Myths about the South

[NightWatcher]

The Civil War: 99.999% of us don't give a rat's ass about the Civil War. We don't dress up and recreate the battles. We couldn't tell you the name of our great great great grand pappy who fought in the damned thing either

The Rebel Flag: once again, outside of a very few people, 99.999% of us don't care about it. The closest a Confederate flag has ever been to my house was when I was 8 and had a Dukes of Hazzard tshirt that had the car on it.

Rednecks: sure we have our share of backwards hicks that fit every stereotype. Toothless, ignorant..... But have you ever watched the Jersey Shore? Y'all have (as does every state and region) your fair share of morons.

We talk funny: sure we may speak a little slower than yous guys, but once again every region has their own funny sounding speakers. Yous guys musta been wicked pissed drunk last night when you pahked tha cah in the front yahd.


Lastly, if the South is such a terrible place why do so many of y'all move down here and stay? Oh yes, because it's nice down here and the only time we deal with ice is when we add it to our sweet tea, mint juleps, margaritas...

Bless your hearts. Y'all come back now you hear.

[Tennessee Gal]

1. LOL! I love it.

Love that "bless your hearts" part!

[fasttense]

2. So, you are one of those that believes their are 2 types of Yankees?

The Yankees who come to visit and the Damn Yankees who come to stay and wont leave.

[Tennessee Gal]

3. We welcome everyone to come to the South.

There are ignorant people in all areas. That was the point of the OP in my opinion.

[Papagoose]

129. I moved to the south in 2007 and have never felt welcome

I hate it here and every day think about how to find a job that will relocate my family back to the north.

The vast majority of people I've met here are clannish (with a "c"), suspicious and close-minded. I've yet to see "southern hospitality" outside of a restaurant or hotel, where is is required.

Absolutely, there are good people here, it's just that I haven't crossed paths with many, and I will be honest, the last year and a half or so, I've stopped trying. I just want to go home.

[PassingFair]

163. That is so sad!

:hug:

I hope the economy picks up around here...we need
more Progressives!

:hug:

[southerncrone]

208. Many in the South still suffer from fear of Carpetbaggers.

Especially in the small towns where generation after generation never leave their small area, family tales from the days after the Civil War when ancestors were "swindled" by "them Yankees" keep that suspicion alive. Lots of the backward churches keep those kinds of fear alive, too.

Larger cities have less of that & have integrated people from all over the country (& world).

[Mimosa]

224. PapaGoose, I live in GA

I'm in the big ATL where lots of Yankees live.(There are few Southerners in ATL! ) If you want to 'go back up North' you should move into metro Atlanta. Very little difference.;)

I don't know where Cedartown is. But try smiling, talking to people first. Most people are friendly, like people anywhere.

[Drahthaardogs]

47. I have spent my whole life in the West.

Colorado, Wyoming, and Alaska. The Southerns need to realize that there are NO Yankees, there are only two types of people. Easterners and Westerners. It matters not what side of the Mason Dixon Line you live. They are all Easterners.

[LiberalLoner]

77. Amen to that! Montana girl here. I don't understand the whole north/south thing! n/t

[tabbycat31]

98. a Yankee is a baseball player

[BOHICA12]

225. No, a Yankee is a blood sucking leach with a carpet bag

that moves to the South to avoid the tax level of "Home" and complains that here isn't like up North. But whoa be it if anyone suggest maybe they need to pay a little more if they want the same amenities.

Plus Yankees can't figure out that I-75 and I-95 both have North-Bound LANES!

[NorthCarolina]

248. A Yankee is a one-handed quickie. nt

[patrice]

4. K&R

[tammywammy]

5. k&r n/t

[Bluzmann57]

6. Some of the nicest people I've ever met were from the South

And perhaps the reason some Southerners speak a bit slower than "average" (whatever that may be) is because it's so damn hot down there in summer. One more thing about the Southern USA, Y'all have produced some of the finest Rock and Roll music ever. Allman Bros. Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, REM, the list goes on and on. As a music lover, I say thanks!

[mwb970]

28. Yes, they're very nice. Until they start talking politics.

I don't know anything about "the South" (never been there; no plans to go), but I have noticed that the (universally conservative) people who live in rural areas and small towns here in Ohio are almost to a person EXTREMELY friendly and helpful, even to a stranger from the Big Bad City. (It's happened to me multiple times.)

This is what makes it so terribly sad (and inexplicable to me) that when these very same nice people open their mouths to talk politics, out pours the most horrific, intolerant, misinformed, bigoted right-wing extremist tripe I have ever heard in my life. How can such incredibly nice people have such odious, inhuman, hateful political views? I simply cannot understand this phenomenon!

Here's a thought. Do you suppose that the outrageous political statements made by various Southern leaders (even the "nice" ones) over the years have turned people off the way the horrible politics of my rural neighbors turns me off?

Just asking.

[Ilsa]

80. I agree. And I'm afraid many are learning that hateful view in the pews. :-( nt

[mwb970]

84. Or on the teevee. /nt

[deaniac21]

254. Most folks just aren't as educated as you.

[liberalmike27]

216. Hot in the Summer

Late Spring, and Early Fall Ya'll.

Dude, sorry for the dickish assholes, and clannish behavior. We've got some jerks. Keep looking, maybe in different places, some more intellectual venues. Not sure what you do, but your job may just have less educated folks in it. I've found some good people.

I agree with much of what the original post said, but sadly a new high school site opened up on FB, and a few were still lamenting a decision to change our mascot from Rebel, to something else, just yesterday. So yea, um, no we've not completely gotten rid of all the assholes. But I was kind of an outsider in high school, thought for myself, didn't fit in, went through integration...was call an n-lover just for trying to get along, and that was in the early 70s.

Still, progress is being made. But these racist Tea Party Republicans are everywhere, just like slavery was at some point. Not just heah in the deep sayowth ya'll.

[Lost-in-FL]

7. Funny. All the Teahadists I know are northern transplants.

They blend well with the stereotype people often have of the quintessential southern redneck.

[RagAss]

17. Me too...mostly from the midwest.

[Lost-in-FL]

22. And the "most liberal" people I have met here are born/raised in the south. nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

174. Anecdote is evidence. nt

[Lost-in-FL]

221. That is an opinion.

I never said "all northerners" are teabaggers. What I said was that the most staunch teabaggers "I know personally" happen to be transplants from Northern states. In addition to that... some of the most progressive people I know, happen to be true Floridians (following several generations, ironically from Southern FL.)

;-)

[RaleighNCDUer]

161. Like water finding its natural level.

You do understand that if they were not real, they would not be stereotypes, don't you?

There are stereotypes of the 'crooked politician' the 'dirty cop' and the 'goddam ignorant redneck' becasue they are so often seen that we recognise them when we see them. If they were NOT common, there would be no stereotype to pin on them.

[Lost-in-FL]

222. Thanks for the lecture. I will keep that in mind.

:hi:

[CBHagman]

8. One thing I see on DU...

...is the stereotyping of and indeed hostility towards evangelical Christians, of whom there are many in the South.

I've lived in various regions of the U.S. and in one area of Europe, and would observe that knee-jerk judgments and shallow evaluations and insensitity really are flung about just about anywhere.

[bluestate10]

44. Well. The most prominent evangelicals and those that aren't prominent

but seek the limelight do not help the image that you claim others distort. When good people like you rise up against the haters in numbers and make your voices heard, may be then others will have a change of opinion.

[RaleighNCDUer]

162. Just giving back what we recieve -

and there's nobody more knee-jerk, shallow and insensitive than the majority of evangelical christians.

[CBHagman]

252. So two wrongs make a right?

Also, evangelicals are a big group. Who on Earth is in a position to judge them en masse?

[saras]

276. If they don't know the difference between evangelicals and fundamentalists, then fuck 'em

If you're going to aggressively oppose some group, you have a little bit of an obligation to get your facts straight and actually go after the right group.

And yes, the fundamentalists have been hateful bigots since "The Fundamentals: A Testimony To The Truth" was first published.

[Jim Warren]

9. Myths

I live in rural Massachusetts and many would be surprised by some of the people who live near me who fly 'don't tread on me flags', have snowmobiles on the lawn all summer, wear cowboy hats when they go line dancing, and the family sedan is an F150.

[JackintheGreen]

60. Western Mass, man...

I lived there for ten years - Easthampton, Florence, Sunderland, Belchertown. You get that liberal core in Amherst and Northampton and the rest politically is Alabama.

[Jim Warren]

120. Heh

The Appalachians don't end in West Virginia.

[bvar22]

79. I saw more Rebel flags and

"I Love Rush" stickers in the white flight suburbs of Minneapolis than I have in The South.

(My Wife & I moved from Minneapolis to a very rural part of the Deep South in 2006)

[Odin2005]

90. Whenever I see somebody up here in Fargo with a Stars-n-Bars...

...I want to chew the fucker out and remind him of the Minnesotans that died at Gettysburg.

[Zookeeper]

99. I saw one flying in front of a rural compound in northern MN....

There is no mistaking that message in the North and no "heritage" excuse for it, either.

[BOHICA12]

228. That would be the Confederate Battle Flag ....

Stars & Bars is another flag.

[Obamanaut]

232. self delete - duplicate response

[SharonAnn]

255. But isn't Fargo in North Dakota? I know it's close to Minnesota, but ....

[Odin2005]

265. It's right on the border with MN, I live in it's Minnesota suburb Moorhead.

[JVS]

10. People move to follow jobs that are there because your state legislatures are wage busting assholes.

[NightWatcher]

14. You won't find me defending the politicians, but what about Wisconsin, Illinois Ohio...?

Jerks are not bound by geographic region

[JVS]

15. What about them? They're not the Right to Work for Less states, and thus have faced...

a new breed of politicians who want to make them more like the South.

[mwb970]

29. Don't blame Ohio!

We are working to overturn the horrible union-busting of our bagger Governor this fall, and will be getting rid of him just as soon as we can. We had a good governor, then in 2010 the baggers all voted and true Americans didn't (thanks for nothing), and now we have a teahadist in charge, with an approval rating well below 30%.

[pintobean]

32. That's true

but a topic for another thread and unfair to the OP.

