Reply #7: I'm so blue Reflections on leaving the progressive South

[MelissaB]

I'm so blue

Reflections on leaving the progressive South

B Y B A R B A R A S O L O W

When old friends from the Northeast learned that my husband had been offered a great job at Rutgers University and we'd be relocating to New Jersey by the end of the summer, they were thrilled. Maybe a little too thrilled.

"Hey, this is great! You've been wanting to get out of the South for years, right?!" was the sentiment expressed by more than a few.

Well, it's been 12 years since I first drove into Durham. And, except for a few random pronouncements made during the initial adjustment to life in this region of mystery, eccentricity and barbecue, I don't recall any significant efforts on my part to get out. Especially in the six years I've been at the Independent, I've felt blessed with a dream job, a diverse and fascinating community, and a window onto complexities that are shuttered by our current penchant for red state/blue state clichés.

...snip

It's true that the Triangle is a freethinking pocket, a blue-to-purple oasis in a landscape that's considered reliably red. But electoral politics tap only one layer of belief. They fairly beg for people to express themselves in narrow, partisan terms. And they're far too vulnerable to snake-oil sermonizing and spurious connections--to say nothing of faulty voting machines--to offer more than blurry outlines of the hopes people hold in their hearts.


More: http://indyweek.com/durham/2005-07-20/first.html