Posted on 07/14/2005 6:10:21 AM PDT by robowombat
Bias against Southerners misses the mark By RICHARD COX Published July 11, 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
especially given the "miles of dead Negroes, decorating every lamp-pole" after the NY Draft Riots.
damnyankees are now and have always been RACIST, vengeful, brutal & it is no coincidence that the National HQ of the KKK is in OH = damnyankeeland.
free dixie, sw
I haven't seen any state name tattoos, I have seen the following bumper sticker quite a few times:
"Say ya to da U.P., eh!"
if you think he's bad, check out the hatefulness, arrogance, ignorance & constant posting of hatefulness,BILGE & RACIST lies posted by the likes of "x", "ditto", "the nameLESS & worthLESS shunned one" & especially, "m.eSPINola".
compared to that bunch of HATERS & DUMB-bunnies, N-S looks downright UPRIGHT & SANE.
at least, he doesn't BELIEVE the propaganda that he posts. he's smarter than THAT, unlike the other members of the FR DAMNyankee coven.
free dixie,sw
Thanks for clearing that up . :>)
If you want to compare North and South before, during, and after the rebellion, then I'll agree that racism was prevalent in both regions. But the worst you can say is that Blacks in the North were treated almost as badly as Blacks in the south were treated.
...AND that MORE northern schools are NOW racially SEGREGATED than was EVER the case in dixie...
So you keep blathering.
especially given the "miles of dead Negroes, decorating every lamp-pole" after the NY Draft Riots
Utter nonsense.
it is no coincidence that the National HQ of the KKK is in OH = damnyankeeland.
A complete falsehood. There are any number of Klan organizations in this country, the overwhelming majority of which are headquartered in the south.
You really are mad.
It seems some of them actually acquired limited computer skills in order to clearly demonstrate their non-stop, overwhelming ignorance on here.
Talk about an exemplification of the 'lost cause'. Totally reprehensible & shockingly similar to another crowd fully possessed with only brianwashed, blind hate for the United States.
"I hates the Yankee nation and everything they do, I hates the Declaration of Independence, too! I hates the "Glorious Union" -- 'tis dripping with our blood, And I hates their striped banner, and I fit it all I could."
..."tis dripping with our blood" & hate compounded bt more hate..
Resemble any groups of maladjusted, barbaric lunatics out there today?
Sure, I read it. It is just as I said. "To regulate, and to re-affirm their inferior position"....read your own source. They also guaranteed many rights, but of course, you doubtless overlooked that one......
Well..hmmmmm, let's see, Confederate is defeated, home burned, property stolen or emancipated, economy ruined, Carpetbaggers etc. have taken away his right to vote????!!!! Who the hell WOULDN'T BE BITTER?!
I mean seriously, the man was obviously FED UP!
Well, the d*mn "Glorious Union" WAS dripping with the blood of Southerners!
(Forced back into it, at the point of a bayonet!)
They were also designed to regulate labor, forcing blacks to work for next to nothing by ensuring that blacks COULD be forced to work for nothing if they objected. But you doubtless over looked that one... And it applied to all those brave Black men who took up the cause of the confederacy, too. Southern gratitude at work.
The term 'sore loser' springs to mind. Well, ol' Innes should have remembered that sometimes you start things that jess don't turn out quite like ya planned.
Any American using the 'hate & blood' theme of that 'song' in 2005 toward fellow Americans, needs to have their head examined.
I suppose the krauts & japs were fed up with losing wars they started as well.
The Civil War is long over (for normal Americans) The enemy this nation is confronting todays does not give a damn what any of us believe. They only want to slaughter US! (Unless we, as a united nation, counter the cancer & the state sponsored sources, no matter how much bloody oil they possess.)
It's really beyond pathetic when a tiny minority of rebellious malcontents solely dwell on a foolish, irrational phobia, which is their all consuming preoccupation of somehow reversing the historic outcome of the Civil War, instead of focusing on the dangers being inflicting on this country on the domestic front and abroad. Maybe this obvious neurosis is their method of not facing today's world?
Just look at the Japanese, they have gotten over a NUKE attack and allied themselves with US.. made a very wise choice indeed.
So, your answer to my question is, "Yes, I do think those statements are helpful to my cause?"
Zombie troll alert.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.