[JVS]

41. It's relevant because the OP asks why people move there if they don't like it.

I'm pointing out that there is a reason that people have to move there even if they don't like it.

[pintobean]

46. There are a lot of reasons

I don't think low wage jobs are the top reason. I know a lot of people who would move south if they could live on those wages. There's also a lot of people who have come north for better wages.

[JVS]

Tell it to the OP

They're the one who wrote "Lastly, if the South is such a terrible place why do so many of y'all move down here and stay? Oh yes, because it's nice down here and the only time we deal with ice is when we add it to our sweet tea, mint juleps, margaritas..."

[pintobean]

53. He didn't mention jobs, wages or right to work

You did. I can't follow your logic here. I don't think southerners, in general, like low wages or people from the north chasing low wage jobs. The weather and the coasts are very attractive, however.

[JVS]

56. He asked a question and offered an answer. I offered an alternate answer.

And if you don't get that employers like to move to places where they can prevent unionization and keep wages down, I can't help you. I don't see how my comment is unfair or doesn't belong here like you claim.

[pintobean]

67. I understand

and no, you can't help me. Nor, I you.

[RainDog]

181. jobs in the U.S. migrated from the northeast to the midwest to the south

because corporations were trying to avoid paying living wages.

Capital Moves is a good book that talks about this via RCA.

The south has "right to work" laws, and is historically anti-union - which is how wages are depressed.

as the south began to attract manufacturing and the workers in those plants began to unionize, corporations moved to Mexico where they can pay pennies on the dollar. the managers live in Texas at the border in McMansions. Michael Moore filmed this very thing in his old tv show.

So, the logic is that the south, with its anti-union sentiment, has helped to hurt all working-class Americans b/c of their lack of solidarity with other workers.

[pintobean]

186. There endith the lesson?

Did you notice my avatar?
The fact that I live in a state that doesn't allow same sex marriage doesn't make me anti-glbt anymore than any southerner should be assumed to be anti-union.

[RainDog]

192. you asked a question. I answered it.

southerners have traditionally had lower wages because they are traditionally anti-union.

I'm not talking about you personally. the region, however, has a tradition of anti-union sentiment. that's just reality. history.

I'm from the south myself. But anyone who wants to talk trash about the south is welcome to do so, as far as I'm concerned, because the reality is that the south has held back the rest of this nation on issue after issue - and, imo, it's because of the religious fundamentalism - that was FIERCELY anti-union, as well as anti any other progressive social change.

[pintobean]

198. No, I did not ask a question.

and people trash talking the south may be just fine and dandy with you, but it's against DU rules. I'm not in, or from the south. I do take issue with my fellow DUers being accused of something based on where they live.

[RainDog]

204. you wondered how right to work meant depressed wages

so, if you weren't asking, then you heard the answer anyway.

it's not trash talking when you're presenting facts. that may make some people uncomfortable - but sometimes the truth isn't a comfortable thing to hear.

the reality is that churches were anti-union in the south. white churches also preached a doctrine of segregation into the 1970s that came from the same sort of thinking that now has people in the south defending creationism in spite of overwhelming evidence that such a claim is a lie.

afaik, it's not against the rules to tell the truth about the origin of many of the problems in this nation.

[pintobean]

227. Where and when did I wonder that? Quote me. Give me a post #

I didn't. If you want to make a statement and express your opinion, that's fine. You can't just make shit up about another poster and use it as a springboard.

[RainDog]

233. lol. post #53

this really isn't about you. I don't need you as a "springboard." I was merely expanding upon what had been said earlier in post #54.

pardon me if I misunderstood that your post was a question about wages and anti-union "right to work" issues in the south. I certainly did not intend to make this about you. and with that, I'm done with this. have a great day.

[RaleighNCDUer]

176. Nice, if you call 103 degrees with 93% humidity nice.

'Nice' is not my word for it.

[TK421]

207. thats Florida n/t

[JimDandy]

266. And roaches in the grass and yards, even in affluent neighborhoods of Orlando.

The kind that crawl. They are big ones!!

[TK421]

295. I think they call them palmettos? Those are so big, you can hear them walk!

[JimDandy]

298. I never knew they had a species name. Thanks. n/t

[JVS]

209. I agree. I'm thinking of trying to move close to the Canadian border for some nice summer weather.

[Union Scribe]

211. Shit, that was Detroit a few weeks ago.

We're all Florida, now.

[JVS]

212. At least it isn't Texas. They've been having a real tough time and I feel sorry for them having...

to suffer so badly over the last couple of months.

[Union Scribe]

215. Yeah, I don't know if I'm just paying more attention to that sort of thing

or if it's really happening more often, but it just seems like a lot of places have been gettting slammed the last couple years. And in a lot of ways. Every week there seems to be a story about "the worst x in y decades" somewhere.

[Zookeeper]

278. The summer weather is certainly getting hotter and more....

humid in Minnesota.

It's really happening.

[Mimosa]

11. My fave Southern State: LOUISIANA!

JAzz was born in Louisiana. Louisian's cuisine was/is original, with French, Spanish and African influences.

Just some musicians:

HOME
LMHOF RADIO
ALL INDUCTEES
-------------------------
Louis Armstrong
.
Dave Bartholomew
-
Harold Battiste
.
Sidney Bechet
.
James Booker
.
Boswell Sisters
.
Tab Benoit
.
James Burton
.
Bobby Charles
.
Clifton Chenier
.
Jay Chevalier
.
Jimmy Clanton
.
Bill Conti
.
Cowboy Mouth
.
Floyd Cramer
.
Sugarboy Crawford
.
Dale and Grace
.
Jimmie Davis
.
Deacon John
.
Dixie Cups
.
Fats Domino
.
Frankie Ford
.
Pete Fountain
.
John Fred &
Playboy Band
.
Buddy Guy
.
Dale Hawkins
.
Clarence Henry
.
Al Hirt
.
Dick Holler
.
Johnny Horton
.
Mahalia Jackson
.
Al Johnson
.
Kidd Jordan
.
Ernie K-Doe
.
Doug Kershaw
.
Sammy Kershaw
-
Bobby Kimball
.
Jean Knight
.
Lead Belly
.
LeRoux
.
Jerry Lee Lewis
.
Stan Lewis
.
Lillian Axe
.
Little Richard
.
LA Hayride 48-'60
.
LSU Tiger Band
.
Cosimo Matassa
.
Tommy McLain
.
Ellis Marsalis
.
Jelly Roll Morton
.
D L Menard
.
Jimmy Newman
.
Randy Newman
.
Aaron Neville
.
Joe Osborn
-
Robert Parker
.
Phil Phillips
.
Webb Pierce
.
Lloyd Price
.
Louis Prima
.
Wardell Quezergue
.
The Radiators
.
Mac Rebennack
.
River Road
.
Johnny Rivers
-
Percy Sledge
.
Jo-El Sonnier
.
Benny Spellman
.
Joe Stampley
.
Warren Storm
.
Irma Thomas
.
Wayne Toups
.
Allen Toussaint
.
Wilson Turbinton
.
The Uniques
.
Vince Vance
.
Zebra

[bvar22]

110. If the nation ever divides,

I'm sticking with the side that gets New Orleans.

[KamaAina]

253. And as if that weren't enough, there is ANOTHER cultural sphere centered on Lafayette

Cajun AND zydeco music (zydeco is the music of the many African Americans who identify as Cajun), authentic Cajun cooking (not the touristy version that burns the roof off your mouth), and the Festival Internationale, an increasingly popular alternative to NOLA's overcommercialized Jazz Fest.

[Fumesucker]

12. I must have had the world's largest mint julep in my front yard this winter..

All that ice looked a mite strange on the magnolias, I do declare.

[unapatriciated]

105. It was a might strange, but sure is pretty.

but it did remind me of my old home Mammoth Lakes. California if only for a few days.
The above pic is of our front yard last winter - Marietta, Georgia

[onehandle]

13. Yep. There are idiots from coast to coast. But the GOP/Tea Party's core is here.

They may not be the cartoon you describe, but there is a culture of selfish stupidity that currently is in firm control of the entire country.

[Mimosa]

16. Population distribution.

The populations are less 'dense' in Missouri, Iowa and Kansas, than in the Sunbelt. That's a fact.

[Not Me]

18. I love my neighbors, but cannot for the life of me understand

why they vote against their own interests. Seriously.
I have some friends and neighbors who earn little above minimum wage, who support the extension of the Bush tax cuts.
Hispanic friends who think Republicans have their best interests at heart.
Gay friends who support R's because they are fiscally conservative.

I don't, and will never get it.

[Dawson Leery]

86. Rednecks and their equivalencies can be found everywhere, including Connecticut.

Most of them are in the "south" though.

[sofa king]

88. It was my unfortunate experience to discover that firsthand.

Ask just about anyone in Connecticut what they think about Indians and they'll start by shaking their heads, and lamenting that the Indians are really black people, and the fact that they've maintained tribal relations for 350 years matters not one whit to the majority of them, because the Indians welcomed slaves into their communities while the crackers did not, and the addition of that black blood makes them somehow not the inheritors of the tribes' political structure and traditions. None of them give a shit that those tribes have weathered centuries of that attitude and still manage to maintain their cultural uniqueness (helped along massively by the antipathy of their neighbors).

Public opinion regarding tribes in Connecticut always shipwrecks on the crags of racism, and scarcely a damned one of them is self-aware enough to recognize it. That magnitude of ignorance is the very least directly comparable to the more well known racism that mars the American South. Both attitudes are firmly based in the superstitions of our dullard origins.

[RaleighNCDUer]

177. In naturalist terms, they are invasive in all regions but endemic to the south. nt

[newfie11]

19. We moved at least 3-4 times a year when I was growing up (Dad an IBEW Electrician)

I attended well over 30 schools and 12 high schools.Many times I was the only anglo in class. As an adult I have worked on Indian Reservations and still have many friends there.

I am now 65 and back then people did not move around much. I found it fascinating to see the different customs from north to south,east to west, and even the Midwest. Tolerance of others beliefs to a point has helped me understand people and broaden my outlook.

