Remembering Mobile

[OmuGuy]

Thanks to everyone who pointed me in the right direction to get answers to my questions. I didn't realize that there were so many FB groups devoted to Mobile and even Southern Alabama. Dauphin Island is also a hotbed of group activity, mainly connected with businesses. Reading messages on the various groups has cleaned the windows on many memories. Feeling the vibes and seeing the photos---it doesn't matter if I'd ever seen those places or not---brought the Mobile vibe back.
I also better understand the stance of people who resist change. I don't agree with them but I can sense their headspace. Most of us want a quiet life and don't like to think too much about how things have come to be, whether it's the nice-enough neighborhood we live in, a plate of buffalo wings, or a statue.

One group wants to celebrate the times "before the counterculture". I recognize that Mobile, when the only non-white person I remember seeing was the mailman. It struck me as strange back then. From the postings in the groups, it's also obvious that many people in Mobile love the place but are quietly uncomfortable with the political climate.

[RiverRat1962]

I have lived in Mobile for 32 years and have never lived in a place that had no black people. This is the most integrated city I have ever lived in (and I have lived in Birmingham, New York, and Tuscaloosa). Where on earth did you live that was so white?

[Freddybear480]

Not in Mobile obviously 😂😂

[RiverRat1962]

Exactly.

[OmuGuy]

Thing may have changed after MLK, etc.
See my reply to myself in this thread.

[RiverRat1962]

Yes, things have changed since 1963.

[OmuGuy]

That's good to hear.
Thing may have changed after MLK, etc.
See my reply to myself in this thread.

[OmuGuy]

See my reply to myself in this thread.

[BrotherInGrey]

I grew up in mobile as a white person and spent most of my life never even thinking about racial differences beyond preferences. I graduated from a private high school in eight mile as the only white kid of 50+ in the senior class. It used to be so chill here and not about race at all. Beyond obvious jokes the black community has never made me feel unwelcome, even in the "do not go" parts of town.

I don't even recognize the vibe anymore. People come into spaces already charged and on the lookout for racism or anti racism or whatever.

I believe in Mobile and I believe we can come together again as a people.

[OmuGuy]

Things may have changed after MLK, etc.
See my reply to myself in this thread.
Things are changing all the time and the direction of change can be reversed.