On racism... and regions in the US

[nadinbrzezinski]

there is a reason why the South gets bashed more often than not... it is part of the culture, especially in the back country... and yes I could tell some anecdotes, but I could tell them about San Diego's back country and our local neo nazis.

Reality is that we have racism all over the US... in some regions, I'd say back countries, you can feel it a little better... like the Blood flag by the fruit stand on the way to Julian... (Nazi for those who need the translation).

So do me a favor folks, when you talk about racism and Mr. Wilson, realize it is real, and it is not concentrated on one region of the US... and it is something we have to fight every day of the week and twice on Sunday. We are, overall, living in a nation where race is an important factor and you can see it in things like Federal Forms... what race are you from?

Or when I graduated from College and I refused to answer that question twice, what race best describes you? Or when my husband had to answer the EO questionnaire while in the Navy... and they had some fun with that one. So enough of this shit about the South being more racist than other regions of the country. I am positive that there are some places in the South that are... but I can find them in the West, the North, the North West, the Midwest, clear enough?

Oh and Mr. Wilson, you are a class ass Racist... thank you for exposing the type in the House... damn what is next? A knife or two? Perhaps somebody will deck somebody on the Well? I mean that should increase viewership on the SPAN.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. kick

[bvar22]

2. K&R

Good Words.
I agree.

[Louisiana1976]

3. Well said!

[izquierdista]

4. Oh, it IS more racist

Having lived in 10 states, I can say from experience that the most racist places are in the Deep South. You may not have realized this when you posted, but the national leader of the KKK (Grand Wizard or something silly like that) is smack in the middle of Joe Wilson's district, in Lexington county. It's a funny district, Allendale county, in the middle is overwhelmingly African-American and so poor it looks like the third world. To the south is Beaufort county, where the developers practically stole the land from the native Gullah speaking black people so they could build Hilton Head for white people.

The thing that differentiates racism in the South is that it is out in the open, something you expect to encounter. Just like when you go to Maurice's BBQ (also in Joe's district), you wonder if it is still 1955, and the Jim Crow laws are still on the books. In the South, racists carry on their conversations out in the open; in other places, they look around first and lower their voice.

[Swamp Rat]

5. Born and raised in the Deep South, yet I found racism is quite prevalent in the Far North

... and in places out West like Utah and Idaho. It's just that folks in other regions hide it more, and it's more subtle.

South Carolina is definitely not the 'Deep South'. Compared to Louisiana, they're practically Yankees. :D

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. I got to treat a couple of those darn cute boys in TJ

what they were doing down there, among them browns? I let the police handle that one. Lets just say it had a smidgen to do with the drug trade.

They were SO HAPPY there was a white one in the crew, I mean the Negro and the brown back in the crew... I mean the horror... they were from East San Diego County...

As I said, the police dealt with the reasons they were down there... they did not like them cops. They insisted they were US Citizens, well until them rap sheets were run, and not only did they have to answer to the local cops, the state police and the Federales but also the FBI... they were wanted for some ahem hate crimes.

Oh and I did mention to them that I might have been white, but I was born and raised in Mexico City (the accent and last name they thought it was Eastern Europe) and that I was Jewish.

Oh they wanted to crawl out of their skins... they had IVs started by a Jew... I tell you that was pure torture for these two boys... that was worst than the black guy or the Mexican... it was almost like throwing acid. Of course the FBI agent, sent by the Consulate, did not appreciate that... his last name was Marcowitz... you guessed it. The two Federal Agents were just confused by the reaction. I mean it is bad when ... they'd rather deal with the Federal Police.

[izquierdista]

16. Ah-hem

South Carolina is the definition of the "Deep South". The southern mind set was created in South Carolina, by people like Rutledge and Calhoun, at a time when Louisiana was still owned by France.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Here you go

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp

Trust me we have some doozies out in my own back yard.

[NoSheep]

20. Thanks for the link. That map speaks for itself.

[BlooInBloo]

10. There are pockets that can still compete with the south...

Out in the sticks of SW Pennsylvania, for example.

I think there are still a few sundown towns (de facto, if not de jure, at any rate).

But the point is that they're just pockets - branch offices, as it were. As opposed to a single large region.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

13. Personally, I like to know my enemies. I'd prefer if all the racists were open about it.

[Kalyke]

19. But, it isn't.

It's just discussed more openly here.

People in other regions tend to brush it under the rug and pretend it's not there.

[imdjh]

6. I'm going to answer "melungeon" on the 2010 census.

I'm not a melungeon, I just like the word.

But seriously, as I pointed out today on talk radio: Florida elected Obama with 50.9% of the vote. Amendment 2 in Florida won with 61% of the vote (60% needed to win). Florida is almost 50-50 on the nose split between reps and dems. So that means that the 10% over 50% to pass Amendment 2 came from the Dems. Since Dems are half of the electorate, that means that 20% of the Democrats voted WITH THE GOP on Amendment 2.

Now, compare that to California, where a significantly higher percentage of the population is Democratic and yet Prop 8 got 52% of the vote in a state that is only 33% Republican. Clearly, proportionally more Democrats voted WITH THE REPUBLICANS in California than in Florida.

Which state is backward?

[JustAnotherGen]

7. Very Well Said

Especially that last sentence.

Wilson, a retired Army National Guard colonel and former aide to the late Sen. Strom Thurmond , appears destined to become a poster boy in the Democrats' effort to paint Republicans as members of "the party of no - http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090911/pl_mcclatchy/3310403

Ahem - factoids on Strom -
Longest filibuster ever . . . against the Civil Rights Act of 1957


Strom Quote: “ I wanna tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there's not enough troops in the army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches.

And lets not forget his 'hidden daughter' Essie Mae - the daughter of the maid he most likely raped.

If it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck and, and, and.

[BlooInBloo]

9. Yep. Headquartered in the south, with branch offices throughout the country....

Another obvious truth which everyone knows, but you're not allowed to say.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

12. Excellent points.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. thank you for this post. K&R

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. You welcome, I am just getting tired of this

I mean, yes Mr. Wilson is a damn fucking racist. and I am sure some of his friends are just as racists, but this is not limited to the south...

I've had my fair share of racists, in places like Sunny San Diego, and Hawaii..

[flamin lib]

17. Meaness and evil aren't based on geography. nt

[Kalyke]

18. As a non-racist white Southerner.... thank you.

K&R

[aikoaiko]

21. Boston area: the place where I experienced the most racist language

Outside of Cambridge and Boston, but inside of of the I-95 ring from North Shore to South Shore.

Example, on my second day in Malden, MA I went to the Orange Line T station and asked the station attendant (public employee in uniform working in the booth) if it stopped at Ruggles Station. Her response was, "why do you want to go where are the N!@@ers are?".
I was stunned and merely said that I needed to get to Northeastern U.

I lived among an old Italian Irish neigborhood who hated Black folk. It was scary.


Now I live in GA and have yet to hear the N-word.

[Burma Jones]

22. I think it's all about levels of education

and the Southeast has a less educated populace than the Northeast and Midwest.

That doesn't mean everyone is a dumb ass racist in the Southeast and it doesn't mean everyone in the Midwest and Northeast is the very picture of enlightenment