I remember the times where water fountains/bathrooms had signs of white only and when I asked my parents about it they of course were appalled.

My family is from the south. Came over as indentured from Ireland/Scotland and settled in Alabama in the 1700's, later Texas. I am 5th generation Texan. Back when the KKK was very strong in Uvalde Tx my grandfather (a rancher) was strongly suggested to join by locals. He refused and was one of very few. When the Klan was forced to take off their hoods it was a shock to see most of the big wigs in town were among them. NO DOUBT REPUGS!

When you find prejudiced people they have an addenda to make themselves better by trying to make someone else less.

There are just as many prejudiced people in the other areas of the country but not as open (until Obama became president).

Sorry for babbling

[KG]

20. i lived in rural Ga for a few years in the 80's after having grown up in the wash DC area

i was quickly disabused of my romantic notions about the south. oy. :eyes:

[lunatica]

21. They told me I tauk funny

My mother was from North Carolina and we lived in Fayetteville during my junior and senior years in high school. I graduated from Fayetteville Senior High School. Aside from native Southerners the school also had the army kids from Fort Bragg so it was integrated completely when the civil rights movement was first busing a handful of black kids to white schools. I graduated in 1968.

North Carolina is a beautiful state and many famous people come from there. Julianne Moore, Edward R. Murrow, Billy Graham, Maya Angelou, Michael Jordan, Zach Galifianakis just to name a few.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_North_Carolina

[Obamanaut]

91. I've been told that here in the small town I live in. People have asked

what part of the north I'm from (England and Australia have also been guessed.)

I tell them I was born here, and give them the street intersection where the house was that I was born in.

Then the most common response from them "You was? Who's your Daddy?"

This is a small town in N central Florida.

[TK421]

267. We go to the Outer Banks once a year-really like it there!

my brother-in-law gets a large house for a week or so, and the last one we had was pretty cool.

The AC was set so high, I swear I could see my breath when I got up in the morning! and that was fine with me, since it was pretty steamy outside.

Oh, the mosquitoes are KILLER...never experienced anything like them before

[sofa king]

23. I'm in a unique position to corroborate your assertion.

I teach a Civil War battlefields class for a parks and rec department in the Upper Shenandoah Valley. I think if you count independent cities, there are just about 100,000 people within 40 miles of here.

Just about now, a brochure is being sent out to every household within that area, and my class is listed in it.

I held this particular class twice before, each time just barely filling it up with 10-11 people. Then I held a third bus-tour class and filled that from the people who took the two previous ones. About half of the class-takers each time were locals; the other half tended to be from the Atlantic Coast north of DC, people who have relocated here (as you suggested).

So out of an approximate 100,000 people, I drew in 10 each time, suggesting that 99.99% of the people don't give a damn. How about that!?

The polyglot composition of the classes helped out a lot, stirring lively debate and interesting perspectives, and I only lost my temper once, over a racially-tinged issue I don't wish to recount. More my fault than the guy I dressed down.

Curiously enough, since the strategic objective of the fighting here happened to be virtually underneath my feet in my classroom, I structured the courses from the defender's perspective, because it's so much easier to teach that way, and they all naturally fell into the position of the (Confederate) defender. I was astounded on my first day in the field when the guy in the Red Sox cap waved down the hill in the general direction of a Georgian regiment, saying, "so our boys were down there...." Hey, Red Sox fans want to root against the Yankees, too!

[cali]

24. rec, rec and rec. (if only I could)

great post. I'm so sick of the south bashing. I love my visits to the South. I love Charleston and Savannah and yes, the history. I love the food and and I've met some of the nicest people on trips to the South.

[Aerows]

25. I'm from the South, too!

And you said it. The closest a Confederate flag has ever been to MY house was when I was about that age and watched the Dukes of Hazzard.

I think where I live, I might have a little bit higher proportion of backward hicks, but we also have folks from New England, New York and many other places who decided to make the South home. For the most part, we're really nice people. Even some of the backward hicks will stop and help you in a pinch.

[Rabblevox]

26. Some of the best times of my life were when I lived in the south (and I was California-born)...

My relatives in Springfield, MO. are among the nicest people I've ever met. My grandmother was on University of Kentucky's 1st women's basketball team. The folk I met in New Orleans, both pre- and post-Katrina, are among the most amazing, warm-hearted people it has ever been my privileged to know. And nothing will make you feel stupid quicker than eavesdropping on a coffee shop convo in Raleigh, NC. And I was stationed in Norfolk, VA for 2 years.

While I pretty much hate most southern politicians, I don't confuse that with hating the south, or southerners.

ps..I hate most northern politicians as well. ;)

[mistertrickster]

141. Let me guess . . . you're white. nt

[Hoyt]

172. Good observation.

[LTX]

256. Let me guess -- you haven't been paying attention:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x184341

[mistertrickster]

283. No, I've been paying attention just fine.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4952582

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

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

[AlecBGreen]

30. lol

Yeah, those durn southerners electing Reagan... :eyes: Take your broad-brush smears somewhere else

[taterguy]

33. Reagan was dead in the water until the 1976 North Carolina primary

If he lost that he'd be mostly remembered for playing the Gipper.

[pintobean]

40. That was quite the smack!

Did it hurt?

[XemaSab]

223. Playing the Gipper and being governor of California

n/t

[Tennessee Gal]

34. Thanks for posting that. Some people just enjoy broad brush

statements without foundation.

[sarge43]

31. Having a lot of time in both areas, my observation FWIW

Southerns are natural born entertainers and love center stage. Northerns are repressed just about out of existance. Exceptions noted and both regions have their quota of a-holes.

Northern's conversation:

Frank: Hot today

Rick: Yup

Frank: Need rain

Rick: Yup

Frank: See ya

Rick: Yup

Southern's conversation:

Bobby Lee: I swear it's hotter than Grandma Susie Lee's fry pan.

Billy Lee: You can say that again. I saw a fly drop over from heat stroke.

Bobby Lee: We gotta have a real soaker or we're gonna dry up and blow away.

Billy Lee: When you're right, you're right. Grandpa Tommy Lee sez this is the worse it's been since 64.

Bobby Lee: You all gonna to the races tonight? I hear tell that Kenny Lee's drivin'.

Billy Lee: Sure am. My girl Betty Lee's in the demo.

Bobby Lee: All right then. You all be good now or have a good excuse ready.

Billy Lee: I'll use yours. See you all there.

[Flubadubya]

73. Here's a real example of some Southern dialectical whimsy...

My dear Grandmother, who would be 113 now - rest her soul, never lived in a real town... country bound for life! Born in Missouri and migrated to Arkansas. She had some of the most remarkable expressions I ever heard.

Well, once she developed a bit of tinnitus in one ear and went to see the doctor about it. She told him she was hearing a noise in her ear and he asked her to describe what it sounded like. She popped right back with, "It sounds like a bumblebee in a gourd!" The doc was highly amused by that.

Many of her sayings I had to get my mother to translate. For example, when she had a task that was quickly dispatched she would proclaim (what sounded like), " A short horse is easy curd". I asked my Mom what that meant and she said what she was actually saying was "a short-haired horse is easily curried" (brushed with a curry comb). Some were pretty odd, such as this one.

Another was, "She drove her ducks to the wrong pond", meaning that a young girl had gotten pregnant before marriage.

A cousin vowed she was going to spend some time with Grandma and write these all down. I don't think she ever did, though I wish she had. :hi:

[sarge43]

76. One of the reasons the South has produce so many writers.

Love that "drove her ducks ..."

The North can turn a phrase, too. One I heard from a local farmer. When he was asked how his pregnant DIL was doing, he replied "She's about ready for harvesting." She gave birth about a week later.

[Odin2005]

92. LOL, us Minnesotans are famous for stoical attitudes and conversations.

That "northern" dialog would fit perfectly here!

[eridani]

195. Straight out of Lake Wobegon, right? n/t

[Odin2005]

200. Ya, sure!

[Zookeeper]

101. On a recent trip to TN, I was having a nice chat with a store...

clerk and mentioned that I had family there. He smiled and said, "Oh, that explains it. I thought you couldn't be all Yankee." (My accent is upper Midwest, BTW.)

I really enjoyed the casual conversations I found down there.

[RaleighNCDUer]

178. I agree.

Southerners talk too damn much.

[sarge43]

229. Maybe Northerners don't talk enough. n/t

[William769]

35. CHARLENE:

That reminds me of that story about a Southern woman who goes to this la-dee-da cocktail party in New York City. She turns to a Northern woman and says, "Where y'all from?" The Northern woman looks at her and she says, "We're from where we don't end our sentences with a preposition." So the Southern woman looks at her and says, "Oh...well then, where y'all from.......BITCH?"


Designing Women, one of if not the best comedy show ever on television!

K&R.

[Tennessee Gal]

38. LOL! Love that one.

In the south it is also said that we can say anything we want to about someone as long as we conclude with "God bless her."

For example:

"That Susie is a real bitch, god bless her."

This is not something I personally subscribe to, however.

[mwb970]

85. You can also use "bless her heart", whatever that means. /nt

[Flubadubya]

81. Y'all... does everyone see this?

Yes, this is the correct contraction form of "you all".

So many times I see this written as "ya'll".

The rule is quite simple... where you actually remove letters from a word you place the apostrophe. So, when you remove the "ou" from you, that's where you put it, thus, y'all, NOT ya'll. :P

[sofa king]

87. I love that contraction.

Like some of the more useful nuances of ebonics, southern speech has found its own way to correct one of the more important stupidities of our language, which is its inability to clearly distinguish between "you" (singular) and "you" (plural). This is a real problem that causes a great many misunderstandings every single day, both in conversation and print. Virtually every dialect of English has some informal and frowned-upon way to correct it; every one of them makes the speaker sound ignorant when in fact they are correcting one of the basic flaws in our language.

So youse guys should take note of it.

[Obamanaut]

93. And the plural of "y'all" is "all y'all". nt

[WolverineDG]

95. "Y'all" already is plural

"all" gets added to "y'all" for emphasis. :)

dg

[Obamanaut]

108. Strictly speaking, you are correct. But in fact, it is not uncommon for

"y'all" to be used when addressing a single person.

