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This is what drives me bonkers about the south. Many of them will completely let slide a damning statement like that, and then point out some bit of minutia about a bad New York school. Their answer to everything is, "It's bad in [fill-in-the-blank], too!"
I don't care about fill-in-the-blank. The riots didn't happen in Ferguson until the police allowed one of their police dogs to urinate on the makeshift memorial to Brown, and then they ran over it with a car. What is it with Southerners and police dogs? There cannot possibly be a worse symbol of the systematic disenfranchisement of a people than the flippin' police dog, except perhaps a noose. Why not add some fire hoses and maybe some Pickrick Drumsticks for historical authenticity?
And then the dip[excrement] mayor goes on the tube to announce how normally everyone gets along so well in Ferguson. And he can't understand why people are rioting. Nothing would make me happier than to fly to Ferguson tomorrow, find some random person, register him or her on City-Data, and then ask him or her to reply why people rioted. I'm quite capable of taking dictation. Maybe that might elucidate things for the Southerners who call me a bigot.
It is embarrassing to the nation when this happens. Foreign newspapers and TV stations focus on race riots in America (and PARTICULARLY the South) with laser-like focus. "Here, look at these morons. Fighting each other in the streets. This is America. Aren't you glad you don't live there?"
Anyone who lives in any other county can chime in to verify this. I've seen it myself, because I was abroad when Ferguson erupted.
And there's a Ferguson waiting to happen in half the towns in the South. And in EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE TOWNS, people are going to look at each other in disbelief and ask "Why is this happening? We treat them so well. Like family, even."
And since I'm not done whacking the South with a truth-stick, I have one more point tonight. Southerners are the ones who perpetuate the "One America, Two Societies" philosophy. How many Southerners have seen the T-shirt, belt buckle or license-plate frame that reads, "American by birth, Southern by the Grace of God." (Often, replace Texan with Southern.) Southerners are the ones who act like they have their own country within a country. The ONLY reason I don't agree with the premise of letting them secede is that I fear Florida might get drunk one morning and invade Cuba. I don't want a nuclear nation run by Southerners. Can you imagine what kind of president they would elect? Pretty sure such a president would mispronounce "Nuke-U-Lar" though.
Southerners have to learn to have the intellectual honesty to admit that they cannot take credit for William Faulkner without also admitting responsibility for Billy Carter. They need to admit that the spirit of Lester Maddox lives on in Paula Deen -- AND the millions more who are JUST LIKE HER. Diabetes sweet when the guests are around, and a freakin' nightmare to "the help."
Now, for the big finish. I have seen this bumper sticker affixed to bumpers while driving around in the South:
What kind of disgusting troglodyte sees this for sale at a gas station, purchases it, affixes it to their vehicle, and then drives around an area that is in part populated by the descendants of the people that were once slaves? This is a breathtaking level of racism. How dare we do this to our friends, family, in-laws and neighbors?
I also saw plenty of bumper stickers in 2008 with a play on the word renege. Again, how dare we? We should be begging these peoples' forgiveness. We need to beg their forgiveness for 300 years of slavery; for 100 years of segregation and Jim Crow; for systematic murder; for blockbusting, redlining and steering, for poll taxes and tests, for police dogs and ax handles, for driving-while-black and our appalling incarceration statistics, and for the most egregious sin of all -- always treating people like members of a group instead of individuals.
What's wrong with the South? Southerners. Zing.
Quoted for truth! And because it is damn funny, while being very, very sad!
So THAT article ranks California third from last and NEW YORK BELOW the national average.
You post that article and I can show you THIS state by state schools ranking which ranked FLORIDA 8th in the country and WEST VIRGINIA 9th. Arkansas 10th.
Florida actually achieved sixth place last year. Florida also ranked sixth in number of students passing AP exams with one district actually having 30% of it's students leaving high school with passing AP scores.
UNTIL they changed the scoring to include nonsense like "potential success" some vague Progressive nothing term just to lower scores.
As you can see even in THIS ranking, they gigged FL for not spending enough even THOUGH the schools were enjoying a ranking of 6 out of 50.
This is what drives me bonkers about the south. Many of them will completely let slide a damning statement like that, and then point out some bit of minutia about a bad New York school. Their answer to everything is, "It's bad in [fill-in-the-blank], too!"
I don't care about fill-in-the-blank. The riots didn't happen in Ferguson until the police allowed one of their police dogs to urinate on the makeshift memorial to Brown, and then they ran over it with a car. What is it with Southerners and police dogs? There cannot possibly be a worse symbol of the systematic disenfranchisement of a people than the flippin' police dog, except perhaps a noose. Why not add some fire hoses and maybe some Pickrick Drumsticks for historical authenticity?
And then the dip[excrement] mayor goes on the tube to announce how normally everyone gets along so well in Ferguson. And he can't understand why people are rioting. Nothing would make me happier than to fly to Ferguson tomorrow, find some random person, register him or her on City-Data, and then ask him or her to reply why people rioted. I'm quite capable of taking dictation. Maybe that might elucidate things for the Southerners who call me a bigot.
It is embarrassing to the nation when this happens. Foreign newspapers and TV stations focus on race riots in America (and PARTICULARLY the South) with laser-like focus. "Here, look at these morons. Fighting each other in the streets. This is America. Aren't you glad you don't live there?"
Anyone who lives in any other county can chime in to verify this. I've seen it myself, because I was abroad when Ferguson erupted.
And there's a Ferguson waiting to happen in half the towns in the South. And in EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE TOWNS, people are going to look at each other in disbelief and ask "Why is this happening? We treat them so well. Like family, even."
And since I'm not done whacking the South with a truth-stick, I have one more point tonight. Southerners are the ones who perpetuate the "One America, Two Societies" philosophy. How many Southerners have seen the T-shirt, belt buckle or license-plate frame that reads, "American by birth, Southern by the Grace of God." (Often, replace Texan with Southern.) Southerners are the ones who act like they have their own country within a country. The ONLY reason I don't agree with the premise of letting them secede is that I fear Florida might get drunk one morning and invade Cuba. I don't want a nuclear nation run by Southerners. Can you imagine what kind of president they would elect? Pretty sure such a president would mispronounce "Nuke-U-Lar" though.
Southerners have to learn to have the intellectual honesty to admit that they cannot take credit for William Faulkner without also admitting responsibility for Billy Carter. They need to admit that the spirit of Lester Maddox lives on in Paula Deen -- AND the millions more who are JUST LIKE HER. Diabetes sweet when the guests are around, and a freakin' nightmare to "the help."
Now, for the big finish. I have seen this bumper sticker affixed to bumpers while driving around in the South:
What kind of disgusting troglodyte sees this for sale at a gas station, purchases it, affixes it to their vehicle, and then drives around an area that is in part populated by the descendants of the people that were once slaves? This is a breathtaking level of racism. How dare we do this to our friends, family, in-laws and neighbors?
I also saw plenty of bumper stickers in 2008 with a play on the word renege. Again, how dare we? We should be begging these peoples' forgiveness. We need to beg their forgiveness for 300 years of slavery; for 100 years of segregation and Jim Crow; for systematic murder; for blockbusting, redlining and steering, for poll taxes and tests, for police dogs and ax handles, for driving-while-black and our appalling incarceration statistics, and for the most egregious sin of all -- always treating people like members of a group instead of individuals.
What's wrong with the South? Southerners. Zing.
BULL.
You got that off your Progressive sites like Democratic Underground.
This is what drives me bonkers about the south. Many of them will completely let slide a damning statement like that, and then point out some bit of minutia about a bad New York school. Their answer to everything is, "It's bad in [fill-in-the-blank], too!"
I don't care about fill-in-the-blank. The riots didn't happen in Ferguson until the police allowed one of their police dogs to urinate on the makeshift memorial to Brown, and then they ran over it with a car. What is it with Southerners and police dogs? There cannot possibly be a worse symbol of the systematic disenfranchisement of a people than the flippin' police dog, except perhaps a noose. Why not add some fire hoses and maybe some Pickrick Drumsticks for historical authenticity?
And then the dip[excrement] mayor goes on the tube to announce how normally everyone gets along so well in Ferguson. And he can't understand why people are rioting. Nothing would make me happier than to fly to Ferguson tomorrow, find some random person, register him or her on City-Data, and then ask him or her to reply why people rioted. I'm quite capable of taking dictation. Maybe that might elucidate things for the Southerners who call me a bigot.
