By God, I'm from Mississippi and I'm ready to take all of you on.

[harrison]

That's quintessential Mississippi hubris, of course. We thought we could beat the Feds in 1861 and 1962.

However, anyone who bashes a person on the mere basis that they are from the South is a bigot.

You know, skin pigmentation, vocal chord vibrations, sexual orientation: prejudice is prejudice.

[antineocon1]

1. I agree...

I'm from Texas and most of family is from the deep south. If we can get the South on our side, we'll be unbeatable in '04. BTW, Mississippi is a beautiful state.

[fabius]

24. Southerners are tough fighters...

...we need them on our side. Actually my brother and sister are in the South, NC and Tex.

As to the Southern Republicans, we need to convince them that the plutocracy is screwing them too. Which is a true fact that most people intuitively know but can't see their way to do anything about, because of years of indoctrination that bashing corporations and rich people is "class warfare". Well, who started the "class warfare"? Bring it on!

My wife is from OK and people ask her if she's from the South. Me too, because I speak sort of slowly. I'm from Arizona. That's south of here anyway. Some guy said, "...so they have alligators down there hey?". Some Northwesterners are just as dumb as anybody. Deliverance country? We got it here too.

[antineocon1]

31. We are a tough...

I think with the way Bush has screwed the military, he's screwed his base. A lot of my family were pro-Bush and now they hate his guts. Many of them can't understand why journalists and media whores refer to him as popular because they don't know anyone who likes him. If we can get a strong candidate in the next presidential election, Bush is toast.

[Walt Starr]

2. Absolutely

The South, as a region, is solidly Republican. As a Southerner, how do you propose Democrats change that fact?

[carolinayellowdog]

7. False premise

One could list all the Democratic elected officials, including those in Alabama and Mississippi who make up more African-American elected officials than the whole rest of the country combined, but if you wanted to be an anti-Southern bigot, you'll find a way regardless of evidence.

My Congressman is a black Democrat.

[Walt Starr]

11. I'm talking on the presidential level mostly

but even with many districts being Democratic, the majority of representatives and Senators are Republican.

The congressional districts are so overwhelmingly Republican that a presidential election going to the House of Representatives guarantees every last Southern state goes Republican. If you look at the constitution, that's how it works if no candidate gets a majority of the electoral votes and each state gets a single vote in the House of Representatives.

How do the Democrats overcome the Republican majority of Representatives from each and every Southern State? That is undeniably an overwhelming Republican majority in the South.

[VelmaD]

37. get your facts straight...

Not every House delegation in the South is Republican. The TX delegation has 17 Dems and 15 Repugs - which is why we're having this redistricting fight. This information has been pretty public the last couple of months so I'm not sure why you were uninformed (other than maybe because you didn't bother to be).

Darth Velma

[Walt Starr]

40. Excuse me, I often forget about Texas

It's like a whole other country, you know.

[VelmaD]

42. ok...I apologize if..

I got a little snippy. I'm having a little difficulty dealing with all the southerner-bashing that has been going on overnight.

How could you forget about TX. I'm hurt. ;-)

And yes, TX is like a whole other country - unfortunately about some things I think it's a 3rd world country. Sigh. But we're working on that. :-)

-V-

[Bake]

3. I got your back!

Standing with you in Jackson MS.

Bake

[Liberal_as_Fuck]

4. Yes, I would agree with you,

but if you're talking about racism, I would venture to say, that in my experience there tend to be more racists in the south. Or atleast there were more out and about when i lived there.

[Walt Starr]

5. I disagree

You may see more overtly open racism in pockets of the South, however, as is pointed out in another thread, Northern cities demonstrate a deep rooted underlying racism inherent in the segregation of the cities.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Liberal_as_Fuck]

13. I don't know about that,

I'v heard many horror stories about racism in the southern United States, but few in Northern. Either way, these "pockets" don't speak for all of the south or all of the North, there just seem to be more pockets in the southern part.

I would hardly contribute natural seperation of culture to racism. The thing about the pockets of white's, the pockets of blacks, the pockets of spanish, is that it is not done through a negative light, or out of hatred. It is done out of pragmatism, It is more practical to live with alot of people you can relate with, and share common bonds with.

