Message to Llewlladdwr & all other Southerners: Perspective on the South bashing. [View all]

[johnlucas]

There was a thread started by poster Llewlladdwr called And "Bash the South" time is here again where Llewlladdwr put up links to 2 DU threads titled Why Do So Many Southerners Think They're the Only Real Americans? by applegrove & Let's not pretend that condescension is unique to the North by marmar.
Both posters linked to one Alternet article written by Chuck Thompson.

I've been at DU for a few years now & I do see a lot of grief given to The South in general.
Some posters take it too far with the "let 'em secede" nonsense (which reminds me of the "let California fall off into the ocean" crap) but I wanted to reply to Llewlladdwr's thread to explain why the South-bashing goes on & how to stop it.
Unfortunately the thread was locked so I couldn't post my reply.

I put up this thread to give perspective on the issue.
I titled my original reply "I live in the South. They bash the South for a reason"

The South as a whole still will not get over its xenophobic ways.
Because they're so xenophobic, they champion the destroyers in the Republican Party trying to get back at those "Others" they fear.
The White working class/"middle class" should be side by side with our cause but as a whole they're not.
They prop up the guys most determined to destroy the safety net & the idea of reciprocation that a society needs to survive.

Some White folks of the working/"middle" classes are with us, sure, but as a whole the Republican Party shows through all the so-called "Red States" how many of these people willingly & enthusiastically vote against their interests.
How is Rush Limbaugh getting all these ratings? How Fox News able to exist as a "news" channel?
Why would anybody support such a xenophobic/war-hungry/destructive platform as the Conservative Movement?

They shouldn't have 40% of the vote locked up. At best they should get 5% since there will always be crazies & crackpots.
The South is one of the strongholds keeping the Conservative Movement & the Republican Party which contains it alive.

So until the South changes AS A WHOLE, people are gonna bash the South in frustration at the Conservatives'/Republicans' continued existence.
I wouldn't take it personally if you are NOT part of this xenophobic clique.
They're not talking about you. They're talking about the bigots who cause the country to regress instead of progress.

Didn't we just hear that story about a Class of 1973 Louisiana class reunion sending out 'Whites only' on the flyer?
Check the comment boards under the various publications of this story.
Can you pick out who's a White bigot & who's not based on the responses?

The South has got work to do to redeem its image & people like you are the ones who can redeem it.
Quit spending your energy being mad at your teammates rightfully bashing the ignorance held in the South & start spending your energy being mad at the Southerners holding that ignorance.

Here's another thing: It ain't JUST the South that's holding that ignorance.
Wipe it out EVERYWHERE but start in your own backyard first.
John Lucas