Did your company, spouse or significant other say South Dakota?

Sioux Falls?

If you found this blog, you probably Googled the following phrases to land here:

• Are there black people in South Dakota? Sioux Falls?
• African Americans in South Dakota
• Population, minorities or some combination of the previous.

To answer your question, YES. There are African Americans, blacks or people of color in South Dakota and yes, in Sioux Falls.

Don’t get too excited though. If you’re considering moving here from someplace like Atlanta, Washington DC or some other place where we are in abundance, you will be sorely disappointed. How about one every 5 miles? I’m probably exaggerating, but it is close to reality, unfortunately.

The strangest thing I noticed the first few weeks was being the only brown person in a store or particularly a restaurant. One day I looked around and remember thinking, If something jumped off in here, I wouldn’t have a chance. (If you’re of a certain age, you’ve probably heard of or have seen Dave Chappell’s comedy skit where he talks about 2 black guys on a high-jacked plane? It’s funny, but it’s not.)

The cool thing is, and I notice because of the skin I’m in, is that everyone is super friendly and there is a stark contrast between being brown here and being brown in the dirty south. The culture here has a small town feel like the south but diverse enough that you hear a lot of languages and see lots of culturally diverse people and I like that. I would love to have a black hair store to get certain products but thanks to Amazon Prime, I’m good.

DGR