I don't think people around here realize what the South is really like

The BBQ Pit
101

When I was seven, my family took a month-long trip to Arizona.

When I was twenty, I moved to Washington State and lived there for the four years I was in college.

Otherwise, I’ve never spent more than three weeks at a stretch outside of North Carolina. Born here, raised here, bought a house here. It’s my home.

This thread is, to be honest, eye-opening for me. As I said, open racism has been very rare in my experience – I had assumed this was common throughout the South. It sounds like enclaves of abject racism are more common than I’d thought, from some of the other posts here.

Hopefully, other posters are realizing that open racism isn’t as ubiquitous as they’d thought, either. Go to perfectly Southern cities like Asheville, like Atlanta, like Chapel Hill, like Durham, and you’ll have experiences like I have.

In some ways, I think I and other Southerners end up feeling like Merijeek et al are mocking our crazy aunt Maude. We KNOW she’s crazy, and we hate that she’s crazy, and sometimes inside our family we make fun of her. But when some stranger comes from outside and starts mocking her, hot damn but we get pissed!

It’s very possible to criticize the racism that exists in the South in an honest, open fashion without being a flaming asshole about it. Merijeek, you’d do well to learn this lesson.

For some fantastic Southerners committed to fighting racism, check out www.splcenter.org, one of my favorite political groups.

Daniel

102

Theios: "It seems that the whites think the blacks are trash. The blacks think the whites are trash. Both think that the migrant worker population is sub-human."

[Tangent] This reminds me of a heated discussion between Archie Bunker & Mr. Jefferson about the new neighbors who up til then had only been identified as “minority.” Both stopped arguing and gawked in horror when it became known that the newbies were Puerto Rican.

Sorry, it’s still funny. Does anyone dare to go there in a sitcom anymore? [/Tangent]

103

Oddly, for such racist trolls, blacks and whites in the South coexist peacefully every day. In Macon, GA (not the height of progressive thinking) the cops thought they caught the guy matching the description Susan Smith gave. OTOH, black and white live and work together in Macon. They had no problems empaneling a jury to send racists off to jail.

Offhanded comments do not a racist make in my judgment. I would reference Tom Sawyer if that was still acceptable.

104

NEWSFLASH!!! No one EVER forgets this!

105

Well, if you’ll exuse me, I’d like to point out a couple things. Then I’ll go back to getting sodomized by that bull…

The whole cousin-fucking toothless thing isn’t what I was calling Southerners, it was the over-the-top stereotype. You know, the one that all Yankess are pinko commie faggots who are going to vote for Hillary Clinton, and after the election celebrate with a multiracial orgy.

As for the rest, I’ve never said that Milwaukee or other northern cities were without racists. Hell, I had a good friend whose father was a KKK member. All the little “An explanation of how the black man is responsible for the downfall of western society” pamplets and everything. Like a typical racist he kept them hidden. Never said a word about them. The only reason I knew they existed was that his son had found them one time while snooping through his bedroom.

But down here the contents of those pamplets would likely be a topic of conversation the first time we met.

And Unomondo is right about North Carolina not being included. I’m really referring to the Deep South - Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and parts of Missouri, and Arkansas.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got things to do this weekend. So, I’ll let this bull get back to work and check back in on Monday.

-Joe, over 100 replies in less than 24 hours. Neat.

106

Yes, that’s exactly right. That small collection of dumbasses on Wade Hampton have turned the county into racists and bigots. :rolleyes:

107

From my time in SC, I recall the same. Not between religions, but the religious vs. the non-religious.

I was invited to the Supervisor’s church immediately. I went twice, then did not return. More of a ‘sleep schedule’ (I generally sleep late on weekends to make up for the lack of sleep during the week) than anything else.

But my not returning was met with severe, angry eyed, head shaking scorn. Kinda “what the hell is wrong with you that you won’t go to my church?”

108

Well, bless your heart too.
I’ll betcha when Meri gets done with that cow-twat your head’ll fit right in.

109

SimonX, what does your location mean?

110

Heh, the offended reactions coming from the hoard of southerners descending down into this thread to gangbang the original poster is entertaining.

However, as a person who was BORN in the south and lived there for a good portion of his life I have to say some of what the OP said is definitely true.

There is racism everywhere in the U.S. but in varying degrees. You won’t find the same type of incendiary casual racism you find in the south in a place like California. Oh you might find it with a few individuals but they are definitely not the norm. It’s just far more likely to encounter widespread accepted racist attitudes in the south because culturally the idea of “separate but equal” and minorities as inferiors has just been around longer as an institution. Let’s not forget that many southern families often pass these things down verbatim as tradition.

Sure the people in the rest of the states may harbor their own individual prejudices but it’s hardly become a social tradition like it is in the south.

111

I agree with Aries- I will say this. I lived in upstate NY for 32 years, then moved to NC. I have heard more overt racist and homophobic comments (in casual conversation, overheard at work or shopping, just in general) in the year since I’ve been here then I did in my entire life in NY. I have seen protesters with signs telling the Mexicans to go home, I’ve been called a “Yankee” (using it in the same way that “nigger” is used) and treated badly for being from the North. Certainly everyone is not like this, but even good friends have slipped in racist speech that they are just in the habit of using (a friend talking about someone who had a secret said to me “I knew then that he had a nigger in the woodpile.” I nearly shit.

I’ve found that some of the people I’ve come across are shockingly ignorant, which I’ve also found up north. The difference in my area is that they can say these things right out loud in public and no one even looks at them twice.

