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

[M. Espinola]

Old Stand takes sightseeing tours on it every second Friday :)

[stand watie]

don't you wish that was true.

everyone here KNOWS you're a MORON & a DUNCE, who "knows not & knows not that he knows not".

PITY.

free dixie,sw

[stand watie]

inasmuch as i simply quoted THE AUTHOR of the BOOK on the existence of the U-boat, which HE SAID was there, i think you're showing your STUPIDITY again.

SORRY, but that too is CORRECT.

i said at the time that i knew NOTHING more about the subject than what the BOOK said. consult the book YACHTS AGAINST SUBS for more.

don't you get tired of being the BUTT OF JOKES by smarter FReepers????

free dixie,sw

[Heyworth]

i said at the time that i knew NOTHING more about the subject than what the BOOK said. consult the book YACHTS AGAINST SUBS for more.

The book that doesn't exist? The one that you can cite by page number, and yet confess to not having a copy of? The one you say the University of Houston owns, but apparently doesn't list in their card catalog? The one that the Library of Congress doesn't have? The one that, in fact, no college library seems to have?

Type in the title in a Google search and you know what you get? One hit:

"Coast Guard Auxiliary Bibliography
Gnaedinger, LBN "Picket Patrol: Yachts Against Subs." Motor Boating & Sailing (Dec 1972), pp. 46-49. Gould, Robert C. "The Coast Guard Auxiliary. ... www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/Auxiliary_Bib.html - Similar pages"

So, Stand Pinocchio, when you try to shift the blame for that lie onto another source, you only reveal another lie. There is no book called "Yachts Against Subs." There's a four-page magazine article in a boating magazine.

[Wampus SC]

"We don't depend on the mythical small family farmer for much of anything these days. Our food comes from giant agro-corporations"

Good. In a supply line disruption, I'm just sooooo sure those agro-corps will make food magically appear on your plate, just like they do now. And you'll see how much "making it in the big city", totally dependent on everyone in a multi-step supply line is worth. No? No. Yeah, I know that in the completely out of touch Beltway world you inhabit, that food was never produced. Never was planted. No soil was tilled. No crops were harvested. None of it was transported anywhere. At least not by any actual human. No. The food just appears on your plate all ready to eat. I was forced to supervise another dork once, who was also completely, totally disconnected from anything real, by choice. Of course, he felt smugly superior about his intentional fakeness. He felt superior because of it - it was all he had, though.... Back when there was going to be a farmer's strike, he said that wouldn't affect him - he'd only worry if there were a grocery store strike. And even then he wouldn't worry that much - he'd just go to a restaurant. We all laughed at him. He felt we just weren't able to appreciate his superiority. LOL! Yep, thinking about him again right now...:)

"Fine, go back to your fallout shelter and wait for the apocalypse. I'll be over at the Palm having a ribeye"

Yeah, well, there's some scary stuff out there that could happen. But don't worry. Derision, flippancy and an insufferable air of smugness will protect you from all harm. I can see it now - everything crumbling around you, and you standing there yelling, "B-b-b-ut, I was flippant! I was derisive! Noooooo.... this can't be happening to ME!". You're really more isolated from reality that I thought. A fallout shelter can no more get you fed than those hunker bunkers you Beltway Boys are building in the vain hope of protecting your oh-so-delicate, metrosexually pampered, cold cream slathered butts. And while you're at the Palms, buy Marie Antoinette a beer on me. She'll tell you that that steak didn't come from an Angus steer that had to be raised, cared for, fed, slaughtered, processed and transported by *someone*. No, it came from the kitchen. As long as the kitchen is open, you will eat.

Completely cut off from anything real, by choice. And to think how much national policy and planning reflects the cluelessness and baseless snobbery of your ilk mincing around inside the beltway. It's the root of 100% of this country's problems.

"Anyway, my family owns a farm out in the Shenandoah, too."

Yeah? A postage stamp sized garden plot in easy walking distance of the charming antique shops in Luray? Seriously though - what and how much of anything usable (ie: edible, wearable) do you produce there annually? And - could you do it on your own? Careful - might get a little dirt on that $100 executive manicure.

[jincarolina]

tarheel also, by the grace of GOD!

[Modernman]

Good. In a supply line disruption, I'm just sooooo sure those agro-corps will make food magically appear on your plate, just like they do now

Do you often worry about the apocalypse? They have medications for that type of thing, you know.

Yeah, well, there's some scary stuff out there that could happen.

Yup. Like terrorists trying to drop the WTC on my head. What's the point of living in fear?

A fallout shelter can no more get you fed than those hunker bunkers you Beltway Boys are building in the vain hope of protecting your oh-so-delicate, metrosexually pampered, cold cream slathered butts.

I'm nto bothering with a bunker or fallout shelter. They're the province of the paranoid. I'm too close to the White House and the Capitol to survive a nuclear blast, so it's not something that really concerns me.

And to think how much national policy and planning reflects the cluelessness and baseless snobbery of your ilk mincing around inside the beltway. It's the root of 100% of this country's problems.

