[Howlin]

I never have believed that "whites in the South don't like blacks" things. I know too many fine black people.......and so did my parents. We never had talk like that around us.

And it's not like the South isn't LOADED with white trash...... :-)

[Arizona Carolyn]

I'll take it one step farther and say in my travels around the USA I've seen as many or more bigots in the North as in the deep South. You HEAR more about Southern Bigots because of movies like Mississippi Burning, but they are not just indicative of the KKK... in some ways we all bear responsibility for this misunderstanding. There is also bigotry in the other direction.

We lived in an upscale neighborhood in So. California with quite a few well-to-do blacks who would not join in when invited to neighborhood functions and one neighbor would not let his children play with the white children in the neighborhood...

Personally -- as long as I'm on an off-topic roll -- while I think what Oprah does in Africa is great... what about the people in this country who could benefit from her largess? Certainly, she pulled herself up, got an education and made something great out of herself.. I'd like to see her fan out more into these truly-poor neighborhoods and encourage the young to follow in her footsteps.

[Riverman94610]

Of course you find many Southern whites who are extremely kind to all.The Southern Hospitality phrase is based on substance.
Yet my job and volunteer work back in the Seventies put me in a lot of situations where I would be the only white guy in a mostly black environment.Most whites would stare at me and wonder"why is HE with HER,HIM or THEM."Once in a while someone would ask me if I was their"priest"or "teacher".
Blacks would also give me some strange looks yet seemed more accepting when they found out my intentions were benign.
Maybe things have changed now.I still prefer the racial atmosphere in the South to that of what exists now in California where mixed friendships are pretty rare.

[jslade]

And it's not like the South isn't LOADED with white trash...... :-)

Quit picking on the Klintoons.