Texas ignorance

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by kpoeppel

I'll go ahead and "take sides" and say that the North had the moral high ground regarding slavery. However, in recent decades it seems this nation has really lost its moral compass. My beliefs are now far more in common with people in the South than in the North.

You sound like a man who takes time to think on things. That is admirable...and in the realm of history, that is not always easy to do.

But let me just give a little something else that might be of interest. The winners write the history of whatever war it might be. If the American colonies had lost what we call the American Revolution, we would all -- in the United American Colonies of Britain -- be reading history books telling about how King George III was a jolly good fellow for putting down a bunch of upstart rebels who had the audacity to dump perfectly good tea into the Boston Harbor!

Point is, the North won and therefore a lot of the sins of the North are glossed over. How many know, for instance, that not a single slave ship was ever chartered out of a Southern port? That the slave trade itself was a purely northern commodity? I could go on...but I invite everyone to read this. Slavery and segregation are an unfortunate part of America's past...but it was not limited to the South. In fact, the main difference is that we Southerners were just less hypocritical about it all.

Anyway, please look over this link and all things linked to it. It is one of those things that, I hope, will put history in a bit more objective light...

Slavery in the North

[kpoeppel]

Oh I realize that the slave business existed far beyond just the South. Recently there was even a movie about a British man named Wilberforce. Apparently a lot of business in Britian was directly or indirectly related to the slave trade.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by Gretchen_SDCA

Of course you will catch hell! LOL But only because you paint with a too wide brush and paint us all to be impersonal. Granted, LA is impersonal. San Diego is NOT impersonal, and neither is San Francisco. Both cities contain a lot of character - quite possibly more so than many of the endless suburbs in Dallas/Houston.

Also, many of the rural areas in CA look no different to West Texas. They have the same kind of "character."

Tssstt! You spoiled my seaweed roll and green tea this morning!!!!

LOL Ahhhhh, heck, Gretchen, my worthy nemesis friend....you know I am incorrigible when it comes to certain things!

But seriously, my aunt (mother's sister) moved out to California during the "golden days" of the 1960's (although she recently moved to Idaho) and we have visited out there a couple of times over the years. It is a beautiful state, although I could never live there myself because of the culture extremes.

Out of curiosity, how familiar are you with the Bakersfield area? I heard there is a lot of "Southern type" culture in that vicinity due to the migration of a lot of Texans, Okies and Arkies during the Great Depression...?

[love roses]

My brother in law is an Arkie who lived near Bakersfield, and they recently moved back to Texas. He really liked it there. So I suppose it must have been a good area, especially since he has such a strong southern accent.

[Gretchen_SDCA]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

LOL Ahhhhh, heck, Gretchen, my worthy nemesis friend....you know I am incorrigible when it comes to certain things!

But seriously, my aunt (mother's sister) moved out to California during the "golden days" of the 1960's (although she recently moved to Idaho) and we have visited out there a couple of times over the years. It is a beautiful state, although I could never live there myself because of the culture extremes.

Out of curiosity, how familiar are you with the Bakersfield area? I heard there is a lot of "Southern type" culture in that vicinity due to the migration of a lot of Texans, Okies and Arkies during the Great Depression...?

Hi:

Bakersfield is an interesting place - I have not spent significant time there, but there is some truth to your statement. I didn't even know it was because of migration, but yes, there is a certain Southern-type culture there - there are lots of cowboys ( a lot more than you see in Dallas or even Fort Worth
). The people definitely have an "accent."

Personally, I think you would do many places in the South an injustice to say that Bakersfield is entirely "southern." There are a lot of rednecks, and types that many would describe as "trailer trash." Not my own designations, but only to describe using often-used words! While there is plenty of this in the South, I also have many other beautiful impressions of places in the South. Bakersfield is not really a beautiful place. Yet, there are some very nice parts of Bakersfield, and I know people who are very happy there.

As I mentioned, there are MANY places in CA that are very TX-like or southern-like - Bakersfield, some parts of Fresno, Barstow etc.

I was curious about what you meant by "culture extremes." Even in San Francisco, it is a very "live and let live culture." I.e. if you are very religious or even conservative, no one is very likely to bother you, unless you get involved in a debate of course. The only exception would be certain areas in San Fran where some foolish ultra-liberals act out the way the ultra-conservatives in TX do, but it is really the exception. I think, rather than acceptance in the community due to your political/religious views (which is much harder for a liberal atheist in TX), a conservative would likely have more problems with the economic policies of CA e.g. taxes, spending etc. You are unlikely to be unhappy in CA due to your beliefs/political views, because we don't really care very much about your private beliefs, even if you are very conservative or very religious. There are plenty of such people here.

In any event, regardless of how you feel about the culture or economic policies, I just had to comment about the "impersonal" comment. With the exception of LA, parts of OC and San Jose, MOST CA cities are NOT impersonal at all. San Diego and San Francisco have some of the most flavorful communities of all kinds, ranging from "cute conservative" to international communities of all different cultures. While you may not necessarily like all of them, they are NOT impersonal the way some East Coast or Midwest cities can be.

[Trojans]

Aparently you folks were not raised in the country!!! If you call people who wake up at 3 a.m.,and work till 8 or 9 p.m. rednecks??You retards watch too much t.v. I would call them country folks and I have the utmost respect for what they do,because I grew upon a dairy farm .I woke up at 3 a.m. daily and hauled hay till the august sun went down,and in barns that reached 120 degrees..Untill you have done it you have no clue!!!