Yup. We inside-the-beltway people run things. Too bad for you. Now, back to the farm and raise me a steak. You have no say in how this country is run, so go do something useful with your time for your betters.

Seriously though - what and how much of anything usable (ie: edible, wearable) do you produce there annually?

Christmas trees.

And - could you do it on your own?

Are you kidding me? I went to law school. Getting dirty is left for people like you.

[Wampus SC]

"I've always been more worried for my safety on a lonely stretch of highway in New Mexico than in "bad neighborhoods" like Harlem or certain parts of DC."

It's because there's real stuff out there. Natural things. Unprocessed things. Unsynthetic things. Things that are below you. People that (shudder)- work! Just don't notice any of it - noticing it will decrease your exaltation level.

[Wampus SC]

That was his car? Kinda thought so.

I think it's the new sticker that get's 'em. The one that says

MY OTHER CAR IS A MIATA

Or maybe it's the window decal that says, "I'm A GQ Lifetime Subscriber - And I Vote!"

[stand watie]

your post reminds me of a young man from LI,NY whom i went to school with.

our class took a field trip to a group of dairy farm co-ops one term.

Jay had never been out of NY for more than a day (and then to a friend's home in CT), when he came to college & NEVER to a "filthy dirty farm".

while there (NO JOKE) he found a pile of milk bottles & thought he'd found a COW's NEST!

we all LOL at him.

free dixie,sw

[stand watie]

rotflmRao AT "modernman".

imVho, he's of about the same sort as "m.eSPINola".

one of these days, we'll have that HURRICAINE come roaring up the Potomac & land right on top of his little pointed, shyster, head.

THEN, it will be FAR too late to plan for the "bad day" and/or the day "TSHTF".

fwiw, i'm on the Red Team in NOVA & i can tell you with certainty that those like "modernman" will NOT survive the "bad day".

free dixie,sw

[Modernman]

one of these days, we'll have that HURRICAINE come roaring up the Potomac & land right on top of his little pointed, shyster, head.

I've been through about 4 hurricanes in my life. Not that big a deal (3 in Florida, one up here in DC).

Or are you talking about a nuke? Well, if that's the case, I'm too close to where the nuke would most likely be to have much hope of survival. That doesn't really concern me.

[M. Espinola]

"Do you often worry about the apocalypse? They have medications for that type of thing, you know.

An total apocalypse for the element in question would be, if on the same day it snowed, their swamp was drained, plus someone took away their broken down pickup truck with the 50 cases of beer still inside, the one with the gigantic rebel flag on the roof! Are there medications for this? :)

[Wampus SC]

You know what's really interesting? Your use of, um, "creative editing" on what you appear to be quoting. But that's no nevermind to those with eyes.

Good. In a supply line disruption, I'm just sooooo sure those agro-corps will make food magically appear on your plate, just like they do now

Do you often worry about the apocalypse? They have medications for that type of thing, you know."

I know. No, I don't. The apocalypse is too big to do anything about, or have any control over the situation. I concentrate on being able to to fend for myself in manageable situations of less magnitude. I'm fully aware that knowing how take care of myself makes me vastly inferior to those who don't, like you. And obviously those who can't tell the difference between the words "supply line disruption" and the apocalypse.

"Yup. Like terrorists trying to drop the WTC on my head. What's the point of living in fear? "

Only the intentionally totally clueless like you would equate disaster preparedness and the ability to feed and clothe yourself and your family with the work of your own hands with "living in fear".

"I'm nto bothering with a bunker or fallout shelter. They're the province of the paranoid. I'm too close to the White House and the Capitol to survive a nuclear blast, so it's not something that really concerns me. "

At last! One tiny little grain of sense! And, name dropping noted.

"Yup. We inside-the-beltway people run things. Too bad for you. Now, back to the farm and raise me a steak. You have no say in how this country is run, so go do something useful with your time for your betters. "

(Holy moly! This primping pretty boy even thinks like Marie Antoinette - an we know where that got her.) Raise you a steak? Left out a few steps there, huh? Such as tilling the ground to plant the corn to feed the.... never mind, those things don't exist in your world. Just ready made steaks. Besides, you yourself have already said you don't depend on farmers, just corporations. Yeah, that's right, the existence's of a corporation is the only thing necessary for you to eat. Yeah. Right.

Seriously, I'm glad you laid it all out here that you really do think like that statement you made. People need to see *why* you are the root of all the problems.

"Christmas trees. "

CHRISTMAS TREES! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha..... Have you even set foot on this property? Did you know the "dirty people" would find that place to be a prime source of firewood faster than you can say "Peola Mills"? That and about 10 other useful products I doubt you can even imagine. I sure hope that you like those sawdust and evergreen needle sandwiches. LOL

And - could you do it on your own?

"Are you kidding me? I went to law school. Getting dirty is left for people like you."

