[Jumpman023]

Honestly, I don't even live in Alabama or have any ties to it, but it really irritates me how people automatically assume that everyone that lives there is a hick. There are some parts of Alabama I've read that are extremely wealthy, so why the hate?

[Charles]

Hate? Perhaps due to past racial incidents. I can't think of nor have I ever heard of another reason.
Mockery? Perhaps due to Alabama's and Mississippi's low state education rankings.

[ghett61]

It happens everywhere. For example, I know people here in Alabama who hate California and claim they will never live there or visit. I ask them if they have even been there before. No they haven't but what they have seen on TV has helped make up their mind that its an awful place.

That just shows you people will believe anything they see on TV or hear someone say. No one cares to actually find out for themselves these days. I mean I could make a fake poll showing AL as the top state in education for 2010 and slowly work my website up to the top search in Google. Then people would start posting the link around and before you know it people will believe it.

[cpg35223]

Laziness. I have yet to visit a state that didn't have beautiful places to live and great people.

[Mawoods]

I agree cpg - every state we have been in is beautiful in some way. And denial - there is and has been racist incidents everywhere but everybody automatically thinks AL is the only place it occurs. Just read about incidents in New York city area in the 50s of racial killings, prejudice etc. . But no one thinks of that great city as being racist with its own history. There are good and bad people everywhere and history is complex everywhere. It is just easier to point the finger than to look into one's own heart.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Mawoods

I agree cpg - every state we have been in is beautiful in some way. And denial - there is and has been racist incidents everywhere but everybody automatically thinks AL is the only place it occurs. Just read about incidents in New York city area in the 50s of racial killings, prejudice etc. . But no one thinks of that great city as being racist with its own history. There are good and bad people everywhere and history is complex everywhere. It is just easier to point the finger than to look into one's own heart.

Funny. People are quick to remember the riots, but nobody seems to remember what took place in Boston 13 years later:



Or New York City:

http://tagbomb2.ltvsquad.com/Graff_Images/Lib-Newsday/DeathToBensonhurst_Newsday.jpg (broken link)

Or Michigan:

http://www.michigancitizen.com/clients/michigancitizen/7-20-2007-3-04-05-PM-9464623.UPRISING.3-1943Attack.gif (broken link)

Or even benign little Omaha, Nebraska:

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by Mawoods

I agree cpg - every state we have been in is beautiful in some way. And denial - there is and has been racist incidents everywhere but everybody automatically thinks AL is the only place it occurs. Just read about incidents in New York city area in the 50s of racial killings, prejudice etc. . But no one thinks of that great city as being racist with its own history. There are good and bad people everywhere and history is complex everywhere. It is just easier to point the finger than to look into one's own heart.

Come on, Mawoods. What racial killings? Please give us some cites. Did the Governor of NY ever try to block black students from attending any state universities? Did any NYers bomb a church and kill 4 little girls? Were there laws on the books in NY banning blacks from voting? Were there separate sections of restaurants and separate rest rooms for blacks in NY? Did blacks have to sit in the back of any bus in NY? Did the police chief of any city in NY ever turn fire hoses on blacks demonstrating for civil rights?

Don't dump on other states to justify or minimize the things that happened in your own state.

But here's the deal: Alabama in 2010 is much different than Alabama in 1960. There is undoubtably still some racism there, just as there was and is in New York. Alabama is a beautiful state with a lot going for it. Lots of good people there.

My point? Many Americans still have negative feelings towards AL because of the ugliness that was there 50 years ago. It's gonna linger, especially to those of us who remember those days. I'm guessing you may be young and have no rememberance of this. I don't blame Alabamans for wanting to forget about this. I would too if these things happened in my state.

[PortCity]

Exactly to both CPG and Mawoods.Wall Street in New York is known for stock exchange well(Slaves). Yes slaves !


And yes racism in the south was worst than it was in New York my grandad use to tell me about bricks being thrown through windows in Harlem along brownstong burnings.The same events happen during the same era the point is why are people boxing Alabama in that era ?

[simetime]

I cannot cosign on anything negative about alabama but virginia (politician= civil war remarks), even Arizona (MLK = holiday flack, immigration laws) and even my home state Pa, Pittsburgh---backwoods tenn-----Philly makes me wonder (like Stevie)

[PortCity]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Funny. People are quick to remember the riots, but nobody seems to remember what took place in Boston 13 years later:



Or New York City:



Or Michigan:



Or even benign little Omaha, Nebraska:

Before I read your post I thought the pic was a scene from Birmingham not Boston that just shows you !!