112

Bull fucking shit.

I can drive less than thirty miles and be surrounded by the biggest group of ignorant, bigoted, xenophobic morons you’d ever meet.

And I live an hour from Canada. Far enough North for you? I’ll bet that’s true in any state of the Union.

I’m sorry Jackson has treated you so ill, but the South is a big place, full of many people, with many attitudes and experiences.

113

Obviously, anecdotal evidence is pretty worthless here, but consider the following.

I was born and raised in Columbia, SC. Aside from college in Atlanta, I’ve lived here all my life. My mother, however, is from Pittsburgh. It’s always interesting to go see her family, as there really is a cultural divide between us.

Last spring, we went to my cousin’s high school graduation up there. Public high school, in the suburbs. Every single member of the graduating class, with the exception of one Asian kid (last name Ngyuen, I believe) was white. Not just white, but last names almost without exception Polish and Italian. I have never in my life seen any place as segregated as the north. We had spent a few hours in the mall before I realized what was wrong with it - everybody was white. The South has de facto segregation to some extent, of course - there’s “black” malls and “white” malls, but there’s still always a mix of people in each. Not so in Pittsburgh.

I asked my mother, who had grown up there, about it. She looked uncomfortable and said “They have their own places.” Uh-huh.

Yes, I grew up in the evil racist South. But my high school graduating class was half and half. How many northerners who have so much to say about my people can say the same?

114

Oh, by the way, I didn’t want to give off the impression that the South is free of bigotry and racism, especially as others have pointed out on the religion side. I am often asked not if I am religious, or what religion I am, but what denomination I am. I tell them I attend the Church of St. Mattress if they get pushy about it.

I just wanted to point out that your average Southerner is probably more likely, if only on demographic population grounds, to know and work with both black and white people, and that I suspect that de facto segregation is far more prevalent in the North.

Not to mention that I don’t know anywhere here that people care what kind of white person your grandparents were. Only up north have I heard anybody say “Well, but you know he’s a Polack.” Huh?

115

When most people say “don’t let the door hit you,” they are not saying that you must “like our racism.” It’s more of a message to learn to see beyond the remaining racisim when you find it, to the gentle and fun-loving nature of a lot of Southerners. Find something redeeming in us or you will wear out your welcome as you would any place else.

I hope that you do learn to love the South and its traditions and that you don’t leave. When you find racism and other kinds of discrimination, join those Southerners who work to make it better.

For what it’s worth, studies were done at one time that indicate that when Southern men move to the North, they tend to lose some of their Southern accents. Southern women who move, however, retain theirs. The opposite is true for Northerners. Northern men who move to the South retain their Northern accents and Northern women tend to pick up Southern accents.

BTW, I don’t know about for you, but the most favored Nashvillians at the moment are men of color – dark blue, light blue, white and a spot of red. :wink: Most are Black and they have done wonders for race relations in this town. I think it’s been great for the esteem of young Black students to see the likes of Steve McNair and Eddie George so revered. And it’s been good for some of the remaining racists to realize they would give an arm and a leg to sit down at a table and share a meal with any of these guys.

116

Actually, Daniel, you’ve defending racism and other forms of bigotry numerous times on other threads when the racist happened to agree with you politics on other issues.

117

So let’s see – if a group of whites is evil because it includes only whites, then a group of blacks that includes only blacks is what? Diversity?

118

As a Texan, I don’t describe myself or see myself as a Southerner. I’m not a racist, I’m not a sexist, I’m not a homophobe, I’m not a religious bigot. I think of myself as a Texan because I have to-it’s where I was born and raised and no amount of wishing I’d grown up elsewhere will change that fact. I have a college degree. I don’t think Texas is anymore God’s country than any place else on the planet, and if I believed in God, I’d think the weather argues that God hates it. Most of my friends fit these same categories. I own a cowboy hat, but it’s just for the irony.

As much as I wish I could say the OP was full of shit, I can’t. The South is no more monolithic than any other region in the world, and my experiences don’t necessarily match what happens to other people. If the rich played polo in the 1930s, did that mean the Great Depression didn’t happen?

That the problems described in the OP occur elsewhere, it doesn’t mean the South (I’ll let Texas be included here) is off the hook, it means both places are fucked up. I’m willing to entertain the possibility that the OP has some grains of truth in it. Snapping “You don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re just stereotyping us, I know a lot of people who aren’t racist, yadda, yadda, yadda” is not a fruitful basis for facing problems.

119

Where did I say that? I think we’re all better off the more different people we know, and I was pointing out that perhaps the North may think it dosen’t have the same kind of racial problems the South does because the segregation is actually far sharper there.

120

For a group of people who claim to be so openminded and free thinking and open to others there sure are a lot of you who are more content accepting an outdated, ill-informed, ignorant stereotype. :frowning:

As many others have said…is there racism in the South? You better believe it. Is there racism in other parts of the country? You’re damn skippy.

Most of the people of the 60/70/80 generation of the South probably do think of themselves as superior to other races. That’s the way they were raised and the way they grew up, and sadly, for most of them, that’s the way they will die. Fuck 'em.

I, for one, refuse to let that be the legacy I leave for my children. My parent’s chose not to let that be the legacy they left for me. I wasn’t taught racism. I was taught to value each person on their own merit and not the color of their skin. That’s what I teach my kids.

The “Old South” is a dying one. Rather than focus on what used to be why not focus on what is becoming and what can be in the future?