And don't you forget it. Those dirty people are so much less than you because they can be self reliant, unlike you, who are helpless to actually do any work to fend for yourself. And you depend on those dirty people for every single thing you eat, every single thing you wear, and every single thing you have. You are totally dependent on dirty people. And that, being dependent, is why you're so great, right! Take a few moments to reassure yourself that everything will always be alright by repeating your mantra: "Helplessness is superiority. Self reliance is is the mark of the inferior."

[Wampus SC]

"Jay had never been out of NY for more than a day (and then to a friend's home in CT), when he came to college & NEVER to a "filthy dirty farm".

while there (NO JOKE) he found a pile of milk bottles & thought he'd found a COW's NEST!

LOL! I believe it! I've run into stuff like that! Must be a modernman in every bunch! This same dork had just bought a house with an "awesomely huge yard" (.125 acres!) and he wanted a ground cover that grew real fast and never needed upkeep. Some of the guys and I helpfully told him about kudzu. Even told him where to get some. Six months later.... :) I've always wanted to take modernman and the other dorks snipe hunting in the swamps. Dunno how well they'd do in those waders from Victoria's Secret, though.

[Wampus SC]

"rotflmRao AT "modernman".

Same here. Every time I read his posts I'm reminded of a certain group of Jamestown colonists that Smith had to deal with harshly. Some chose death by starvation because even knowing how to do anything was so far beneath them. History repeats.

I don't hold too much against Spinny - can't fault a man for built in deficiencies. The other thing, well, he does have a brain. It's how he uses it that's so puke inducing. Usually snobs are snobbish *about* something. This is a whole new thing - snobbery based on nothing more than how snobbish one is. And never until now, not even in Jamestown, has it been raised to the level of unmitigated evil.

"fwiw, i'm on the Red Team in NOVA & i can tell you with certainty that those like "modernman" will NOT survive the "bad day"."

Yep, no doubt about that. But you know, it's their INability to survive that makes them better than the likes of us, innit? :) On that bad day - if you see a primping metrosexual swishing down Penn. Ave. watching himself in a mirror, eating a sawdust sandwich and wearing a Marie Antoinette costume made of pine needles, you'll know who it is. :)

[Wampus SC]

"I've been through about 4 hurricanes in my life. Not that big a deal (3 in Florida, one up here in DC). "

Hurricane in DC? Isabel year before last, or Gaston last year? Those were nothing. Should've been in Richmond. They dealt pretty well there 'cause there are still enough resourceful, reliant people around who don't mind lifting a finger. In the surrounding areas, of course, being isolated for a few days was something they'd already prepared to take in stride.

"Or are you talking about a nuke? Well, if that's the case, I'm too close to where the nuke would most likely be to have much hope of survival. That doesn't really concern me."

He said hurricane, not nuke. Right? Well, this figures. Anyone who's so big a doofus that they can't tell a "supply line disruption" from the apocalypse couldn't tell the difference between a hurricane and a nuke either.

[Wampus SC]

Are you kidding? Do you know how much those old broken down trucks are worth? We buy ads in glossy collector 'zines aimed at sissifued yuppies like modernman, and sell them for big bucks. The funny thing is, the higher we jack up the price, the more they want to buy them. But such is the nature of that sad, sorry sort; and we don't mind getting rich off their stupdity.

[M. Espinola]

"Are you kidding? Do you know how much those old broken down trucks are worth? We buy ads in glossy collector 'zines aimed at sissifued yuppies like modernman, and sell them for big bucks. The funny thing is, the higher we jack up the price, the more they want to buy them. But such is the nature of that sad, sorry sort; and we don't mind getting rich off their stupdity.

I was not speaking in terms of worthwhile collectibles, even newer ones, mud covered, filthy & beat up which is self-inflicted practice by the uncivilized vulgarians driving them into the ground. Now you're reduced to attacking even 'moderman', saying he would fall for such a low life, redneck stunt, in trying to pull a con job on collectors into worthless swamp junk? Really pitiful, but what else can one expect from such backward, underhanded hayseeds.

[Wampus SC]

"I was not speaking in terms of worthwhile collectibles, even newer ones, mud covered, filthy & beat up which is self-inflicted practice by the uncivilized vulgarians driving them into the ground."

Those are exactly the kind that are most in demand. Boy, get with the times, OK? Be as trendy as your buddies! Don't fall behind. Don't get outmoded.

"Now you're reduced to attacking even 'moderman', saying he would fall for such a low life, redneck stunt, in trying to pull a con job on collectors into worthless swamp junk? Really pitiful, but what else can one expect from such backward, underhanded hayseeds."

('scuze me while I spew sweet tea all over the keyboard.)What's the matter, boy, you got a problem with free market capitalism? Yep, that's exactly the kind of low life redneck stunt y'all fall for every single time.And the kind of person who falls for it every single time, and comes back wanting more. Y'all are the ones who WANT TO BUY our worthless swamp junk. Y'all fall for it - and that makes US backwards? Uh-huh. At least we're not dumb enough to buy each other's swamp junk. You're a laff-a-minute.