an honest question

[moving soon]

I swear to God this is an honest question, and once you see how lame and ridiculous it is, you will know why I have chosen to post it anonymously on a forum.
The scoop: I grew up in an all white suburb (I'm white) and now my family and I are buying our first home. We looked at many places and finally settled on Homewood because the schools are good, the downtown area is awesome, the homes are beautiful and not all the same and not ridiculously large, and also because we don't want our current kid and our future kids to grow up in a town that's not only all white, but white supremecist as well. We scoped out Homewood and have friends that live in the area, but I just don't want to end up feeling naive, like a typical white kid who grew up in a white suburb. To be blatantly honest, it makes us feel like yuppie crackers to be purposely moving to Homewood for the sake of its "diversity." Right? We can't go around courting the black folks and begging them to be our friends just so we can have some street cred with our white friends. But having grown up in a town that I HAD NO CLUE was racist until I got old enough to recognize latent racism (about age 15), I don't even know what it's like in normal towns. In my town, white people wait until they know you well enough before revealing their true racist colors--but they never reveal them in a normal tone of voice. They always say, "I'm not prejudice, but..." and then they whisper the end of their racist sentence. I'm not even kidding. Even professionals, even college educated folks, even folks that have traveled and all that, it's not just the hillbillies. It makes me want to throw up to think of raising a kid in that environment. So here's my embarrassing question: what are race relations like in Homewood? Do people get along as well as they appear? When I was a little kid we lived in Dolton and in my little kid memory it was like a utopia where everyone got along and there were all kinds of people on our block and they all got along and we had bbqs and block parties, and everything was great, until my parents got all white flight about it and moved us all the way out here. Is the world too ugly now to imagine that we might be able to provide a not-all-white group of neighbors, role models, friends, and all that for our kids?
I guess I'm not looking for any specific answer, but maybe just a little input. The question I'm scared to ask is "Will everyone think we are a bunch of cracker idiots who moved to Homewood to prove some point?" Or is it possible that most residents might be relaxed about the issue? Am I dumb for thinking it might be like it was 25 years ago when I was a kid? Are churches, bbqs, block parties, restaurants, and ice cream shops a mix of people or are there separated neighborhoods and all that?
I guess I'll find out soon enough in a few weeks when we close on our first home but I just don't want to be disappointed. This is totally stupid and I'm rambling, but for the fiftieth time one of my jerky old aunts has just told my mother that the "area is changing," which we all know what that means when a white person says it. At times I feel like we just can't win and things are so far gone that you can't even figure out how to be just plain and honest. I'm just hoping that's a byproduct of living in this horrible town for so long.

[HF Resident]

No, you are not crazy for wanting what alot of people want- your kids to grow up in a diverse, safe neighborhood with good schools. We moved from the same situation- all white and very conservative to Homewood about 6 years ago. Got the same reaction from the older folks in the family- like we missed the memo or something- instead they used terms like "Blight". We don't try to explain the whole diversity thing to anyone- its a personal decision that is completely foreign to some people. Our personal experience has been very good with folks in Homewood (black and white). People willing to pay the taxes we do value education and the park/community services Homewood offers. The downtown area and older pre-war housing stock is great- better than most of the other areas we looked at.
Its very hard to make a life changing desicion like moving when you don't have family backing you up. Whether you agree with them or not- most people look for approval from the people they love and respect. The family members that dissaproved of us moving here have come out for family parties and have been pretty impressed. No more comments are made. It takes time. You'll find that you don't think about it all that much after you have lived here a while.

[Deanna]

No, you are not. I am an African American woman with a husband and a daughter and we have moved to Homewood, Illinois back in 2006. I am originally from Chicago, however I lived most of my time overseas (United States Navy; Puerto Rico and Japan). My family moved to Hazel Crest, Illinois about 13 years ago and I wanted to be close to my family. I also wanted diversity for my daughter because she grew up with all sorts of people. She is very well-rounded. Homewood offers that stability. With my family's life's experiences, we have friends of all colors and nationalities and we are able to relate. So, moving back to Homewood will provide that for your family. Yes, Homewood, Illinois has pockets (neighboring Hazel Crest and Harvey) but what neighborhood doesn't. I have friends that live in Glencoe and they say that crime is prevalent there as well. To make a long story short, live your life and embrace all aspects of life.

[psycho1]

SIEG HEIL

[Amazed]

Duh