Battle over the past rages on in an evolving South

Christian Science Monitor ^ | from the February 24, 2005 edition | By Patrik Jonsson

[.cnI redruM]

RALEIGH, N.C. – Bronzed Johnny Rebs, sprinting across a Capitol lawn, charging soundlessly for the ideals of the "lost cause," have long been seen as a quaint and largely harmless part of this region's heritage. Today, doubts rise alongside pride in regard to these sculpted heroes.

A school board declines to name a new high school in Cherokee County after Georgia's Civil War governor. Floridians question why Confederate soldiers adorn a water tower. Even the word "South," in some quarters, has become a slur - a convenient repository of national guilt over the exploitation of Africans in the Cotton Belt a century and a half ago.

[Non-Sequitur]

Couldn't agree more -- can't wait to move out of Yankee Hell.

What's stopping you? I-95 has southbound lanes as well as northbound lanes.

[billbears]

Funny thing though, yankees only seem to be able to go South on major interstates. They keep infesting the state of North Carolina and it's getting tiresome. First thing we need to do in this state is petition the governor to make the toll coming South into North Carolina three times higher than it is going north. If he's for making I-95 a toll road, then let's make it a toll road. But do it so that it can at least limit the influx of y'all coming down here and developing our pristine lands in the name of 'progress'

[Freepdonia]

They keep infesting the state of North Carolina and it's getting tiresome.

If my family and I have "infested" NC, we have infested it with conservatism. It could use it in the Raleigh area. :-)

[Non-Sequitur]

They keep infesting the state of North Carolina and it's getting tiresome.

If a Yankee is foolish enough to move to the south then he forfits all right to complain about how they do things down there. The folks 'down there' were doing things their own way long before the Yankee arrived, and they'll be doing things their own way long after the Yankee is gone. Likewise, any southerner who lives in 'Yankee hell' should either beat feet back from where they came from or shut the hell up. Nobody held a gun to their head and forced them to move there. Don't like it? Leave. Now.

[billbears]

Fully agree. Now just get that information to some of your fellow countrymen and that'll suit us fine and we can do the same to the Southerners who made the unfortunate mistake of moving out.

[billbears]

If my family and I have "infested" NC, we have infested it with conservatism. It could use it in the Raleigh area. :-)

Maybe it could, maybe it couldn't. But I don't cotton to someone telling me what flag I can fly and what monument needs to come down so someone that is ignorant of history can feel better about themselves. And that's one of the many problems lifelong Southerners are having to handle with this latest infestation

[csmusaret]

A few folks in South Carolina might dispute your claim that Andrew Jackson was born in the Tarheel State. It is known that he was born in the Waxhaw area but the exact location is unknown. Many believe that he was born in the South Carolina part of that area. They even have an Andrew Jackson park a few miles north of Lancaster, SC.

[KC_for_Freedom]

wizened black butlers still wait on gaggles of white golfers at certain exclusive clubs

I can't figure the reason they dropped this line in.. Is it because the waiter's jobs are not sought out and that somehow these black waiters are being put down? Or is it because this golf club is restricted and therefore Tiger Woods can't play there?

What a bunch of cr*p (either way)

From my traveling perspective, the South is so popular that I surly will rise again. *sports rebel flag on trailer.

[Howlin]

It's not MY claim; it came off the N.C. State Capitol home page.

[.cnI redruM]

Let's see...

Bush I 1989-1992.
Clinton 1993-2000.
Bush II 2001 - present.

How much further do we have to go before we can be consider arisen?

[45semi]

"Even the word "South," in some quarters, has become a slur -
a convenient repository of national guilt over the exploitation of Africans
in the Cotton Belt a century and a half ago"

Wonder who the hell this author is talking about???
Do I feel 'guilty'? Doh! Nope...
Dont recall anyone I know ever saying:
"Ya know, I sure feel guilty about some people who were slaves a hundred or so years ago"
Where do these people come up with this crap they scribble for the rest of us to read?
Was it Richard Pryor who said something to the effect of
"Sure glad my ancestors couldnt outrun the slaver catchers...
...sorry for them, but glad I'm not over in Africa worrying about lions and sh_t like that..."

[.cnI redruM]

And a way to deny that anything untoward ever happen to said African Americans when they went to the industrial North and took factory jobs. Detroit and South Boston are what they are today because of all the racial justice and harmony.

[Freepdonia]

But I don't cotton to someone telling me what flag I can fly and what monument needs to come down so someone that is ignorant of history can feel better about themselves.

No disagreement with you, except that the majority of people that I know who fit that description are liberal life-long Southerners.

Northerners (not me! :-) usually complain about NC not being like it was in the North. I don't know of many (though that doesn't mean they're not out there, of course) that want to replace the Southern icons of lore with contemporary ones. I sure don't.

[SuziQ]

Even the word "South," in some quarters, has become a slur - a convenient repository of national guilt over the exploitation of Africans in the Cotton Belt a century and a half ago.

And why isn't "North" a slur since it was businessmen in the North who helped finance the slave trade with their trade with the West Indies for sugar and rum?

[mykdsmom]

They keep infesting the state of North Carolina and it's getting tiresome

So sorry that this Yankee has to infest your precious liberal tax hell, Democrap run government, you call a state. I'd like nothing better then to vacate the premises trust me.

I've never had the misfortune to live in a more liberal hole then NC since I've lived here for the past 10 years d/t hubby being relocated by his job.

I won't live here one more moment than necessary, trust me. Then NC will be less infested X 4.

You can have NC Y'ALL!!!!!

[billbears]

No offense but the conservative party, whichever one it is currently at the time, has continually moved to the left to satisfy the electorate. That has caused the liberal party to move even further to the left.

My point is that worthless representation like Sen Dole wouldn't have flown in this state 10 years ago. The only reason they pass as acceptable today in this state is because the Republican party is playing to the new electorate, namely areas like Cary, Raleigh, Charlotte, etc. which just happen to be areas full of implants. I'm sorry but it's a fact. Try to run someone like Helms or Sen. Sam today and they wouldn't get very far. Not because their views are foreign to native North Carolinians but because some of their more ardent views would not be acceptable to new 'conservatives'. And contrary to that same 'conservative' belief, Richard Burr is no Sen. Helms.

Native North Carolinians would not purposefully vote for a governor that is doing his absolute best to run tobacco out of this state at all costs.

[CurlyBill]

Let's see...

Bush I 1989-1992.
Clinton 1993-2000.
Bush II 2001 - present.


How much further do we have to go before we can be consider arisen?

Well, I would remove the middle line. Although he was from Arkansas, he really doesn't share southern values. It's truly fitting that he and his wife are now New Yorkers.

[Non-Sequitur]

Now just get that information to some of your fellow countrymen and that'll suit us fine and we can do the same to the Southerners who made the unfortunate mistake of moving out.

There seem to be more than a few of your compatriots who need the same lesson, if the posts around here are any indication.