How racist is the rural South?

[Harmonica_Blues]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Sigh ... as already stated by the majority above, "NO MORE RACIST THAN THE URBAN NORTH!" As if a "place" could be "racist" in the first place!

A BETTER QUESTION MIGHT BE: How is it possible in this era of the information superhighway that so many people remain IGNORANT of the modern South? Or worse, so willingly EMBRACE and PERPETUATE every negative stereotype of the region ... just to elevate their own false sense of superiority?

I guess some people just want to remain ignorant, no matter how many times the truth is pushed into their faces.

[Neworleansisprettygood]

Originally Posted by Harmonica_Blues

I guess some people just want to remain ignorant, no matter how many times the truth is pushed into their faces.

I have been avoiding this thread like the plague, but I will chime in and say that it really is true that when you live neighbor to neighbor with somebody, of course there will be differences at times. Hence, more black-white tension in the South than you would see in areas that are lily-white.

Personally, I'm a straight white guy who smokes cigarettes, and the guy who just moved in above me is black, gay, and smokes pot. We got into a big argument about him playing music while I was trying to sleep and we finally cooled down after we met at the gas station, and apparently the Muslim guy who works there put in a good word for me after I left, and put in a good word for him today. Conflict is inevitable, but I think it's really unfair to characterize an entire region of the country as if the people there are somehow predisposed to hatred and that there are places where that "streak" just doesn't exist.

Okay, rant over.

[nep321]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Sigh ... as already stated by the majority above, "NO MORE RACIST THAN THE URBAN NORTH!" As if a "place" could be "racist" in the first place!

A BETTER QUESTION MIGHT BE: How is it possible in this era of the information superhighway that so many people remain IGNORANT of the modern South? Or worse, so willingly EMBRACE and PERPETUATE every negative stereotype of the region ... just to elevate their own false sense of superiority?

I agree with you 100% and I am from Connecticut. Over the past summer, I traveled extensively across the South, in virtually every state and various cities, from Roanoake, VA to Birmingham, AL to Jackson, MS, etc. I have had the opportunity to interact with many people and visit many places. In all honesty, it's not THAT much different than the North. The differences are subtle, really. I didn't even find the South to be that much slower paced than the Northeast at all. It was actually the same (except for extreme places such as NYC or Boston, of course).

[jhadorn]

Growing up in Mississippi I have experienced racism, but things have changed in the last 15 years or so. It doesn't seem nearly as prevelant.

About 30 years ago, riding the school bus I was picked on pretty heavily by black preteen/teenagers. I was about 7 years old.

About 12 years ago, my stepchildren who are now 19 and 20 and happen to be Belizean American were too white for the black bus, and too black for the white bus. (Buses here are NOT segregated, but some routes have more white or black children, depending on the route). They got picked on alot and would come home with a bloody nose or some similar ailment.

I have noticed a big change though. Now they have friends of all colors, and some of my best friends are black or Hispanic. My wife has good friends both white and black. Skin color seems to be less important.
The demographics have changed now, and it seems people have learned to deal with or understand each other better.

It seems most of the racism comes from the older generation and is not common in the younger generation. I understand why though. They lived through some turbulent times as far as race relations and older people are more set in their thinking.

We don't have problems. We are happy here now, and very rarely experience racism. We may here an older person use the N word occasionally, and there are some places where black on white racism is more common such as Memphis or Greenville, but for the most part you will still rarely experience it.

An honest account of my experience. Any questions, just ask.

[Girlkat187]

This is a very loaded question and it's hard to answer accurately and without being offensive. I know I'm coming into this numerous pages in, so it may already have been said a lot, but I'm seeing a lot of people responding to you, "Duh, not anymore than anyone else," and that's wishful thinking. I love the South, lived there a long time, and have close ties to it.

For that reason, I don't want to say anything bad about the South. But I did experience a lot of racism when I lived there. When I left, I expected to never encounter that type of thing again, and was shocked to find plenty of it elsewhere and in some ways more blatantly, because people in the South have been so criticized on this point that lots of people are now aware at least of what they shouldn't say out loud.

On the other hand, most of the people that I'm still connected to in the South have said remarkably racist things to and around me. I just heard a story about how Alabama is faring after their anti-immigration law passed, and predictably, awful things are happening to Latinos that still live there. Really nasty mob-like behavior.

