Bias against Southerners misses the mark

Pasco Times ^ | July 11, 2005 | RICHARD COX

[robowombat]

Bias against Southerners misses the mark By RICHARD COX Published July 11, 2005

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Does prejudice exist in Pasco County, an area with a very diverse population and seemingly very progressive?

I am certain that African-Americans, Hispanics and people from other countries, the poor and homeless, as well as members of certain religious faiths, experience treatment different from the mainstream populace. However, I am a member of a minority who has experienced attitudes and reactions from many individuals who assume that I am intellectually and socially challenged.

A very large percentage of the population of New Port Richey in particular is from the Northeast. I personally like the outspokenness, mince-no-words attitude, the ability to criticize as well as accept criticism without being offended, that seems to represent the culture in which Northerners grew up.

My family members seem to have the disadvantage of being born and living most of our lives in the South, in our case, Tennessee. I grew up in Knoxville, a city that many people seem to associate only with the fanatical behavior of our college football fans, and my wife is from a small city near Chattanooga.

There still seems to be a stereotype that some people associate with Tennesseans. When those individuals heard the distinct accent of my wife, my stepdaughter, and myself, it seemed to conjure up that redneck image one might associate with the humor of Jeff Foxworthy and other Southern comedians. That image is of a culture of ignorant hillbillies (certainly due to inbreeding!), barefoot, living in a shack with no indoor plumbing (but certainly an outhouse in back), having a dog living under the front porch, and owning an overgrown lawn populated with broken-down, dilapidated automobiles. And, yes, we all chew tobacco and sit on the front porch swing playing the banjo. Everyone also flies a Confederate flag and reminisces about the War Between the States.

I first noticed this attitude when my stepdaughter, an honor student, came home from middle school several days in tears because several other students harassed her daily, calling her an ignorant redneck and hillbilly among other derogatory terms. My wife and I have experienced the sudden change in facial expressions from many when they hear our accent. They seem to associate our accent with ignorance, and speak in simpler terms so that we can understand what they are saying. Telephone conversations often produce the same reaction.

I beg to differ. Tennessee is the home of several major universities, four major metropolitan areas with all the drug and gang problems associated with other large cities, and the most visited national park in the United States. Oak Ridge, in the Knoxville area, probably has as high a percentage of residents with doctorate degrees as any city in the United States. Tennessee has a musical heritage equal to none, and it is not exclusively country or bluegrass genres. Many nationally prominent politicians are from my home state, including three former presidents.

Tennessee has produced many famous musicians, actors, scientists and other intellectual and talented natives.

Well, to set the story straight, rural areas of most states have their own populace and dwellings that approach this stereotype.

My wife and I grew up in your average suburban neighborhoods, we both graduated from major universities and had successful professional careers, and, to risk seeming boastful, are probably as intelligent and knowledgeable, if not more so, than the average American. Believe it or not, East Tennessee, the section of the state we are from, fervently supported the Union during the Civil War.

I have noticed in the Pasco Times notices of meetings for various groups from areas of the Northeast and from other countries. Perhaps Southerners in our area should form a similar group. With apologies to an African-American group with a similar title, we could call our group the NAASF, the National Association for the Advancement of Southern Folks, Pasco County Branch. I hope there are enough local Southern residents available to attract to our organization.

--Richard Cox, a retired middle school science teacher and department head, lives in New Port Richey

[stand watie]

lol.

free dixie,sw

[M. Espinola]

"Now, dagnabbit, Espinola! There you go upstaging me again! I wanted the "honor" of such a description from our hysterical, semi-literate friend "Wampus," and here you go and steal that from me with your ongoing, relentless posting of irrefutable facts! You've got a hell of a nerve...

Well stated! :)

[M. Espinola]

"every DUMB-bunny post you make..

Just what defines a "DUMB-bunny post?

Would your silly, goof-ball habit of never capitalizing the beginnings of sentences in any way constitute a "DUMB-bunny post?

