South Bashing

[Taverner]

OK Kiddees, Time for Ol Uncle Tav to school you in what constitutes South Bashing and what does not

This is South Bashing:

Those Southerners are all racists and inbreds!

This is not:

Those Texas Republicans are all racists and inbreds!

Also, this is not:

Moon Pies are Fuggin DISGUSTING!

Nor is this:

Grits SUCK!

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This is also not South Bashing:

As a minority, I fear for my life in Rural TX

Why? Because its grounded in truth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Byrd,_Jr.

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This is also not South Bashing:

Hank Williams Jr is an inbred Racist fuckwad

It is also true, and I will not besmirch the Southeast by acting as if Skank was her spokesman

--------------------

Also, this is not South Bashing:



This is what you should do with any racist symbol

[Joe Fields]

1. agreed. things no one should defend.

I live in Missouri, and I sure as hell won't defend racist fuckwads or rumpot senators from my state.

[Taverner]

4. Exactly

BTW....why can't THIS be the flag of Southern Pride?



Dobros never killed or enslaved anyone :)

[izquierdista]

2. Against SC law

Desecrating the Stars and Bars is still illegal in South Carolina. As I found out when I researched making 'Stars and Bars' urinal screens.

[Taverner]

5. Hmmm...next time I'm in SC I think I might go lawbreaking :)

[Dogtown]

9. I'd like to see that law challenged.

Have to admit I'm too selfish and cheap to go through the hassle, though.

[Taverner]

11. Hey invite me over! We'll have a real Liberal BBQ!!!!

Grilled Confederate Flags!

And I'll bring the Arugula!

[Dogtown]

14. Potatoes wrapped in rebelflag rags

and baked in the coals. Yum!

[mitchum]

32. I know someone who went to prison for burning that loser rag in the early 70s...

during a protest in SC

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. So it is OK for me to say that "many of the Republicans I've met in NC

over the last 17 years are racists". Can't talk about the inbred part - I suspect many are transplants from elsewhere. I can definitely say that many of my Republican neighbors are racist a*#holes. Then again, they probably don't have much good to say about my wife and I!

I can deal with cheese grits as long as they are with spicy shrimp! (we are New Englanders who are still adjusting to living in NC after 17 years!)

[seabeyond]

6. a poster yesterday calling kids in south stupid and how his environment kids are with like minds,

acceptance, good feelings totally oblivious what the blue in red area has to fight on a daily basis.

the self righteous superiority in his/her post was nauseating.

being a calif living in texas i can tell you how much easier it is to be surrounded by like minds than an overabunadance of people that think opposite.

[Kalyke]

7. Is this Northern bashing?

As a minority, I fear for my life in Boston.

It's also grounded in truth: http://books.google.com/books?id=SpTmlQILBZIC&pg=RA1-PA215&lpg=RA1-PA215&dq=boston+black+students+pelted&source=bl&ots=bmtdZweu0Y&sig=Q9140VOifa234iAAkPcGebPq0kU&hl=en&ei=AD6pSv_VFdTktgeX682wCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=boston%20black%20students%20pelted&f=false

I think what the problem is in regards to most South bashing is that racism is everywhere - in this country, in other countries - yet the South continues to be thought of as the only racist place. And, yet, we aren't. What racism there is here is blatant and dealt with swiftly (Rep. Joe Wilson, for example), but, in other parts of the country it's not dealt with and simply festers.

And, fwiw, treating any piece of cloth as something other than a piece of cloth is kind of stupid. Don't give it any power, please.

[Taverner]

8. No its not and YES I would feel the same way

There are a lot of places in America where it is not safe to be a minority, walking alone

South Boston is one of them

Rural Texas is another

Keep in mind the worst race riots whites started in the civil rights era were the Boston School riots.

And let me add that I would consider it dangerous to have an Obama sticker ANYWHERE in flyover country

[proteus_lives]

21. Is Indiana "flyover county"?

I have an Obama sticker and have never been hassled.

Maybe I'm being petty but I fucking hate the term flyover country. It's disrespectful.

[WildEyedLiberal]

24. Oops, dupe

[WildEyedLiberal]

25. Isn't it cute when coasters think that EVERY non-ocean-bordering state is a bastion of redneckery?

There's a long-standing and still-vibrant tradition of liberal politics all throughout the Midwest in both the Upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa) and the old union steel and factory states (Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania). And I'm very, very proud of my neighbor Hoosiers for turning blue this election.

But we're all just hayseeds in flyover country, so I guess it doesn't matter. What say we go tip some cows after the moonshine run? YEEEE HAW

Edited to add: California has some of the most vicious holdouts of racist rednecks in the entire country. I know someone who used to live in Redding and heard the stories.

[lapislzi]

29. I live in NY...and the county I live in is a bastion of redneckery

There are probably more guns and Republicans per capita than anywhere else in the state. Ignorance knows no borders.

[proteus_lives]

43. I'm so proud of the Hoosier State!

I stayed up all night to watch The Crossroads of America go blue.

The state hate, region bashing and coaster arrogance on DU get very tiresome.

Some the best ideas, events and people came from and still do come from the Midwest and Upper Midwest.

And you're right, large patches of California are red hellholes.

