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I've been wanting to avoid all this bleak West Virginia news, but I just can't do that and consider myself an honest person. Last week, a Harvard grad student found that my home state is the most racist in the country. And yesterday, we learned that the state's top three Democrats will be skipping the Democratic convention.
Gosh. Do you think point one and point two could be somehow related?
There was a time when West Virginia was a fairly progressive state.
At least half a dozen Democratic officials have said in recent days that they won't attend the Democratic National Convention this September in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the president will formally receive the party's nomination for a second term. The latest: New York Democratic Reps. Bill Owens and Kathy Hochul, both of whom won special elections in recent years – in 2009 and 2011, respectively – that were heralded by party leaders.
I do admit there are many WV who dont like Obama, and plenty are racist, but many dont like him for other reasons. WV is mainly a white state, but it is not known for racism like the south.
First of all, do you really believe that nonsense just because some kid from Harvard was looking to find a way to validate all his stereotypical notions. I lived in New York, and I can tell you from personal experience that NY is far more racist than West Virginia.
And, just what do you call "progressive"? Are you trying to say liberal? There happen to be a lot of liberal folks in our state that have the opinion that the current administration is leading us down the wrong path. They like to have jobs and support their families. Many don't approve of offering a free working pass to 2 million illegal aliens when there are millions of Americans who can't find a job. Still more don't approve of his use of questionable science as an excuse to take their mining jobs and way of life away from them. Others come from an outdoorsman tradition and value hunting and other traditional activities and feel that his policies threaten their way of life for no good reason. Our politicians might be special interest hacks, but they are smart enough to know when to stay away from a situation when the outcome is likely to not be popular with those who elect them.
You need to get off your high horse and realize that if policies were very unpopular where you live, politicos there would do damage control too.
06-21-2012, 09:59 AM
i7pXFLbhE3gq
n/a posts
Does this actually surprise people? It's apparent to anyone who has spent much time in southern WV (and had the good fortune to get out) that the place still has an early-20th century attitude towards black people. The outright racism that poured out of people's mouths back in 2008/early 2009 (I got the hell out shortly thereafter) was truly disgusting. Over and over and over, Barack Obama didn't get people's votes, and the only reason given involved a certain non-PC word beginning with "n."
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What a sleazy accusation. You can disagree that coal is the future all you want but the reason for the disagree with Obama is over coal. Nothing more.
This is so much utter, steaming BS. If it was really all about coal, Obama would be hugely popular in WV. Mining employment has been booming since he took office, thanks to an EPA that actually gives a crap about the environment. This has been bad news for companies that would like to destroy the state with mountain top removal and few employees, but absolutely fantastic for miners who have now have jobs again.
I wish that when people characterize WV as backwards and racist, I could say that WV just dislikes Obama because he's been terrible for coal minters. That would at least be something substantive that could justify the disdain for him.
Last edited by i7pXFLbhE3gq; 06-21-2012 at 10:11 AM..
Does this actually surprise people? It's apparent to anyone who has spent much time in southern WV (and had the good fortune to get out) that the place still has an early-20th century attitude towards black people. The outright racism that poured out of people's mouths back in 2008/early 2009 (I got the hell out shortly thereafter) was truly disgusting. Over and over and over, Barack Obama didn't get people's votes, and the only reason given involved a certain non-PC word beginning with "n."
This is so much utter, steaming BS. If it was really all about coal, Obama would be hugely popular in WV. Mining employment has been booming since he took office, thanks to an EPA that actually gives a crap about the environment. This has been bad news for companies that would like to destroy the state with mountain top removal and few employees, but absolutely fantastic for miners who have now have jobs again.
I wish that when people characterize WV as backwards and racist, I could say that WV just dislikes Obama because he's been terrible for coal minters. That would at least be something substantive that could justify the disdain for him.
There are pockets of racism everywhere, nowhere more than in Northeast large cities. Many blacks are very racist there. I worked with a majority of black folks, and was regularly called "cracker", "******", "chuck" and other nefarious names for no reason by people who didn't even know me. The areas there are far more segregated too. Blacks tend to live exclusively among blacks, whites among whites and so forth.
And talk about a racist vote pattern. Blacks voted for Obama by a 90% margin, even those who identified themselves as conservative. Colin Powell supported Obama, and he was Bush's Secretary of State. They voted for him because he was black, not because of his promise of giveaways. I am not saying there is no racism in West Virginia. I'm saying that a certain amount of racism is present everywhere. Now, is there more of it in more isolated southern West Virginia? Probably. I don't have the feeling we have much of it at all here in our University city. In fact, just today an out of town man wrote this letter to the editor of our newspaper...
People in our area make a concerted effort to be welcoming and inclusive to people of all racial backgrounds. You might run into an occassional crackpot, but most of our people are friendly and helpful to everyone possible.
06-21-2012, 03:25 PM
i7pXFLbhE3gq
n/a posts
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And talk about a racist vote pattern. Blacks voted for Obama by a 90% margin, even those who identified themselves as conservative. Colin Powell supported Obama, and he was Bush's Secretary of State.
You might have a point if the African American vote wasn't pretty much always overwhelmingly Democratic. As for Powell, he was used by the Bush administration, then sent packing. He's much more aligned with the modern Democratic party than the GOP.
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People in our area make a concerted effort to be welcoming and inclusive to people of all racial backgrounds. You might run into an occassional crackpot, but most of our people are friendly and helpful to everyone possible.
In NCWV, sure. In southern WV, it's still the 1920s south.
In NCWV, sure. In southern WV, it's still the 1920s south.
You do realize that the majority of West Virginia's African American population lives in Southern WV, and that everything you have posted on in a lie. I'm not saying there isn't racist people, but to catagorize an entire state in out of line!!!!
You do realize that the majority of West Virginia's African American population lives in Southern WV, and that everything you have posted on in a lie. I'm not saying there isn't racist people, but to catagorize an entire state in out of line!!!!
I think it is fair to say that southern WV is definitely more racist than Northern, but I agree it is not fair to say it is stuck in the 1920s. Also racism is not uncommon anywhere in WV, although it is worse in the southern part of the state. I am not proud to say this, but we all know racism can be prevalent in WV. Not hardcore segregation or white power racism, like the KKK, but a general dislike towards Black culture, and other cultures.
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