"Y'all come back, now, y'hear" can be heard when one person is departing.

But of course, if it makes y'all happy, I'll be glad to say you are completely right. It won't be so, but y'all will be happy. Ain't that precious!

edited to add: Second-person singular usage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%27all

[WolverineDG]

114. If it's done addressing a single person, then

it's done by someone who doesn't know "y'all" is already plural.

However, you can say "y'all" to just one person, but in that case, "y'all" means that person AND others (such as a group of friends or family). Example: "I'll see y'all later" when you're talking to one person, but indicating that you are meeting up with that person & others later. If you're only meeting up with that person later, then you say "I'll see you later."

"Y'all" is never to be used when you mean to address/include only one person.

dg

[Obamanaut]

118. You see, it did make you feel better, even with a link to the second person singular. nt

[WolverineDG]

202. Sorry to burst your little "tell Southerners how stupid they are" bubble nt

[eridani]

197. "Y'all come back" is implied plural. Not only are you perosonally welcome back,

--but you can bring your friends and relatives.

[Liquorice]

218. I've lived in the South most of my life, and I've NEVER heard y'all used

to address a single person. Ever. The only time I've ever heard that usage is on television when a Northern person is making fun of a Southern person. I always find that particularly ironic. In Georgia at least (and I'm sure all across the South), y'all means "you all" and that is all it means. It would never be used to address a single person. A Southern person would think you were weird if you referred to one person as y'all. It would be the exact same thing as addressing a single person as "you all." It's just not done.

I have relatives in the North, and they use the word, "you's" or sometimes even "yous guys" to refer to multiple people. Now that sounds a little strange to me, bless their heart!

[Obamanaut]

231. Strictly speaking, you are correct. But it can be and has been used

as both second person singular and plural. Here is a link that addresses this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%27all

[Liquorice]

273. It's not used that way by anybody in the South. nt

[Obamanaut]

275. Normally, I would agree with someone whose experience has obviously

included meeting everyone in the south, but I have heard it used that way - so my experience must have been with the only people you didn't encounter.

And it is odd that one can find reference to the usage as second person singular, but hey, what do those people know.

[WolverineDG]

96. I once had a New Yorker put me down for saying "y'all"

after everyone stopped laughing at me, I said "At least I don't put a 'w' in 'coffee!'" oh SNAP

dg

[William769]

122. ...

:rofl:

[Hosnon]

166. "Ya'll" is pretty common.

I had to force myself to quit spelling it that way.

[eridani]

196. Also, y'all is plural n/t

[LuvNewcastle]

36. A lot of my friends have made the South home

through the years. They like the slower pace and friendlier people and, of course, the driveways without snow. However, I think the climate is awful, at least during the long summers. I can't get too overheated or I get sick, so I'm pretty much indoors from May to October. Right now we're in the tropical period of our summer, though, so we've been getting a lot of rain which cools things down some. Like anywhere else, the South is what you make of it, and you don't have to be around the idiots if you don't want to. That's excluding family gatherings, of course.

[pintobean]

37. 99.999% of the U.S. don't give a rat's ass

The self-righteous only speak for themselves.

recced

[pwb]

39. Problem with your myths is facts get in the way.

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LanternWaste]

239. Much like bias and provincialism gets in the way of "facts"..

Much like bias and provincialism gets in the way of your unlisted "facts"..

[CatWoman]

277. +10000

[a la izquierda]

42. Thanks for your post.

I moved to Oklahoma (not quite the south, except the SE part of the state) about 7 years ago. From Los Angeles. Talk about culture shock. I hate the politics here, but the people are fine...misguided, yes, but nice enough.
Last night I saw an itinerant preacher doing his thing, and he was very nice about it (unlike some of the preachers we get here, who call women whores and the like). I didn't exactly hear what he said, but I did here "Don't ever take scripture out of context." I should've stayed longer, but I suppose my husband wanted to go home.
Anyway, it irritates me when people bash the South on DU.

[XanaDUer]

43. There is no geography on racism

anywhere, North or South. I have a NYC-raised relative who is a racist. I've met lots of progressives in the South, and I've lived all over the South. Met a lot of racists in the South, too. Some of the nicest people who would bend over backwards to help you.

I was talking to a teacher's aide the other day - lovely woman, telling me about her mom, agreeing that teachers should not be demonized; etc etc - next thing out of her mouth is, "the schools here are horrible and very ghetto." She was a White woman. I'm in the South.

What to do? :shrug:

[Warren Stupidity]

45. re that stupid racist flag

your claim that 99.99% of 'southerners' don't care about it is specious. First of all, your states keep flying that racist emblem, and secondly when put to a vote, people frequently vote to continue to fly it. It seems your numbers are a bit off.

[XanaDUer]

48. I would say most Southerners, whom I've spoken to

don't like it or don't care about it. But, there is a hardcore group that DOES care about it. Usually, again, anecdotal conversations, white Southern people say variations of "It's our culture."

Their view seems to be that it is their culture, and that being forced to remove it is unfair to White Southerners, since they seem to think they have to bow to others' cultures, so they should have that flag.

I used to live in Georgia. Tons of that flag there, and I was only about 30 miles outside of ATL.

I don't see is here in NC so much, and I'm in a mid-sized city. Just one truck at work that I can see, so far.

[William769]

49. Which States still fly the Confederate Flag?

ON EDIT: I should add that I live in rural S.W. Florida "redneck" haven, I see more PRIDE flags than I do Confederate flags.

[LuvNewcastle]

54. We still have it on our state flag in MS.

I live in coastal MS, not far from you, and it's a little unusual to see the rebel flag flown around here too. I wish we could get it off our state flag, but I think they voted to keep it by about 65% in the last referendum. That's a fight for another day.

[William769]

57. I know there are 2 or 3 left.

But the poster I responded to makes it sound like all of them are flying it. which couldn't be farther from the truth.

[LuvNewcastle]

69. It is unusual to see it displayed much anymore,

and people often cluck their tongues when they see it. I give it about another generation and it will be about as acceptable as displaying a Klan hood.

[GoCubsGo]

78. South Carolina.

Right on the Statehouse grounds. At the "Confederate memorial".

[JNelson6563]

281. I was surprised to see one, a big one, here in northern Michigan.

I was downtown in my fair city by the bay (where, BTW, people are always migrating to) recently and saw this big red pick-up truck, complete with loud exhaust going up and down the streets, waving a giant Confederate flag out the window. I thought those guys were in the wrong place, until they passed by and I saw their Kentucky plates. Then I knew they were just visiting the wrong place. Must've just come up to spread the love of all things great and small with us dumb Yanks.

The streets were packed with a festival going on. The remarks about those guys with their truck and their flag that I overheard on the street were pretty amusing. I'm sure those remarks would've put the OP in the hospital with exploding head syndrome.

Julie

[coalition_unwilling]

68. As are the numbers about the Civil War. I have relatives who live

in Alabama and memories of Sherman's March still cause resentment among a wide swath of whites down there.

[mistertrickster]

130. As does Quantrille's raid in Kansas. Pro-slavery terrorists. The AlQaeda of the 1860's . . . nt

[Little Star]

50. I have a soft spot in my heart for the south...

vacation there every time I get a chance. Hope to live down there when my husband retires too.

I especially love NE Georgia and those Blue Ridge Mountains. But I'll take Tennessee and those Smoky Mountains too!

Plus, all my family are southerners. My mother & father moved to New Haven, Connecticut for work and that is where my sister & I were born. Haven't been able to move out of New England since.


But imho, people are people no matter where you go. There's nice and not so nice people from sea to shining sea. Same thing about ignorant people, you can find plenty of them anywhere.

[still_one]

52. The only observation I have about the South is most of the Southern States are republican. That

was not always the case, and prior to richard nixon, was not the case at all. The
pattern reversed itself in 2008, but the midterms in 2010 were quite dismal for the Democrats

[Tennessee Gal]

61. Much to my dismay, that is true. nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

182. And you do know why they switched from Dem to Republican

for Nixon, don't you?

[Flubadubya]

55. I'm in Arkansas and I sure could use some of that ice right now!

With daily high temps of 104 to 110 for the past 2 weeks, I'd sure love to be in Portland or San Fran, or even somewhere in the Southern hemisphere where it's winter now, lol.

:cry: BTW, those aren't tears on the smilie... it's sweat! :evilgrin:

[Danger Mouse]

58. I live in New York, and believe me, we have rednecks here too...

...every bit as bad as the ones you'd find in the south. Ignorance defies region.

[XanaDUer]

63. Ever meet some of the folks in upstate?

They fly Confederate flags! They are into this Superior White Mythos or something.

[Danger Mouse]

83. Upstate is where I live, and believe me, I know.

Oh how i know.

[Little Star]

66. Want some rednecks, just try some parts of New Hampshire. They..

love them some libertarian ideas up there too!

[pecwae]

59. K&R!!

What I don't understand is why the South and those of us from here are bashed unrelentingly and without consequence on a Democratic board where we are members. I don't like the North because of the climate and some very negative experiences I had while living there, but I'm not going to bash and/or indict an entire region or people for it.

[coalition_unwilling]

71. Not sure what you mean by 'bashing'. I find the South and its culture

the subject of much mirth. To wit, the late Senator Jesse Helms' assertion that, "If English was good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for the rest of us." :)

[William769]

75. Do you really want to go there?

We can start with Michele Bachman if you want. Oh what hte hell lets do it!

