Wish They'd Stop This Nonsense... (racist, America, worst)

[emmiesix]

Originally Posted by B.K.

So, classy, high income persons don't own guns or toilets?

The Inner Harbor is something, but classy isn't quite it.

Baltimore is dominated by it's underclass. For better or worse, there's a huge chunk of the population which is largely ignorant and uneducated and when it is time for them to enjoy their bread and circuses, they do so in typical lower-class fashion: drinking, brawling, shooting. I suspect a lot of this has a cultural continuity with the Appalachian people that moved here but it is also a port city and I only know the history of this area very broadly.

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by emmiesix

The Inner Harbor is something, but classy isn't quite it.

Baltimore is dominated by it's underclass. For better or worse, there's a huge chunk of the population which is largely ignorant and uneducated and when it is time for them to enjoy their bread and circuses, they do so in typical lower-class fashion: drinking, brawling, shooting. I suspect a lot of this has a cultural continuity with the Appalachian people that moved here but it is also a port city and I only know the history of this area very broadly.

Would you make a similar comment about the "low class" folks descended from slaves that live in Baltimore?

Many people think Appalachian whites are the last group it is OK to slam and make prejudice statements about in American and get away with it. Well, you can't. It is still crass, rude, and based on stereotypes.

[westsideboy]

I live in Appalachia. You know how we celebrate big events like sports victories, the 4th of July, civic anniversaries, etc? We have parades. People put lawn chairs on sidewalks, volunteer fire companies escort the winning teams, or notable public officials down the parade route. We have street festivals with vendors, churches and local civic groups selling hotdogs or cookies.

I have never heard of anyone discharging firearms...of which I assure you we have many. I have never seen people brawling in the streets. The worst you have is cars beeping their horns, people having some drinks, maybe making some noise in celebration.

Whatever in the world causes the discharge of firearms and drunken brawling in places like urban Baltimore or College Park is not something transplanted from the hills. Other than the irresponsible firearm use, I don't begrudge people having fun, but that kind of revelry isn't our style out here.

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Many people think Appalachian whites are the last group it is OK to slam and make prejudice statements about in American and get away with it. Well, you can't. It is still crass, rude, and based on stereotypes.

^ This

[r small]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Would you make a similar comment about the "low class" folks descended from slaves that live in Baltimore?

Many people think Appalachian whites are the last group it is OK to slam and make prejudice statements about in American and get away with it. Well, you can't. It is still crass, rude, and based on stereotypes.

I'm from No. Va. with roots in Tennesse and Arkansas so I guess my ethnic background could be considered "hillbilly". Definitely "southern rural". I think one reason why it seems to be okay to poke fun at uplanders, southerners, rednecks, etc. is that most of us don't care. We're not going to have a hissy fit every time someone makes a crack about inbred hillbillys or beer guzzling NASCAR watching rednecks. Hell, Jeff Foxworthy has made a career poking fun at rednecks ("you might be a redneck..."). When the Wash. Post dropped the comic strip "Snuffy Smith" a few years back I almost canceled my subscription.

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by r small

I'm from No. Va. with roots in Tennesse and Arkansas so I guess my ethnic background could be considered "hillbilly". Definitely "southern rural". I think one reason why it seems to be okay to poke fun at uplanders, southerners, rednecks, etc. is that most of us don't care. We're not going to have a hissy fit every time someone makes a crack about inbred hillbillys or beer guzzling NASCAR watching rednecks. Hell, Jeff Foxworthy has made a career poking fun at rednecks ("you might be a redneck..."). When the Wash. Post dropped the comic strip "Snuffy Smith" a few years back I almost canceled my subscription.

Some of us do care. It is just as ignorant and inappropriate as any other ethnic slur or stereotype. I would also suggest that there is a difference in attitude between someone who self-IDs as being from NOVA with "roots" in Appalachian culture, and someone born, raised, and living in the mountains. You think you could be considered "hillbilly?" I am one by virtue of my birth.

Maybe you are able to listen to such comments and not care because you are now part of the majority culture, transplanted suburbanites from everywhere. Many of us aren't. This isn't just a chatroom thing to me. Living in Maryland and being subject to the laws and prejudices of the ruling class in Annapolis that either doesn't know we exist, or has the attitude that we are the backwoods rubes of the state that represent the worst aspects of America (guns, God, GOP) wears on us.

[r small]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Some of us do care. It is just as ignorant and inappropriate as any other ethnic slur or stereotype. I would also suggest that there is a difference in attitude between someone who self-IDs as being from NOVA with "roots" in Appalachian culture, and someone born, raised, and living in the mountains. You think you could be considered "hillbilly?" I am one by virtue of my birth.

Maybe you are able to listen to such comments and not care because you are now part of the majority culture, transplanted suburbanites from everywhere. Many of us aren't. This isn't just a chatroom thing to me. Living in Maryland and being subject to the laws and prejudices of the ruling class in Annapolis that either doesn't know we exist, or has the attitude that we are the backwoods rubes of the state that represent the worst aspects of America (guns, God, GOP) wears on us.

I have no argument with anything you said. I just think a thick hide is a valuable asset (no pun intended).

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by r small

I have no argument with anything you said. I just think a thick hide is a valuable asset (no pun intended).

Good point. Still, I won't suffer someone blaming celebratory gunfire and street brawling a coastal urban area on Appalachian immigrants that came 70 years ago. Call it my Achilles heel.

[r small]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Good point. Still, I won't suffer someone blaming celebratory gunfire and street brawling a coastal urban area on Appalachian immigrants that came 70 years ago. Call it my Achilles heel.

I hear you.

[emmiesix]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Would you make a similar comment about the "low class" folks descended from slaves that live in Baltimore?

Many people think Appalachian whites are the last group it is OK to slam and make prejudice statements about in American and get away with it. Well, you can't. It is still crass, rude, and based on stereotypes.

I have appalachian ancestry myself, I'm going off of my observations. Perhaps I shouldn't have singled out that population, but what I meant was that the over the recent (multiple generations) history of most of the current occupants of the city (black and white), they were lower-class, aka poor people. It's a different cultural paradigm than aspirational middle-class folks. I don't mean that people should be ashamed of it, but it is what it is. It's not exactly a city of intellectuals. Perhaps a shorter version of what I means would be "history is not dead." It's good to remember that any time you ask the question of why a place is what it is. Culture is slow to change.