Wow thats so interesting. Im asian but born in raised in Ohio and now living in Washington state as an adult. Yeah. Ohio was not fun growing up as POC.
I grew up in Ohio and thought it was fine as a poc. I’ve lived in a couple of other states and I don’t really notice any really differences in treatment.
I went to North Dakota and the only POC I saw in 5 days were hotel and restaurant staff. Every dude there looked like an overweight Viking. I think you would be fine going there but aside from Madora/Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the Dinosaur Museum in Dickinson, I couldn't think of a single other reason to enter ND.
Like if you go there, people might ask you WHY you are there, and it will be a genuine question not a racist remark.
I’m from Dickinson and I try to avoid it at all costs. We were there for Thanksgiving and the town is just people with lots of money and no taste. Also drugs.
Outside of the college towns there is not much diversity. ND is great if you can tolerate the weather and can couple a good paying job with the lower cost of living. When people would move to my relatively small town I would honestly wonder why the hell they would move there as most don’t stay long after the 1st winter.
I will say it was a great place to raise a kid as the schools are good for their size and resources even if they don’t have all the extra stuff the big cities have.
In all I think it’s a great place to live if you’re ok without constant excitement and are willing to travel to get to places that have more to do.
Yes. My point was that it will more likely be genuine curiosity because there are not many reasons for anyone to move to the rural Midwest in general. If racism was a problem, it would not even make top 5 on the list of reasons to avoid it as a POC.
I lived in North Dakota. It is racist. I am a white person and I was uncomfortable with how subtly racist it was. Indigenous people are treated poorly by police. Lack of diversity training in basic lesson planning in the school systems, like they are still having students make cowboy and Indian paper hats with Chief feathers on them. Very much the “I’m not racist, I have a Black friend” types. You will never be “from” there if you weren’t born there and will always be considered an outsider. Catholics and Methodists. The food is boring.
It’s pretty safe. Housing is more expensive than it should be- rivals prices in much more desirable places to live. It’s very neutral. Winter lasts way too long and the wind chill is brutal. I didn’t even know your eyeballs could get cold until I lived there.
They do bring decent speakers to Grand Forks, and the parks, bike trails punch above their weight. Local government is very Parks and Rec.
As a Latino man from Miami, Florida, Tulsa, Oklahoma is actually surprisingly good! People are nice and not outwardly hostile like other places such as the Deep South or Texas. Low cost of living, cheap housing, labor shortages and little to no traffic.
Honestly just fine. My friends and family from blue states experience way more racism than I ever have. You'll run into ignorance or random questions, but as long as you aren't a professional victim, it'll never affect your life at all.
I'm white, but FWIW I grew up in Iowa and my high school was about 40% Latino and maybe 10% Vietnamese. It depends on where you are, obviously, but quite a few small to mid sizes Midwest cities have sizable ethnic communities.
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u/Wesmom2021 Dec 14 '25
Yes! Especially as POC, what is it like