1. "I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out under another, then under another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter. I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence." -Rep. Michele Bachmann, on the 1976 Swine Flu outbreak that happened when Gerald Ford, a Republican, was president, April 28, 2009

2. "There are hundreds and hundreds of scientists, many of them holding Nobel Prizes, who believe in intelligent design." -Rep. Michele Bachmann, Oct. 2006

3. "Carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful. But there isn't even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas." -Rep. Michelle Bachmann, April, 2009

4. "Well what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too" -Rep. Michele Bachmann, getting her John Waynes mixed up during an interview after launching her presidential campaign in Waterloo, Iowa, where she grew up. The beloved movie star John Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa, three hours away. The John Wayne that Waterloo was home to is John Wayne Gacy, a notorious serial killer. (June 2011)

5. "I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out: Are they pro-America or anti-America?" -Rep. Michelle Bachmann, calling for a new McCarthyism, Oct. 2008

6. "Take this into consideration. If we look at American history, between 1942 and 1947, the data that was collected by the Census Bureau was handed over to the FBI and other organizations at the request of President Roosevelt, and that's how the Japanese were rounded up and put into the internment camps. I'm not saying that that's what the Administration is planning to do, but I am saying that private personal information that was given to the Census Bureau in the 1940s was used against Americans to round them up, in a violation of their constitutional rights, and put the Japanese in internment camps." -Rep. Michele Bachmann, June 2009

7. "If we took away the minimum wage -- if conceivably it was gone -- we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level." Michele Bachmann, Jan. 2005

8. "During the last 100 days we have seen an orgy. It would make any local smorgasbord embarrassed … The government spent its wad by April 26." -Rep. Michele Bachmann, accusing the Obama administration of premature fiscal ejaculation, May 2009

9. "That's why people need to continue to go to the town halls, continue to melt the phone lines of their liberal members of Congress, and let them know, under no certain circumstances will I give the government control over my body and my health care decisions." -Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), a pro-lifer who completely missed the irony of using the same slogan as the pro-choice movement in arguing against health care reform

10. "Does that mean that someone's 13-year-old daughter could walk into a sex clinic, have a pregnancy test done, be taken away to the local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, have their abortion, be back and go home on the school bus? That night, mom and dad are never the wiser." -Rep. Michele Bachmann, on health care reform's potential to dupe parents, October 2009

Y'all come back now you hear.

[pecwae]

109. Nah, I'm sure she's

an undercover Southerner. Bless her little pea pickin heart anyway.

[Buns_of_Fire]

167. She's a special case. She truly transcends regionalism.

From sea to shining sea, from International Falls to Houston, from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon, she's an idiot no matter where she happens to be speaking at the moment.

[XanaDUer]

62. I think people are chasing jobs

<<<Lastly, if the South is such a terrible place why do so many of y'all move down here and stay? Oh yes, because it's nice down here and the only time we deal with ice is when we add it to our sweet tea, mint juleps, margaritas...>>>

There are more jobs in my field. However, once-unionized jobs moved from the industrial NE and the Rust Belt to non-unionized states in the South, all was well. Now those jobs are moving outside the US, so the South will be screwed, as will any American who depends on manufacturing jobs to live.

We're all Americans - we cannot move within the US?

[still_one]

65. Also, some of the more affordable places to live our in the Southern states /nt

[XanaDUer]

70. Yes, but still too expensive relative to wages

But is it NYC, hell no!

[tabasco]

64. Too many bugs and snakes and too damn hot.

I have noticed more people moving north to escape the heat.

[Zookeeper]

102. I'd agree with you except it's been too damned hot in the North...

lately, too. And now, a hike in the woods has to be followed by a tick-check.

[Shandris]

72. I like the South, depending on where I am.

Having been raised rural, I can get along with these people provided I don't get my uppity liberal ideas a-percolating. :P There is a strong undercurrent of gentility in the older South still, even if it is drenched in faux-patriotism and fundamentalist Christianity.

My dad lived in northern Alabama for a time, and (since I see a Civil War thread elsewhere), I thought I'd relate a story he told me of the day he arrived and moved into his house. It's offered in the spirit of humor, something we all need on a Sunday morning with all the reams of bad news we have. This isn't meant to be taken as a commentary on the war itself, the reasons for the fight, or ANY of that, so please...have a heart. :)

Anyway, my dad went up to the closest gas station later that evening after having been moving in most of the day. There, the owner/operator was an older man, according to my dad he looked to be in his late 70's or so. The older man gave my dad a level eye for a while when he was grabbing a Coke; then my dad went to the register and introduced himself, saying he'd moved in down the road a ways and would likely be around often.

After talking for a few, my dad discovered that this man was among THE most racist people he'd ever known. He got to telling my dad a few stories/jokes, and then started offering 'advice' about how to get along as a Yankee in the South.

That's when he mentioned the 'War of Northern Aggression'. My dad hadn't heard the term, so he was like....'The what?' The guy said, 'The War Between the States. You know we won that, right?'

Naturally, my dad is a bit mystified. 'Ermm....no, no I hadn't heard that. How do you figure you won it?'

The guy looks at my dad, serious as can be, and says, 'You ever read about the war? You know, what those Yankees don't tell you is that we marched all the way up into Yankee territory, kickin' their asses the whole way. Then we found out it wasn't the WOMEN y'all were comin' for, so we just came on back home and let you take what you wanted.'

[philly_bob]

74. This thread is DU at its finest. Good-natured joshing mixed with political analysis. (nt)

[DefenseLawyer]

82. How many segregated proms are there outside of the South?

That would be none. Look, acknowledging that there are some cultural and institutional problems in the South isn't a personal insult to you. I've lived in the South; 4 years in New Orleans. Don't try to tell me that it's "the same" as the rest of the country. It's not. There are plenty of good people in the South. Lots of smart people. But the South is also fucked up. That's not a "myth".

[LTX]

260. Segrated proms? Yeah, I guess that's the canary in the coal mine.

Of course, the coal mine itself happens to be elsewhere:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x184341

[DefenseLawyer]

264. Obviously there is defacto segregation just about everywhere

But in all those northern cities you listed, how many places have you seen where they openly and publicly have two proms, one black and one white? None. Zero. It's just one little example of what is different about the South. That is one of the things I noticed right away living in the deep south- not necessarily that it was more racist than anywhere else, but that there was very little social stigma attached to being a racist. It was right out there in the open. Indeed I have had African American friends tell me that they actually prefer blatant racism to racism where the impact is the same but it sources keep themselves out of plain sight. There is some logic to that I suppose. You southerners are always quick with "the north is just as bad" and it probably is, but it's still "different". My example of segregated proms is one little way that it is, and that is not a myth.

[LTX]

272. And "you northerns" are always quick with the excuses.

For example, it's just "de facto segregation" in all those northern cities. It just kind of happens, see, like a force of nature. But we don't actually mean anything by it. Besides, look over there! There's a racially segregated prom in Wilcox County Georgia!

[Odin2005]

89. It's strange, us folks in the Upper Midwest "talk funny", too, but we are not made fun of.

Around here we say things like "dat food we've boughten was kinda spendy" and nobody bats an eye (note the spurious -en on "bought"). Southern dialects seem to have a social stigma attached to them that other dialects don't.

[bvar22]

115. OTOH,

my Southern dialect and good manners
got me laid a lot when I was traveling through The North.

[Texasgal]

94. I apparently have "blinders" on

and have been robbed of my "southern heritage" because we didn't give a shit about the civil war nor discussed it. :eyes:

[liberalmike27]

217. Hell I care About the Civil War

I'm really glad we lost it!

I'm really sad when I run across someone whose parents taught him to continue the hate based on nothing but race or region.

[RebelOne]

97. One myth you mention is that we only have to deal with ice

in our sweet tea. I am in the Atlanta area and we had plenty of ice on the roads this past winter.

[unapatriciated]

107. so true.

see post 110 for proof.

[tnvoter]

100. well, to be truthful...some of it IS true

I grew up in California but lived in the south for most of my adult life (close to 18 years - in North Carolina and Tennessee). So, in many ways, I'm as southern as I' am Californian. North Carolina was wonderful and surprisingly diverse. No one gave me any trouble in the tar heel state.

.... Tennesee, on the other hand, is another story all together. Some Nashvillians are the most willfully ignorant people I've ever met in my life. I have rarely been mistreated because of my race in my 18 years in the south, but the few times it has happened - it has happened while living in Nashville.

This us the reddest part of one of the reddest states in the country. Tolerance is not a virtue here.

That said, I have also met many transplants as well as native Nashvillians who are the sweetest people ever, so it certainly isn't everyone.

Overall though, it's hard to ignore the fact that some of the stereotypes are on proud display here.

[XanaDUer]

111. I LOVE NC!

Quite different from GA.

[InvisibleTouch]

103. I love the South, stuck in the North as I am...

...and I enjoyed your post. Every region has its educated and its ignorant; it's not related to geography.

[Blue_In_AK]

104. I won't badmouth the South,

but I will never, EVER live there again. Seven years in Houston was more than enough for me.

[11 Bravo]

106. Was it hard to type that at the same time you were humping your cousin?

(Hey, we kid because we love! Born and raised in the South, and it's where my wife and I chose to live and raise our family.)

[Rex]

112. A HUGE myth is that the South is in the south!

It is a lot East as well as some West as well as some North in some spots if you care to look at a map! I like most Southerns here on DU never talk about the Civil War or care to.

[RaleighNCDUer]

184. You do realize that this is a Democratic, liberal board.

Try visiting those that tend in the opposite bent, and see if they are so reticent about their 'heritage'.

[progressoid]

113. My neighbor has a confederate flag on his car.

Here in Iowa. :eyes:

[Lucian]

116. I'd rather not move to the South.

[taterguy]

117. It's a very large and diverse region so that's kind of a silly thing to say

Hell, in some of the mountainous parts people don't even need air conditioning.

Whatever floats your boat.

[Lucian]

164. I really can't stand the Southern accent and the heat.

[Rex]

119. I don't blame you, it is hotter then the Devil's piss down here!

Rain seems to be non-existent in my parts.

[11 Bravo]

123. Then don't. (Is this a great country, or what?)

[mistertrickster]

121. You forgot the myth about taking up arms against a democratically elected

government so that the hideous institution of slavery -- an institution that was banned in every civilized country in the world by that time -- could be perpetrated forever.

Oh wait. That's not a myth.

That one is true.

On edit--and I've never yet met a proud "son of the South" who ever admitted their ancestors were fighting on the wrong side of that issue.

What I hear a lot more often is Tom Delay telling Jesse Helms, the famous segregationist, that our country would have "avoided a lot of problems" if he had been elected president during the civil rights struggle.

[William769]

124. You might want to check your history.

We beat Brazil off the top of my head. And the Government you speak of less than a 75 years earlier to form a more perfect Government did so with slaves.