[Walt Starr]

15. You've apparently never been to Idaho

More overtly open racism in parts of Idaho than in most of the South. It's where the Klan and most Neo-Nazi groups are holing up.

[Liberal_as_Fuck]

16. Yeah yeah yeah, sounds kind of shaddy to me,

We got more Klan, but you have more "upstanding" citizens that just hate minorities. The Klan does not influence the culture, and is infact seperate from the culture. But it seems the root of racism in the south is the culture.

[TacticalPeek]

23. Believe me, culture's only the patina...

It's economic power warfare, divide and conquer tactics, just as in most places around the country, or the world for that matter.

[Liberal_as_Fuck]

28. I disagree,

the seperation of race, is due to cultural difference, and the humans tendency to group with people it's familiar with, and people who have common ideas and goals.

[LEFTofLEFT]

21. Eastern washington and oregon - idaho montana wyoming

when i lived in jackson - the only person of color was lasso'ed (sp) while riding his bike and almost killed.

I was born and raised in the south - i know racism - the racist in the NW scared the shit out of me.

[TacticalPeek]

29. You're right. The NW is where the Deep South racist freaks migrated.

Too many blacks with growing power for them to feel safe under their rocks here. Sorry, Idaho, but thank God, too.

[Walt Starr]

41. The reason they moved to Idaho et al was because

the minority populations in those states are extremely small.

And believe me, those who were there before the racisim migration don't appreciate it at all.

[VoteClark]

33. Yes, but it is improving

Aryan Nations are now gone. But yes, the NW still has racism.

:kick:
J4Clark

[sandnsea]

34. Montana - Arkansas Racism Story

I lived in Montana for years and the racism there is primarily against Indians. I honestly never heard anybody say much of anything about blacks, there weren't any. Mostly people just minded their own business, as long as somebody worked and paid their bills, that was that. Of course that was 20 years ago.

So then I moved to Arkansas after my mom got sick. When looking at a house, an Indian family drove up in the driveway across the street. The landlady, a well-groomed middle-aged woman, said without missing a beat 'That's a real nice Indian family, we try to keep the n****** out of here'. So first, the irony is hysterical. In Montana, if a comment had been made, it would have been about the Indian. But, I have NEVER seen anybody in the Northwest feel so totally comfortable being a complete ass in front of somebody they'd never met before.

Isolated incident? Maybe.

[Jose Diablo]

43. Yes, people tend to stick with their own

This is natural. People live around those like themselves.

You see this in places like Detriot or Chicago that have a very high immigration rate. It is a trait that leads to high survival. A people thing. I wouldn't call it racism. More like surviving a hostile enviroment.

It can be expressed in a phrase; "Don't go so far from land". Meaning stay close to home. Because home is support, protection, security, survival.

[harrison]

8. I would agree with you that we are a pretty sorry lot down here when

it comes to race. On the other hand, from what I have seen in my somewhat limited travels, American society as a WHOLE is a pretty goddamned sorry lot when it comes to race. And that goes for sea to shining sea.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

19. nope

there's assholes everywhere on __________(fill in the blank)'s green earth

[chesley]

35. I disagree

I've lived in both the North and the South. Far more racists up North. Far more different kinds of people they hated. they were just more hypocritical about it.

[karlschneider]

6. Don't get your panties in a wad. I'm an Okie...see my post here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=184553

[LEFTofLEFT]

9. I would take u up on that offer but,.....

we bama boys don't like you missy boys :)

[Octafish]

12. Plenty of good people down South.

Well said, harrison! Wish more people from everywhere in the USA knew what makes good people: Treating others like they would like to be treated.

[roughsatori]

14. you are right

prejudice is prejudice.

[KoKo]

17. NE Has biggest blackout in History.....while on DU "Southern Wars" rage on

What's with this......there must be close to 10 threads that are about the South. And even threads that aren't about the South Bashing...end up being Southern Bashing.

There is definitely something in the air.....today........

I hope we get it settled so we can get back to Bush this weekend!....Too Much................!!

[inthecorneroverhere]

25. THANK YOU thank you thank you

Thank you so much for acknowledging the inanity of all this South-bashing in the midst of a blackout in the North.

Now, if you noted, I never started a thread about 'Them stupid Northerners letting the lights go out.' I guess I should have done that. I'll sleep on it, and it may see the light of day in the morning. It's kind of a looney-tune idea. But, with the amount of South-bashing that is going on in this board, I'm almost justified in doing something silly like that.

