Would the nation be better off if the south would go away?

[Neoma]

283. No.

(I read the entire thread.)

I would like to point out, that being inbred has nothing to do with racism except to stereotype southerners. And that since I've moved up to Illinois, someone has called me a hill-william. (Bigots are everywhere.) Northerners asked my grandmother when she moved here, if she had any shoes. If anyone's a little defensive, there's a reason.

I would also like to explain, that while my extended relatives are rascist religious bigots due to living out in the middle of nowhere, they never talked about the civil war. The only words about it that I've heard is my mom explaining that we had relatives on both sides of the war.

There's a bitterness there though. We're talking about a war that created generations of people in poverty, with limited access to a good education. Which just affirmed northern stereotypes. Because the south became isolated, slightly uneducated and overly religious, they soak up bad information. Politicians obviously exploit this, and next thing you know, they're voting republican.

That's just my take on it.