I feel bad for Mississippi (Oxford, Memphis: 2015, violent crime, schools)

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Originally Posted by peppermint

You know, I just wanted to comment on this issue of Asians, specifically the Chinese, in MS. I had no idea that there was a large emigration of Chinese to MS. I first learned about it, living in TN, reading Iris Chang's The Chinese in America: A Narrative History. This is not something that was ever taught in my MS history or social studies classes. Still, it's fascinating. I have not read the book, but I have Lotus among the Magnolias: The Mississippi Chinese by Robert Seto Quan on my to read list.

I think it's harsh to berate someone for not knowing about minority groups living in a state. For example, before moving to MI, I didn't know that MI has one of the largest concentrations of Muslim Americans in the country, living in metro Detroit. I sure hope Michiganders would forgive my not knowing that.

Another book that should be read is Delta Italians by Monsignor Paul V. Canonici.

[John Ryder]

dont feel sorry for me i work at a financial and investment management firm in the IT dept. and with our low cost of living, I live better than alot of people with doctorate degrees say in NY state, i bet my rental is larger also!!!!

[ja1myn]

Originally Posted by John Ryder

dont feel sorry for me i work at a financial and investment management firm in the IT dept. and with our low cost of living, I live better than alot of people with doctorate degrees say in NY state, i bet my rental is larger also!!!!

I never said I felt bad about any of those aspects of MS. I felt bad that wherever I go I hear people bashing at MS. That's all. Holy crap you people are ridiculous.

[getaround]

I love Mississippi & the South in general..I've been a Dem. Hoosier most of my life & can still cross connect with anyone,no matter their beliefs.4 decades ago,I lived in & around Myrtle/New Albany/Pontotoc area & enjoyed my friends,neighbors&townspeople wherever I went.God bless the MAGNOLIA State....MISSISSIPPI 4 EVER !

[jhadorn]

I have been a few places and I try not to think of them as better or worse, just different. Everywhere I have been has something to offer. Even the Mississippi Delta if you know what you are looking for. I wouldn't and don't stay out of the Delta, and using common sense just like with anywhere, I have never felt unsafe.

[robertbrianbush]

Originally Posted by GrandviewGloria

There is a certain something in your phrasing which offers a clue as to why the rest of Georgia wishes Atlanta could be extracted from the state, like the giant malignant tumor it has become.

In addition to Honey Boo Boo, Georgia spawned Paula Deen, the Queen of White Trash Cuisine. I mean, if you want to end up looking like Honey Boo Boo's Momma, just use Paula's pre-dibeeedus recipes (since her diagnosis, she's using her illness as a reason to go after a wider market).

But frankly, I'd rather live in the same town with Honey Boo Boo or Paula Deen, than near the typical resident of Atlanta. Apparently, the majority of former Atlantans would agree, since they choose to commute considerable distances, in order to locate their homes and families among the 'backwood' folk.

If Atlanta were a separate district, Atlanta tags could alert police in refuge exurbs to heightened danger of home invasions and robberies. And the cancer could be contained. Among other things, Atlanta could not extend its public transportation tentacles farther into the countryside, in order to destroy formerly nice counties. Also, the proposed 'regional' approach to government and schools being proposed in the other giant malignant tumor (Washington, D.C.) would not be as effective a tool for deliberately destroying every single remaining decent public school within a hundred miles of the Atlanta Tumor.

You aren't a huge fan of Atlanta, I take it?

[robertbrianbush]

Originally Posted by mississippilonghorn

Feel free to stay away. No one here likes you northener types anyway. People here in miss dont care about what anyone from Atlanta, NYC, Boston or anywhere else think. I feel sorry for people who live in the slumhole that is New York.

Yep. .living in one of our nation's leading sources of creativity, economic output, entertainment, education, research, household income, culture, sports, population, etc must be like living in the seventh circle of hell.
We all have much we can learn from other parts of the country.
And condescending attitudes toward people from states such as Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, etc are just as misguided.
Poor areas are poor for many reasons, nanny outside of the control of the people living there, not because the people there are stupid...to treat people otherwise is an incredibly ignorant assumption to make.
Do many Southerners really stereotype Northerners like this poster? That is just as bad as outsiders stereotyping Southerners? We are all individuals

[jhadorn]

Originally Posted by mississippilonghorn

Feel free to stay away. No one here likes you northener types anyway. People here in miss dont care about what anyone from Atlanta, NYC, Boston or anywhere else think. I feel sorry for people who live in the slumhole that is New York.

I get this post, and why you said it. Mississippi and it's people get looked down on and the natural response is to lash back, however, you have to realize many times they are speaking out of ignorance and heresy. It's what they have been taught. I let it roll off now, but it used to annoy me.

For example, I attended broadcasting school with a black guy from California in Memphis. I had a part time job at a radio station in Oxford, and he was looking for his first radio job as well. I asked him if he wanted me to talk to the station manager and get him an interview, to which he responded "yes".

I put them in touch and they worked out a date and time, but my friend did not show because his parents told him if he went to Mississippi he would be hanged or killed for his skin color. This was in 1994... he felt safe in Memphis, and a state line separated him from death.

He eventually made his way into Mississippi as far as Hernando that I am aware of after several people told him its not the 50's anymore and you will be fine.

Oh, and NYC is pretty cool.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by jhadorn

I get this post, and why you said it. Mississippi and it's people get looked down on and the natural response is to lash back, however, you have to realize many times they are speaking out of ignorance and heresy. It's what they have been taught. I let it roll off now, but it used to annoy me.

For example, I attended broadcasting school with a black guy from California in Memphis. I had a part time job at a radio station in Oxford, and he was looking for his first radio job as well. I asked him if he wanted me to talk to the station manager and get him an interview, to which he responded "yes".

I put them in touch and they worked out a date and time, but my friend did not show because his parents told him if he went to Mississippi he would be hanged or killed for his skin color. This was in 1994... he felt safe in Memphis, and a state line separated him from death.

He eventually made his way into Mississippi as far as Hernando that I am aware of after several people told him its not the 50's anymore and you will be fine.

Oh, and NYC is pretty cool.

With the stories I've heard about African Americans facing in just the past 20 years in southern states, I too would pass caution, especially to an out of state African American man. At least a locally grown African American man would be more prepared and used to adversity they may face in the deep south, but California is like a whole separate world when stacked next to Mississippi. Memphis is a deep south city also, but at least it's a large and decently diverse city, it's very different from small town Mississippi. I daresay Oxford may be one of the safer smaller towns in Mississippi however.

[Dd714]

Are we seriously comparing crime in Memphis to rural MS? Seriously? Memphis usually ends up in the top 3 of the FBI list of most violent city in the US (usually ties with Detroit and New Orleans). Overall, MS has a very low violent crime rate (1.9 per 100,000) compared to the national average (4.49). By the way, we call the Memphis area the "mid-south". Having characteristics of the south and the midwest.

In terms of race, the attached "Hate Map" site lists 83 hate groups active in CA, and 13 in MS. So much for caricatures of the south.
https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map

MS bashing threads like this (why it was resurrected from the dead/2013 is anyones guess) usually attract other posters from other forums who's sum total knowledge of the south comes from watching "Dukes of Hazzard's" reruns.