It is embarrassing to the nation when this happens. Foreign newspapers and TV stations focus on race riots in America (and PARTICULARLY the South) with laser-like focus. "Here, look at these morons. Fighting each other in the streets. This is America. Aren't you glad you don't live there?"
Anyone who lives in any other county can chime in to verify this. I've seen it myself, because I was abroad when Ferguson erupted.
And there's a Ferguson waiting to happen in half the towns in the South. And in EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE TOWNS, people are going to look at each other in disbelief and ask "Why is this happening? We treat them so well. Like family, even."
And since I'm not done whacking the South with a truth-stick, I have one more point tonight. Southerners are the ones who perpetuate the "One America, Two Societies" philosophy. How many Southerners have seen the T-shirt, belt buckle or license-plate frame that reads, "American by birth, Southern by the Grace of God." (Often, replace Texan with Southern.) Southerners are the ones who act like they have their own country within a country. The ONLY reason I don't agree with the premise of letting them secede is that I fear Florida might get drunk one morning and invade Cuba. I don't want a nuclear nation run by Southerners. Can you imagine what kind of president they would elect? Pretty sure such a president would mispronounce "Nuke-U-Lar" though.
Southerners have to learn to have the intellectual honesty to admit that they cannot take credit for William Faulkner without also admitting responsibility for Billy Carter. They need to admit that the spirit of Lester Maddox lives on in Paula Deen -- AND the millions more who are JUST LIKE HER. Diabetes sweet when the guests are around, and a freakin' nightmare to "the help."
Now, for the big finish. I have seen this bumper sticker affixed to bumpers while driving around in the South:
What kind of disgusting troglodyte sees this for sale at a gas station, purchases it, affixes it to their vehicle, and then drives around an area that is in part populated by the descendants of the people that were once slaves? This is a breathtaking level of racism. How dare we do this to our friends, family, in-laws and neighbors?
I also saw plenty of bumper stickers in 2008 with a play on the word renege. Again, how dare we? We should be begging these peoples' forgiveness. We need to beg their forgiveness for 300 years of slavery; for 100 years of segregation and Jim Crow; for systematic murder; for blockbusting, redlining and steering, for poll taxes and tests, for police dogs and ax handles, for driving-while-black and our appalling incarceration statistics, and for the most egregious sin of all -- always treating people like members of a group instead of individuals.
What's wrong with the South? Southerners. Zing.
Freedom of speech is not part of your agenda, is it?
So THAT article ranks California third from last and NEW YORK BELOW the national average.
You post that article and I can show you THIS state by state schools ranking which ranked FLORIDA 8th in the country and WEST VIRGINIA 9th. Arkansas 10th.
Florida actually achieved sixth place last year. Florida also ranked sixth in number of students passing AP exams with one district actually having 30% of it's students leaving high school with passing AP scores.
UNTIL they changed the scoring to include nonsense like "potential success" some vague Progressive nothing term just to lower scores.
As you can see even in THIS ranking, they gigged FL for not spending enough even THOUGH the schools were enjoying a ranking of 6 out of 50.
Liars can figure but figures don't lie.
NY and CA are ranked at 10th and 16th place, respectively. FL, AR, and WV are ranked 31st (tie), 49th, and 50th place, respectively.
This is what drives me bonkers about the south. Many of them will completely let slide a damning statement like that, and then point out some bit of minutia about a bad New York school. Their answer to everything is, "It's bad in [fill-in-the-blank], too!"
I don't care about fill-in-the-blank. The riots didn't happen in Ferguson until the police allowed one of their police dogs to urinate on the makeshift memorial to Brown, and then they ran over it with a car. What is it with Southerners and police dogs? There cannot possibly be a worse symbol of the systematic disenfranchisement of a people than the flippin' police dog, except perhaps a noose. Why not add some fire hoses and maybe some Pickrick Drumsticks for historical authenticity?
And then the dip[excrement] mayor goes on the tube to announce how normally everyone gets along so well in Ferguson. And he can't understand why people are rioting. Nothing would make me happier than to fly to Ferguson tomorrow, find some random person, register him or her on City-Data, and then ask him or her to reply why people rioted. I'm quite capable of taking dictation. Maybe that might elucidate things for the Southerners who call me a bigot.
It is embarrassing to the nation when this happens. Foreign newspapers and TV stations focus on race riots in America (and PARTICULARLY the South) with laser-like focus. "Here, look at these morons. Fighting each other in the streets. This is America. Aren't you glad you don't live there?"
