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This person has only lived in Georgia for like 9 years and has this kind of sentiment seeped into him during this time or is it just him? I know that every state has white supremacist types who think this way but is Georgia or other southern states giving out the kind of vibe that makes people more comfortable thinking this way?? (as opposed to other states). I don't know... I just know it is another disturbing puzzle in my whole decision.
You just said the guy came from elsewhere. This kind of thinking is not limited to the South. Please refrain from these crude generalities.
I am a Georgia native, have a Baptist background, and am trying to understand you and not take offense on behalf of my beloved home state. The reason I don't support Obama is because I lean to the right of center politically. It isn't a racist thing, it is a tax/economic/private-sector-does-things-better-than-government kind of thing. I had a co-worker call me racist and sexist since I wasn't for either Hillary or Obama. I told him that if Condoleeza Rice would run I would vote for her, that disqualifies me from both those labels.
It isn't race or gender, it is a political belief. I do have some conservative views on the cultural debate as well. My faith and belief in scripture as a bedrock for that faith leads me to believe that life begins at conception, and that taking that life for any medical reason or choice is a murder, therefore, it is difficult for me to get excited about any pro-choice candidate. I am not vehement about it, I don't stand on the street corners and yell that anybody is going to hell that differs from me, but I do back that belief up with my vote.
Perhaps the south with its strong ties to evangelical Christianity will bring you into contact with more people that think like me, but there are people that have this viewpoint in every state of the union. If that is scary to you, that is really sad, because I am a nice guy and would be a good neighbor and friend if you moved next door to me.
Just because someone doesn't share your political belief and you can cite someone's misinformed fears doesn't mean that we are all Bubbas from Deliverence in the South. From our viewpoint, it feels like you are looking down at us, that is why many in the flyover states feel so disconnected from the media outlets and what is called the elitisim of the two coasts. It does not help us have a national discussion on issues that face us when an elitist attitude is perceived.
There are conservatives and liberals to varying degrees on the left to right scale in every community. In much of the south and midwest you will find more leaning to the right, on the east and west coast, more to the left, but the past several national elections are not landslides in either direction. I have several friends who are very much left of me, my closest first cousin and my college roommate are dyed in the wool lefties and I would take a bullet for either one of them.
My general retort that I will end with is how often I see the liberal who stands for inclusion and acceptance of all really get down and out ugly with someone to their right on the political spectrum. I guess it is inclusion and acceptance only if you think like me.
Did I get too carried away with this? Sorry if I did, guess it hits a nerve.
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 26,074,740 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Natali26
I think the posts from "Scraper Enthusiast" on this thread are a perfect representation of the type of cultural dogmatism that one can expect to encounter in parts of ATL. Make sure to read those . . . .
All my liberal friends have moved to CA and Miami!!!
Minneapolis is fairly liberal, too. A little on the cold side for part of the year, though, at least for some.
racists posting here aren't necessarily living here
Quote:
Originally Posted by Natali26
I think the posts from "Scraper Enthusiast" on this thread are a perfect representation of the type of cultural dogmatism that one can expect to encounter in parts of ATL. Make sure to read those . . . .
All my liberal friends have moved to CA and Miami!!!
is he truly from Atlanta? I personally do not know anyone with attitudes like his. I pose that question, because on the Internet, you never know. A few years ago, I used to read and sometimes post in a usenet newsgroup named atl.general. I ended up leaving because it was full of racist crap.
But I wasn't naive enough to assume it was all Georgians, and I actually checked the headers of many of the messages. Many of them originated in either the Seattle area or Chicagoland (two most common locations for the morons). None was coming from metro Atlanta. This was well-known as a tactic used by the National Alliance, a group of redneck supremacists, and I strongly suspect it was NA members ruining that newsgroup. They invade newsgroups and message forums all the time. And you go where the people are. For instance, they generally ignored nashville.general, because the potential audience was far smaller.
Georgia has racist rednecks, but so does every other state... you can't check the headers here, so don't automatically assume any racist who posts here claiming to be from Atlanta is. He just might be from the ever-tolerant, liberal Seattle. One busy poster in atl.general sure was.
Google "'national alliance' usenet" and you'll see an article at the Anti-Defamation League on their tactics.
Hmmmm... chiming in without ticking off SOMEONE is hard, but we do need some boundaries here.
I'm from West Virginia originally, and have lived in metro Atlanta (and the city) since 1984, so I think I have a grasp on how at least the people from three areas are in general (Appalachia, city Atlanta, and suburban Atlanta).
Appalachia: Appalachians who are shall we say "very country", do one thing more often than not - they stay to themselves. They have that belief that "if you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone, but if you throw it in my face, I'll knock your teeth out". This applies to politics, religion, anything - they have their own personal beliefs, and you're not going to change them, and don't dare tell them their beliefs are "wrong". Otherwise, they quietly keep to themselves unless you ask them for their opinion. It's not a liberal area, but not conservative in the way people down here think of that word.
Inner Atlanta: A real mixture due to the nature of all the folks living here. You see the race card being played in politics a lot more. You also see a lot of buddy-buddy job placement in key positions, including job bidding for construction contracts. It's an overall liberal city, but liberal by Southern standards and not when you compare it to the West Coast at all.
Outer Suburban Atlanta: This CAN get scary in SOME areas. There is a certain percentage of people here who have the mentality of, "If we don't approve of it - we'll get RID of it!", regardless of what "it" might be. I have one customer who comes in where I work who the other day said that the California wildfires were started by God because California now allows gay unions. A second customer next to him said, "That's right!". Ok, now - c'mon. I won't even go into that one. And it certainly doesn't represent ALL folks in my area or the outer burbs, but you do run into that out here, and I'll have to say yes, I've seen more of that type of extremist comment in the South than other areas I've been to or lived in.