Over in the Lounge, I have stated, I am about ready to Secede. That I am, if the South-bashing doesn't stop. I am not kidding and I mean it. I am about ready to throw my November 2004 support to Buchanan or a similar protectionist-conservative candidate who is in favor of trade protections to save American jobs but who is also actively recruiting Southern social-conservative votes.

It's not about blame. It's about whether Dem's want to be a New-England 'social-liberal' party or a national party. If Dem's want to be a regional New England party that is 'social-liberal/anti South', well then we in the rest of the U.S. had pretty darn well know that and start forming our own parties to defeat *shrub.

The magnitude of the South-bashing here is affecting my point of view towards Third Party Anderson-type candidates.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

18. Yup

but most don't see it. They really think it's something in the drinking water.....

[inthecorneroverhere]

20. me too

Thanks. I got tee'd tonight. I'm not much of a poster (rather more of an irregular reply-er) but let my feelings be known over in the lounge. I'm just about at the proverbial doorway -

I'm a Roosevelt-type infrastructure-building Dem. I'm so sick and tired of the South-bashing around here that I'm considering a third party Buchanan type vote. I'm in favor of trade protectionism and against jobs going overseas, especially to low-wage countries.

Note: Unlike a Green or Nader-vote, such a vote does not take strength away from Dem's, but rather takes strength away from *shrub, whom I detest for exporting American jobs to places like India.

[Dob Bole]

22. WooHoo.....

Let's get 'em boys!

[VoteClark]

30. Hey I once got to see that car in real life

They have about 3 of them used for different reasons. I liked that show as a kid too. I also saw the Bat Mobile, and got the autograph of Evil Keenivel. Boy, he is grumpy old man now. :)

:kick:
J4Clark

[QC]

26. Got you covered in Water Valley!

[JCMach1]

27. At least you are not from Florida

:(

(native Floridian here)...

Of course, since 1998 we have been living in JEBBIELAND,,, the Florida I grew up in no longer exists.

It used to be a state where even though national politics was dominated by shanks like Nixon and Reagan, we had two of the best (and most progressive) governors in the country in the form of R. Askew and Bob Graham.

That state no longer exists... R.I.P.

[depakid]

32. I think people are just talking in general

most of the comments are directed at prevailing attitudes and what you might call "the southern establishment," i.e., the cops, judges and policy makers. My entire family is southern and I've spent a lot of time there, so I'm inclined to agree with some of what's said. Having lived long on the left coast, I get way creeped out and turned off by much of the south, notable exceptions being Savannah and New Orleans. To be fair, I also get creeped out in Northern Idaho and parts of Montana, although it's a different sort of creep.

On the other hand, some of the coolest people I know are educated, genteel southerners, so of obviously, one can't generalize. Each person is different, although it's been my observation over the years that many people who are not raging Southern Babtists or Limbaugh reactionaries are nevertheless influenced by them. Some of the things I hear people say- even among the supposedly educated- in places like the research triangle are just appalling and will make your jaw drop. I mean you expect racism and such from crackers, but not from engineers.

So, if you're a southerner, I wouldn't be offended by most of the posts here. I think in large part that they are criticisms aimed at certain prevalent belief systems. For example, the kind held by Judge Roy Moore and Fob James, or the kind that led to much of the adult black male population of Tulia, Texas, to be unjustly incarcerated. That criticism is warranted. I think it's also based on the types of politicians that voting majorities in southern states persistently burden the rest of the country with. People like Judge Moore and Ex-Governor James may be irritants and maybe even anomolies, but they are largely local problems. Jesse Helms and George Bush, on the other hand, are international embarrassments and their actions and reputations reflect poorly on the entire region.

[fishnfla]

36. I'm with you brother

For the life of me I can't understand the bigoted Southern bashing going on in here now. I dont dig it at all.

[kentuck]

38. Another one !

Hey! I can't help that I was born in the South, Dammit! I wish you assholes would get off this wagon...generalizing about everybody as racists or whatever. It sucks!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

39. hey i'm a florida cracker...and my folkes were invited to JFK inauguration

dinner...voted for carter and marched with MLK during the civil rights movement...southners rock!...i now live in NY but am still southern born