Southern Bashing

[SemiCharmedQuark]

Sorry, but I have no tolerance for people who glorify the Confederacy. I'm not bashing the South, just those who pretend the Confederacy was a good thing. I think a lot of people feel this way. However, try and say it and "Southern Bashing!!!" gets screamed.

I'm so sick of this shit. "Reverse Racism" "Southern Bashing!"...

I wish for just one week every fucking moron who screamed these things would be a black man in the South.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1497883&mesg_id=1497883

[GOPFighter]

1. I broke the tie...

...at the link you provided. Can't believe it was 47/47. I'll bet those who voted "Appropriate" would scream to high heaven if their kids had to attend Benedict Arnold High!

[SemperEadem]

2. I was #47 in the inappropriate column

I couldn't believe that there are those who think it's fine to name schools after treasonous traitors.

[carolinayellowdog]

3. Voted "inappropriate" but South bashing really exists at DU

Hey,

Many Southerners hate the memory of the Confederacy, including those whose ancestors fought for the Union, or were enslaved. But especially since the election, it is really true that Southerners in general have been viciously attacked repeatedly at DU. Those doing so make no exceptions for minorities, whether racial, political, or sexual. F the South and *everyone* in it, and wouldn't it be great if we were in separate countries, or if *they* were all dead. (Seriously, *all* Alabamians were wished dead today here at DU.) While your posts in that thread didn't make any such attacks, they did include unfair and inaccurate remarks about the South.

I would really like to see a study about how African Americans feel about where they live and how they are treated by whites there. My suspicion is that the results would be a lot more piecemeal than a simple North vs. South pattern. My sisters who grew up in DC and went to college in Massachusetts say that Boston is the most racist place they have ever been, the only place where racial epithets were shouted at them on the street. Race relations seem good overall in VA and NC, better than I recall from living up north in MI and OH or down south in LA and AL. I have a black friend from Chicago who says that whites there are more racist than where he now lives in Norfolk. But we could trade anecdotes all day and never get to the bottom of it, because racial tension varies from city to city as much as from region to region. Only someone who had lived in every city and every state could make reliable generalizations.

All I can say about excuse-making re the Confederacy is that the same dynamic is now in effect re the Iraq War. People have a strong aversion to admitting that the death or suffering of their family members was pointless, stupid, and preventable. Whether it's great-great granddaddy fighting for the Confederacy or cousin Johnny killed in Iraq, people can't stand the thought that it was all for nothing. That their loved ones were bamboozled into giving their lives for a pack of lies.

HTH a little,

CYD

[SemiCharmedQuark]

4. Unfair?

Those who formed the confederacy WERE treasonous. And for what? Fighting for the right so the wealthy in their country to keep slaves. People can go round and round as to what the cause of the Civil War was, but in the end, it comes down to slavery.

I have no doubt that race relations do not fall along the North South line. However, the south differs from the north in that for some reason, some people in the south choose to glorify a horrible thing. All places in the United States have things that they are less than noble. However, usually they are not glorified. The North does not glorify their failed attempt to invade Canada. The North does not glorify the abuse of minorities and children in the work force.

I appreciate your experience and I completely agree that Southern Bashing is out of hand sometimes. However, this has less to do with the south specifically than the us v. them mentality. SInce this is a site for progressives, unfortunately our egos tend to get boost after boost. It is disturbing that some see our side as complete good and "their side" as complete evil. It is, of course, never black and white. This is the same with the South and North. It is not Red and Blue, but purple. One is not all good and one is not all bad.

However, I resent the South for expecting some sort of prize for how far it has come, when it really hasn't. Some people have posted a census of segregation in the U.S. This is not an accurate measurement because the integration favors newer populations which tend to occur in the south. THey also favor small populations. The list shows this with every "most segregated" city being a top populated city.

I would like to see what programs for assistance exist across the U.S. as well as job placement statistics. I would also like to see the numbers of minorities in jail v. whites sentenced for what crimes and what their sentences would be. I think that this would probably give a more accurate idea of what is going on.

It is known that there is extreme racial bias in the death penalty. 74% of death penalty recipients are minorities. In 2002, 61/71 executions were in Southern States. Since the death penalty was reinstated, 2/3 of executions have occurred in the South.

[SemperEadem]

6. My mom used to say

the only difference between the north and the south was that in the south, they had no qualms about letting your know where you stood as a black. In the north, they were more subtle and sneaky, but just as despicable in their racism.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

5. Here's more people arguing that the Civil War was the North's fault.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=2457185&mesg_id=2457185&page=

[Swamp Rat]

7. We have a long way to go...

There are some people on that thread I put on ignore a while back... I wish they'd join great people like Malcolm X and Robert C. Byrd and cleanse themselves of the hatred and fear. My great hope is that one day, everyone will "see the light." THEN, a great healing will take place.

Reading statements in support of "Southern heritage" makes my skin crawl, even if the poster means no harm. Though some may call me a "Southerner," I am only vaguely aware of differences I have with other people on the Continent, and only a little more compared to folks from Brasil, Norway, Turkey, China, Papua New Guinae... My true allegiance is to Earth before anything else, but New Orleans comes in second. :)

As I have said on many a thread: "RACE" is a construct. Really, what we have here on Earth is a wonderful diversity of human cultures. It's too bad some people are afraid to acknowledge this. Even more sad is the fact that there are people who use and manipulate others with this fear, hence, a second Bush term.

The pic below I made because I am angry at the lack of understanding by many DUers about what the "rebel flag" (battle flag, or whatever the fuck you want to call it) means to some folks (black, white or purple). I didn't post it at the time because I was angry at a few DUers and I didn't want to go against my own tenet of pacifism - I didn't want to post it out of spite. I do so now because I want to know what people, who frequent this forum, think.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

8. Ahh, Indiana. I had originally posted about this, but deleted it.

Indiana is one of the most racist states, if not the most racist state, I have ever been to. I moved here from Chicago and the difference is amazing. We're talking less than 100 miles but a world apart. There are little pockets of democrats, like around Gary, but that's it.

I actually heard this conversation my first year of living here:

"I had this creepy guy following my car today"
"What did he do"
"He was like...black"


You know what I saw in GD? Someone was actually arguing that the Civil War was fought by the South for states rights (typical) BUT they added in that the Civil War was more noble than the American Revolution. Another post said that the Confederates were heroes for standing up to tyranny. WTF is up with THAT?

[FrenchieCat]

9. Now that IS sad....

Confederates were heroes for standing up to tyranny?

This is getting sick!

Guess they'll be discussing how Blacks were lynched in self-defense next!

[GOPFighter]

10. I grew up in Indiana

Small city in N. Indiana. I worked in a factory with Klan members. They were without a doubt some of the dumbest people I've ever met. Creepy!