[Rex]

126. Are you trying to make some kind of point?

The Civil War was not a myth...no fucking shit...and bears shit in the woods. :eyes:

[mistertrickster]

128. The point is that resentment against the South has some basis in historical fact. nt

[Rex]

132. You mean your resentment against the South, got it thanks.

[mistertrickster]

134. Damn right. I don't like Tim McVeigh or the Weather Underground either.

And there's still no apology ever forthcoming, is there?

Why? because Southerners ARE NOT SORRY they took up arms against their own government.

[William769]

135. Tim McVeigh was From New York!

:rofl:

[mistertrickster]

136. Irrelevant. The point is I oppose terrorists. The South's rising against

its own government was a massive terrorist act, and the people who rationalize it support terror killing.

[William769]

137. The point is.

Some pencils are sharper than others.

[mistertrickster]

138. SELF-DELETED BY MEMBER

This message was self-deleted by mistertrickster.

[William769]

143. Using your link.

What about all the pictures that are not from the South?

Your bases for your hatred of the south is in fact baseless.

You have not been coherent in ny of your posts and I have refuted them all.

Let me give you a little advice, learn history from a reliable source.


http://www.americanlynching.com/pic5.htm

[mistertrickster]

144. Bear and squirrel soup. "Because a few examples can be found outside

the South, the vast majority that occurred inside the South do not in any way reflect upon the character of the region." It's not logical.

You've refuted nothing except in your own mind.

How's that apology coming along for The War against your own gov't?

[William769]

145. So I guess your ok with it as long as it's done in the North.

Gotcha.

[mistertrickster]

146. I'm from Indiana and Marion, Indiana is part of the South. As is everything

south of Indianapolis . . . except for that one tiny liberal enclave of Bloomington . . .

[William769]

149. I beg of you to leran some fucking history!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_in_the_American_Civil_War

[mistertrickster]

150. I teach history in college. You ever heard of copperheads? Look it up.

BTW, I was in Lawrence this very morning and walked by the Eldridge Hotel in which bullet holes from Quantrille's Raid can still be seen.

So me and history go way back . . .

How's that apology coming along?

[William769]

152. And people wonder why our Education system sucks!

[mistertrickster]

153. Well, it sucks in the South, I'll give you that. nt

[Obamanaut]

235. "...So me and history..." This doesn't look correct. nt

[mistertrickster]

241. It's the common expression . . . if you want to discuss

the loss of the subjunctive mood in contemporary English or Chomsky's language universals or the difference between the strong and weak verb forms in Anglo-Saxon, we can do that too.

I have some familiarity with linguistics and grammar as well . . .

[Obamanaut]

257. Snippy today, are we? All I typed was that it doesn't look correct.

But you might take all that other - subjunctive, linquistics, grammar - and put them where you think it might do you the most good. Lighten up, Francis!

[mistertrickster]

280. You tried to cheap shot me and you failed. Moral: don't try. nt

[Obamanaut]

284. Again, lighten up, Francis. Turn down your sensitivity level a bit. nt

[mistertrickster]

286. I accept your apology . . . uh . . . Francis . . . nt

[Obamanaut]

288. Your screen is playing tricks on you. nt

[mistertrickster]

147. The apology for the Civil War? When has any (white) Southerner ever uttered it?

Or Jim Crow?

"Gee, we're really sorry we supported the shooting of James Cheney to death for the egregious crime of registering people to vote?"

Yeah, never happens, does it.

What I'm sorry about is that Lincoln didn't let the Confederacy go . . . to hell with 'em.

[Obamanaut]

287. Why would anyone apologize for something that did not happen in their

lifetime?

[mistertrickster]

290. President Obama signs apology to Native Americans

President Barack Obama signed the Native American Apology Resolution into law on Saturday, December 19, 2009.

http://nativevotewa.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/president-obama-signs-native-american-apology-resolution/

[mistertrickster]

291. Japanese-Americans given apology for internment in 1988 . . .

In 1988, Congress passed and President Ronald Reagan signed legislation which apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government. The legislation said that government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership".<12> The U.S. government eventually disbursed more than $1.6 billion in reparations to Japanese Americans who had been interned and their heirs.<13>

From Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese-American_internment

[mistertrickster]

292. The House officially apologizes for slavery, 2008

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/29/AR2008072902279.html

The House yesterday apologized to black Americans, more than 140 years after slavery was abolished, for the "fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow" segregation.

The resolution, which passed on a voice vote late in the day, was sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), a white Jew who represents a majority-black district in Memphis. Cohen tried unsuccessfully to join the Congressional Black Caucus this year.

"I hope that this is part of the beginning of a dialogue that this country needs to engage in, concerning what the effects of slavery and Jim Crow have been," Cohen said. "I think we started it and we're going to continue."

[Union Scribe]

213. sounds like it isn't just one side that hasn't gotten over it...

[mistertrickster]

242. When are people supposed to "get over" outrages of history? The Shoah because of the Nazis,

African-Americans whipped and sold like cattle, the Trail of Tears?

To "get over it" is to say that it is all okay now . . .

So, you're right, I haven't "gotten over it," anymore than I got over Bush stealing the 2000 election.

I hope I never get over such things.

[ThoughtCriminal]

125. As a former Alabama resident

I sure meet a lot of those .001% when I go back to visit. I doubt I could walk 2 blocks in my old home town without seeing somebody flying the Stars-N-Bars.

[BOHICA12]

226. That would be the Confederate Battle Flag ....

...the "Stars and Bars" is completely different and only seen at historical reenactments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America

[mistertrickster]

285. It (Stars & Bars) looks a lot like the current state flag of Texas, heigh ho. nt

[Iggo]

127. Bless Your Heart and the horse you rode in on.

;)

[miyazaki]

131. ha, every stereotype about the south is true. but i did enjoy

my years there for the most part.

[Taverner]

133. 99.999% of Soldiers did not give a rat's ass about Iraq

That does not mean they weren't sent in to guard oil fields for Houston CEOs.

Rebel Flag: Good. Stop flying it over your capitals, and stop glorifying your Confederate Generals.

US Grant was a drunken corrupt asshole just like Johnson. Throw out YOUR dead.

Rednecks: Look, be nice to us and we'll be nice to you. There are lots of self-identified "Rednecks" who I can count among my friends. I disagree, that they are rednecks. They work in IT jobs and collect guns. That does not make a redneck. But I digress...

Talk Funny: Hell, I have no problem with the Southern Dialect. Be yourself, just as long as we can be OURSELVES.

Ice: Ice is your friend. No amount of mint can replace it.

[mistertrickster]

139. I was changing planes in South Carolina one time and I hear this man

just raising holy hell about how he just cannot tolerate this seat, he demands to change seats, this is an outrage! etc. etc.

I finally turned around and the man was white.

Seated next to him was a perfectly calm black man.

No doubt the African-American was used to it, living there in the wonderful South.

[cordelia]

230. Was this maybe in 1930?

No airline currently has a hub in South Carolina for starters.

What makes you think either of them lived in the South since they were "changing planes" there?

How do you know the white man was from the South? Check his ID? Same questions apply for the black man.

An so on. . .

Stories like this just make us look like fools.

[mistertrickster]

251. Year, 1997. Accent, Southern, very southern. Think Foghorn Leghorn.

On edit--

Thanks for not outright calling me a liar, but I remember what happened.

[Name removed]

258. Deleted message

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

[ohheckyeah]

140. News flash

There are assholes in every state. I was raised in the south but have lived in the north and the west and I encountered assholes as well as good people everywhere I've ever lived.

[PassingFair]

142. Since you're dispelling myths, why DO so many of you vote for Republicans.

VILE Republicans at that.

And why, if a Democrat should miraculously
be elected, do they come to DC and vote WITH
Republicans?

[mistertrickster]

154. Republicans are white? Just saying . . . nt

[PassingFair]

157. I don't understand what you're implying with that.

The south is not all white.

The north is not all black.

[William769]

158. Join the fucking club!

[mistertrickster]

171. You have a fucking club? Is that the same thing as "swinging?" nt

[mistertrickster]

169. White southerners by a vast majority vote Republican.

In all fairness, they used to vote Democratic because Lincoln after all was a Republican.

But by the time Humphrey took a stand for integration at the 1948 Democratic National Convention, this began to change . . . in the North.

After LBJ signed Civil Rights legislation effectively killing Jim Crow, the Southern racist dixie-crats (i.e., Strom Thurman, Jesse Helms) either switched parties or simply voted with the Republicans.

LBJ worried that standing up for black civil rights would "lose the South for a generation."

Actually, it lost the South for two generations with no end in sight.

Bigotry is a hard thing to kill.

[Skip Intro]

185. How is that not a racist remark?

[mistertrickster]

188. It's not racist to point out when people are racist. nt

[Skip Intro]

201. You seem to be saying that most white Southerners are racist because they vote Repub.

How is characterizing an entire group of people, by race, not racist?

[mistertrickster]

240. LBJ was racist then . . . "we lost the South for a generation" after Civil Rights won. nt

[RainDog]

190. it's not a racist remark b/c the person is simply acknowledging history

the republican party was the party of the north when they were associated with anti-slavery positions.

when the democrats passed the civil rights act, white southerners migrated to the republican party and WERE COURTED by republicans with an appeal to racism - Nixon and Reagan both... and on to the present day.

the majority of the teabaggers are from the south. the OVERWHELMING majority is southern. no other part of the country comprises even 20% on its own.

so that person is acknowledging the reality that too many white southerners refuse to admit - that white southern people are now "conservative" because "conservative" now means racist - and sexist, and homophobic.

the racism, sexism and homophobia are also tied to the fundamentalist religions in the nation, as well. the south has the largest group of fundies, too.

sociologists have studied groups from a long time.

the reality is that if you are part of the privileged group, you often do not see what those who are outside of the privilege know as reality - and the reality is that too many whites are racist - tho now the cover is "fiscal conservative" because it's taboo to be an outright racist in this nation anymore.

I'm white, from the south, and my view is that the south is not a good place to live. I wouldn't want to raise my kids there - and I didn't. but the reality is that any part of the U.S. that is largely rural and white is not a very good place to live if you aren't a reactionary conservative.

