What happened when Black Lives Matter came to a notorious KKK town in Texas

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

The town of Vidor, in east Texas, has a reputation. It’s the kind of reputation that causes its residents to pause when someone asks where they’re from.

For years it was known as a sundown town — a place where non-whites were threatened with violence if they stayed after dark, and where they were barred from living through intimidation and discriminatory practices. It has a long history of Ku Klux Klan activity, and was once described by a local magazine as “the most hate-filled town in Texas.”

So when a notice appeared on social media last week announcing a march would be held there in support of the Black Lives Matter protests, many believed it was a trap. “Do. Not. Step. Your. Black. Asses. Into. Vidor,” is how one black woman responded to a flyer posted on Twitter.

-snip-

But there was a purpose to holding the rally in such an ostensibly inhospitable place. The idea came from Baaheth’s friend, Maddy Malone, a Vidor resident. The two of them believed Vidor was better than the reputation that preceded it. By holding a march for Black Lives Matter, they could show their support for a cause they believed in and give the town a chance to show a different side of itself to the world.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/happened-black-lives-matter-came-233324466.html

[erronis]

1. Hope this is continuing. Just to add a bit more from that article:

“We got a whole bunch of responses from people in the town and the surrounding areas. There were some people in the town who were for it, there were some against it,” says Baaheth. “But I was gonna do it whether people liked it or not, because everybody deserves a chance to be heard and to show who they really are.”

Their march set off a collective soul-searching for the people of Vidor. For years, residents had complained that they had been unfairly singled out for the town's dark past. They claimed that Vidor had changed. Those claims were about to be put to the test.

[Dustlawyer]

2. I have two really good friends who grew up and still live in Vidor.

One is a full blooded American Indian. He would tell me about the cross that was burned in his front yard as a kid and the fights he and his brothers would have because they were not white. He says that most of the guys he fought with are now some of his best friends. I know these guys too. They have come a long way in their understanding, but some still have a ways to go.

Over the last few years I have noticed minorities living and working in Vidor, something that has never happened in my lifetime.
The only exception was when the government forced some poor blacks to move there in the public housing in 1993. They were attacked so the government put up a fence. After more attacks they had to keep 24 hour police there. They finally gave up and the minorities were relocated.

Now you see mixed race couples and children at the grocery stores. You see black and Hispanic employees working at businesses there. The people that live and work there now actually know some black people and discovered that they really are people instead of the racial stereotypes. These poor whites discovered they had more in common with poor blacks than they had differences. It is mainly the older generations that still have a problem, but they are not as prevalent as they were. Many had to learn to deal with mixed grandchildren, and in so doing their attitudes changed. My other friend who lives there told me a story of this racist old man that lives down his street. said this guy was always N___ this and N___ that. Now he has a mixed race granddaughter that he loves to death. My friend said you will not hear the N___ word coming from him anymore!

It is still a town with a lot of hate and drug problems. James Byrd was dragged to death not very far from Vidor so that should give you some idea that there is still a long way to go. My Indian friend once showed me two different oak trees where they used to hang black people. There are no historical markers or any other indication of what transpired there, but I have seen the archived pictures of the hangings and the crowds gathered around like it was some type of celebration. It is a sickening history that I am glad to see is changing, albeit slowly.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

3. We have a town like vidor

In Maryland called rising sun.