# To all the ignorant people out there - stop making the South out to be some unique villain. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 2, 2015, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024 "2015-07-02T04:59:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/301 "2015-07-05T00:47:38Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I’d say “Southern Apologist”, one step short of a Neo-Confederate. But he’s not stupid. However, he’s not getting the point… or he is getting it but refuses to back down. Thank you and your are correct that I refuse to back down and make apologies for an entire, vibrant region that has more going for it than most of the rest of the nation does. The people are nice, the food is great, hospitality is a mandatory cultural trait, people are tight-knitted the weather is warm and the women are beautiful. The whole point of this thread wasn’t about a single tragic shooting or pieces of cloth. It is about the fact that most of the rest of the nation still regards the South as a backwards backwater even though it is the most populous and vibrant region in the U.S. by far and still going rapidly. Tolerance is multi-dimensional and so-called Progressives are not demonstrating that when it comes to the South. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/302 "2015-07-05T01:12:11Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > … and the women are beautiful. When people say shit like this, it is a sure marker that they are talking out of their ass and not their brain. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/303 "2015-07-05T01:41:05Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Thank you and your are correct that I refuse to back down and make apologies for an entire, vibrant region that has more going for it than most of the rest of the nation does. The people are nice, the food is great, hospitality is a mandatory cultural trait, people are tight-knitted the weather is warm and the women are beautiful. There are a lot of great things about the South (though the “women are beautiful thing” is kinda silly and maybe even a bit creepy). But there are not-so-good things too. One of them is that many or most white Southerners haven’t come to terms with how truly awful their ancestors (and the standard-bearers for Southern culture and tradition) were to black people up to and well into the mid-to-late 20th century, including imagery and symbolism that represented to black people the worst of this history and tradition. Any specific ‘good aspects’ of the Confederacy or the Old South in general should not be celebrated any more than Nazi Germany’s attention to detail on train schedules. They were ugly, ugly times, and it’s a shame that so many Southerners still can’t accept it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/304 "2015-07-05T01:41:30Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > The whole point of this thread wasn’t about a single tragic shooting or pieces of cloth. It is about the fact that most of the rest of the nation still regards the South as a backwards backwater even though it is the most populous and vibrant region in the U.S. by far and still going rapidly. Tolerance is multi-dimensional and so-called Progressives are not demonstrating that when it comes to the South. Us non-southerners wouldn’t use redundant phrases like “backwards backwater”. 🙂 And I doubt you live in the “most vibrant” part of the country. Ever been to CA lately? This is where most of the technology is either developed or productized. ---
**Author:** ![splatterpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@splatterpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/splatterpunk)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/305 "2015-07-05T01:59:08Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > And I doubt you live in the “most vibrant” part of the country. My guess is that by “most vibrant” he means “loudest, most raucous trailer parks.” ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/306 "2015-07-05T02:07:37Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Us non-southerners wouldn’t use redundant phrases like “backwards backwater”. 🙂 > > And I doubt you live in the “most vibrant” part of the country. Ever been to CA lately? This is where most of the technology is either developed or productized. “Productized”? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/307 "2015-07-05T02:11:48Z")
They’re No. 1 at inventing stupid jargon too. ---
**Author:** ![splatterpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@splatterpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/splatterpunk)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/308 "2015-07-05T02:17:45Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > “Productized”? Yep. Silicon Valley types like this term. They’re the same people that pronounce the plural of process as processeez. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/309 "2015-07-05T02:20:23Z")
> [@splatterpunk](#): > > Really? This is how you view human life? You saved 3 people so now you’re entitled to 3 kills? Yeah, I’ll stand by my previous statement that you’re just itching to kill someone. If it makes you feel any better I’ll pretend that you’re an equal opportunity would-be killer. **Snagnasty** owes the Many-Faced God three deaths. A man must pay his debts. > [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Huh. That’s funny. You really don’t seem that smart. It’s all relative, isn’t it? Hey, that could be an incest pun! ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/310 "2015-07-05T02:49:02Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Thank you and your are correct that I refuse to back down and make apologies for an entire, vibrant region that has more going for it than most of the rest of the nation does. The people are nice, the food is great, hospitality is a mandatory cultural trait, people are tight-knitted the weather is warm and the women are beautiful. > > The whole point of this thread wasn’t about a single tragic shooting or pieces of cloth. It is about the fact that most of the rest of the nation still regards the South as a backwards backwater even though it is the most populous and vibrant region in the U.S. by far and still going rapidly. Tolerance is multi-dimensional and so-called Progressives are not demonstrating that when it comes to the South. If your intent was to change that, you’ve done the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/311 "2015-07-05T03:12:22Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > No. First of all I am not dumb in the least. Academic and work results demonstrate that quite well. Insults based on me being stupid always fall on deaf ears because, although I may not be the smartest person in world, I am in the top 1% although I can’t draw well to save my life. You have to pick a more appropriate insult. Douchebag or asshole are much better choices. The chances are outstanding that I am both smarter and make more money than you despite being a person raised in rural Louisiana. > > Are you personally dumb enough to think that black people are incapable of moving somewhere else that is more advantageous? A lot of them did and got burned by the experience. Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit have black populations that have not fared well at all in general. There has been a reverse migration back to the South for many of them. That is ancestral home and the vast majority of Southerners know that and welcome them back. > > This thread is about discrimination based on being born or living in the South. I thought that people would ask me for cites but they were not necessary because plenty of people were perfectly willing to spew hate speech based on nothing but a vague and general geographic description. Can you take a step back in your own mind and see why that just might be considered hypocrisy? Oh brother… ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/312 "2015-07-05T03:16:36Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Thank you and your are correct that I refuse to back down and make apologies for an entire, vibrant region that has more going for it than most of the rest of the nation does. The people are nice, the food is great, hospitality is a mandatory cultural trait, people are tight-knitted the weather is warm and the women are beautiful. > > The whole point of this thread wasn’t about a single tragic shooting or pieces of cloth. It is about the fact that most of the rest of the nation still regards the South as a backwards backwater even though it is the most populous and vibrant region in the U.S. by far and still going rapidly. Tolerance is multi-dimensional and so-called Progressives are not demonstrating that when it comes to the South. You know one thing people really love about the South? The way you keep telling us how much better you all are than the rest of us. Very endearing. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/313 "2015-07-05T03:22:03Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > You know one thing people really love about the South? > The way you keep telling us how much better you all are than the rest of us. > Very endearing. Seriously. I’ve spent a tad more than a third of a century here. I love a great deal about the South. High-self-esteem douchebags like Shagnasty are the South’s equivalent of street preachers, turning off far more people than they persuade. There are folks from other parts of the country who paint the south with a broad brush, and I think they’re dumbshits, often racist dumbshits (because often they equate “the South” with “white people in the South,” not realizing how that feeds into the “white people are the default” racist narrative). I call those assholes out. But none of the ones I’ve seen are as creepy or revolting as shag is. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/314 "2015-07-05T03:29:55Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Us non-southerners wouldn’t use redundant phrases like “backwards backwater”. 🙂 > > And I doubt you live in the “most vibrant” part of the country. Ever been to CA lately? This is where most of the technology is either developed or productized. I live in New England close to the Rhode Island border and I work in technology quite successfully. I could barely get home last night because the traffic jam on Rt 24 going to Cape Cod was completely backed up 20 miles before you ever hit the bridges that take you into it. I have never understood New England culture even though I like parts of it especially New Hampshire and Vermont. It makes absolutely no sense for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and Connecticut residents to vacation on New England shores. They are mediocre at the absolute best and way overpriced at several thousand dollars a week for an average home rental. For that, you can fly to the Caribbean and have a real vacation with much nicer surroundings for less money. I work near Cape Cod and would never consider going there as a destination yet plenty of people do it year after year. I learned that it isn’t about the land per se because that isn’t objectively good. It is about memories that involve people and experiences. I am a transplant and I do not like it one bit but I like my daughters to form their own experiences no mater how cold the water is. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/315 "2015-07-05T03:34:41Z")
**Shagnasty** , the entire “I’m smarter and richer than you” shtick is _played_ out. Seriously. You’ve been in the intertubes long enough to know that. Besides, no one’s saying you’re _stupid_. They’re saying you’re a _fucking idiot._ ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/316 "2015-07-05T03:40:02Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > But none of the ones I’ve seen are as creepy or revolting as shag is. That is awesome. I always love a 1st place ribbon. I will take a bow. ~Shagnasty ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/317 "2015-07-05T03:45:09Z")
> [@andros](#): > > **Shagnasty** , the entire “I’m smarter and richer than you” shtick is _played_ out. Seriously. You’ve been in the intertubes long enough to know that. > > Besides, no one’s saying you’re _stupid_. > > They’re saying you’re a _fucking idiot._ People did say that I was stupid. That isn’t going to fly because it isn’t factually true. You put it in non-offensive terms saying I am a fucking idiot. I could probably agree with you some days but I am still not completely convinced that is true. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/318 "2015-07-05T03:52:50Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > The people are nice, the food is great, hospitality is a mandatory cultural trait, people are tight-knitted the weather is warm and the women are beautiful. And the children are above average. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tee)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/319 "2015-07-05T03:57:53Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I live in New England close to the Rhode Island border and I work in technology quite successfully. I could barely get home last night because the traffic jam on Rt 24 going to Cape Cod was completely backed up 20 miles before you ever hit the bridges that take you into it. I have never understood New England culture even though I like parts of it especially New Hampshire and Vermont. From NH, thank you kindly. 35 years in New England and I’ve been to Cape Cod once; I’ll take the mountains any day. Although 95 North traffic was the worst I think I’ve ever seen it - three hours they were saying from Boston to Hampton and then another hour to Portsmouth. Whether these are vacationers or people running for President, I can’t say. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024/320 "2015-07-05T05:47:41Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > People did say that I was stupid. That isn’t going to fly because it isn’t factually true. > > You put it in non-offensive terms saying I am a fucking idiot. I could probably agree with you some days but I am still not completely convinced that is true. Overly Literal Man is overly literal. How’s that working out for you? But yeah, you’re an idiot. Doesn’t matter how smart you are, you’re an idiot just like the rest of us. If it makes you feel better, let’s go with stupid. You’re stupid. You may be smart as hell, you may be Adrian Veidt, Tony Stark, and Reed Richards all wrapped up in a Hank McCoy tortilla. Doesn’t mean you can’t still be stupid. In all honesty, you’ll feel better about yourself and your life–and possibly your Southern heritage–if you own that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-the-ignorant-people-out-there-stop-making-the-south-out-to-be-some-unique-villain/724024.md?page=17)