[LeFleur1]

46. Yeah, well, Redding...

that's a given. :)

[WildEyedLiberal]

23. Only people on the coasts voted for Obama?

News to me! Hell, I voted for him twice - he represented my flyover state in the Senate, after all.

[Critters2]

39. Yep. Obama is from flyover country.

Makes ya think, don't it?

[proteus_lives]

44. I bet those who live in NY, MA and "Ecotopia"

Are aghast!

[Carl Skan]

33. "Rural Texas is another"

Bull Shit.

You've know no more about rural Texas than what you read on a Wikipedia page if you believe that.

[Taverner]

35. James Byrd Jr. That's all I'm going to say

And its not a one off - assholes in the same county tried to do the EXACT SAME THING 2 months later.

[AntiFascist]

10. Anyone else having issues with UPS?

I feel like starting a boycott.

[Dogtown]

12. Reasoned post!

TX, Taverner. I'll save it for when I get accused of bigotry...again.

(I'll also use your post as a touchstone before I post, JIC!)

[windoe]

13. RW corporations have been tapping into the old rivalry and whipping us all into a frenzy.

I think hope lies in uncovering this truth for everyone, and unifying this country as much as possible.

[flamin lib]

15. I can live with that. Smack the people who act a fool, not the whole

place and in doing so everybody in it.

[Mixopterus]

16. Alright

I can agree with this.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

17. The thing is, most of we southern Dems will jump right in on bashing the southern Republican/racist

It's the broad brush stuff like:

Fuck <insert state name here> they can rot in hell/they're such idiots/their children are uneducated/all we reasonable states would be better off without them.

What those attacks ignore is how there are people in the south who spend their lives fighting for the rights of the impoverish, fighting for the betterment of the educational system, fighting against the election of corrupt Democrats and Republicans, fighting for the civil rights of our minorities, fighting for fair immigration laws and fighting for the rights of those accused falsely of crimes, etc.

Face it, the south needs we active Democratic citizens more than a lot of the less corrupt areas do. There are millions of real people down here who are being victimized on a daily basis. A great many of us deal with verbal bashing on a local level often for our efforts. That's part of the job and we expect it. What we don't expect is to come here and have all our hard work disregarded by some ninny looking to start a flamewar with a post titled "It's time for the south to secede" or some other such blather.

[Mixopterus]

20. A question, then.

Do you feel you are dealing with cultural forces, then? I think a great deal of the hostility people feel towards the South, myself included, stem from certain elements of the culture. The culture itself allows for right wing thought to really cement itself, which causes or adds to the animosity.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

22. It depends on what age and educational levels you look at

For example, undereducated caucasian people of the older boomer generation are more likely to be steeped in undesirable cultural aspects of the south. As the age lowers less so, but still the undereducated are the most likely to fall prey to such narrow minded thinking.

The same applies for the more educated populations just to a lesser degree. There are also those who are more educated who are not steeped in the undesirable cultural aspects of southern culture, but are more than willing to put on an act in order to manipulate the less educated who are.

I've spent more than 20-years living in various areas of the south. Some states are are more deeply entrenched in the undesirable cultural practices than others. Rural areas much more so than urban areas no matter which state. The good news is in every place I've been, each state has improved, albeit some more than others.

I can also say I've not only lived in the south and have seen similar patterns in non-southern states. Education is the key to improving the situation. The powers that be know that and fight it at every turn

[Taverner]

38. Yes. Absolutely. What you said. Bravo.

[boomerbust]

18. Is this South bashing?

[Taverner]

19. Why would it be?

[Are_grits_groceries]

26. I'm calling you out

on the grits and Moon Pie question. Every region has food that is peculiar to that region. Don't bash the food just

because it isn't to your taste. BTW polenta is a first cousin of grits.

[Taverner]

28. Those were just examples

Although I do think moonpies are disgusting, I think grits are innocuous.

Grits are like tofu - they taste like whatever you put on them.

Grits and Arugula tend to go well...with a chipotle cream sauce drizzled on the top :P

[bushisanidiot]

27. That rebel flag is a traitor's flag and was created in opposition to the U.S. flag.

and is now used as a symbol of white pride. period. the end.

[Carl Skan]

30. As a white, I fear for my life in urban minority neighborhoods

Why? Because it's ground in truth.

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

[Taverner]

37. Well I would strongly advise for EVERYONE to stay out of an area when a riot's going on

But that's just me...

[Carl Skan]

31. Democrat Senators have ties to the KKK

Why? Because it's grounded in truth.

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

[AllieB]

34. Carl Skan, I think you mean

Democratic Senators. Byrd long ago apologized for his membership.

[Taverner]

36. Hey I'm not going to argue with you there. Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms were both DemocratIC

And in the Civil War the DemocratIC party was the pro-slavery one

[AspenRose]

42. Had. Past tense. He endorsed Obama.

Republicans are screaming for Democrats to just accept Joe Wilson's apology and move forward. Perhaps it's (past) time they do that with Robert Byrd.

Just sayin'.

[GumboYaYa]

40. You had me with you all the way up to "GRITS suck"...

What's next, eggs ain't poultry...Mona Lisa was a man?

[Taverner]

41. That was just an example - Moonpies, however, yech!

Grits go great with arugula and a chipotle dijon sauce :evilgrin:

[Libertas1776]

45. Hmm

I kind of like Moon-Pies. :shrug: