[GratianGasparri]

“The south is filled with red states, mostly Republican country these days. The days of the Dixiecrats are long gone.”

Perhaps, but most Republicans aren’t racist. Look no further than Clarence Thomas, Condi Rice, Colin Powell, Bobby Jindal, Todd Palin, etc...

[contemplator]

Perhaps, but most Republicans aren’t racist.

You may not be doing it on purpose, but you're insinuating that most southerners are racists. The fact of the matter is that today most southerners no more racist than people from other parts of the country. The thing that makes the South different is the fact that racism was formalized and legalized in the early part of this century through Jim Crow laws etc. The unashamed legalization of racism led to an openness about racism in the South which does not exist in other parts of the country.

One should not mistake the fact that people in other parts of the country were not as open about their racist feelings with the idea that those people were less racist. One only has to look at the covenants placed on homes restricting them from being sold to black Americans or the riots in places other than the south such as Chicago to realize that the same feelings existed everywhere in the country.

While I suspect that the author of this article played a bit loose with his facts and substituted time-honored stereotypes in his story to illustrate his point, that overall point is still valid. Free speech does lead to the healing of divisions while hiding the truth under the rug does nothing but allow it to smolder.

People coming to the South will find that while openly racist sentiments are still to be heard ocassionally, those occasisons are very rare and are not the norm. This is not due to Southerners simply becoming more adept at hiding their true feelings as some might suppose, but indicates a true change. Southerners are very open about their feelings and believe very strongly in honesty. One thing you can always be sure of, a southerner will always let you know where you stand with them in the most direct and unabashed words available.