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I've never made and never will make apologies for racism in the North, or anywhere else in the country for that matter.
But the fact is that NC and VA are simply better off for attracting more people with different and more moderate ideas. The states are increasingly diverse and this change comes with the territory. I also make no apologies for that change being mostly for the better -- and its not just about race --in terms of new ideas, additional industries and reseasrch, advances in both high and popular culture, a greater interconnectedness with the rest of the nation, and a decline in the overall lack of provinvialism that for so long hobbled people in both states, and continues to do so in rural areas.
Especially in NC, from which I just returned, this has aroused a great deal of fear and the politicians are striving to turn back the clock in many ways, voting rights being the most notable. (And again, it's not just about race. Everybody
has a fundamental right to vote no matter their politics.) But I think the tide is inevitabe and larger forces will eventually kill off the worst aspects of "traditional" Southern culture in all but the most diehard and backward areas of NC and VA.
And residents of both state will ultimately be better off for it. It's the "New South" and it's a hell of a lot better than the old one.
Last edited by citylove101; 01-03-2014 at 07:28 PM..
North Carolina and Virginia will always remain "southern" overall, definitely more so with North Carolina. Virginia isn't as southern because of Northern Virginia/DC suburbs which are not really southern anymore. However, the rest of the state is still southern. Any state that was Confederate will always be southern and have southern aspects, it's just that NC and VA are a little more moderate than the Deep South states.
Historically, I think since the Civil War, North Carolina and Virginia have been the more sophisticated and moderate southern states. Some Southern states in the Deep South clung onto old traditions and maintained hardcore resistance to change and desegregation. Overall and for the most part, NC and VA were a bit different. UNC-Chapel Hill and UVA integrated in the 1950's, before many of the state universities in the Deep South. What happened in Oxford, MS with James Meredith wouldn't have happened in Charlottesville, VA or Chapel Hill, NC. When it comes to college football, North Carolina vs Virginia is the South's Oldest Rivalry and is sometimes nicknamed "The Gentlemen's Rivalry" due to the mentality of these two schools. Even though NC and VA were a little more moderate during the Civil Rights Movement, they were both definitely still segregated and maintained a few aspects that one would think would be more common in the Deep South. There was more KKK activity in NC than the rest of the southern states combined, and VA had many conflicts with desegregating schools like in Prince Edward County. Later on, NC also had Jesse Helms which made many people think twice about the states progressive image. Point is, these states are still "southern" and always will be. They are, for the most part, more moderate southern states. This is more so in Virginia considering Obama won VA in 2012, the governor is Democratic, and a Federal judge recently overturned the states same-sex marriage ban. NC, with Pat McCrory as governor, is turning the clocks back but you can still find many areas in NC (Chapel Hill, Asheville, some areas of Raleigh) that are much more liberal.
Stigmatize a place long enough and people will deny that they are part of it, but they can't really change their roots. I'm sure people that only associate southern with everything wrong in the world would be proud that they are "changing" the nature of these regions, but it usually turns out to be superficial. The established culture usually wins out in the end. People go through unconscious assimilation in many ways. E.g. a lot of what we associate with "New York" was established by the early Dutch colonists, in spite of massive immigration. Same goes for Boston and other cities and regions outside the South. Established power runs deep, and usually the rich guys letting new people in for labor will be emulated more than supplanted.
CD posters have a very skewed version of what southern culture is. WE'RE NOT REDNECKS. I'm black and from the south and know what the real culture is. And no transplants are going to change it. Now let me go eat lunch at the Chinese barbecue place.
Raleigh kinda reminds me of a hillier, more educated/corporate version of Orlando without the warm weather, palm trees, theme parks, wide roads, and proximity to the beach.
Hogwash. I've known hundreds of Southern liberals and you can't revoke their regional citizenship because they hold views with which you disagree.
All this "real Southerner," "real American" nonsense has to go. If you can't tolerate a difference of opinion than perhaps it is you who has no place in a free society.
I can only speak for NC because I live here, but I don't think it is becoming less "southern" no matter how many transplants move down here. Transplants know when they move here that they are in NC/the south. In the urban areas, I can take you to the countless number of Bojangles fast food restaurants, the NC State Fair in Raleigh, and NC BBQ restaurants and you won't question the fact that this state is southern and always will be.
I can only speak for NC because I live here, but I don't think it is becoming less "southern" no matter how many transplants move down here. Transplants know when they move here that they are in NC/the south. In the urban areas, I can take you to the countless number of Bojangles fast food restaurants, the NC State Fair in Raleigh, and NC BBQ restaurants and you won't question the fact that this state is southern and always will be.
Yeah, when I visited Raleigh and Charlotte it was still very southern to me. Even Virginia, with the exception of Northern Virginia, is still pretty southern.
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