Playing this card on the Discussionist and you'll never lose...

[joshcryer]

11. I'm sorry you had to see that Scorpio.

I come from a background where it's fairly common (family of racists, brought up and lived down south, etc). So it really doesn't surprise me. But I can't put up with it because it gets me so emotional and I'd just get hides. My few posts over there have been quite difficult to keep a calm tone and not tell them off (not using my name there, glad I didn't choose to do that, want no association with that place).

The sad thing about southerners, they hide it in public, but my mom, she posts anonymously on Yahoo! and has been banned several times. I myself probably have latent ideas but I've suppressed them 100%, it's hard to grow up in that atmosphere and realize just how shitty your background is. The last time and this is the first time I've ever told anyone, but the last time, almost two decades ago, when I was still a kid practically, I called a black guy something stupid and I thought it was normal to say that and he called me out. "Boy." That was when I realized that I was influenced by the racism in my family and ignorant of it.

And that's why I have had on occasion bashed southerners, I don't mean to be mean to them or stereotype, but I lived there, and I know the culture, and it's all sort of sly how the racism happens. Only an ignorant kid who has no fucking clue would say the stuff in private in public to some stranger, etc. Otherwise it's hidden.

The only good thing about Discussionist and basically internet anonymity is that we get to see what our society is really like. People say the shit they'd normally say in private, publicly, and we can see where their tendencies are.

Best wishes scorp and like I said to pinboy, you are my discussionist hero, I hope you give yourself a break every now and again, though, toxic stuff will get to you eventually.