Thoughts on the South...

[catnhatnh]

[LisaM]

1. Plantation

Rachel just called the Southern Senators who voted against the bridge loan the plantation contingent.

Very cogent analysis. I think this needs to be the mainstream meme NOW.

[catnhatnh]

2. Mine are that negative posts are mostly garbage...

...espeially in terms of DU posters. We are as a nation diverse.

[catnhatnh]

3. And that our brothers and sisters live there

[catnhatnh]

4. And that my only senator who bothered to vote

voted against an auto industry bailout.

[Swamp Rat]

5. Grits

mmmm! :9

[catnhatnh]

6. And need to point out that New Hampshire....

Continues to have a tough time going democratic in the bluest area of the country...

[TK421]

7. Sweet tea, biscuits and gravy, food that clogs the shit out of your arteries

good food, though

[michreject]

10. Pinto beans and cornbread

and not the sweet stuff they eat up north and call it cornbread.

[catnhatnh]

8. And that I want the South to rise again...

Just as Atlanta and many southern cities have...Because up here both unions and blacks are far more reviled than in the cities of the south...

[Fire1]

9. Many southern DUer's are admittedly 'embarassed' to be from

certain states. That oughta tell you something, but MY problem with THEM, regardless, if they think it's garbage or not, is that they don't do ENOUGH to CHANGE THE DIRECTION of their state. Someone mentioned 'plantation,' and southern 'democrats' act like they're still ON ONE!

[catnhatnh]

11. And as tough as it is to be a democrat in a city in New Hampshire...

I cannot picture how hard it is to be a democrat out of a city in the south. And they are our friends and the southern states are evolving much faster than my own.

[carlyhippy]

12. I will toss some thoughts...showing some love here.....

BBQ brisket
Sweet Potatoes
Pecan Pie
Pralines
Sweet Tea
Fried Okra
buttermilk biscuits and cream gravy
Chicken fried steak
Fried chicken with cream gravy


:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

[ZombieHorde]

13. Other than airports, I have not been in the 'South'.

The people that I know that have been there claim that racial slurs are very common.

[GrizzlyMan]

14. Racial slurs are common every where

I spent some time in Philly recently. Can't count the number of times I heard the N word dropped at an Eagles game and the rest of the week in random places.

[ZombieHorde]

15. I hear racial slurs way less than once a year.

Excluding media sources, such as movies.

[GrizzlyMan]

17. Sounds like you live in Utopia

Oh where oh where can I get a ticket?

[ZombieHorde]

19. I am not saying that there is no racism here, but racism is looked down upon very strongly here,

so racists have to hide themselves. A homophobic pamphlet was widely distributed around my town about 15 years ago, and all of the local businesses put signs in their windows with an inverted pink triangle, and words which read; "This is a hate free zone".

My town = Missoula, Montana

[catnhatnh]

16. And Here in New Hampshire....

One senator voted no on auto bailouts and Sununu couldn't even bother to vote...But at heart we are voting like Alabama-but with much less reason.

[catnhatnh]

18. And so I apologize to every southern DUer...

for a northern failure I can neither support or explain. We TRULY suck. Point to us whenever you feel picked on. We in New Hampshire deserve it.

[SharonAnn]

34. Thank goodness, Sununu is on hiw way out!

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. You asked for it.

Preface: I have lived and/or been all over most of the country.
I wasn't born here, but I keep coming back, and this time I do not plan on ever leaving again.

The South is a study in contradictions. One simply cannot use a single label, or 2, or 3.
The South is multi-layered, schizoid, contradictory, and always interesting.
Some of the best writing on DU is from Southerners.
There are as many moran politicians in other parts of the country as there are here.
Republicans are a mortally wounded breed here, as they are in other parts of the country.
There are some up and rising smart Dems down this way.
And do NOT let a southern accent fool ya.
Steel Magnolia is an operative term here.

The fruitcake fundies are not limited to the South,and are, in fact, more populous in some Mid-west states.
The food is monochromatic, true. One can get around that for the sake of health.

Most of the Southern heritage is Scotch-Irish, btw. That outa tell ya a whole lot.

Most of the South remains rural, with people who still have not traveled over a 100 miles from where they were born. Roots and tradition run strong and deep here.

Obama got a hell of alot more votes than MSM or Rove bots will ever tell you.

and one last thing...racism is changing. People are not openly talking the way they used to 10 years ago. It is not gone, but it is not automatically assumed anymore that all whites think the same way.