[mistertrickster]

243. Thank you, well said. nt

[snooper2]

261. you really aren't a teacher "college level" are you..

please tell me you made that up...

[mistertrickster]

282. Yes, and not only that, I know how to capitalize and punctuate.

You wrote this:

you really aren't a teacher "college level" are you..

It should be this:

You really aren't a college-level teacher, are you?

Also, when you use an ellipsis (three dots), it should be dot SPACE dot SPACE dot.

This lesson was free of charge.

Now, please tell me that you aren't a college graduate . . .

[snooper2]

289. ROFL ROFL ROFL

Rule #1- This is a message board-

Rule #2- Only I am allowed to correct people-

Rule #3- This is a message board-


End of intertubes rules lesson by snooper for today... (no spaces between dots- it's a waste of bytes. Although, two spaces after the period. I'm old school like that :P )


Oh, I was born with an abnormally high IQ so I took several technical classes and went straight to work for the man :)

[Uncle Joe]

155. Because of the superficial cultural emotion that is played like a fiddle by the PTB on

both sides preferring to keep the people divided for easier conquering purposes.

For every action there is a reaction and the divider PTBs in both parties know this.

Howard Dean tried to transcend this division by stating that he represented all Americans even those with Confederate Flags and pickups and he caught all sorts of hell for that.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/searchresults.html?q=howard+dean+confederate+flag+pick+up+truck&sitesearch=democraticunderground.com&sa=Search&domains=democraticunderground.com&client=pub-7805397860504090&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BFORID%3A11&hl=en

So long as the American People allow themselves to be a bull charging at ambiguous symbols, they will be slaughtered at the end of every political fight.

One of the prime attacking points used against Al Gore by the Republicans and their corporate media propaganda machine in the run-up to the selection of 2000 was that "Al Gore wasn't really from Tennessee," this after he had been elected overwhelmingly by most Tennesseans four times as a Congressman and twice as a Senator and then winning the state twice as a Vice-President.

That was a continuous frame, "he isn't one of us," this kind shortsighted regionalism no matter where it takes place is precisely why the nation is in such deep shit today.

The moral is, emotion trumps reason so don't give the dividers power by letting them grab you by the emotional short hairs.

[PassingFair]

159. So....why do they believe blatant lies?

Seriously, I think religion is what keeps
Republicans in control of the south.

But I don't LIVE in the south, so I don't
really know.

Theory only.

[Uncle Joe]

175. The corporate PTB and the religious literalistic PTB are in cahoots.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cahoots

The religious literalistic PTB provide the dopamine infused message, distracting the people from the real world by keeping them focused on the after-life and the corporate supremacists provide the money and help amplify the message.

Together they brainwash the people regardless of the region, although religion is a powerful force in the South for a multitude of reasons and the corporate supremacists know it.

I believe the Republican corporate supremacists have known that man magnified global warming is for real for years if not decades but they're more intent on creating or getting to lifeboats for themselves and their families, if there are any life boats after it all hits the fan, instead of working to save the ship for everybody.

They use the religious literalists to buy time as their followers will believe the increasing number of climate related catastrophes are related to the end times as prophesied in the Bible. My belief is that many of those religious literalistic PTB believe they will be on the lifeboats as well while a few may actually believe what they preach.

[Lucian]

165. You aren't supposed to be pointing out those crazy, inconvenient facts!

[Hosnon]

168. Rural vs. Urban, not North vs. South. Check an election map:

According to this, the South is very purple.

[PassingFair]

173. OK, that makes some sense.

But why are the rural people voting for Republicans?

Is it because they hear no other opinions?

Is it ignorance?

Is it fear?

I fear it is religion.
They get it from the pulpit.

[Hosnon]

191. Generally, I think it's mostly a function of a lack of interaction with other people.

For example, if you live in Atlanta, you most likely know out and proud gay people. Rural South Georgia? Probably not.

[AngkorWot]

148. "Myths"

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means

"99.999% of us don't give a rat's ass about the Civil War"

"The Rebel Flag: once again, outside of a very few people, 99.999% of us don't care about it"

9% still have positive attitudes to the flag, but that's from a nation wide poll. I haven't seen a poll about Southerners' attitudes towards complicated mathematics.

In a poll, 27% of Mississippians wish the South had not lost the Civil War. 41% are unsure. 100 - 99.999% =/= 27%

"But have you ever watched the Jersey Shore?"

Do the cast members of Jersey shore have careers in the state legislature?

[otohara]

151. I've Heard There Are A Ton of Republicans

in the South.
I do love the kudzu - even though it's eating the south, it's beautiful.

[NorthCarolina]

156. K&R

[white_wolf]

160. While I agree with the OP I'll say this:

I've lived in TN my whole life and honestly I want to leave. I'm considering moving to California,New York, or maybe Colorado (I welcome any suggestions on this issue). I want out of the South.

[liberalmike27]

220. Yea White Wolf

Me too! Especially since that guy higher up in this thread said that about how much he got laid when he went to the North.

[Hosnon]

170. Were I DU-Dictator for a day, I'd forbid anyone who has not visited both regions from

commenting on this topic.

[taterguy]

179. When you're dictator will people that have never been to the Mid East be allowed to comment about it

[Hosnon]

189. Of course. The topic here is very specific. People from either region could certainly

comment on a broad range of topics about the other (in my Dictator-for-a-Day world).

[RainDog]

180. the teaparty caucus is 62% southern

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/08/the-southern-coup-an-update.html

southerner Michael Lind noted:

From the earliest years of the American republic, white Southern conservatives when they have lost elections and found themselves in the political minority have sought to extort concession from national majorities by paralyzing or threatening to destroy the United States...

The debt ceiling crisis is the latest case in which the radical right in the South has held America hostage until its demands are met. Presidents Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln refused to appease the Southern fanatics. Unfortunately, President Obama and the Democrats in Congress chose not to follow their example and instead gave in. In doing so, they have encouraged the neo-Confederate minority in Congress to find yet another opportunity in the near future to extort concessions from America's majority by sabotaging America's government.


ever since the civil rights movement, the south has consistently voted for republicans who pander to racism. the southerners were democratic populists before African-Americans were re-enfranchised.

I'm from the south too - sure, there are good things everywhere. but the south has always had a problem with backward religious conservatives that other parts of the nation do not have to deal with in such numbers...as the teabagger numbers show.

[MellowDem]

183. Your "myths" are a stretch...

From my experience, more care about the Civil War in the south than anywhere else, not to mention the rebel flag. Not that that automatically means anything bad.

Also, depends on how you define "South". Missouri and KY and Maryland can get snow and ice quite often enough. Though I've found Missouri to be more Midwest than anything.

And the summertime is insufferably hot, miserably so, in many parts of the south. I like where I am in southern Ohio. A little bit of winter, but nothing too bad, and summers cooler, and absolutely amazing Falls (it is my favorite season)

Not to burst your bubble, but this really says it all:

Exit polls for 2008 vote by race:

Alabama whites: Obama: 10% McCain: 88%

Mississippi whites: Obama 11% McCain 88%

Louisiana whites: Obama 14% McCain: 84%

Georgia whites: Obama 23% McCain: 76% (Guess all those northern transplants to Atlanta are not enough)

Texas whites: Obama 36% McCain: 73% (northern transplants)

Arkansas whites: Obama 30% McCain 68% (Bravo Arkansas! Though it is marginally closer to the north and has all those Wal-Mart transplants)

Tennessee whites: Obama 34% McCain 63% (Again, a relatively good result! Also quite a bit farther north)

Kentucky whites: Obama 36% McCain 63% (I always say that Kentucky is the only state stupid enough to have joined the Confederacy after they lost)

South Carolina whites: Obama 26% McCain: 73% (northern transplants)

Let's look at the states Obama won in the South:

Virginia whites: Obama 39% McCain 60% (you can thank northern transplants for the marginally better numbers)

North Carolina: Obama 35% McCain 65% (same)

Northern Florida is the south, but the whole state surely ain't.

:wow:

Compared to the Midwest

Missouri whites: Obama 42% McCain: 57% (Having been born in Missouri, this is one of the many reasons I always scratch my head when it is referred to as a southern state)

Ohio whites: Obama 46% McCain: 52% (I live in southern Ohio currently, and let me tell you, we got our sure of conservative nutters, but seeing these numbers compared to the south... wow)

Indiana whites: Obama 45% McCain 54% (And having been there a lot, probably the most conservative Midwest state)

Wisconsin whites: Obama 54% McCain 45%

Iowa whites: Obama 51% McCain 47%

I could keep going, but I think the point has been made.

Only reason Obama won North Carolina and Virginia is because so many northerners have moved to those states, ain't that somethin? Those states aren't even very southern anymore culturally for a lot of the population, especially where all the population is. No wonder. I hear no more southern accents in Charlotte or NOVA than in the Midwest.

The reason so many northerners move to the south is because it is a good place to retire, being cheap and warm, and because the economy there is somewhat better, being cheap and warm. Aside from the weather, which cannot be attributed to the inhabitants down there, I haven't ever found a lot to recommend about the south, certainly no more than any other region. All I can say is that it is the most conservative part of the nation, and the change is from large northern migrations down there. Doesn't say much good about the populace politically if you ask me. There are as many friendly people there as anywhere else, but politically... whoa momma. And racially... well the numbers above speak for themselves. I'm not saying there aren't issues everywhere with race, I'm just sayin... bless your pea-pickin' heart!

That being said, now that your snark has been responded to with snark, I gotta tell you I sympathize with you about all the steryotypes made about the south. The south is not monolithic anymore politically, thanks to northern migration, so a lot of the steryotypes of the whole region are a stretch. And it is blamed for things all the time without much logic behind it. So I can see where you are coming from. But you're going a "bridge too far" with this. The south ain't there... yet. But I'm optimistic.

[RainDog]

193. until the south gets beyond religious fundamentalism

it will stay mired in racism, imo.

[MellowDem]

205. I just think it's provincialism...

Really for the first time since the US was established, lots of people are moving to and from the south, instead of just blacks moving away from the south.

I think it's part of why religious fundamentalism is still strong there too, relatively. Lack of immigration, of many different backgrounds, of "new blood" so to speak.