However, what I found about the South, and this is the hardest thing to say, is that loudly racist attitudes are more prevalent with people from lower income categories. If you live in an area where you're surrounded by the genteel upper income segments (look at Census Bureau data on income), you'll experience a lot less of it. Those attitudes may still be held by the wealthy, but most educated people at least keep it buried very deeply so that it only comes out to family members.

And in defense of the South, what I found to be overwhelmingly true is that even the most racist people I know will not discriminate against anyone until they get to know them. Everyone gets a chance, because Southerners tend to judge you on the basis of the kinds of things you do. If you are not a jerk, you won't be treated like a jerk. My in-laws have said horrible, horrible racist things around me, but quite honestly, they all have more friends from a broader ethnic palette than I'm able to have here in white Oregon. And that includes people of Asian descent. Once you earn the friendship and loyalty of any of these people, maybe they won't shed ALL of their deeply held racist ideas, but they will not apply any of them to you and they will defend you to the end.

And that's the best way I can describe my experience of racism in the South. It exists, but for the most part, you can avoid it just by being selective about where you live.

[west seattle gal]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

I've heard a lot of stereotypes, but what is the real situation with regards to attitudes towards other races in the rural South? Are most people pretty closed-minded towards other races/ethnicities? Or are they tolerant/welcoming on the whole? I know some areas are mostly black, while others are mostly white, how are black white relations? How do whites and blacks view say Asians, Latinos, Middle Easterners? If an Asian American moved into some small town in Tennessee or West Virginia would he/she be accepted? I suppose a white transplant might also be viewed with suspicion, but do these closed-minded attitudes still exist to a large degree?

In very rural NC where I grew up, there are some people who are incredibly racist. Unbelievably so. It can seem subtle from the exterior, but I have in-laws and friends of friends who I have been shocked to discover hold deep-seated racial viewpoints. Some of this is just transferred from generation to generation. There is a lot of black-white tension, stemming from the US history regarding slavery and the Civil War. Asians weren't part of that battle. Personally, I really wasn't exposed to Asian American history (Japanese internment camps/WWII), or even the concept of racism towards Asians, until moving to the West Coast.

[west seattle gal]

Originally Posted by Lamplight

You probably won't find lynchings anymore in the south, but you may still encounter plenty of racists. But it's simply not the same as it once was (luckily). When I lived there, I encountered plenty of racist people, but I never knew anyone who would actively hurt another person simply because of race. I knew white people who hated black people, but they would still be relatively polite to them and would never hurt a man just because he was black. I also knew lots of white people who would make racist jokes, but certainly wouldn't claim they hate black people. And then there are the sweet old ladies who don't hate anyone, but unknowingly say offensive things. They would be mortified if you told them you thought they were racist, because they would never intentionally hurt another person, including the hurting of feelings. I don't have any patience with the first group, those who will proudly tell you they hate a certain race, but that group seems to have the smallest membership. The second group, the racist jokers, don't really mean any harm, they just view racist jokes the same as dirty jokes: not something you say around ladies, but funny, they think, when alone with the guys. While certainly offensive, they seem to be pretty harmless. The third group certainly means no harm at all, they simply don't realize it when they say racist things. I can't hardly hold that against them, because we may all be a little like that.

I should also add that while I lived there, I saw FAR more hatred toward people of middle eastern decent (whom were assumed to be Muslim) than black people. Black people were usually just the butt of jokes, but the hatred toward, specifically, Muslims was considerably worse.

Edit: I should also add that the people I encountered who hated specific races also hated everyone who wasn't exactly like them: white, straight, Protestant southerners. You could be a white southerner but if you were agnostic, you were inferior. You could be a white Protestant, but if you were from anywhere but the south, you were inferior. And so on.

Very true post. There is a fear/hatred of anyone different, and definitely a lack of self-awareness! Many rural SE southerners have never traveled outside of their nearest city, and have very limited worldviews.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

Very true post. There is a fear/hatred of anyone different, and definitely a lack of self-awareness! Many rural SE southerners have never traveled outside of their nearest city, and have very limited worldviews.

This is true of rural people across the country and not specific to people in the south.
Trust me, my family members and their friends in small towns in IN and MI really aren't that different than people in small towns in AL, FL and TN.

[Bizurko]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

This is true of rural people across the country and not specific to people in the south.
Trust me, my family members and their friends in small towns in IN and MI really aren't that different than people in small towns in AL, FL and TN.

True, some of the most racist people I know are from Michigan, Wyoming, Iowa and Montana.

[AllenSJC]

The "rural South" is not one homogenous area. There are racists and nonracists everywhere by the way, not just in the South and certainly not just in rural areas.