Anyone who lives in any other county can chime in to verify this. I've seen it myself, because I was abroad when Ferguson erupted.
And there's a Ferguson waiting to happen in half the towns in the South. And in EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE TOWNS, people are going to look at each other in disbelief and ask "Why is this happening? We treat them so well. Like family, even."
And since I'm not done whacking the South with a truth-stick, I have one more point tonight. Southerners are the ones who perpetuate the "One America, Two Societies" philosophy. How many Southerners have seen the T-shirt, belt buckle or license-plate frame that reads, "American by birth, Southern by the Grace of God." (Often, replace Texan with Southern.) Southerners are the ones who act like they have their own country within a country. The ONLY reason I don't agree with the premise of letting them secede is that I fear Florida might get drunk one morning and invade Cuba. I don't want a nuclear nation run by Southerners. Can you imagine what kind of president they would elect? Pretty sure such a president would mispronounce "Nuke-U-Lar" though.
Southerners have to learn to have the intellectual honesty to admit that they cannot take credit for William Faulkner without also admitting responsibility for Billy Carter. They need to admit that the spirit of Lester Maddox lives on in Paula Deen -- AND the millions more who are JUST LIKE HER. Diabetes sweet when the guests are around, and a freakin' nightmare to "the help."
Now, for the big finish. I have seen this bumper sticker affixed to bumpers while driving around in the South:
What kind of disgusting troglodyte sees this for sale at a gas station, purchases it, affixes it to their vehicle, and then drives around an area that is in part populated by the descendants of the people that were once slaves? This is a breathtaking level of racism. How dare we do this to our friends, family, in-laws and neighbors?
I also saw plenty of bumper stickers in 2008 with a play on the word renege. Again, how dare we? We should be begging these peoples' forgiveness. We need to beg their forgiveness for 300 years of slavery; for 100 years of segregation and Jim Crow; for systematic murder; for blockbusting, redlining and steering, for poll taxes and tests, for police dogs and ax handles, for driving-while-black and our appalling incarceration statistics, and for the most egregious sin of all -- always treating people like members of a group instead of individuals.
What's wrong with the South? Southerners. Zing.
You live in a City created by the mafia in order to trick people out of their hard earned money...and have the audacity to judge the South as a whole based on its previous mistakes and the current mistakes of a select few. You do realize the irony in acting like youre so educated and liberal, yet perpetuate biases and stereotypes right? If you had come one here and taken the attitude of suggesting options for turning around these statistics rather than resort to quoting bumper stickers and Paula Deen, perhaps people would take you seriously. Now go crawl back into your R.V. and keep googling about how much better the North is than the South.
Explain all the "Christian Academies" then. Seriously, we don't need facts and figures. Just go there, take a look around and then tell me if the South can be considered an educational powerhouse. I've been all over the country. It is easy to tell when a community takes education seriously. And it's even easier to tell when it doesn't.
Or follow this link and read ONLY the reviews of this book that are written by Southerners. (Just bought a copy so I can read it, too.) The point is that not all Southerner's think this way. But even in this thread, we can see examples of the typical Southern swagger: "You take that back, Yankee. Try saying that to my face."
I may have posted a two-word snappy answer at the beginning of this thread, but the answer of "what's wrong with the South" really is Southerners. There aren't enough thoughtful people who live there. The place is lacking in empathy for people who aren't EXACTLY like them.
But keep in mind that I hold in highest regard the people at the Southern Poverty Law Center and those who align with their goal of stamping out what's left of the damned Civil War. It's been almost 150 years, and we are STILL working through the aftermath of our Civil War. And the reason we're still working through it has nothing to do with the rest of the country and everything to do with the South. The effects of reconstruction are still rippling through the South. Only a historical revisionist would say otherwise. Seriously, just look at recent events in Ferguson.
The reason I'm buying that book that I linked is that I agree with the author's basic premise that the South and the rest of the country can be compared to an unhappy married couple. We are essentially two separate societies that were reunited by force. And one society is still upset about that, 150 years later.