And I've met enough black religious fundamentalists that vote consistently Democratic to think much of the religious aspect of it. It's more race and culture, with the religion adapting to conform to it, as usual. Not that it is a good thing in many ways.

[ATLdemocrat]

210. It's ALL Northern transplants, ain't it?

Yep, us Southerners were still bangin' rocks together before you Northerners came and gave us enlightenment. :eyes:

And it wasn't just whites who voted for McCain. My county in GA is 85% black, McCain won a whopping 90% of the vote. Our turnout was the largest ever.

[MellowDem]

293. Well...

I would say from the numbers the southern whites give about 10-15%. The rest? Northern transplants and their urban offspring.

What county do you live in? Cause that sounds like a miracle worthy of the Virgin herself.

[Sparkly]

187. I want to see that 99.999% poll. nt

[Timbuk3]

194. I appreciate that

...there are liberals in the South, and they're often far better spokesmen (and women) for liberalism than their Northern brethren. For example, the "killer bees" in TX who held out on a GOP governor hell-bent on fucking things up for the middle class.

Having said that, http://www.fuckthesouth.com/

Fuck the North, too.

We have teabaggers in our government. It's dysfunctional as a result. And it's not just the South that did it.

But the link is damned funny.

[MNBrewer]

199. Those "myths" pretty well describe what it was like in rural Georgia where I grew up.

Far more than 1 in 100,000 cared very deeply about the Civil War and spent lots of time refighting it, namely by flying the Confederate flag.

[krispos42]

203. Why do we go down there?

1.

a) Historically, people grew up in the non-south, where there were better public schools and better universities. So they overall got more education and a better, higher-paying job.

b. They took their higher-paying jobs and their better schools, and stayed their to raise their kids in the aforementioned better schools and universities.

c. After making money up north where there is were stronger and more unions and the higher-paying jobs, people retired and moved down south. They don't work any more because they make just as much money in retirement as if they had lived in the non-south, so they don't care about the lower wages. And they didn't have to worry about shoveling snow, and because their kids are grown up, they don't care about the lower-quality schools.

2. Southern politicians keep their states' taxes low, then use the federal treasury to siphon money from the wealthy states to make up the balance. Then, because these states receive far more from the federal treasury than they pay, they can offer big tax breaks to companies in non-southern states to move down to the south, effectively using the welfare of the wealthy states to steal away the very businesses and educated, skilled businesses that made the wealthy states good places to live.

3. As a form of federal largess and justified by the warmer weather in the South, a large number of military bases are located there. Of course, this results in hundreds of thousands of military personnel, plus their dependents, living down there and spending their money down there. Roots are inevitably set down, and many people wind up staying there.

[kwassa]

206. Students in the south recieve the highest rate of corporal punishment

http://www.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2008-08-20-3137825754_x.htm

[ATLdemocrat]

214. A note for all the South-bashers

As someone who's lived in rural Georgia his entire life, I can speak from experience on the subject. There's no better way to ensure that a Southerner DOESN'T vote democrat than to broadbrush all Southerners as slackjawed racist idiots. I know it's popular for certain people to take the black Southern vote for granted, but to a lot of rural Southern blacks, the stereotypes about the South, even those against whites, are a huge turnoff. Southerners, black, white, or latino, tend to think of themselves as Southerners FIRST and Americans second. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. I know that's not the attitude among the young, but for most people past 30 years old that've lived here their entire life, it is. Northerners would be amazed at how popular the GOP is in a lot of black communities here, so don't think it's just whites who're voting republican.

But, I guess I'm just a slackjawed white racist idiot who don't know no better, who wouldn't know how to count to three if it were not for Northerners.

[tammywammy]

234. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[RainDog]

238. so you're "southerner first" and american second

and you think you speak for everyone in the south (or everyone from the south - I lived there until I was old enough to move and still live in an area that, to me, is more southern than northern.)

you don't speak for me.

the reality is that white southerners chose to vote for republicans, en masse, with the rise of religious fundamentalists as a voting bloc. the reality is that white southerners voted for republicans with the passage of the civil rights movements. those two events coincided and this is not a coincidence.

the SOUTHERNER Lyndon Johnson noted that, as he signed the bill, Democrats had lost the south for a generation...which is exactly what has happened.

maybe he knew the area and was more honest about it than you are.

if you're white or black and you vote against your economic interests (aka vote for republicans) - you may well be able to count to three but you don't understand or don't care, it seems, that republicans vote against your best interests when you vote them into office.

[mistertrickster]

244. "Southerns first, Americans second." Wow. Thanks for saying what everybody else suspected.

Pretty much explains that whole Civil War thing in a nutshell . . .

As for me, I'm American first and . . . uh . . . American second too. Hell, there is no second.

[yurbud]

219. the first time I visited Alabama, I realized why y'all talk so slow:

It is so fucking hot and humid that if you spoke at a ''normal'' speed, you'd get heat stroke.

[scubadude]

236. Just the tone of your post speaks volumes.

nt

[orbitalman]

237. K & R

[Name removed]

245. Deleted message

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

[NoGOPZone]

246. To answer your question, I've never watched Jersey Shore

Although I have noticed how on the Internet it rather quickly was established as the most cited example of how boorish behavior spans geographic boundaries. Of course, how that happened is the more interesting issue but somewhat off topic to this discussion, although it does speak volumes about how stereotypes are embraced.

[area51]

247. Too late to rec, but kicked. n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

249. Fact about the South. 62% of the Tea Bag Republicans in DC

are from the South. 99.9% of the rest of us wish the South voted more like the NW. Or for that matter, more like the Jersey Shore, last time I checked Snookie has two Democratic Senators. I do like my Senators to be Democratic.

[Name removed]

250. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lynne]

259. I agree with most of your sentiment -

- Agree that most southerners are glad to let the Civil War be a thing of the past but I do think that we give a bit more than a "rats ass" about it just because we have no choice. It's always in front of us. In Virginia you can't ride more than 10 miles without going past a battlefield or a road sign marking a war event. We can't make it "out of sight - out of mind" like they can up north, with the exception of Gettysburg.

As far as re-enacting the battles, I live near a battlefield and I'm here to tell you that people EVERYWHERE are involved in that activity. Who do you think dresses up in the Union uniforms?? Some southerners, yes, but most are reenactors from northern states. Did you know that American CW re-enacting is big in the UK? We had people here from around the world attending our last re-enactment, it's not exclusive to the south or even to the U.S.

And, YES, do agree about having to wonder why everyone is heading south if its such a horrible place. I think they want our Frogmore Stew and - like you said - the deep south "no ice" policy except in sweet tea! LOL!

[animato]

262. When I visited the south I stayed with two families that had racist ideas and confederate flags

It's still around.

[Name removed]

268. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

263. NightWatcher

I don't know what prompted you to start this thread in an attempt to make peace around here, perhaps. Have you ever noticed, and I wonder if the admin could verify this, that threads rehashing the civil war or misaligning the south are generally started by someone not of the south?

and then the first thing the OP says is to ask "why does the south keep reliving it?"


wtf.

makes no sense.

the person started the thread is not southern, so it seems to be that other people want to keep it alive on DU.

why?

[wildbilln864]

269. and a k&r from South Carolina! eom.

[apnu]

270. Thanks for the invite, I'll stay here in the North.

I like snow, and the heat plus humidity down there kills me. Plus you guys have really big fucking bugs, the kind that can wrestle house cats and win. Plus gators, damn. Oh and I know for a fact, that one python was released in a trailer park down there just to see what would happen.

So no thanks, I'll stay up here where it snows sometimes and is otherwise very pleasant and our bugs are no bigger than my thumb.

[raccoon]

271. Any DU'ers who dis the South, let's just track down where they live and plant KUDZU in their yard.

That'll teach 'em!

[Iggo]

274. You fiend!

You wouldn't dare...

[Zookeeper]

279. Watch out, we could return the favor with Buckthorn! n/t

[TK421]

297. I wonder how that would taste on a cheesesteak?

[Major Hogwash]

294. Hurricanes.

They don't have them up here, so forget about me living down there.

[TK421]

296. Right? For all the pissing and moaning about the snow, it doesn't tear

the roof off your house or cause major flood damage or destroy your fucking life!

you either shovel it, or it melts, or we get a rain that washes it away. I was down there when we had one that shit out a tornado...never, EVER want to experience that bullshit again

[taterguy]

300. I didn't realize that all parts of the South were coastal

:eyes:

[Major Hogwash]

302. I guess you get used to it.

I didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings so I just bitched about the weather y'all have down there.

I was sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for basic training in 1975.
Even my Company Commander asked me why they sent me there instead of to Fort Ord.
Talk about culture shock.

[taterguy]

304. It's lack of accuracy that offends me

Vast swaths of the South are far out of hurricane range.

Even the coastal areas manage to deal with them. My favorite coastal area is the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. There's virtually development so the only thing a hurricane does is make people leave a few days. (Of course until the big one hits that wipes everything out to sea).

ps: There's no way in hell I'd voluntarily spend time in that backward state South Carolina. (Proud Tar Heel, checking in.)

[Obamanaut]

301. I seem to recall reports of hurricane activity in the New England area, so it

doesn't happen ONLY in the south. There was even a report recently of a hurricane in the California area.

And, the inland areas of the south (and there are such) rarely see hurricanes. They have usually diminished by the time they reach something other than coastal areas.

And, what you said might even be an unintended benefit of the prospect of a hurricane.

[McCamy Taylor]

299. I live here and I see the confederate flag a lot. Maybe only about half as often as I did

growing up in Atlanta in the 60s, but still, I see it way too much considering what it is. And always on the back of some pick up loaded with a bunch of other right wing propaganda.

Oh, and the weather in Fort Worth has been over 100 everyday for a month and there is no rain and the water is running out. My AC can't keep up with this heat. Lord knows what my (deregulated) utility bill is going to be this month.

But yeah, sure, come on down.

[tammywammy]

303. I live in Arlington and I never see a confederate flag.

No discussions about the Civil War either. The only place I see Civil War talk is on DU.

I do see Mexican flags a lot. :shrug: