Southern DU'ers: Tell me about the South

[Glitterati]

68. I live here and don't agree

First, Atlanta is as southern as any city in the south, but it IS run by southern Democrats. There ARE some good politicians there, but it's a horribly run city with terrible social issues ignored by those Democrats.

I admire Shirley Franklin, and current Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed, but both are disappointments as Democrats who like to play in the political sandbox of Republicans while ignoring the horrible social conditions of their city.

Atlanta has deep pockets of awful poverty and crime with a failing infrastructure ignored by these Democrats. Like much of the south.

The true workers against this are all a part of the MLK group of activists who have screamed and screeched for generations and are ignored by the likes of Franklin and Reed, and are dying off.

As someone raised in Chicago who moved to the Atlanta area (burbs, not the city) I love the south with friendly people who believe it is important to know and help neighbors and church members. The only problem is that help is tied up in religion and not social responsibility to each other.

The south is self segregated - by bigotry and hatred.

on edit:
I want to add the reason I posted this.........grrrr, that's what I get for getting on my soapbox.

What makes the Atlanta area a bit different than MOST of the south is the "northern influence" in the area. A lot of big corporate movement brought many northern citizens to Atlanta. IBM, Coca Cola, etc. move employees from different regions of the country into the area, so there are pockets of "New York, Chicago, Jersey, and the like" in the Atlanta area. Those groups of people, however, tend to live and work in the same areas, rather than spreading out, so there are lots of bedroom areas where the social climate is very different.