamily

I'd echo some of the other responses...we've been visiting OBX and Emerald Isle (SOBX) ten plus years. We've not seen many black singles or families in OBX, but did in Atlantic Beach and Emerald Isle. We notice because my kids go to a primarily African-American school - their best friends are black or Hispanic, and well, they just notice things like that. =)

I think you're making the right choice - will you see lots of other black families? Probably not. Will you have a great vacation? Most definitely.

If you're going soon, we'll be there the second week in August. =)

GoTravel

mar, there are no racial tensions in Myrtle Beach concerning Black Bike Week.

All three bike weeks are lumped together and some want to save the bike weeks and others want them gone.

Please don't insinuate anything else because it simply isn't true and it is unfair and unjust.

cfc

I hate posts like these, because they makes me want to beg the OP not to assume that something that makes them uncomfortable is automatically from racism.

But that can then make the OP defensive and feel pressed to cite chapter and verse of events in Myrtle Beach that could have been racist.

Then people start arguing about the South or beach vacations or generalizations about African-Americans and about white people.

Ugly.

Hard to pose the question without touching tender and potentially offended points. Hard to answer the question without touching the same kinds of points.

If we say, "don't go b/c you'll be uncomfortable," that's only going to make for more ugliness, no matter whether it's false or true.

If we say, "go and all will be great," and then something happens that you suspect arises from racist prejudice -- that's only going to make for more ugliness, too.

I say, go and enjoy your kids and the water. Some people are pigs and some people are angels -- most of us are somewhere in between.

Dukey

There are racists around..of all colors...thinking that "it isn't true" may very well be because it has never been aimed AT you.

I would suggest you take a look at the outerbanksconnection.com board..lots of help there including recs as to where to stay, what to do, etc., if you are interested.

GoTravel

""There are racists around..of all colors...thinking that "it isn't true" may very well be because it has never been aimed AT you.""

Dukey, the OP said, "if I had been a bit more aware of Myrtle Beach's racial tensions (centering around Black Bike Week, etc" which simply isn't true.

There are no racial tensions concerning black bike week. There are tensions concerning getting rid of all three bike weeks with all the infighting being about Harley Weeks.

Atlantic Beach has already passed an ordinance that there will be a black bike week. It is a done deal. A non issue.

Here is a good place to start to read about it http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/

As far as other racial tensions, Myrtle Beach has a very active black and multi ethnic community. Several businesses were sued by the NAACP for closing during Black Bike Week by the local and national NAACPs.

The local chapter is very watchdog about MB.

I suggest if the OP had a problem, they contact the Reverend H.H. Singleton and he can put you in touch with the proper authorities.

We purposely strive to be a place where ALL people feel welcome.

Maybe if mar would name the place she felt gave her shoddy service, we could fix this and move on.

I think this is Louise talking about something that happened to her at the Harley Davidson bar 10 years ago.

mar_76

Gotravel, I beg to differ. I worked on a team of attorneys representing the NAACP in its suit against the city and certain business establishments. I don't know that I necessarily agreed with the suits, but I was there to work and that's what I did. I was in Myrtle Beach for 2 bike weeks and saw the nastiness of both the white and black events, and I will say I did seem some unsightly stuff at the black event. That said, when it was time to depose the employees of the establishments, it was beyond doubt that their experiences with black bike week had colored their perceptions of (young) black people in general. Just because you don't perceive any racial tension over the bike weeks doesn't mean it's not there - I have the deposition transcripts to prove it.

GoTravel

mar, I'm familiar with the suits against J.Edwards Ribs and The Yachtsman Resort.

I liken Black Bike Week to spring break in Panama City.

It isn't that these are black kids but that they are young kids.

I would not go to Panama City Beach during spring break either.

If you want an eye opening account of Black Bike Week, go to this website www.BlackBeachWeek.com.

For the most part, these aren't young black professionals, these are late teens early twenty somethings out to have a good time.

If you want to insist that this is a black issue, please do so.

I am done with this conversation.

mar_76

Sorry, Gotravel, we must have been posting at the same time. While you might see it as a young person issue as opposed to a black issue (and I agree incidentally), not everyone in Myrtle Beach does. The transcripts from those suits you mention proves it. Anyway, I didn't mean for this to become a bike week discussion - I was just providing some context to my question through use of the only other southern beach I've been to. Granted, probably not the best comparison, but it's the one that was in my head.

Finally, I just want to say in response to those that have said "don't assume that something making you uncomfortable is due to race" that I don't do this. I always give people the benefit of the doubt. But sometimes I don't have to assume - it stares me in my face as it did when a girl told my daughter she didn't want to play with the "black girl." (see my post above at 9:12pm)

Anyway, thanks for all the responses, and if you see a black family at OBX in Aug/Sept. 2009, come say hi, it'll probably be us!

BlackandGold

I actually asked this same question on another website on behalf of a black friend. She knew that I vacationed on the OBX and was curious about the racial attitudes and if she would be welcomed. Everyone who responded felt that there were no racial issues at all and anyone of any color would be welcome. She ended up not going for completely different reasons, but I made it a point to take notice the next time I visited.

Well, over the course of a week on the beach I saw one black family and another small group of college age kids. I also noticed two black couples at a restaurant that were having a great time. I generally go in September so the beaches are pretty empty period, but that still seemed to be a small percentage. I did check US census data and less than 3% of the population is black or African-American and nearly 95% of the population is white which may contribute to the perception that blacks aren't welcome.

One difference between Myrtle and OBX is that the OBX is mostly houses, some condos, and some smaller hotels. There are no big resort hotels with lazy rivers, etc., so you have less interaction with your neighbors. We usually stay at a small condo complex, but since it is off season there is rarely anyone at the pool.

