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TCinLA's avatar

The South is still the unreconstructed Confederacy.

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Elisabeth Iler's avatar

Look at parts of the north in terms of violence agains Black people. Minnesota really shocked me. All the killings of young Black men and women in all corners of the country. Shameful.

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Peggy's avatar

The great American racist diaspora.

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William's avatar

Racism was never reserved for the South nor did it originate there.

However, it makes some folks feel better about themselves to blame and accuse "the South" for the inner demons that plague the US

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WILLIAM CASH's avatar

Yes, there is plenty of racism in the north, no doubt about it. I live in Connecticut and there is racism here but we aren't electing racists as our leaders. We aren't passing laws that enforce racism. That' the difference.

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Rex Page (Left Coast)'s avatar

Nobody said the North is free of systemic racism, but the South is worse, far worse. In the North, тАЬonlyтАЭ 60% of white people favor systemic racism. In the South, itтАЩs 70% to 80%.

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Daniel Appleton's avatar

Can you provide links to verify this ? It's not that I doubt you, I just prefer verification at times.

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Rex Page (Left Coast)'s avatar

Exit polls. Easily found by anyone with internet access.

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Daniel Appleton's avatar

The South is low - hanging fruit, yes, but they're painting targets on themselves. Despite not having much of a Southern accent, some guy called me Goober or Gomer on a previous job.

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Lisa Winfeld's avatar

Psst! New York State is RED in ideology. Now itтАЩs becoming Red politically. As a matter of fact, most of the Governors & Representatives past & present have been Democrats in name only. Few if any of them have been truly Liberal. Mostly Conservative-leaning Centrists. (I posted in yesterday Letter that Centrists are mostly people who want to keep the Establishment alive and itтАЩs hierarchy system going so they donтАЩt lose their place it it).

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Mitchell Pressman's avatar

Amen. If New York were geographically switched with Maryland, it would've joined the Confederacy.

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Lisa Winfeld's avatar

Yes. Instead, factories and businesses had to make do with labor abuses instead of true slavery while the owners whistled Dixie all the way to the bank. Many sadly had to change their tune for a little while after the Wall Street Crash and Depression that followed.

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Daniel Appleton's avatar

Even the Great Emancipator Lincoln used the N - word in some of his correspondence, or so I have heard. I can Google it.

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Carolyn Paul  (Norman OK)'s avatar

Dear Commenters,

Let's not get too carried away with our South-bashing and try to remember that some truly fine people live there alongside the bigoted haters and they are working hard to effect positive change. Check out Kyle Whitmire and J.D. Crowe at AL.com if you don't believe me. Also Patrick Skinner (Skinnerpm) on Twitter. The South has many problems as does the rest of our poor benighted land but at least the weather is generally warm and so are the people.

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Deborah Minyard's avatar

During the Civil War my great-great granddaddy lived in an area in SE Texas called the Big Thicket, a large very dense forest just north of where my family and I live. He did not believe in the cause of the South, and did not want to fight in the war, so he and the men hid out in the thicket while the women would sneak in food and supplies at the edge of the forest. I am a proud TexanтАжareformed Republican, now Democrat. I cannot allow them control over me! Like my grandfather, I will stay in Texas and work hard to turn it Blue! There are many others like meтАжplease donтАЩt judge all of Texans by the divisive, hate filled, bigoted comments you hear or read in the тАЬnewsтАЭ!

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Angelica's avatar

Keep fining like-minded people and work for change. A lot of people are moving in to Texas. That's why they got 2 more electoral votes after the 2020 census and California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia lost one vote.

There is power in numbers. Go for it!

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Susanna J. Sturgis's avatar

What she said. Also note, South-bashers, that you seem to be erasing the millions upon millions of southerners who are Black, brown, and otherwise not white.

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Rex Page (Left Coast)'s avatar

I donтАЩt think anyone blames systemic racism on black or brown voters. If Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi made it easy for black people to vote, instead of throwing every possible roadblock in the way, no Republican would hold an office elected by statewide voting in those states. Republicans would still control the legislatures and US House contingents, however, because the districts are gerrymandered to nullify the votes of the black people who manage, through persistent determination, to cast votes, having overcome the obstacles that the white power structure puts in their way.

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WILLIAM CASH's avatar

Yes, there are many fine people there, just as there were fine people in the Confederacy, but as long as they keep electing bigots for their government, those fine people aren't accomplishing much. They aren't making reasonable laws, so should we accept the bigotry of the leaders because there are fine people living there?

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MLMinET's avatar

William, I for one would love for you to tell me how to elect dems in a severely gerrymandered state. You read above, I presume, about repubs тАЬcrackingтАЭ Nashville. ThatтАЩs just one instance, but this is the way it is all over the state. Please, I look forward to your suggestions.

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Rex Page (Left Coast)'s avatar

тАЬMany fine peopleтАЭ doesnтАЩt cut it. What matters is the percentage of fine people, and that percentage is not high enough in the South (and many states in the North, too) to effectively combat systemic racism. The incident that prompted this discussion occurred in Tennessee, and only the na├пve are surprised by this latest example of injustice perpetrated by the legislatiors that the white people In Tennessee put in office.

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Elisabeth Iler's avatar

Carolyn, I absolutely agree with you. I loved living in Florida and loved the people. I hate the politicians, north and south, for allowing this violence to sweep through the land.

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Rex Page (Left Coast)'s avatar

The politicians were elected by those people you liked so much.

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Tom Keefe's avatar

J.D. Crowe!! and so many great musicians...Bill Monroe himself broke the color barrier in the '20s. The South is not a monolith of bigots.The majority of African Americans in the US live there. Jimmy Carter and others like him defy white southern stereotypes. Let's don't let fear and prejudice dehumanize any region of the country.

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Laurie's avatar

I live in Idaho. Not just the south. And no dissenting voices.

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Dave Smucker's avatar

But those non dissenting voices sure run off fast to hospitals in Portland, Oregon when they have covid, need critical or trauma care. Not any different here in western North Carolina, they go to Atlanta or Asheville and are happy to be taken care of by black and brown nurses and staff.

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Rex Page (Left Coast)'s avatar

Idaho is the Oklahoma of the Rockies.

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J L Graham's avatar

And/or the "GOP" has been very busy summoning it's ghost.

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