Why Elitists Dump on the South

NEWSMAX ^ | 4/19/02

[Corin Stormhands]

At least we didn't give the country Klinton, John Edwards, Gore, LBJ, or Jimmy Carter....

But you didn't give the country George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon or Dwight Eisenhower either...

[bourbon]

As a Southerner who lived for a good while in Chicago, I grew to feel a kinship with Midwestern rural-types mainly because most of the same prejudices that elitist Chicagoans had about Southerners also held true for Michiganders, Wisconsinites and Downstate Illinoisans. Talk to the average Gold Coast resident in Chicago about folks from Wisconsin and you might think he's describing a stereotypical redneck Southerner (okay, unless they mention ice-fishing or snowmobiling).

[Dan from Michigan]

We did give Gerry Ford..(wait, nevermind).

[Ditto]

You notice how all the people those pictures represent are all JFK wanna-be's.

Johnson a JFK wanna-be? He heated Kennedy's guts, and I wouldn't classify JFK as a goofy lib. The guy was one hell of a cold war hawk and pushed throught the biggest tax cut in history.

[Lee'sGhost]

my county has a bad rap because of one Klan member who has been dead for 20 years

You bastards. . .

[Space Wrangler]

You would be very hard-pressed to find more viciously racist people than in the very bastions of "liberalism" and "progressive thinking". New York, and New England come to mind. Sure these same people will espouse the virtues of equality at the top of their lungs, but watch what happens if a black family moves in next door. These people are the worst kind of hypocrites. I am a southern, protestant, white male. I must be the lowest form of scum to these people.

[=Intervention=]

Don't forget George Washington...:)

[KSCITYBOY]

later post bump

[WhiskeyPapa]

Johnson a JFK wanna-be? He heated Kennedy's guts, and I wouldn't classify JFK as a goofy lib. The guy was one hell of a cold war hawk and pushed throught the biggest tax cut in history.

The Kennedy administration seriously considered a first strike nuclear attack on the Soviet Union.

I believe most of the strategic nuclar TRIAD was put together during JFK's administration. 600 B-52's, 41 SSBN missile subs and 1,000 ICBMs.

Walt

[bourbon]

"hatred of Southern whites had always been a stronger motive [among Northerners] for reform than sympathy for Southern blacks." --Clyde Wilson.

just tossing that comment out there for discussion.

[Dan from Michigan]

Worse...he came from the East Coast to move into our county.

[Corin Stormhands]

Don't forget George Washington...:)

Well, if we need to point it out, Virginia alone gave America: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, William Henry Harrison and Woodrow Wilson

[Middle Man]

"You would be very hard-pressed to find more viciously racist people than in the very bastions of "liberalism" and "progressive thinking".

When we relocated to the South after five years' absence, our realtor told us in passing (althought she said she would officially deny ever saying it if confronted) that her clients who were Yankee transplants were only interested in housing in the lily-whitest suburbs. After years of dealing with them, our agent said she didn't even bother showing Yankees areas of town with the slightest "ethnicity" anymore. Total hypocrites.

[warchild9]

I live in Cary, North Carolina, a town made up of 90% Yankees (at least). It's the whitest place I've ever lived (I grew up in a rural NC county which was 50/50 white/black, at least when I was a kid). When you mention to them that nearby Durham, which is heavily black, has some better housing values than this over-priced place, they have shiver fits.

[cynicom]

Papa...

JFK and Johnson campaigned on the "missile gap". Most of the TRIAD was already in place or in the pipeline.

[cynicom]

Space...

As an ex-NY er, you are absolutely right. NYC is populated with 9 million bigots, racists and snooty elitists. Their holier than thou attitude is all sham.

[WhiskeyPapa]

JFK and Johnson campaigned on the "missile gap". Most of the TRIAD was already in place or in the pipeline.

Yes, there was a missle gap, which we filled with 1,000 Minuteman missiles.

Seems like I read years ago that solid fuel boosters became possible or more capable during the JFK administration. They asked the Air Force how many we needed. The Air Force came back and said -- with a straight face -- TEN THOUSAND. The adminstration just lopped off a zero, and voila! Triad.

Walt

[dead]

As an ex-NY er, you are absolutely right. NYC is populated with 9 million bigots, racists and snooty elitists.

There are only 8 million people living in NYC, and I personally know dozens who are none of those things.

Go back and check those numbers you just made up.

[luvbach1]

Also ironic that the "dim-witted" South is the only region of the USA with a distinctive contribution to the arts, i.e. music (jazz, blues, bluegrass, country, rock and roll - all born in the South), literature (Welty, Faulkner) etc., folk art, and so on......I only took issue because of your statement "the....South is only region of the USA with a distinctive contribution to the arts" That statement was just too sweeping and, upon reflection, I trust you will agree. I am not one to knock the South, whose contributions to American culture are manifest. But giving short shrift to the rest of country does not prove the South's contributions. Negro jazz did originate in the South; however, there were other contributors outside the South, not all being black. Rock and Roll, too, had early practitioners outside the South; Bill Haley and the Comets come to mind. As for literature, while the South is well represented (you didn't even mention the greatest American author in the opinion of many, Mark Twain, from the border state of Missouri); finally, the multitude of fine authors outside the South is too numerous to mention.

[lugsoul]

I agree that other parts of the country have fine authors - but there is such a thing as "Southern literature," distinctive in style and manner. I can't really tell you what the characteristics are of northeastern lit, or west coast lit - even though those regions have produced great literature, it is not unique to the particular region. That was the intent of my comment

As far as music goes, all American music is southern. Certainly, others picked up on it and furthered it - Chicago blues is a notable example: it is almost a genre of its own, now, but without what came out of the Mississippi Delta, it wouldn't exist - but it originated in the South. And its foundations are in uniquely Southern musical forms.