South-bashing

[Strat54]

46. I lived in North Florida for 5 f@$#ing years (2005-2010)...

Yes! North Florida (Jacksonville area), not the REAL Florida, but very much the REAL South. (North Florida is more like Alabama than Miami or Tampa or even Orlando.)

Never in my life have I experienced such willful ignorance and open racism! Our Congress-slug WAS Rabid Gingrich Republican, Dog-whistling, Birther, Cliff Stearns. But guess what??? Turns out that Attila Stearns was too much of a RINO for THAT (grotesquely Gerrymandered) district, so they primarried him and now the rep is an over-the-top, full blown "Bagger".

I am white, originally from the Great Lakes region. I have recognized my "White Privilege" in action many times. (shit! more like ALL the time.) There are plenty of backwards, racists in the Rust Belt, but they are truly on the fringes of society. In the South, those fringes are seen as "just another equally, valid viewpoint" or "just upholding tradition" or some other euphemism. I can't tell you how many times a full grown adult attempted to start a conversation with me with: "Why do these N$@@&^% think they can just let their kids play anywhere?"; or "Man, if that @#$% wins the Whitehouse, there's gonna be a new Civil War!"

I believe, North Florida was one of the first places where the TEA Party became a thing. T.E.A. = Taxed Enough Already. BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!! There is no State or Municipal income tax by Constitutional Article. Sales taxes are moderate (6%-8%). Property taxes in Florida are less than 1/3 of what they were in Ohio, even though Florida property values were far higher. These people should really start paying taxes before they are allowed to complain about paying taxes!!

And THAT pretty much describes every encounter I have had with the South. A constant whine of "Victimhood" or fading "White-Christian Priviledge" mixed with a truckload of over-the-top bravado and veiled threats.

Southern Hospitality??? HA!! The Dixie Chicks describe it best.

Southern Hospitality is the first 10 minutes when you meet a "Southerner" and they are trying to size you up for where to stick the knife in your back.

The funniest thing is that the actual "White Southerners" that actually have roots in the old South are actually a small percentage of the population. The vast majority are Northerners that moved south over the last 2 generations. So it is not the biological lineage that is the factor, but the attraction to the "Legend of the South" that attracts that kind of person.

Man! I kissed the Rocky-ass Ground when I crossed the border back into Ohio! Never again in my life will I move to a former Confederate state!

Yes! Of course, not every White Southerner is like that, but the people in charge of everything are. We often look at places like Syria or Israel or Nigeria and think, "Why don't all the good people rise up and resist all of the evil people?"

Well....
I ask the same question of the South.
The Dixie Chicks stood up. The South pretty much shit on them for it.

You don't like "South Bashing"??

Then change the fucking South, because to me it sounds like a bunch of whining and an expectation that the South can criticize others without fear of retribution!