[mccarley]

Originally Posted by The_Rambler

Is this why we get made fun of?

Looks good to me. We need more like him.

[EndersDrift]

I dont think much about Alabama except for My Cousin Vinny was filmed there. I don't think of it as racist really.

[sthnbell]

Alabamian here, lol.

It wasnt until my husband joined the military and we traveled more that I realized how many people from other states view Alabamians. I was made fun of constantly. And yes, I was accused of being racist all the time. The thing is, I have seen more incidents of racism in other parts of the country than what I have ever seen growing up in Bama. I think that because we have a "shadey" past, when we do have issues of racism down here it is spot lighted more. But dont get it twisted, there are good people down here. We are simple and even though we are given a hard time, we will still treat anyone with the good southern hospitality that we are truly known for.

And yeah,yeah,yeah... our educational system leaves much to be desired...but it isnt because we are stupid. We are a poor state and many of the counties dont have the funding that the cities have. We do the best with what we have.

A few weeks ago, I saw where Australians PM even made fun of Alabama as a response to something Robin Williams said....everyone laughed it up. I just wonder how it would have been taken if he would have made a similar backhanded comment concerning New York or LA.

Oh well...what can you do? People are gonna say what they want. To me, when they make fun of how redneck we all are when they havent even visited the state...it speaks more about their level of intelligence than ours..."bless their hearts"

[mccarley]

Originally Posted by sthnbell

Alabamian here, lol.

It wasnt until my husband joined the military and we traveled more that I realized how many people from other states view Alabamians. I was made fun of constantly. And yes, I was accused of being racist all the time. The thing is, I have seen more incidents of racism in other parts of the country than what I have ever seen growing up in Bama. I think that because we have a "shadey" past, when we do have issues of racism down here it is spot lighted more. But dont get it twisted, there are good people down here. We are simple and even though we are given a hard time, we will still treat anyone with the good southern hospitality that we are truly known for.

And yeah,yeah,yeah... our educational system leaves much to be desired...but it isnt because we are stupid. We are a poor state and many of the counties dont have the funding that the cities have. We do the best with what we have.

A few weeks ago, I saw where Australians PM even made fun of Alabama as a response to something Robin Williams said....everyone laughed it up. I just wonder how it would have been taken if he would have made a similar backhanded comment concerning New York or LA.

Oh well...what can you do? People are gonna say what they want. To me, when they make fun of how redneck we all are when they havent even visited the state...it speaks more about their level of intelligence than ours..."bless their hearts"

TOTAL AGREEMENT. I spent 3 years in the US Army and it was 3 years of constant crap mostly from the northern states. My son lives in NY and when I visit, I always go primed for the snide remarks from the locals.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by PortCity

Ben you are acting like racism in the North is justifiable.Yes Governer Wallace tried to stop blacks from going to universities but what make that any worse than the noose hanging in a SOUTH CALIFORNIA UNIVERISTY a few weeks ago ?

So did Gov. Schwarztenegger hang that noose in the university?

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by EvilExquiste

My parents are from Alabama and I visit the state multiple times every year. There is still open racism and I am told to avoid going to certain areas with my friends down there. It was unbelievable actually this happening in 2010. It also reminds me of why Alabama didn't let blacks and whites marry until the year 2000. Along with Alabama's racist past, it is easy to see why others give Alabama a bad rep. I don't see how anyone would ever want to live there. People appear nice for the most part, but that is just part of the culture doesn't mean they actually like you, or want to help you when you are in need. It just seems overly fake to me. Don't get me wrong, I think Alabama is a great, beautiful state, but most of it is far too rural for me.

I wonder if the other posters believe that blacks and whites couldn't intermarry before the year 2000 in non-Southern states?

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by chj

No all I am pointing out is that the north has had racial issues just like the south has. You are trying to justify racism in the north by saying that the government did not have anything to do with it.

No, I am not trying to justify racism of any kind for any reason. But don't you see the difference between racism that is literally the law of the land, and racism that manifests sporadically from individual citizens?

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

<shrug> What people think is more a reflection of their own minds than any reality. I was in college in Brooklyn the year after the Bed-Sty riots. It was... interesting. I've been at Wolfies on Miami Beach where the racism by one often target group was palpable. In reading my mother's report of a 1940s trip around the U.S., I saw she noted the separate drinking fountains and restrooms in ... Washington D.C.. I went through Birmingham and Bessemer in the summer of 1963. I remember it being hot, dirty, and a place where you could get 5 cent hamburgers, but was a good place to have in the rear-view mirror. In the 1980s, I ran a business in the same area. Places change, the old bitter people die and the new generation looks with fresh eyes. Read "Travels With Charlie" sometime. You'll never think about New Orleans the same way you do now.

As for some of us hating California - put me in that category. Yes, I've been there. Beautiful place, horrible government. However, forty years ago I would have jumped at the chance to live there.

The point of this ramble being that we are located in four dimensions that we perceive, if we move 10 miles north, south, east, west, up or down, we expect things to change. Some people miss the fact that as you move forward or back in time things can change as well.

harry--I wish some of these posters would pay attention to what you are saying!!

[pennquaker09]

Originally Posted by Ben Around

I wonder if the other posters believe that blacks and whites couldn't intermarry before the year 2000 in non-Southern states?

In 2000, we voted on an amendment that would allow interracial marriages. Of course it was already legal because of Loving vs. Virginia, but that was still the language in Alabama's constitution. I think the repeal didn't pass by a large margin. I would like to think that more people would support that now, but I don't think attitudes have changed that much.

[pennquaker09]

Originally Posted by marmac

3 good reasons to vote for him.

Maybe one good reason, the other two are always used to mobilize the base. I would have just as much control over abortion law as Byrne because it's legal and will remain so. It's settled.