Posted on 05/17/2005 10:26:50 AM PDT by Destro
THE REDNECK PROBLEM
By WILLIAM RASPBERRY
May 17, 2005 -- THE plight of have-not blacks in America's urban ghettos, says economist Thomas Sowell, can be laid at the feet of white people. And not just any white folks. The culprits are that particular breed of white people known as "rednecks."
If you've followed the writings of Sowell for as long as I have, you'll know that he's not saying anything as simple as racism accounts for today's black poverty. He's saying something much more complex and, to my mind, far more intriguing.
Immigration from the British Isles to the New World was not so random as many of us imagine. Most of the settlers of Massachusetts, for instance, came from near Haverhill in East Anglia. Virginia aristocrats came from the south and west of England.
And the Deep South was populated largely by immigrants from the northern borderlands, Ulster and the Scottish Highlands — from "among people who were called 'rednecks' and 'crackers' in Britain before they ever saw America." And these are the people who formed the culture — the speech patterns, preaching styles, social behaviors, propensity for violence and attitudes toward schooling — that became the culture of Southern blacks, Sowell claims in his new book, "Black Rednecks and White Liberals."
And it is this cultural heritage, he argues, "more so than survivals of African cultures," that has produced the urban black culture of today.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
pop country music's flavor of the month.
But before the 60s there was segregation, and yet...blacks were better off. Not because of desegregation but because of everything else during that time period.
Even though indentured servitude (for whites) existed in colonial times, I don't think it was all pervasive especially after the French-Indian War. The indentured period was only 7 years and he/she was never considered property as were African slaves. Although the overseer was probably a redneck (an uneducated po' white), I really wonder what contact on a day to day basis black slaves had with the vast majority of poor whites?
Read again. They weren't saying Rasberry is a conservative. They said Thomas Sowell is. Sowell is the person that wrote the book that is the subject of the article.
(1) Southern.
(2) Probably work with their hands instead of their mouths.
(3) Unashamedly patriotic.
(4) Like country and western music.
(5) Like trucks and NASCAR.
(6) Probably believing Christians.
(7) Like to go out drinking on payday.
(8) Dress unfashionably.
Now think about how many of those traits are also exhibited by young urban blacks.
Are we talking about young urban blacks in general, or the "problem individuals" Sowell is discussing?
If the latter, only 7 applies.
Technically, yes. But culturally, the Redneck of the Appalachians trailer parks and the WASP country club worlds are radically different. 'Albion's Seed' has been referred to previously in this thread.
I dunno...
The entire black culture of the North was subverted by the invasive "redneck" black culture? That make sense? I know millions left the South but there was no comingling and just a take over?
I'm no anthropologist either...just trying to get a handle on it.
Wow...makes me want to treat rednecks with a lot more repsect if their culture is that powerful. :]
At one point, you did some white people holding the blacks down. And if you look at the problems in the black communities, you have a lack of a father in the home issue. And that can be traced back to slavery when fathers were sold away.
(I refuse to use the word African American-they're just as American as I am)
Looks...ehhh, not too bad at the moment, but boobs seem to be heading south and the beginnings of a paunch are evident.....I really would not want to see her in 10+ years
True. Desegregation was obviously just and right.
Yet it did not pay off economically as much as it should have because other pathologies were at work counteracting its upside.
What a bunch of stereotypical BS.
I've never had any problems in so-called redneck bars. I HAVE had problems in ghetto bars, often. I'm sure southern bars have idiot patrons too, but I see far more of them in inner-city establishments.
""You think this is conservative? At slavery's height 1% of the population owned slaves, including some black slave owners.""
After the 1700s, there were no black slave owners. That's when race became a factor.
On the Banks of the Ohio?
One of the funniest things I've ever seen was on a trip to France as we pulled up in a farmer's driveway. There, up on blocks, were three small, rusty French cars, grown up with weeds. I laughed hysterically, to the point that my wife thought I was nuts. I told her that I felt I like I was back home in Kentucky.
You really have no clue do you? Other than the style of Music, and favorite type of sports they all apply. As to the 'problem individuals', all I saw in the article was that they were poor, not problems. Why don't you come on down South and spend some time in the Southern "Hoods". You will meet some wonderful people.
"One of the funniest things I've ever seen was on a trip to France as we pulled up in a farmer's driveway. There, up on blocks, were three small, rusty French cars, grown up with weeds"
Ever been to rural Quebec?
We're singing in the same church my friend.
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