Yes, we all have had different experiences and have different perspectives. No doubt racism is humanity at its worst and that it still persists, despite the declaration that Obama's election would usher in the post-racial era. The murder of an innocent black teen this past week in Florida tells me that we still have a long way to go as a Nation.
My experience in the South was working long stints in rural Louisiana, Arkansas and east Texas. I never saw overt racism, in the form of violence or confrontation, although among the rural white southerners I worked with, the "N Word" flowed freely. Coming from New Mexico of all places, I did notice certain things about the rural South immediately. First, it was obvious from the beginning, that the different races stuck together, and there was very little interaction unless it were work related, etc. The African American communities in these small towns, all lived in the same neighborhoods, went to the same churches and almost always worked the lower paying jobs. This is what I refered to as the unspoken social segregation. I think its a mechanism southerners have come up with to avoid confrontation.
A few more obsevations about the original topic of this thread; one has only to us the "eye ball" test when watching an SEC football game. The teams are well over 50% African American, while a quick pan to the student cheering section shows an almost lilly white audience. The fact is that most African Americans that go to college in the South are still attending the "Negro Colleges", and only the elite athletes go to the State schools. This may be changing, and I hope it is. My impression is that the urban "New South" has made real strides in the area of race relations. But the rural South, which is still the majority, is very reluctant to change. Interesting that Obama won a landslide (by today's electoral standards) in 2008, yet McCain won every Southern State with ease (except N Carolina).
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nmbv
12 years ago
The murder of an innocent black teen this past week in Florida tells me that we still have a long way to go as a Nation.
There isn't any evidence in that case whatsoever to indicate racist motives other than the victim being black (which of course, isn't evidence or indicative of that by itself). Not sure why it's relevant.
Interesting that Obama won a landslide (by today's electoral standards) in 2008, yet McCain won every Southern State with ease (except N Carolina)
Not that interesting. Democrats generally have a hard time making a dent in Southern states- it wasn't peculiar to the last election.
The night is a very dark time for me.
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chas437
12 years ago
Well actually, during Zimmerman's 911 call, he is heard saying "the coons always get away". So it falls into the profiling category. This guy had called 911 something like 46 times complaining about suspicious young Afro American males walking in their neighborhood. So, it was a racial incident and will likely be a "hate crime" prosecution. The "stand your ground" law no doubt was meant to give fine upstanding folks the right to murder suspicious looking characters and get away with it.
Anyhow, discussions like this usually aren't very productive. Race and the South are very touchy subjects. My bad for even bringing it up.
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nmbv
12 years ago
The "coons" thing has yet to be proven- it sounds more like he said "punks". The neighborhood had a series of break ins from burglars that fit the description of young black male, so I don't see why being suspicious of someone that fits the description of recent criminals in the area would be racist.
The Stand Your Ground law is intended to allow victims to use force to defend themselves, and it is wholly irrelevant in the Trayvon Martin case. It does not protect the aggressor, which will most likely be proven to be George Zimmerman. If anyone had the right to use that law, it was Trayvon.
The night is a very dark time for me.
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davidsena
12 years ago
Obama won both VA and FL which last I checked are still considered the south. There is plenty of bigotry that still exists in the north. It is much more covert.
This did seem like the age old condescending Hollywood banality which portrays blacks as inept until "caring whitey" swoops in to rescue them from their plight. Having minority friends who are educated and successful convinces me that avoiding this weak attempt at cloying sentiment was the correct choice.
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Slew_Foot
12 years ago
The South didn't vote against Obama because he's black. It voted against him because he's very liberal. I didn't vote for McCain for the same reason I didn't vote for Obama.
If Colin Powell, Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Condoleeza Rice, Herman Cain, or Alan Keyes had run in 2008, I would have voted for them.
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LawDog-86
12 years ago
There are a lot of generalities being through around here. I'm from Kentucky and have lived in both the deep south and north and have found that our major east coast cities are far more racist than anywhere else. DC and Baltimore have some serious race relation issues. I'm not shielding the southern states from their faults but there are a lot of strong race relations and the vast majority of people dont treat people that differently.
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