Please describe racism in the southern US to me.

In My Humble Opinion
81

I’m a white man currently living in very countrified NC, but born even deeper. My experience with racism has exclusively involved jokes and white audiences. Never have I witnessed anything involving specific black people. It may not be hardcore, but it is everywhere.

In school, another kid might come up to me and ask, “are you a racist?” which was kid-speak for, “I have a racist joke to tell, if you’re familiar with the stereotype it builds upon.” Since I’m knowledgeable of racial stereotypes and like jokes, I would confirm my receptivity: “yeah I guess”.

Any other white boys knowno what I’m talking about? Or was it just in my school that ‘racist’ meant we wanted to exchange racist jokes?
(not that there should be any distinction)

82

Again, only posts from #67 on are current-boofuu hasn’t posted on the SDMB in over a year.

83

It’s the Phil Spector style of layout.

84

Honestly if these are the examples people are going to use to prove that the South is omg racist, I can’t buy in. Nothing here is strikingly different than what I experienced growing up in the Midwest. There are racist assholes everywhere. Whee.

85

While Maryland never succeeded, they have by far the most pro-Confederate anti-U.S. state song. “Huzza she spurns the northern scum” is actually a line and the Lincoln government is referred to (not by name) as a tyrant and a despot. I’m surprised there’s not more outcry over it (though there might be in the state itself).

86

Maaaybe. I’d start of with Asian-Caucasian and Indian-Caucasian. There is a substantial population of black people in some parts of the East - Nova Scotia for instance.

However, as noted above, some areas have virtually no black Canadians. I submit the story of Lanier Phillips.

87

You are responding to a post made more than 2 years ago.

88

I disagree that Maryland never succeeded:)

The meaning of the words is frequently retconned to refer to the revolution and the War of 1812, and the last verse changed or left out. The south as a region is not the same as the Confederacy. And during the Civil War, a plebecite might have led to secession.

89

Yeah, I heard this a couple times. I’m mixed race, but I look completely white (apparently, I’d be octoroon?) and so I’m probably a little more sensitive to this stuff than other white southerners while also still being likely to hear it because of the way I look. That kind of stuff strikes me as being stupid kid stuff more than anything else, and also not unique to the region. I’m not excusing it, mind you. Just pointing out that it isn’t a special brand of southern racism.

I have had an otherwise seemingly nice white lady tell me about “niggers” causing her trouble. I don’t think she’d have said it to their faces, but she sure didn’t have a problem using it behind their backs. She felt it was okay for her to use it, because she didn’t mean it about all blacks. Just that specific type of black person which is a “nigger.”

I’ve also had the joy of listening to far too many white idiots whine and complain about how it’s okay for rappers to use the N word, so they should be able to as well! Or one of their black friends is cool with them using it, so all black people should be cool with them using it. It really leaves me wondering: do white people cry themselves to sleep at night because those mean old blacks won’t let them use the word nigger? Because that’s sure what they act like.

But I’ve never seen a black business owner or family getting targeted purely based on race. The stuff my cousins suffer is far more subtle than that, and in some ways worse in that it is so subtle. I’d venture that it’s the same everywhere, though. The more overt harassment Anaamika mentions happens, though not all that often. Native born blacks aren’t usually the target. People seen as foreign are.

90

Huh, didn’t see this thread when it first ran by.

I’m Korean descent, but Asian codes as “pretty much like white” in the rural-ish part of eastern NC I grew up in (it’s a city, but not by much). Although I have no idea what would have happened if I’d tried to date a local white boy.

I didn’t see too much of anything really overt when I was growing up, but it was certainly true that all the “gifted and talented” classes were always 90% white (there were maybe one or two black kids, and me) and the regular classes were 80% black (along with the occasional white underachiever and/or white trash). And it was kind of a given that only white trash would date a black person.

But my parents told me a year or two ago that the country club they belong to admitted a black family, and then had to rescind it because of the outpouring of people who said they would cancel their memberships if the black family was allowed to join. THIS IS TAKING PLACE IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY? Even my parents, who are not exactly the least racist of people (Koreans are like that sometimes), were shocked by this.

91

Euthanasiast, I’m going to guess it runs like this:

Many blacks in your town have heard horror stories from family and friends about bad treatment, or have their own stories too, and have built up a resentment against anything considered “establishment.” This leads to driving cut-offs and walking in front of fire engines. This then appalls the blacks who have moved in recently, who know they’re going to be lumped into this group by much of society. I can readily imagine being disappointed if I moved to India and found that the local white people were inconsiderate crackers who thought Larry the Cable Guy was a cultural hero.

Moreover, the blacks who got enough skills or education to leave have probably done so in a high percentage, leaving those who don’t. Somebody’s acting like the world’s stereotypes, or we wouldn’t have them, and I bet a decent number of these people are doing that, too.

I can easily imagine that unwordly, poorly educated, small town people of any color don’t tend to be the kind you’d put on a DVD to send to the space aliens as prime examples.

All this then would be resented by many whites, who are having their taught (even if subtle) racism confirmed, and by urbane blacks who didn’t know anyone black who was acting like this back home. I didn’t know anyone was living like that when I sold insurance in Bakersfield, CA, but I sure hope some of my clients aren’t used as “examples of white people”. The most mocked area there is also historically the most white, and that’s saying something for Bakersfield. Heck, I reacquainted with some old church friends recently, and I sure hope they’re not either, as I think that’s the dirtiest house I’ve ever been in. They’re fine in most areas, but if I were inclined to make snap, broad judgments about “races”, I’d have support for “white people can’t take care of themselves.”

