Reply #4: As a redneck southerner who watches NASCAR from time to time, I agree

[jobycom]

It isn't the name calling, it's the attitude. When someone in the SOuth does something racist or violent, the threads on the subject read like a Republican hate-fest. EVERYONE in the South is violent, racist, stupid, evil, etc. Since I grew up in the South, I'm quite good at recognizing bigotry, and believe me, the attitudes on a lot of DU threads towards southerners are no different than the attitudes I used to hear from my KKK neighbor about everybody who wasn't white.

One poster a few days ago called for the extermination of everyone in Alabama. I know it was just angry rhetoric, but bigotry starts somewhere. It starts with responses like that. And it spreads. It could also stop when people avoid responses like that. Democrats should be about stopping bigotry, not starting it, no matter who the target group is.

It's bad enough to hate individuals. To hate an entire group because a few individuals have some connection with them--whether it be rednecks, southerners, gays, lesbians, or Muslims, is despicable. Stand up for groups, you might find you have more of a chance to change the world than when you hate them.