Posted on 12/20/2002 7:15:18 AM PST by RGrizzle
I am Southern. I didnt ask to be born in the south. I just was. My family has lived in the rolling hills of north Georgia for generations. Prior to that, I am told that my band of Grizzles lived in North Carolina after relocating from Virginia. Some very informal genealogy research Ive conducted suggests we Grizzles (once spelled Grissell) sailed from England to Virginia in the mid-1600s. I dont think you can get much more Southern than that.
This is not the worst of my crimes. I am . . .well . . .a Republican. There, I said it. I am a Southern Republican. Actually, it gets worse. I am also a Baptist. Not just any Baptist. Yep. You guessed it. A Southern Baptist. The worst breed of citizen I suppose, but it is true. The scandal surrounding Senator Lott has given me cause for some serious self-evaluation as I come to terms with my inbred evil.
I am proud to say that I did enjoy a multi-cultural educational experience. In elementary school I had a Jewish classmate. His name was Scott Horowitz. In fact he almost converted me during Hanukah one year. It had nothing to do with theology. I guess it was the immoral consumer-centric-free-marketer in me. He received gifts each day of the festival. Me? I was limited to just Christmas day. My friend moved before he and I were old enough to discuss theology so my almost conversion was more of envy than conviction. Im sorry Scott.
My high school experience was equally diverse. In fact, ours was a racially integrated school thanks to the Hamiltons. They were very nice people. I used to take Michael home from marching band practice every now and then.
But not having been exposed to much beyond cracker life in Hall County, Georgia, I hope its understandable why I missed some of the racial underpinnings of the Republican Party. I thought for example the 10th Amendment was designed to protect me from the careless whims of New Englanders and Californians. I didnt realize that States Rights was a code-word for suppressing blacks.
I promise to read the fine print of the Republican platform. I bet the foot notes in the Federalist Papers go into more detail on this. Republicans tend to quote them a lot. I should have done more research. Im sorry Michael.
One of my best friends in high school recently married an African American Lawyer. I was honored to be a groomsman. Of course, he is an Irish Libertarian Lawyer. Luckily he does not carry the same racial baggage as a Southern Republican else his story might be similar to that of Romeo and Juliet. I love my friend, but Im also glad that I was not his Mercutio. I guess thats makes me a racist on some level. Im sorry Patrick and Tonnye.
I suspect I also do not fully appreciate the benefits of affirmative action. The previously mentioned Irish Libertarian Lawyer taught me the frustrations of reverse discrimination as he sweat out the admissions process at the University Of Georgia Law School. Despite his hard work and excellent academic history, he was desperately afraid he would be rejected because of his unfortunate race and gender. My friend found my sympathies, and the Republicans found my vote.
However, I now know that despite graduating with honors at a notable university in North Carolina as well as the University of Georgia Law School plus SAT scores that continue to shame me, without Affirmative Action Tonnye would not have been able to choose from so many schools when she decided to add a masters degree to her resume. Sorry again Tonnye.
I used to like the whole equal opportunity point of view. Seems that a fellow Georgian did too with his not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character speech. But being a Southern Republican, Im sure Im somehow missing the context of that statement. After all, we southerners tend to be on the naïve side anyway. I guess I now need to go across the board with Affirmative Action. Sorry again Patrick.
I see theres a lot I need to change about me. To be honest, I was not aware of the Dixiecrat platform that Strom Thurmond trumpeted in 1948. Victim of an inferior southern education I suppose. My parents were in the yet-to-be-conceived phase of their existence in1948, so politics of that era was never much of a topic at dinner.
The same goes for the Civil Rights debate that the media has helpfully brought back from the sixties. Take school vouchers for instance. I know it was African Americans who pressed the Supreme Court case for school vouchers in that dismal Ohio school district, but the inherent racism of vouchers occurred to me yesterday. Republicans have pulled a fast one here Ive discovered.
Lets assume vouchers become the norm. On the one hand you have soccer moms able to drive across town in their SUVs dropping their children off to a voucher subsidized school. In another section of town you have an African American mother who is unable to do the same thing because they cant afford a car. So how does one solve this problem? Forced busing of course! It is all becoming clear to me now.
In the days ahead, I promise I will purge myself of racism. I will do my best to mend my ways and educate myself on ways to be more progressive. I will take down my poster of Ronbo (Ronald Reagans head set atop Sty Stallones body wrapped in an ammunition belt from the M-60 he is firing) and replace it with a portrait of Condi Rice. Im fully aware she too is a Republican, but she used to be a Democrat. Hopefully this act of repentance will give me the tokens I need for the tollbooth on the road to recovery. Besides, I kind of have a crush on her anyway. Just dont tell my wife.
Southern by the Grace of God!!!!!
(At least I ain't Southern Baptist though...)
We must accept the teachings of the victorious north:
1)it is wrong, & racist to judge
2)character doesn't matter
3)deviding people by skin color is mandated by law
Don't bother trying. You have way too many strikes against you to dig yourself out of that hole. I am amazed you even have the courage to show your face in public.< /sarcasm >
Seriously, a deliciously ironic read (but a lot of Freepers aren't going to like it because you've just bopped them squarely on the nose.)
Have been a Republican since the early sixties and always believed the party stands for equal opportunities for all - regardless of gender or race. How could I have been wrong for so long? :>)
I, too, must apologize for ever thinking that "States' Rights" has nothing to do with the 10th Amendment, but is merely a code word for 'racist'.
I too, am Southern. Not realizing place of birth was optional, and having known people from all across this great land, I'm happy that my "default" switch chose the South. Born and raised in Coweta County, Georgia, now living in Charleston, SC, I remain entrenched in "Southern Heritage".
Being from the South does not mean that I naturally oppose the promise contained in the Declaration of Independence "...that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights". Quite the contrary.
The difficulty I have is that discrimination, in the form of segregation, has been replaced with discrimination in the form of affirmative action. Lott's idiotic remark will make this harder to make. Damn him.
It's terrible to broadbrush anyone. But for as much as you, your friends, your fellow parishioners and neighbors have been broadbrushed as racists, so too have we broadbrushed most northern liberals as feminists, gays, socialists and communinsts.
For whatever reason, too many Southern Baptist racist whites dropped their allegence to the democratic party and became republicans. Probably because so many democrats shunned God in public places, they found a safe haven with republicans that beliver a courthouse without a creche at Christmas is sinful. Unfortunately, we as republicans welcomed them.
The reason I say unfortunatley, is because we have never strived to encourage them to change their beliefs about race to be like yours. Instead we encouraged them to have the courage to stick to their convictions.
Sometimes our convictions need challenged and examined. Sometimes modification and change do need to be implemented. And change is sometimes difficult to implement and forget the ways of the past.
Republicans as Democrats have been too reluctant to distance themselves from their wing nuts. Just as radical feminists and socialists are the wing nuts of the Democrats, so are the the racists (whether overt or subliminal) in our party. We too often don't either lead the racists to less racist beliefs or don't distance ourselves from them. Until we do, we will continue to be labeled racist just as we label the democrats as gay loving, feminist driven, commie supporting liberals.
Who is accusing you? Of what?
She was? I thought she came from a Republican (the only party that would register blacks in Alabama then) family.
Sorry brother, that is enough to get you drummed out of the Republican Party and/or shot at sunrise! You are a born racist dude! Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, President Bush, Rove, the DNC and the anti-American traitor scum on the DU board ALL AGREE on this!
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