What does "backwards" mean when referring to the south? (Jackson: school, college)

[An Einnseanair]

Originally Posted by NCN

In the south we don't spend any time being concerned about race. We leave that to those in the north who use it to put us down. They're wrong though because being southern and being racist is a myth.

I was born and raised in the south (central Mississippi). Your first sentence above is partially correct. The third is so wrong as to be almost humorous; I'm not saying that everyone in the south is racist, but a large percentage are.

There is a huge difference between not "being concerned about race" and not "being racist".

I have plenty of white friends and relatives in Mississippi who would say thing same things. I said the same things growing up because that's what I was taught. But in reality most whites "aren't concerned about race" only as long as other races know their place. They get all kinds of concerned about race if, say, a white daughter or cousin starts dating a black guy. Or the in-private jokes about porch monkeys or yard apes. Or a black person gets a promotion that a white person wanted (obviously affirmative action). Or when discussing Welfare, assuming all black folk are on welfare when in reality there are more whites on welfare than blacks, even in Mississippi. Or, and this was in a conversation very recently, someone complaining about someone else ordering them around by exclaiming "I ain't her ni**er!"

If you can be comfortable with a close relative dating/marrying someone of a different race, work over and under people of other races without mentioning race in complaints, include other races in your immediate group of friends, worship in a church that welcomes other races, discuss welfare without mentioning or even thinking about race, etc., then you can claim you aren't racist and I applaud you. Otherwise, if you make any assumptions whatsoever about a person based on skin color, saying the stereotype of "being southern and being racist is a myth" makes you a hypocrite.

Originally Posted by NCN

Does this mean that the south is "backwards" and the north is "barbaric?" Abortions started in New York and I cannot think of anything today that is more barbaric than to murder an innocent fetus.

No, sweetie, abortions started the first time a woman found out she was pregnant, decided she didn't want to be, and had access to someone with the correct herbs to fix her situation. Probably a few thousand years ago. And if you think rich white Christian folk in Mississippi don't get abortions you are blind. Of course they don't do it at the public clinic in Jackson where all the protesters can see; they can afford to go to a private doctor or to a clinic in another state to take care of the problem. If Mississippi ever succeeds in passing a law outlawing abortions the only people it will affect will be the ones who can't afford to travel to another state.

[Listener2307]

Originally Posted by jwkilgore

........................ If Mississippi ever succeeds in passing a law outlawing abortions the only people it will affect will be the ones who can't afford to travel to another state.

If "Mississippi ever succeeds...."? Where have you been? Mississippi can't pass such a law, and I'm sure you know it. Roe vs Wade answered that question once and for all.

FWIW: Mississippi has the lowest rate of abortions of any state reporting (4 states don't report) the results. Mississippi is at 3.7 per 1000. New York is highest at 25.8 per 1000.
Backward?......Progressive?.........Racist?......C onservative?
Whatever.
http://kff.org/womens-health-policy/...abortion-rate/

[An Einnseanair]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

If "Mississippi ever succeeds...."? Where have you been? Mississippi can't pass such a law, and I'm sure you know it. Roe vs Wade answered that question once and for all.

Row V Wade hasn't stopped them from trying to find a loophole or exception. The attempted constitutional amendment a few years back declaring that life starts at conception. The law requiring local admitting privileges for abortion doctors but not other doctors who perform minor surgical procedures. Even if they can't shut the last clinic in the state down, they will continue to try to make it so onerous that people just give up or pay to drive elsewhere. Parental notifications for a 17-yr-old or younger, waiting periods requiring either two long trips to Jackson or an overnight stay in a hotel, etc.

That said, if this devolves into a pro-vs-anti abortion shout fest the mods will shut it down quickly.

[jjrose]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

If "Mississippi ever succeeds...."? Where have you been? Mississippi can't pass such a law, and I'm sure you know it. Roe vs Wade answered that question once and for all.

FWIW: Mississippi has the lowest rate of abortions of any state reporting (4 states don't report) the results. Mississippi is at 3.7 per 1000. New York is highest at 25.8 per 1000.
Backward?......Progressive?.........Racist?......C onservative?
Whatever.
Rate of Legal Abortions per 1,000 Women Aged 15-44 Years by State of Occurrence | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

Considering that there is only one abortion clinic in the entire state, I'm sure the number is low. Could it possible be because many go out of state since it is closer to drive to TN, or AL, for some than it is to drive to Jackson?

[ipkl07]

Spend time in a southern state or states and make your own conclusions!

[GeoffD]

Poverty rate: #1 at 22.6%
Household income: #50

I don't think "backwards" captures the problem. Mississippi has an enormous rural poverty problem. The best and the brightest leave for more opportunity in the urban areas and Jackson only gets a small percentage of those.

[Listener2307]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Poverty rate: #1 at 22.6%
Household income: #50

I don't think "backwards" captures the problem. Mississippi has an enormous rural poverty problem. The best and the brightest leave for more opportunity in the urban areas and Jackson only gets a small percentage of those.

Yeah, "backwards" is just a word people toss around to make themselves feel superior.
Everything you say is true, of course. There is little opportunity in Mississippi for an ambitious, educated person. So they leave.

Poverty rate and income level are both skewed by the 16 or so Delta counties, but people who don't know Mississippi don't know that. Or if they do, they think the rest of us ought to "do" something about it.

Mississippi is a pleasant place to live up where I am, and this year the weather has been textbook Mississippi - hot; then showers; then real hot, all in the course of a day. 4PM now, and the heat index is 104 degrees.

People don't move to Mississippi much. There was an article today in the paper talking about that fact. The author tried to make it into some sort of "problem", but I don't buy that. In fact, I encourage young people to go out into the world and find other things to experience besides home. It's funny how the young people who stay in their home area seem to live in an ever smaller world as they age. I saw an old study that showed how 70% of Mississippians have never lived anywhere else.

[Southern man]

I hope Mississippi stays just like it is. When I lived there, I remember the welcome sign coming from Mobile saying "Feels like coming home"

[slowlane3]

Originally Posted by Ted Bear

So, those sorts of things are prevalent, and while the rest of the nation moved on from these issues decades ago,

Not true in the case of Gay marriage, which was not even dreamed of, decades ago, not anywhere. It's only been a very few years since Vermont, I think was the first state to legalize it.

[slowlane3]

The South covers a huge area. There are numerous highly progressive areas of the South with high-tech economy and a brainy population - such as Raleigh/Durham NC - Austin TX - Blacksburg VA, etc. And liberal areas such as Asheville, NC.