WaPo's Kathleen Parker Suggests People with Southern Accents Not 'Smart' or 'Sophisticated'

Breitbart ^ | 6 Apr 2014, 9:11 AM PDT | Pamela Key

[Hoodat]

After NBC's "Meet The Press" host David Gregory ran an anti-ObamaCare ad targeting Sen. Mark Pryor from Arkansas featuring a couple with a southern accents questioning the confusing nature of the Affordable Care Act, Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker objected to Americans for Prosperity using people with southern accents in political ads running in Arkansas:

"I think you could find someone who doesn't have a southern accent who is confused by this act," Parker said. "We always seem to find the character who seems a little countrified, who can't just fathom this. You know there there are plenty of smart sophisticated people equally hazy about what is really going on."

[dsrtsage]

“Visualize the uproar if some Republican said that about how blacks talk.”

I’ve almost gotten into epic bar room brawls when I implied that I couldn’t tell the difference between southern and ebonics.

[TigersEye]

The article sounds just the opposite of the title.

Yes it does. She is slamming the MSM for stereotyping.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

LOL! And that has several meanings where I’m from. But I know whatcha mean. ;-)

[okie01]

This is a common belief of Yankees that have IQ’s in the 75 - 85 range

Mebbe so. But from Kathleen Parker's biography...

Parker grew up in Winter Haven, Florida, graduated from Winter Haven High School in 1969, and attended Converse College before transferring to Florida State University where she majored in Spanish Literature. She also holds a Master's degree in the subject from Florida State.

She is married to an attorney, has three sons, and currently resides in Camden, South Carolina.[6]

There are also these "Southern Belles" who are ashamed of where they're from. Parker is consumed by not only "white guilt", but by "Southern guilt".

This is a very unhappy lady...

[dfwgator]

before transferring to Florida State University

Aha, I think I see the problem.

[jjotto]

So what is Pamela Key’s FReeper name?

[JSDude1]

Proud to be not smart or sophisticated according to her definition!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Hoodat.

"We always seem to find the character who seems a little countrified, who can't just fathom this. You know there there are plenty of smart sophisticated people equally hazy about what is really going on."

[AnotherUnixGeek]

WaPo's Kathleen Parker Suggests People with Southern Accents Not 'Smart' or 'Sophisticated'

She seemed to be saying that the Obamacare law is confusing enough to baffle people from all regions of the country, and might even have been saying there's no reason to automatically use Southerners when portraying people who don't understand something. I'd agree with both positions - plenty of real MSM outrages to get angry about without worrying about stuff like this.

[jonsie]

LOL, I am from Mississippi, have a nice day y’all.

[jstaff]

You are correct, but too many people on here just read the title and start shooting. She was not maligning southern dialects, but was calling out the MSM for trying to push a stereotype. Wake up people.

[ottbmare]

It sounds to me as though she’s objecting to the stereotype of Southerners as unintelligent and unsophisticated.

[dforest]

Those are people that barely qualify for being human.

[Polyxene]

Southern accents never seem to bother the libs when coming out of the mouths of RATs. For example: LBJ, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Robert KKK Byrd, etc.

[TigersEye]

People with southern accents only read the headlines. ;^)

Southern Accents

[Professional Engineer]

Bless her heart...

LOL. A perfectly genteel response.

[smalltownslick]

I don’t know, my definition of sophisticated is “phony,” so who would care?

[Georgia Girl 2]

Good point. That was hard to watch.

[OldPossum]

Are you saying that Mrs. Parker, hailing from Florida, is a Southerner? I don’t think so. I cannot quote chapter and verse on this but I suspect that most Southerners don’t think of Florida as a Southern state; we think it’s just a Yankee retiree outpost.

Now, South Carolina. That’s different!

[BykrBayb]

You know there are plenty of smart sophisticated people who are just as confused as you about what she said.