If moving to Jackson metro area, know this...

[mswilliams]

Oh hush and move back if you have such problems here in Mississippi period. You have to be willing to look on both sides of the fence. Have you been friendly to your neighbors? Have you taken time out to spend time in your children's classes and talk to the teacher's or attend any of the PTA meetings? Madison ha, that's not the best place to live, neither is Pearl, Brandon, or Richland they are not even apart of Jackson they disassociated themselves from The HINDS COUNTY DISTRICT ALONG TIME AGO!!! they are different counties and they are fully Racist. Very seldom will you ever find friendly people there if you are not of a certain race so before you get to yelping and complaining about JACKSON take an actual look at the COUNTY YOU and YOUR HUSBAND CHOSE to LIVE IN. It may be your neighborhood in general not the CITY as a whole. And another thing as far as CRIME is concerned there is CRIME EVERYWHERE YOU LIVE HONEY!!! EVEN IN your own BACK YARD!!! The Difference is CLINTON, BRANDON, MADISON, and FLOWOOD hide there's because they don't want it publicized on the NEWS.

[mississippimagnolia]

Ahem....I think I'm reading a whole lot of defensiveness. I was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi. My family is from Mississippi generations and generations back. 37 members of my family graduated from Ole Miss...my oldest is there now (Hotty Toddy!).

And, I've lived all over the world...literally. So I've seen what folks are like all over everywhere. Of course, we're stereotyping here. And there are lots of exceptions. BUT....Come on. If you don't think Mississippians are hard on new-comers, you haven't been paying attention. And if that new-comer happens to be .... gasp....god forbid, a yankee....well, .....

We can pretend that we are all sweet and full of southern hospitality, but for the most part, we aren't. We tend to be a closed society. We ask questions like..."Who are your people" "Who is your daddy". "What is your family name". ...... We just do, folks. No sense in pretending we don't.

We could definitely learn to reach out and be more accepting. Mississippi is a great state! It's a great place to live! We don't lose anything by sharing.

[poptones]

I've never had anyone ask me "who are your people?" This sounds to me like something someone who likes to talk about others after they've left the store would do. If anyone DID ask me "who are your people" or "who is your daddy" I would probably tell them but I also probably wouldn't care about their friendship as this seems to me like a superficial and elitist thing to do.

I once moved to houston and found no end to the harrasment; one day I came back to my car and found ALL FOUR tires had been punctured on the sidewalls! My crime was simply having Michigan tags on my car. You want to see people unkind to "outsiders" head to parts of Texas, California (Napa area), Oregon or Washington State.

My aunt is one of those old school Mississippians who goes to church all the time, has very conservative (and, I think, rather nutso) "values and beliefs" and is very picky about appearances. Her daughter raised her grand daughter in all the stereotypical old world Mississippian circles - gymnastics and tap lesssons, pageants, quotillion and then "legacy" sorority life at ole miss. But these types seem to me a dying breed as more and more imports settle in the state.

I will admit I myself can be hard on newcomers - but I couldn't care less who your "people" are or where your daddy came from. What I care about is who you ARE, not how you believe. I'm one of those resettled yankees and I know few people who would consider me anything other than a "Mississippian." The values I and my friends hold have no resemblance to the "Mississippi Burning" stereotypes nor to the elitist caste ideals of some self imagined upper class. One of my best friends is the son of a gulf coast native and a professor at ms state, and my very best friend another relocated "yankee" from southern parents.

The railroads and the war took so many mississippians to illinois and michigan, I think the state must be VERY different than the 1950s era Mississippi sterotype so many "outsiders" seem to still believe. I've found much more racial hatred in the north (along with simply bad manners) - which brings me back to that whole "I can be hard on outsiders" thing... I don't dislike yankees because they're yankees, but I do dislike yankees (or anyone) bringing that bigotry and hatred back to us believing they're going to find kinship.

[jacksonian]

I've lived in Mississippi my whole life, and I've never been asked or asked anyone else "who their people are." In small towns, 50% of the town is related to each other, so conversations often pop up about family names and relationships, but other than that, I've never been asked "who is my daddy" or "what is my family name." Now that I live in Jackson, I never get asked those questions either.

[westcoast22]

I'm really sorry to hear this is happening to you. I believe what you are experencing is true, because I'm Asian and I know how my father was treated when he came over here from China. Not that it's the same thing, but it is very similar.

[swampnurse II]

I'll stay in western Texas and just be happy. It sounds like MS is pettier than AR, LA or TN. It too sounds like one needs to look over the shoulder to avoid any bullets. By the way my family line goes back to 344 in Denmark is that good enough for the "Who is the daddy crowd"? Beam me up Mr. Scott or I'll have to click my reb cowboyboots because there is no place like home. By by Ms. Southern Belle Histrionica-Extrema.

[jacksonian]

Originally Posted by swampnurse II

I'll stay in western Texas and just be happy. It sounds like MS is pettier than AR, LA or TN. It too sounds like one needs to look over the shoulder to avoid any bullets. By the way my family line goes back to 344 in Denmark is that good enough for the "Who is the daddy crowd"? Beam me up Mr. Scott or I'll have to click my reb cowboyboots because there is no place like home. By by Ms. Southern Belle Histrionica-Extrema.

???

[Gill O'Blarney]

Originally Posted by kingchef

being the nature lover that you say you are, honey, i would think you would enjoy those weeds on the street. the potholes probably just lead to other trails---to the larger metropolitan areas to which you prefer.

"Nature lover"? Don't know where you got that. Though truth be known I do love unfetterd and untamed nature, but only in its place. Not in my yard, and not in shopping centers, etc. Nice landscaping has priority there.

I don't prefer larger metropolitan areas - which is why I moved to Asheville NC with its very important scenic compensations - despite its major lack of comitment to controlling litter and roadside weeds. - Even speed signs soon vanish behind growth along roads here - as on Swannonoa River Road, where the expensive sign showing the turn for the Western North Carolina Nature Center is currently almost completely obscured behind uncontrolled growth.

It's a sloppily maintained city - once outside the tourist areas.

And my recent visit to Madison MS confirmed that landscape maintainence is given extraordinarly short shrift there as well - as the lawns of municipal buildings there exemplify.