Hey Jeremy, is this commonplace in the South?

[thechoson]

quick question...

Someone once told me that the largest number of KKK members was in Pennsylvania. Is this true? I don't think they are the largest percentage wise...

just curious

I've heard Wisconsin?

[marista]

Choson, that was an awesome post. Thanks for sharing your experiences.  It's nice to know not all minorities experience the South as racist and bigoted.  Personally, I've only been to the South once and it was to Georgia when I was 11, so I haven't really spent a lot of time there...but I really liked reading your point of view!  :-)

[Sosua]

I saw a lot of rascism growing up in Texas, perhaps because I travelled between groups.  My High School had 7 white people in my class, but I lived on the 99% white west side of town.  I heard many, many rascist jokes from the folks on my side of town as I grew up, but was too scared to admit to those folks that I was a liberal.  I've seen rascism firsthand.  There's a sign on a house the next street over RIGHT NOW that says "House for Sale:  Blacks Welcome."  The fact that it has to be said that blacks are welcome speaks volumes for how far our society has left to go.  Segregation by law has turned into segregation by custom.  It's much harder to break.

There is little racism against non-URMs, though.  Asians and Indians get all kinds of opportunities.  Blacks and Mexicans don't, though.

[schoomp]

I know that Colorado Springs has one of the highest precentages of conservative religious groups... and the highest precentage of conservative book publishers.  Not that this always equates with bigotry - however, it typically equates with very anti-abortion, anti-homeosexual and anti-anything that isn't like us thinking.

[MaroonOut2005]

For one, neither me or Marista really attacked you.  You need to go back and look at our posts if you think this.  You asked a ligitmate question, I was referring to people who responded with general comments that have never lived in the South.  Marista made a great point that just because someone else believes differently, doesn't make them any more or less progressive.  The only thing hindering progression, in my opinion, is people that think their way is the best. 
  If you think Marista was logically unsounded, refer back to her post. You said the problem with Marista's argument is that she attacked your argument without noticing the "if," which is not true.  She simply she simply disagreed with your definition of "progression."  The argument then seems to be, even IF the south is really that bad, they aren't hindering progression because pregression is relative.  Your logic was unsound, not her's. The point is, everyone is entitled to their opinion.  Just because you think later on an amendement banning gay marriage will be viewed a specific way, doesn't mean it will be.  Stuborness doesn't lead to progression, acceptance does.

Thanks and Gig 'Em,
Jason

as far as tolerance, the south displays the same variety of beliefs as the rest of the country.  I haven't seen anything in the south that I haven't seen all over the country.

This is 100% normal in the south.

which one is the truth? some people say the south is no different. others say its totally different. if the latter quote is true, then god help us all. maybe it would have been better if the confederacy had broken away from the union. if the south truly thinks this way, its just impeding any progress we're trying to make in society.

Even if "the South" truly did think this way (and I think this thread has shown that not everyone in the South shares the opinions put forth on that website), everyone has a different definition of progress.  I know a lot of people who think the legalization of gay marriage was a huge step back for society.  If different parts of the country were split off for having different concepts of progress and different ideologies, we'd have at least 50 different countries instead of 50 UNITED states. 

i understand quite clearly that not everyone in the south thinks exactly alike. i'm talking about the prevalent sentiments among people in the region. but i do believe that the attempts to amend the constitution to ban gay marriage will, in the future, be viewed as efforts to trump the rights of the individual. similar to how we today view bans on interracial marriage as a rather bigoted idea.

and i'm not saying different parts of the country should split up because of variances in ideologies. i'm saying IF the south is as bad as some posters said, then the US would be better off without it. i didn't make any judgment call on the south, in fact i am the OP inquiring about the south in the first place.

"IF" is the operative word here, people. marista and maroonout need to review more logical reasoning sections! 

[nola8688]

You mock Jeremy for insulting a group of people, referring to it as "ignorance."  However, you all are also insulting a group of people without any true knowledge. 

I was just referring to the idea of spreading democracy in an area of the world that has never been democratic, among people who have deeply seeded religious ideologies which inherently conflict with fundamental democratic principles. Does that mean we must spread Christianity over there too Jeremy? Save some souls?

As for living in the south (LA), is 4 years enough? Oh yeah and some time in MS. I fully agree with chosen about the southern hospitality. People in the south are probably the nicest people I have ever met (coming from California). Also there are plenty of tolerant people, so generalizing these far right political ideologies and racist attitudes is, of course, quite ignorant. That said, in Louisiana I heard the word n*gger thrown around more than I ever had before moving down there.  I had to have some heated discussions with southerners about why it isn't appropriate to use that word. Of course the majority of the people I met in the south were not like this, just a few. Then again, its all about who you choose to hang out with right?

And as Chris Rock says, "You Romanian CRACKA!"

[ttiwed]

For one, neither me or Marista really attacked you.  You need to go back and look at our posts if you think this.  You asked a ligitmate question, I was referring to people who responded with general comments that have never lived in the South.  Marista made a great point that just because someone else believes differently, doesn't make them any more or less progressive.  The only thing hindering progression, in my opinion, is people that think their way is the best. 
  If you think Marista was logically unsounded, refer back to her post. You said the problem with Marista's argument is that she attacked your argument without noticing the "if," which is not true.  She simply she simply disagreed with your definition of "progression."  The argument then seems to be, even IF the south is really that bad, they aren't hindering progression because pregression is relative.  Your logic was unsound, not her's. The point is, everyone is entitled to their opinion.  Just because you think later on an amendement banning gay marriage will be viewed a specific way, doesn't mean it will be.  Stuborness doesn't lead to progression, acceptance does.

Thanks and Gig 'Em,
Jason

Jason, i think you need to go and read my last post more carefully as well.

first off, i never said you or marista attacked me. that is an unwarranted assumption on your part. i specifically addressed you two only at the end of my post and that was meant to be just a joke (notice the winking smiley).

second, i did not argue against marista's definition of "progressive." i simply stated my opinion of what i feel progressive is.

lastly, the "IF" clause near the end of my post wasn't in response to marista's "progressive" statement. it was addressing her "50 UNITED states" comment. here's what i was referring to:

"If different parts of the country were split off for having different concepts of progress and different ideologies, we'd have at least 50 different countries instead of 50 UNITED states."

[MaroonOut2005]

Let me clarify a bit.  Related to the attack comment, I didn't mean to place Marista in that comment.  Also, by attack I didn't mean viscious attack.  You just mentioned me at the end when I never really directly referred to you in arguments preceding that statement, but instead the people that responded to your statements.  By not attacking, I just wanted to clarify exactly who I was directing my previous statements towards.

On your second point, I do concede that you made a lot of valid points.  However, the entire discussion originated from your comment that IF the south was that bad, then they are hindering progress.  I was just making to the point that progress is a relative term, so you can't really claim that a specific area is hindering progress because of their beliefs.  I do apologize if I got a bit defensive, this is just a pet peave of mine.  I hate when people from the East Coast and such use a few bad examples from the South and declare that North is more progressive because of it.  Like I said before, in my opinion, acceptance is what leads to progress, so thinking your more progressive just because you believe a different way seems to be to be invalid.  I do apologize if I offended anyone by being defensive, I didn't mean to.   

For one, neither me or Marista really attacked you.  You need to go back and look at our posts if you think this.  You asked a ligitmate question, I was referring to people who responded with general comments that have never lived in the South.  Marista made a great point that just because someone else believes differently, doesn't make them any more or less progressive.  The only thing hindering progression, in my opinion, is people that think their way is the best. 
  If you think Marista was logically unsounded, refer back to her post. You said the problem with Marista's argument is that she attacked your argument without noticing the "if," which is not true.  She simply she simply disagreed with your definition of "progression."  The argument then seems to be, even IF the south is really that bad, they aren't hindering progression because pregression is relative.  Your logic was unsound, not her's. The point is, everyone is entitled to their opinion.  Just because you think later on an amendement banning gay marriage will be viewed a specific way, doesn't mean it will be.  Stuborness doesn't lead to progression, acceptance does.

Thanks and Gig 'Em,
Jason

Jason, i think you need to go and read my last post more carefully as well.

first off, i never said you or marista attacked me. that is an unwarranted assumption on your part. i specifically addressed you two only at the end of my post and that was meant to be just a joke (notice the winking smiley).

second, i did not argue against marista's definition of "progressive." i simply stated my opinion of what i feel progressive is.

lastly, the "IF" clause near the end of my post wasn't in response to marista's "progressive" statement. it was addressing her "50 UNITED states" comment. here's what i was referring to:

"If different parts of the country were split off for having different concepts of progress and different ideologies, we'd have at least 50 different countries instead of 50 UNITED states."

[ttiwed]

don't worry. nobody was offended. we all have different opinions of whats considered "progressive."

oh yeah, and the south is cool... its cool...