Be aware of your stereotypes if you can. Think of Shelby as a Republican first, not necessarily as a representative of all Southerners.
And thank Rove and his henchmen for helping change the way the South looks at the Repug party.

[catnhatnh]

26. What you said...

...and no to stereotypes. When a places politicians become their face...well, Bush was ALL of ours for 8 years. And if you call him proof of what I am, I'd be mad.

[burythehatchet]

21. I ruined my life when I left NY to move to Atlanta

As soon as my son is a little older, adios!

[mykpart]

24. The people of Atlanta will be happy to see you go.

Did you have a job in Atlanta?

[Feron]

22. Home

Nice people, good food, and a temperate climate.

The only rub is hurricanes.

There are a few jerks, but they aren't unique to the South.

[Zomby Woof]

23. The Southern Thing

"THE SOUTHERN THING" by the Drive-by Truckers

Ain't about my pistol
Ain't about my boots
Ain't about no northern drives
Ain't about my southern roots
Ain't about my guitars, ain't about my big old amps
"It ain't rained in weeks, but the weather sure feels damp"
Ain't about excuses or alibis
Ain't about no cotton fields or cotton picking lies
Ain't about the races, the crying shame
To the fucking rich man all poor people look the same

Don't get me wrong It just ain't right
May not look strong, but I ain't afraid to fight
If you want to live another day
Stay out the way of the southern thing

Ain't about no hatred better raise a glass
It's a little about some rebels but it ain't about the past
Ain't about no foolish pride, ain't about no flag
Hate's the only thing that my truck would want to drag

You think I'm dumb, maybe not too bright
You wonder how I sleep at night
Proud of the glory, stare down the shame
Duality of the southern thing

My Great Great Granddad had a hole in his side
He used to tell the story to the family Christmas night
Got shot at Shiloh, thought he'd die alone
From a Yankee bullet, less than thirty miles from home
Ain't no plantations in my family tree
Did NOT believe in slavery, thought that all men should be free
"But, who are these soldiers marching through my land?"
His bride could hear the cannons and she worried about her man

I heard the story as it was passed down
About guts and glory and Rebel stands
Four generations, a whole lot has changed
Robert E. Lee
Martin Luther King
We've come a long way rising from the flame
Stay out the way of the southern thing

[dbt]

25. When you figure out the South, please let me know.

I have lived here all my life (so far) and I can't do it.

It's a walking contradiction
Partly truth and partly fiction.

It, at the same moment, gave America Al Green and George Wallace. Ray Charles and David DuKKKe. J. William Fulbright and Mike Huckabee. John R. Cash and the Senate Crackers who so recently, so PROUDLY voted to rape the working class.

Tell me when you've got it sussed. Meanwhile, I shall be found feasting on purplehull peas and cornbread, pissing out the back door in broad open daylight and getting ready to blow the ass off the next deer that comes near my garden.

Cheers, y'all.

[HillWilliam]

40. What you said!

I've been more places than Hank Snow. Been to 38 of the Lower 48 plus Hawaii. Lived in Europe, visited Australia twice. After 25 years of roaming, chasing a career, I came back home. We're odd, but we're us. I'm a 10th-generation product of this soil. But we also produced Elvis, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Harry Connick Jr, Senator Sam and goddam Strom Thurmon and goddam Jesse Helms. Sigh. Damify can explain us either.

But we're not the monsters we're made out to be, by a long shot. South-bashing has gotten to be an all-to-tiresome sport on DU. I've seen just as much (if not more) racism, negativity, bigotry, and close-mindedness up north as I have here.

Nobody has a lock on stooput.

Hooyeah. Deer and gardens don't mix. I've already had my first taste of venison this season. Slow roasted with a bottle of Sam Adams, a cup of strong coffee, lots of taters, garlic, onions, and carrots; so good it'll make you slap ya mama down. Deer that eat gardens get et around here. Somebody upthread mentioned buttermilk biscuits. Mine are so light they float right out the oven onto your plate just begging for butter. I like mine with molasses. And I'll have my purple-hulls with hog mawls. Oh, lord. It's late and I'm hungry. That's what I get for DUing on a thread about the south, suthren cooking and all with a bat in my hand. :smoke:

[mykpart]

27. The South has given us

William Faulkner, Ted Turner, Barbara Jordan, Molly Ivins, Ann Richards, Patrick Swayze, Stephen Colbert, Alton Brown, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jazz, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Dinah Shore, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and many others. I also find that people who criticize the South are either from the North, or have never lived in the South. If you've never lived here, what do you know about it? If you moved from the North to the South,it was probably because you got some benefit, probably financial, from moving here, so if you don't like it, go home.

