[QUOTE=Don’t Call Me Shirley]
I’m going to go with “too stupid” rather than “too lazy.” Seriously, whenever you see them on TV anymore, it’s always like 3 retarded guys in bathrobes.
[/QUOTE]
There was a story a while back about a Klan cross burning (Klansmen get offended when you call them that - they’re supposed to be called “cross lightings”) in Chicago; nearly all the attendees were elderly, and they couldn’t get the cross upright to light it.
It was a ceremonial cross rather than a “be afraid, darkies” cross - 20 feet tall, IIRC.
[QUOTE=Sattua]
In Indiana’s defense, regarding another common target of discrimination, state universities in Indiana (or, at least, Purdue) does offer employment and therefore benefits to domestic partners of any gender… while Michigan just struck that down.
[/QUOTE]
Excellent! I’m pretty excited to hear that, given Purdue’s reputation as a conservative school. Now I just have to find like-minded people instead of like-minded admins.
now proud member of Purdue class of 2012
Like one of the posters above said, Indiana does have its issues with xenophobia. While nobody is running around in gas masks so as to not catch “teh gay,” you do hear the occasional “What?!? You’re going to let Obama turn us all into islams!?!”
Because I am a student and therefore spend most of my time in high school, I can only tell you about how the social processes work in HS. There, there is usually a line drawn right down the college/no college boundary. Those who are planning to go to college are generally tollerant, if not accepting, of other lifestyles. Those who plan to work right away are usually much less tollerant and more likely to spout bullshit. There are of course exceptions to each category but it’s a relatively accurate generalization of how it works.
[QUOTE=tdn]
I’m trying really hard not to. People Pit Texas and Florida all the time, but I sometimes get the feeling that Indiana is the most backwards and racist state in the union. It seems like it resides in the deepest of the deep south when it comes to enlightenment.
I’m glad you’re not all like that. I mean, I know you’re not. But sheesh.
[/QUOTE]
I live in Indiana, but I live pretty close to Cincinnati now, which as we all know is a beacon of racial equality for the nation to follow…
Anyway, when I lived in a little town called Sunman (where my wife was from), I would on occaison visit one of the two local watering holes, only to find to my dismay that they were populated by the worst kind of bigot: the drunken, ignorant ones clothed head-to-toe in camo, with Billy-Bob belt buckles and camo-painted pickup trucks.
Invariably, I would get into heated arguments with them because they were filling my ears with their hatred towards anything non-white. It was pathetic, really.
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Strange Fruit was written about hangings in Marion, IN and the South got blamed for it.
[/QUOTE]
I asked her if she was screamfest was because of this cross-burning, and she said 'yes." Actually ‘fuck yes.’ Actually it was a good deal longer and a lot more profane and two people at nearby tables turned around and looked at her in annoyance.
Strange Fruit is a Billie Holiday song about lynching. NPR listed some of her songs and mentioned “the South” when the hanging that “inspired” the song occurred in Indiana. Just venting. There are racists everywhere.
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Strange Fruit is a Billie Holiday song about lynching. NPR listed some of her songs and mentioned “the South” when the hanging that “inspired” the song occurred in Indiana. Just venting. There are racists everywhere.
[/QUOTE]
Ah!
Okay. I should probably add NPR to my revenge list for that, but as long as Andrea Seabrook works there, they’re safe.
[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil]
Anyway, when I lived in a little town called Sunman (where my wife was from), I would on occasion visit one of the two local watering holes, only to find to my dismay that they were populated by the worst kind of bigot: the drunken, ignorant ones clothed head-to-toe in camo, with Billy-Bob belt buckles and camo-painted pickup trucks.
[/QUOTE]
Is this really just an Indiana/“deep south” thing? Because quite honestly, I can find this in just about any of the five states in which I’ve resided. Just reading the description made me think of Fresno and the equally enlightened haven of Bakersfield.
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Strange Fruit is a Billie Holiday song about lynching. NPR listed some of her songs and mentioned “the South” when the hanging that “inspired” the song occurred in Indiana. Just venting. There are racists everywhere.
[/QUOTE]
Indeed there are, but regardless of what inspired the song, the lyrics begin:
“Southern trees bear strange fruit”
and go further to reference “the gallant South,” so why in the (cruciform) blazes would someone expect the song to be about Indiana?
[QUOTE=NinetyWt]
Louis honey, it’s not a place. It’s a scapegoat.
[/QUOTE]
But–but-- he SAID it like it’s a place and I wanna avoid it because people there aren’t enlightened and all. I’m all sad, now.
[QUOTE=LouisB]
I was amused that the baying of his beagles didn’t bother his black neighbors. From his use of the word “beagles” its obvious there are more than one of the noisy little bastards hanging around; I wonder how his white and/or other ethnic neighbors like them. I have to admit that I don’t understand why the baying of beagles was even mentioned unless he is trying to convey that he is a good old boy who keeps hunting dogs. Then again, who the hell cares?
[/QUOTE]
Because they have been very nice neighbors and have not bitched about something that I thought we were vulnerable on. The dogs can get noisy and when I asked if they were bothered they said don’t worry about it. I have never hunted in my life. Nice miss.
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
We think of the Ku Klux Klan as a Southern organization, but I recall reading (no cite) that back in the 1920s, when the Klan was politically important and staged rallies in Washington, Indiana and Illinois were major centers of Klan activity.
[/QUOTE]
I read a thing once that Southern Illinois wanted to break from the rest of the state during the Civil War (to join the confederates). Yup…they were VERY into it.
[QUOTE=Maureen]
Is this really just an Indiana/“deep south” thing? Because quite honestly, I can find this in just about any of the five states in which I’ve resided. Just reading the description made me think of Fresno and the equally enlightened haven of Bakersfield.
[/QUOTE]
I think anyplace where you combine equal amounts rural area, country music, alcohol and ignorance, there ye shall find bigots.
[Quote=John Mace]
You can’t even say… well, Indiana borders on KT.
[/quote]
KY perhaps?
[/QUOTE]
I dunno. It seems to me that I have seen evidence of the K-T boundary in some of the stuff emanating from the Indiana Statehouse.
= = =
[QUOTE=gonzomax]
About 5 years ago a black moved into my suburban neighborhood. There was a cross . Then broken windows and they moved out. My newest neighbors are black. They have been here for 3 years. No trouble at all. The baying of my beagles does not bother them.
So in the north we have some of the same problems. But here at least. the problem abated. I do not know how rapidly it will get better down south.
[/QUOTE]
I really doubt that you have any idea what is actually going on in whatever you believe to be the “South.”
I will point out that a lot of the racist activity in Michigan has traditionally involved “outsiders,” but it generally involved immigrants from Kentucky, which is not considered Deep South, (they never even got around to seceding), (the 1943 Detroit riot and 1970s Waterford), or Poland (1970s Warren).
OTOH, there is quite enough home grown prejudice in Michigan (anti-Mexican in Pontiac, anti-Arab in Dearborn, anti-Catholic in Grand Rapids, etc.) that Michiganders should probably not spend any energy trying to tilt back their heads to look down their noses at other regions.
[QUOTE=gonzomax]
Because they have been very nice neighbors and have not bitched about something that I thought we were vulnerable on. The dogs can get noisy and when I asked if they were bothered they said don’t worry about it. I have never hunted in my life. Nice miss.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the compliment on “Nice miss” but I’m a guy, not a “Miss.” And I think the PC term is “Ms” isn’t it? Or if you mean I got something wrong, it is very high praise coming from someone who is as wrong and as often as you. And I didn’t say you hunted, I said you were maybe trying to project an image as a good old boy who kept hunting dogs. Lots of differences there.