[stand watie]

why GA, ninny!

i didn't know that you were around. do you know that you're around.

i think NOT.

don't you get really tired of being thought the "class FOOL"??? OR are you so clueLESS that you don't know that your moronic posts are the chief object of RIDICULE to the educated & intelligent FReepers on these threads????

imVho, you are PITIFUL.

free dixie,sw

[stand watie]

to answer your DUMB question directly, "a DUMB-bunny post" is a post that is so DUMB, stupid, semi-literate,UNinformed & IGNORANT that it would NOT fool a 3 year old child for 5 seconds.

also, a DUMB-bunny post COULD be defined as a post that makes the poster look like an EMPTY-head.

that is the sort of things you post, routinely.

the totality of your "contributions to the forum" consists of ignorant bilge, stupid cartoons, off-point/weak attempts at humor (do you even understand that they are off-point? i think NOT.) & 1/2-witted "ad hominum" attacks on forum members.

if you left the FR forums, nobody would notice or CARE.

free dixie,sw

[x]

Just trying to illustrate absurdity with absurdity. I never hear the kind of ethnic slurs you mention. Haven't in years. But all you have to do is to go North with your imaginary Jewish business partner or your make-believe half-Black half-Navaho childhood friend and people come out of the woodwork to insult the two of you or whisper behind his back. After the bit about yachts against subs and the Galveston u-boat, and all the imaginary books and professors you cite, you ought to be more careful, assuming you're not completely insane.

[M. Espinola]

"to answer your DUMB question directly, "a DUMB-bunny post" is a post that is so DUMB, stupid, semi-literate,UNinformed & IGNORANT that it would NOT fool a 3 year old child for 5 seconds."

You sure answered the question.

Is that why you begin your sentences like some 3 year old in nursery school?

Seek help, Bethesda, Washington D.C. & other near by locations have some fine doctors.

(The poor unsuspecting schnooks that get you for a patient.) lol

[Wampus SC]

"You may now slither away."

Poor thing, now reduced to wishful thinking, and nothing else. (Disguised as an order to hide the reality of what's left to you from yourself, of course). That you posted a picture of a copperhead is cool. Very cool. A person's innermost feelings sometimes are shown through the symbolism they choose. I had no idea you had closet sympathies with the old CSA. Copperhead. Wow.

[Wampus SC]

"You gonna do something about it, tough guy?"

"Just keep laughing at the antics of the trash I encounter from time to time. Keyboard Kowards on a Krusade have never impressed me all that much, truth be told..."

That's it? That's the best you're able to muster to do something about it? Far FReepin' out, dude.

I don't know how I'll be able to keep on living, knowing that you're laughing.

BTW -your Clown Posse terminology noted.

[rebelyell]

I killed a copperhead last week. Now that we can't legally shoot yankees anymore they keep us sharp.

[MississippiMan]

As I've discussed at length in another thread, I'm interviewing with and talking to some NY firms about a job, and relocation to NY.

And in my experience on related trips to NY, I've found that the anti-Southern bias is thankfully and dramatically waning. BUT, is it still there? You bet. I did encounter the (thankfully rare) person whose face twisted into a condescending look as soon as I spoke. Here's how I look at it: When someone reveals themself to be of such limited intellect as to think they're smarter because they form their vowels differently, they're not people I care to associate with anyway.

I also think the Internet is playing a great role in steadily eliminating such banal thinking. The ability to communicate instantly via the written word, regardless of location, has stamped out a lot of bias like this, by forcing us to communicate without the bias-inducing elements of appearance, accent, etc.

MM

[Wampus SC]

"Of course he was. Forgive me if I don't believe you. More likely, from day one, you and your buddies treated him like dirt, if your behavior on this thread is any indication"
Dirt would have been treated better, because it is. Simply put, again, it was because he was just like you. Indentical qualities to those you exhibit here. That's sufficient reason.

[Wampus SC]

"I wouldn't know, since I've never used Google to search the net to satisfy my need to see that kind of picture. Nor am I motivated by racism to have them or post them.

"I'm sure even you can figure out Google image search. Just run a regular search and then click on the "image" button over the search window. Even a swamp-dweller can probably figure that out. "

That statement assumes that I'd be searching for the same kind of picture you desire to find. I don't. Sure, I Google all the time, but not to collect and post racist lynching pictures, like you get your pleasure from.

"Not a fetish. We just like to remind the world what you neo-confeds would like to start doing again, if given half a chance."

Modernman, do you include me among people who would like to lynch African Americans if they could? Either you do, or you don't. Which is it?

Do you think there's any regular participant on these South/Civil War threads who would lynch African Americans if they could? If so, name them.

[185JHP]

"I hope Neil Young will remember..."

[Wampus SC]

"Not a fetish. We just like to remind the world what you neo-confeds would like to start doing again, if given half a chance."

Hey, modernman, what race/ethnic group am I a member of? IE: White, black, Asian, etc.