[watrwefitinfor]

28. Here you go.

Thomas Jefferson
Denmark Vesey
Sarah Grimke
Angelina Grimke
Mother Jones
Martin Luther King
Barbara Jordan
Fannie Lou Hamer
Medgar Evars
Harper Lee
Al Gore
Bill Clinton
Mollie Ivins
and, if you will forgive me, "Norma Rae"

are just a few southerners who might take exception to the crap that's being spewed about southerners on DU tonight. Anyone want to add more?

You know, I've been biting my tongue all day. Alternating between wanting to lash out at someone, and wanting to just curl up in a corner and cry, ashamed that people can populate DU and actually have so little class consciousness that they confuse the masses of people in the south with the assholes who, for the past 300 years, have been so adept at dividing us by class and race for their own political and economic purposes.

How odd that so many on DU decide to join those who would divide us. What the fuck are they doing on DU if they want to drive such a wedge in the progressive movement in this country.

Did they read the news today? The meat packers in NC have voted for the union. Today.

Did they ever read any history? Do they know how many good union people were gunned down like dogs in the Gastonia textile strikes early in the 20th Century? Did they ever hear of Harlan County? Do they know the first damned thing about all the union drives led by both black and white organizers in the Carolinas in the 60s and 70s? How the laws have been made and institutions built and politicians bought just to keep us apart and at each others' throats?

That almost half the state I live in voted for Barack Obama - which is almost as many as in many a "northern" state that only voted for Barack Obama by a few points more than he lost in South carolina.

It is so wrong to paint so many good people in the south with your broad brush. I am sickened by much of what I have read here today.

Don't know what else to say. But thank you for the opportunity to say something without going off on anyone.

Wat

[catnhatnh]

35. You are just what I'm meaning...

That some states are being slammed because we (all democrats) lost by a point or two. Show me a state where he lost by double digits without the electorate wearing magic underwear and I'll beg their democrats to come to my state as refugees. But that wasn't the south I saw. It wasn't the place of heroes I know. The single most honorable man of the civil war was most likely Robert E. Lee. I often wonder how the Tuskeegee Airmen may have fared if trained up here in the "civilized" north...

[quickesst]

29. My thoughts are....

...that if you ever visit, and accidentally run off into the ditch, just sit tight. There'll be some good old boys in a four-wheel drive, and a chain to pull you out dreckly. That I saw a sign hanging off the porch of a retiree from New Jersey that read: "I MAY NOT BE FROM THE SOUTH, BUT I GOT HERE AS FAST AS I COULD".(I've seen that before) That another northern retiree insisted upon setting the price to a freind of mine for clearing his house lot, and quoted a price ten dollars an hour more than my friend was going to charge. My buddy decided any further haggling would just be downright rude. That for all the "concern" displayed for us, sometimes less than frienldly-like, don't fret yourselves, we'll muddle through. Thanks.
quickesst


ps: For the DU member who thought it was a good idea for Obama to withhold federal aid from any of our cities hit by a catastrophic natural disaster? I'll pass your sentiments on to my five and nine year old grandchildren. In about fifteen years. They'll learn soon enough what people are capable of, for good and ill.

[Fumesucker]

30. RC Cola and a Moon Pie..

Shut yo' mout'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79bojLBDAxs

[Sex Pistol]

31. Thinkers...

[Starbucks Anarchist]

32. People there tend to be friendly.

More than other regions of the country, on average.

[JeffR]

33. Home.

Warts and all. But I can't envision returning there.

[XemaSab]

36. Down home folks, good food, beautiful scenery

and more interracial groups of friends in a few weeks than I have seen in a LIFETIME in California.

[Touchdown]

37. Humid, sticky, insects, sweat, zits, flattened hair, stinging eyes.

And a most friendly church going people. They smile warmly, and are the most loving people when they're damning you to eternal hellfire.

[Cassius23]

38. I was born in Calera, Alabama..

lived for awhile in Birmingham and have lived in New Jersey for a few years now.

The south is one of the best and worst places ever. If you like alternative communities that look a whole lot like family, wonderful food and pretty good people, then the south is the place for you.

It can also be insular, closed minded, and painfully lonely.

[specimenfred1984]

39. The U.S. would be a progressive majority without it

Draw a line eastward from the top of Texas to the Atlantic Ocean and kick every state south of there out of the United States, the southern states aren't united with any American, they vote against everything American.