Republicans: Whom do you favor in 2008?

[wonky]

@spoke-

The South is no more racist than any other part of the country.

That hasn’t been my experience, at least for blatant racism.

[rjung]

@spoke-

3. You are 30 years behind the times. The South is no more racist than any other part of the country. That’s not to say there’s no racism here. There is. But in my experience it’s about the same level of racism you find anywhere. Yes, there are people who would not vote for a black candidate, but there are as many such people in the North as in the South. And for the record, Georgia has elected multiple black candidates to statewide office. So somebody is voting for them.

But do they live long enough to take office?

Shotgun Fired Into Home Of Louisiana Town’s First Black Mayor

Louisiana Probes First Black Mayor’s Shooting Death

The depressing things are (1) these aren’t two separate reports of the same incident, and (2) they all happened within the last two weeks.

[Spoke]

@rjung

But do they live long enough to take office?

Shotgun Fired Into Home Of Louisiana Town’s First Black Mayor

Louisiana Probes First Black Mayor’s Shooting Death

The depressing things are (1) these aren’t two separate reports of the same incident, and (2) they all happened within the last two weeks.

I hate to continue the hijack, but it would be rash to assume those incidents were racially-motivated.

Cf, the shooting of Derwin Brown, the then-newly-elected black sheriff of DeKalb County, Georgia. It turned out he was shot by henchmen of his predecessor in office (also black). The motive: the ex-sheriff and his loyalists were afraid the new man would expose corruption in the department.

So who knows? But for purposes of our discussion here, you should still note that two black men were elected mayor in two majority-white towns in Louisiana. Further counter-evidence to the argument that black candidates can’t get white votes in the South.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@spoke-

2. Whatever else you can say about Zell Miller, you’d have a hard time tagging him as a racist. While governor, he aggressively integrated Georgia’s bench with judicial appointments, including several black appointees to Georgia’s Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.

3. You are 30 years behind the times. The South is no more racist than any other part of the country. That’s not to say there’s no racism here. There is. But in my experience it’s about the same level of racism you find anywhere. Yes, there are people who would not vote for a black candidate, but there are as many such people in the North as in the South. And for the record, Georgia has elected multiple black candidates to statewide office. So somebody is voting for them.

Regarding (2), I withdraw my point about Zell Miller. I was confusing his civil-rights record with somebody else, apparently, and I apologise.

As far as (3) goes, I’ve never seen a white-supremacist billboard (no, not a sign, a billboard) next to a public highway north of, say, Maryland. ivylass can confirm its existence, although I can’t find the thread in which we discussed it.
Moreover, I don’t know anyone outside the South who lives next to a Klavern’s meeting house. I did until a few months ago.