92

Racism in the Southern US is just like it is anywhere else. No better, no worse. Get off the South’s case or come down and see for yourself.

93

First off, yes, I’m Arkansan, so I’m not a true Southerner. I don’t care–it still fits.

Anyways, it’s weird. I grew up thinking that no one was racist. I never heard anyone say anything or anything. But I did start to notice that we were all white. My suspicions were confirmed when one of my best friends, who was quite popular in school, left the town after being here less than a year. His dad couldn’t get a job–and this was while there were plenty available.

At the turn of the century, I wound up going to a town meeting. Turns out, it was the 100th anniversary of a race riot of some sort, and we were discussing how to get more diversity in our town.

94

Didn’t read the thread, then?

95

I thought I did. I remember reading it. From the beginning to where I posted. I didn’t memorize it, though. And the forum is IMHO so I stated MHO. I’m pissed at the never ending garbage that gets spewed concerning the South, that’s all.

I regret offending you, though. I try to not give any more offense than necessary. For instance, I don’t believe I would have posted anything similar to your post directed at me.

96

Yup. But the thread has gone active again, so I figured it was reasonable to bring up the story, since it illustrates a point.

Since y’all jackbooted mods no longer snuff the zombies, having a two-year gap between comments is becoming more common.

97

:confused::confused:

Well, now I’m truly mystified.

Firstly, because your post wasn’t offensive at all - confusing, yes. Offensive, no.

Secondly, because I don’t see any posts in this thread that I would consider ‘never ending garbage.’ I see posts by people sharing their own experiences.

Or was it my OP that you found offensive? As in, the fact that I would even ask the question? If that is the case, I apologize; however, in my own defense, the only place in the ‘South’ that I’ve ever been is New Orleans where I may have experienced racism (reversed racism?) or may have just experienced someone having a very bad day, which is why I asked the question in the first place.

Finally, I didn’t find my previous post particular offensive, either. I truly read your post and assumed you hadn’t read the thread based on what you wrote. It was quite…agressive and not in keeping with the other posts in the thread; however, I suppose if you get offended by people asking questions about the South then you were offended. Fair enough.

I suppose I’ll just code you as a ‘There is no difference in racism in the South.’ response. There have been quite a number in this thread already.

98

I’m White and grew up in Texas (not technically “the South”, but close enough).

I’ve also spent quite a lot of time there within the last decade.

Never witnessed anything along the lines of a Black (or Hispanic…anti-“Mexican” racism is as or more rampant as anti-Black racism, ime) person being yelled at or attacked, though it happens.

Much more common (shamefully commonplace) are things like this:

Someone says, “Oh, we don’t shop there anymore…it’s FULL of Mexicans.”

Or “I don’t want to go to that pool or theater or place…nothing but niggers.”

Or racist jokes.

Or, overheard while standing in line at a corner store in Pasadena, Tx. not long after Hurricane Katrina (several Whites in line concurred with this, to me, disgusting sentiment):

“As if we don’t have enough niggers…now they’re bussing 'em in! Leave 'em there, let 'em drown.”

I believe racism exists to a much greater degree nationwide than is commonly assumed, but I think that in the south, there is is more willingness to VOICE IT, esp. among other Whites who are assumed to share your biases. People there are less “PC” about it and much less skilled at hiding it even when they try to.

It’s truly sad and shameful that this is 2010, almost 2011, and this is still such a cancer on our society. :frowning:

99

Racism is a major issue because people use it as a base for discrimination between themselves. In southern US, racism is the systematic practice of preventing people from using their rights, their resources etc.

100

Well, I just laughed myself into an asthma attack.

Ok, here’s my POV. I’m mid-40s and white, so take it as observational only.

I went to high school in central Florida, about 15 miles from Orlando. The “black” prom was only abolished during my junior year, 1986.

You read that right; there was a “black” prom in freakin’ 1986.

Now, black people weren’t actively kept out of the “white” prom, or vice versa, but there was a separation allegedly over “music”. Since the white kids managed the music issue with metalheads, new-wavers, country fans, and pop fans, no one bought that excuse.

After high school, I spent 20 years living in Jacksonville, Florida, which I describe as “south Georgia”. A lot of racism is institutionalized, and people don’t notice it until they move away. (Ditto with the sexism, but that’s a different thread.)

In Jacksonville –

[ul]
[li]Yes, I have been places where a black person would not be welcome, and a black man might get beaten up for being there. [/li]
[li]I have seen the justice system working one way for white people and another for black people. (Look up the Brenton Butler case – Jacksonville, FL.) And very little outcry from white folks to stop it. [/li]
[li]I have heard groups of white people make racist jokes and remarks, and had them get upset when someone said they didn’t like those kinds of “jokes”.[/li][/ul]

Much of it is subtle racism – a white person being believed if they return something without a receipt in a department store, but not a black person, for example. Or black people feeling they have to dress up and speak very clearly to be taken as middle-class. Or a black group getting a less-desirable table in a restaurant than a white group. Or a black person being ignored and a white person being asked if they need help. Or even not arguing with the police about a traffic stop.

Why all this is, I don’t know. But racism seems more open in the South. I feel like I’ve time-warped back to 1930 when I go back to visit family.

The biggest hope I have is that the south has so many people from up north moving in, which I hope dilutes some of the ingrown xenophobia.