I've lived in the South my entire life. Yes there are Christian Academies here. But there are more public schools and such than these academies. Furthermore, I come from a part of the deep South. Care to guess how many academies are there? ZERO. You DO need facts and figures if you are going to make such claims. Many of us from the South value our education. That's a stereotype you are trying to label us with that just isn't true, and you proved this by lacking hard evidence to back up your claim.
Quite honestly most of the Southerners that I know have no problem with anyone from any other region of this country unless they are here to poke fun at us and call us names. You know as well as I that we are ridiculed in many other states. Tell me why people from this region wouldn't have a reason to carry a chip on their shoulder...... I've seen many talk shows and tv personalities make comments about the South and poke fun of us, while many have never set foot here. But instead many of us choose to ignore that. Quite a few of my good friends are from Ohio, California, Baltimore, and Pennsylvania.
Yes, you'll see the mentality of North vs South, but I think that blame can be equally shared. My wife and I were at the beach in June this year and sat down next to a couple at dinner who asked where we were from. When we mentioned Alabama, they stopped talking to us. Then we both overheard them asking each other if we would have to count with our fingers and toes to pay our tab.
Quite frankly we don't like other parts of the country turning their noses up and making accusations about Southerners being backwards, uneducated (which is basically what you are claiming), or any other words some folks from other parts of the country choose to call us. Southerners (at least in the area I grew up in) were taught to give the same respect to others shown unto you. So I have respect for EVERYONE regardless of race, sexual orientation or any other class of people as long as you do the same in return. But all bets are off when you make all the comments that you made in the post above this one. Southerners are happy to live here. Why do you think so many people move from out West or up North to the South? There is a reason.
Here's what I'd invite you to do. Take a nice visit through the South (I believe you said you are from the south but considering you don't seem to know that Ferguson is NOT in the South, I'd call shennanigans) and just stop in some of the small towns. Just chat with the people who live there. I'd bet you find them a lot more pleasant than you are attempting to make us out to be.
Thanks for the great post. I've lived in the south now 6 years, after living in Ohio, CA & NM. By far, Ohio and CA were more racist than what I'm seeing in the south. I see many many more interracial families here, both white/black couples and white families adopting black children.
I've seen none of the bumper stickers or tee shirts mentioned in an earlier post.
Southern folks are much more respectful than anywhere I've lived. Yes ma'am, yes sir from even the teenagers. People are very welcoming to new folks. And I think they are more giving. Instead of complaining about the poor among us, people here actually volunteer and donate to charities, food pantries, training programs, etc.
The first "good ole boy" I met probably would have seemed pretty redneck to those of you who are hating on the southern people. He didn't have a degree, but he had paid off his home, put his son through engineering school and owned several other properties free and clear. Shocking, since I had just come from CA where many of my educated friends had lost their homes to foreclosure and/or were renting rooms out to strangers to survive.
And of course, many are educated. There are many great universities in the south, as well as community colleges and technical schools that work with local businesses to train future employees.
I love living here. I love the people. I don't mind the diversity of income or education levels. I don't understand why outsiders would stereotype and criticize other citizens across a huge area of the country.
As long as America stays the last super power that the world looks to as the world policeman for all the ills. Even Obozo who cut the military budget uses the military for everything under the sun and ask congress for more money.
You prove my point exactly.
Plus, your use of "Obozo" tells me all I need to know about you.
He did not cut the military budget, so clearly you're on drugs or living in a fantasy world.
The numbers below are the base budget, not including the war on terror.
The military budget the last three years of Bush: 411, 430, 481.
The military budget last year: 530.
The United States spent more on its military than the next 13 nations combined in 2011.
People like you who are simply unable to grasp the idea that when you spend too much money you go broke are the reason why it's political suicide to support military budget cuts. In reality, anyone with any kind of intellect can easily see that dropping those military costs would be the easiest thing to do and it would benefit us significantly.
But the real point is, WHY THE HECK DO WE HAVE TO BE THE WORLD POLICE? It's not like we're in any way effective. Look at the Muslim world, is it better or worse than in 2000? Right now it's a whole heck of a lot worse, civil wars happening in many countries, people being slaughtered by the dozen, etc. We went in and destabilized everything and now all we're doing is making them madder and madder. Frankly, anyone who supports our military budget being any higher than China's (remember, this does not include Homeland Security or the Intelligence/Crime agencies, those are not considered the military) clearly doesn't understand economics. Just because the dolts in Congress support something does not mean it is in any way good.
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