Reply #52: A distant great-uncle was in the KKK..........in Pennsyvlania

[Patiod]

They lived out in coal country. I never knew the guy, who married my grandmother's sister, but my 87 yo dad remembers the guy's klan membership, and said the area was rife with them.

So we all need to admit first that there are KKK, ignorance and racism everywhere. PA leads the nation in the number of hate groups, so we are dead wrong to assume the South is any worse than anywhere else in the US in terms of racism. Period. End of discussion.

But having said that, here's an explanation (but not an excuse) for why the visceral reaction to those from Dixie from many non-Southern DUers:

- If you are listening to the radio or TV program featuring politicians and hear a Southern accent in these days long past the Carter era, when Al Gore is not in the news much, it's almost always a conservative Republican, an intolerant Christian fundamentalist, or some other person dead set against Democratic ideals. When you hear a Northern accent, it could be the same (ex: Bachman, Palin, Issa, Santorum) but it could also be a Progressive or a liberal - a Northern accent isn't a tipoff that the elected official is likely to be someone we disagree with. So it's almost a reflex: we hear Southern accent and automatically think "Wrong".

- We look at a map, and see the Bible Belt overlaid with the map of the Red States. We think "people there infuriate me" rather than the finer distinction "those places are more conservative, but there are plenty of progressives/liberals living there"

So thank you for the reminder, era vet. We need to remember how many of out brethern live in the South, tending the flame, and stop beating them up.