You're infallible, so say what it is. Think.

I mean really think.

[Wampus SC]

"When asked if you're the one who was sorry he didn't go into the porn business, you said you were.

Now you say you're not sorry.

"I assume you've heard of the term "mixed feelings," right? "

Right. Mixed feelings. Yeah, I understand what you mean. Feeling sometimes that you should have been a pornographer after all. It still pulls at you sometimes.

The motivations for a man to become pornographers is well known. Sure, there's always money - but there are plenty of other ways to make money. I'm talking about what specifically drives him into producing porn. It's all about making his fantasies about how women should act - and how they should be treated - come to life. Women performing any sexual fantasy he wants from them, on his command. Not that they'd do that for him anyway - after all, he has to (how shall I say this?) pay them to do it. And the women doing nothing spontaneously, or just because they want to. No. Just mechanically going though the motions of a script he has devised, and dictates to them, at his whim. They might as well be robots. Indeed, all the desires of the porn-producing man point to this. It's all to feed his need to reduce women to little sex robots. Because, at the bottom line, a thinking independent woman simply stumps him. She's over his head and out of his league.

Guys like this might even express the desire for a "robotic girlfriend". Who knows?

[Wampus SC]

(modernman's inexact quoting of me is in green.) "You're so intent that everyone except you is wrong about everything, all the time, "

"Not at all."

It's easy to quote a fragment of a statement rather than the complete statement to intentionally create the false impression that the subject of discussion was different from what was actually under discussion. I won't do that to you. Not out of respect for you, but out of respect for honesty. Also I have no compulsion to distort, since I have no hatred and aversion to truth. Nor is distortion such an ingrained part of my very being that I'd do it automatically, like you do, every time.

That said, let's restore my complete statement as made, as it stood before your intentional attempt to destroy context and distort meaning. And see what we learn.
--------------------------------
(the restored section is in red italics. Modernman's complete response is in black italics.)

"You're so intent that everyone except you is wrong about everything, all the time, that you simply rush in and dispute whatever's said to you. Without ever thinking that with everything you say, you completely contradict yourself. Every single time."

"Not at all."
-----------------------------------------

The subject under discussion was how over the last few posts, all you have left in you is to give an "is not" response to anything said to you. "No it isn't" "no I'm not" "only in your mind", "not at all", etc. Guess what? The above section shows you did it again. Even with your typically deceptive attempt to make it look like something else was under discussion - you did it again. And do you what to know what you're going to do next? You're going to do it again.

Hey! I just figured out who you might be! I think you're John Cleese, and you've come here to perform that classic Monty Python "Argument" sketch" for us!

Anyway, thanks for giving us ever more insights into how hate-filled South-bashers must force their minds to work, in order to espouse the views they do.

[Wampus SC]

"and why that kind of person is responsible for so many problems."

"This is a common tactic for your type of person- trying to blame all of your personal problems on some far-away people you don't even know. How sad. "

Again, your tactic of taking a fragment, rather than a whole statement, to deceptively make it appear that the focus of discussion was other than what it really was. No biggie. Just noted. I accept that that's how you have to be.

My premise was that you are the kind of person who are the root cause of all the problems in the country. You twisted things around so that you could reply was if my personal problems was the subject of discussion, and that I was blaming them on you. Got news for you. Problems of the US does not equal "problems Wampus runs into in his personal life". I am not the United States. Got it? Try to tell the difference. That was slick attempt , but you didn't make it. Again.

Heck, though. Anyone who says hurricane means nuke; power outages mean the apocalypse; and getting your family thru rough times is paranoid - might as well think that "Wampus SC" is the same as the United States.

[M. Espinola]

"I had no idea you had closet sympathies with the old CSA. Copperhead. Wow."

Wow indeed. Of all the snakes in the world the particular species most corresponding to your documented vulgar & malicious temperament, was the copperhead, for more reasons then one.

[Wampus SC]

"You want the Confederacy back. Since you weren't around at the time of the Civil War, that makes you a new (or neo-) Confederate. "

Whew - a lot of things just clicked into place. I've realized that many of your bunch's criticisms are based on the belief that a new independent Southern nation would be the Confederacy like it was 1860-65. That's a false premise. That CSA is gone, the Southern states have changed since then, and a new Southern nation would reflect the changes in its individual states since 1865.

(Note I said nothing here about my personal views on secession, pro or con. Don't imagine things and react as though I had.)