Yes, "rednecks" exist in every state, but they do differ somewhat from region to region like everyone else, and some areas have more extreme examples that are more commonly run across than others. I would still tell someone from L.A. or Sacramento that they probably would not for example, do very well in Rockmart, Georgia, but they might do ok in Charleston, West Virginia - both have rednecks, but of different types - one who might smack the Californian more than the other. LOL
Yes, "rednecks" exist in every state, but they do differ somewhat from region to region like everyone else, and some areas have more extreme examples that are more commonly run across than others. I would still tell someone from L.A. or Sacramento that they probably would not for example, do very well in Rockmart, Georgia, but they might do ok in Charleston, West Virginia - both have rednecks, but of different types - one who might smack the Californian more than the other. LOL
'rednecks'......Here's your double standard. This is not a personal attack on atlgreg. as this goes with the double standard found all over this forum and site when it comes to black/white issues, and then we throw in Asian/Hispanic/Indian/Arabs/Muslims, etc sterotypes and they're quickly blocked.
I've complained about this many times BUT (as to quote Chris Rock) b/c it's a 'White' it's alright. The mods have clearly explained to me that the owners of the site don't consider this offensive so it's allowed.
I know it's allowed, I now it's a private site and they can allow what they want and don't want. I just found this very relevant to the thread.
gt, "redneck" is allowed in the same way as "ghetto" is also allowed under *some* discussions. There are certainly a list of words that will get a post deleted, and I can think of a number of them that have been used to describe both white and black people that some have tried to use on here. Redneck, however, is not one of those words unless it's used in a personal attack by someone calling another individual in a post that name, in which case yes, it would be deleted.
gt, "redneck" is allowed in the same way as "ghetto" is also allowed under *some* discussions. There are certainly a list of words that will get a post deleted, and I can think of a number of them that have been used to describe both white and black people that some have tried to use on here. Redneck, however, is not one of those words unless it's used in a personal attack by someone calling another individual in a post that name, in which case yes, it would be deleted.
like I said, I know it's allowed and I wasn't attacking you (I knew you'd reply quick). That doesn't mean I can't agree with it. Ghetto represents a class, redneck represents a race.
like I said, I know it's allowed and I wasn't attacking you (I knew you'd reply quick). That doesn't mean I can't agree with it. Ghetto represents a class, redneck represents a race.
You are completely incorrect with that statement (just my opinion).
Before I even moved down here years ago, I heard the term "redneck", and never, EVER, did anyone I know use it to refer to a "race" of people, or even everyone in this geographic area. I'm in my 40s, and I've never heard anyone use the word redneck to describe southerners in general - only a lower class of person FROM the south, basically using that word as a substitute for "white trash".
Perhaps your experience has been different, but I've met, known, worked with, and befriended a lot of people in my 40-something years, and I've again, always known that word to be used to describe a certain class(less) subgroup of people, and never have I heard it used by whites or blacks to describe an entire race of people. The one exception I'll make on that is that I once talked to someone from Europe who asked about "southern people and rednecks" because they had no frame of reference as to what that word meant and wanted clarification as to what it meant, thinking it was a generic word used to describe southerners. I cleared it up for them, FYI.
You are completely incorrect with that statement (just my opinion).
Before I even moved down here years ago, I heard the term "redneck", and never, EVER, did anyone I know use it to refer to a "race" of people, or even everyone in this geographic area. I'm in my 40s, and I've never heard anyone use the word redneck to describe southerners in general - only a lower class of person FROM the south, basically using that word as a substitute for "white trash".
Perhaps your experience has been different, but I've met, known, worked with, and befriended a lot of people in my 40-something years, and I've again, always known that word to be used to describe a certain class(less) subgroup of people, and never have I heard it used by whites or blacks to describe an entire race of people. The one exception I'll make on that is that I once talked to someone from Europe who asked about "southern people and rednecks" because they had no frame of reference as to what that word meant and wanted clarification as to what it meant, thinking it was a generic word used to describe southerners. I cleared it up for them, FYI.
Not that we have to take wiki for fact (b/c it's not) but wiki both terms.
One references a specific race, the other doesn't.
I have heard blacks refer to whites that way, just as blacks refer to other blacks with another term but not 'redneck' as it wouldn't make much sense. But I've heard many whites use 'redneck' as well to describe 'whites' and no other race.
Therefore, it's a racist statement but only one where it's okay to say it if you're of that race, as with the other I'm obviously referring to.
As calling a class(less) (Your term) Hispanic/Asian/Indian/Arab etc as a 'redneck' doesn't make sense and I've never heard it.
I've heard other 'terms' that I have been blocked for, only when making a point.
like I said, I know it's allowed and I wasn't attacking you (I knew you'd reply quick). That doesn't mean I can't agree with it. Ghetto represents a class, redneck represents a race.
what?....
I mean.... what?!
I've gotten over the fact that people will never stop labeling themselves with petty generalizations and attempting to classify anyone and everyone in a futile attempt to vindicate their views, but this is just too much...
I can see the Census 2010 forms now...
Please indicate your race (choose one or more):
White (Caucasian Non-Hispanic)
Black
American Indian or Alaskan Native
East Asian or Pacific Islander
South Asian
Hispanic
Redneck (Hillbilly, Trailer Trash, Hick, or Inbred Country Bumpkin)
[EDIT: You should know, there are such things as non-white rednecks. I've met both black and asian rednecks. Redneck is just a lifestyle]
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racists posting here aren't necessarily living here