Whenever we go we tend to spend at least one evening/afternoon in a bar watching football. I will say I have never picked up on any racial or religous attitudes at all from either the locals or the visitors. Alcohol sometimes brings these things to the surface and so far it hasn't surfaced at all.

If you're comfortable being the only black person around I say go for it. Generally speaking the people I have encountered on the OBX have been kind and seem to be enclusive. One other thing to keep in mind (not related to race) is that there is very little to "do" in the OBX compared to places like Myrtle. There seem to be minimal kid activies like amusement parks, waterslides, bumper cars etc.. There is mini-golf. Not to say that there is nothing at all, but most of the fun in the OBX is of your own making and revolves around the beach and other outdoor activities.

I would be interested to know how your trip went if you decide to go.

snowrooster

We visited OBX for the first time this year in June. There was an african american family staying in our neighborhood (Ocean Dunes in Duck) in one of the ocean front homes. They seemed to be pretty comfortable and having a good time. One of the men was likely a personal trainer as he would lead exercises for other members of his family on their front lawn in the morning as we walked to the beach.

Anya

This poster writes the same question over and over again each time for a different location. His previous nickname was thedingler.

This time it's OBX, it used to be he didn't see any African-American families in national parks, camping, other locations.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...national+parks

Jimingso

I don't think mar_76 sounds at all like thedingler.

NewbE

Me, neither.

TxTravelPro

Every time someone refers to OBX I think they are referring to Obo, in Papua New Guinea.
OBX is the city code (like an airport code) for Obo.

WannabeinaMontserrat

I agree. I could be way off base here but mar_76 sounds like a female, the dingler a male. Guess we could always try his e-mail & see ?

emd

I have vacationed in the OBX for many years. I also have been to VA beach, and I see a lot more African Americans in VA Beach than in OBX. I don't know why. It's just an observation.

emd

Mar_76 is not the dingler. Check Mar_76's postings.

sumi

First of all, I don't think that the question is whether racial discrimination still exists. It does. Frankly, whenever I hear someone claim that it doesn't, that person is invariably white. I just think it's really hard to see it if you're white.

We're a bi-racial family. My ancestors are Asian, my husband is black and it's really hard to tell what our son is without seeing us... we call him a mutt. (lol) I used to accuse my husband of being over-sensitive in assuming that every slight/rudeness was about race but I have to admit that the general treatment I receive is different when I'm with my husband. I've seen people's attitudes change when they see him.

We travel quite a bit and stand out pretty much everywhere we go. We don't worry about whether we'll "feel welcome". We just go with the excitement of experiencing a new place, a new culture and have a good time. I'm sure we get slighted here and there because of race but, if you travel internationally, you'll notice that there is prejudice against somebody almost anywhere you go (and, trust me, no one is all that fond of us Americans...) My husband is much friendlier than I am and just plunges right in. (He's sort of like that big friendly dog that invariously goes right for the person who doesn't like dogs... lol)

Btw, I used to worry about needing to protect my son but he seems to take his cue from us. By us not reacting to things in terms of "race", he doesn't expect it to be a factor. If another kid isn't friendly or makes a disparaging comment, he'll just shrug it off and chalk it up to the other kid being "unfriendly" or a "bully".

LJ

Our family just returned from vacation down in coastal Maine with a new member of our extended family, a young black man. 'Sonny' is our new SIL's "Little Brother" (from the Big Brother programme), has been for 4 years now and we have become good friends. 'Sonny' is 15, dresses like a typical 15-year-old from a big city, sort of rapper style, tidy corn row hair, big basketball jerseys and T's and great, incredibly clean sneakers.

We are all white, middle-class'ish, though the young couple (DD and SIL) are more with-it than DH and me (I can't keep my sneakers nearly that neat).

The camp/resort/lodge that we have gone to for 25 years accepted us all with the usual grace. They think we are all eccentric anyway.

It was when we left camp to visit our favourite sight-seeing places or to shop that the vibe changed.

We attracted a LOT of attention-way more than I would have expected, even though I have often noticed in our 25 years of Maine vacations that it is not a popular destination for young black families.

While we were never made to feel uncomfortable to the extent we had to leave a restaurant or sight, we did get a lot of stares, not all friendly or positive. Folks were clearly trying to figure out the dynamic: who 'belonged' to who and what this kid was doing there.

I also noticed that if 'Sonny' appeared someplace, like the high end food/wine store and seemed to be on his own, he was watched like a hawk: this was not my imagination, nor was it simply due to his being young. The other young man in our party did not receive nearly the same amount of wary scrutiny. Then, when my daughter or I went and put an arm round 'Sonny's' shoulder, it suddenly made him kosher (strange vocabulary, but you know what I mean) to the store-owner.

I learned a lot this trip. There is lot of pre-judgement of and downright prejudice toward young black people who dress like members of the cast of The Wire. Yet their proximity to 'nice', white folks like us suddenly makes them OK. I don't know which aspect of this strange paradox made me sadder.

Subway_Scoundrel

Although not considered OBX, I go to the beach about an hour south and see black families quite often on the beach but I don't really think twice about it so there could be several more and I just don't notice.

Like anyone on the beach, if a group or family is yelling and screaming and shaking sand on other people, you will get looks. But if they go to the beach, have fun and act responsible, does not matter if you are green and worship a rock.

For bad service, I get bad service at the beach all the time because most of the people working are temps or move from job to job. I can not tell you how many times I have had bad service there and I am middle age bulging white guy who tips well.

BTW, I have a nephew who is darker skin (adopted from Caspian Sea area) and he has no problems. He does not even know he looks different than his brother or some of the kids he plays with and he gets along fine