Counting congressmen, the strong showing of Tea Party politics is in the South. Their opponents often call them racist whites or a religious group bent on politics. True or not, TP sentiment is definitely among us. Us white folks in the South are NOT the Klan, and we on both sides have made great strides in the last 40 years. A great many black folks are rapidly upwardly mobile, gained valuable skills about having money and handling it, and moved on. A great many white folks seldom use the N word and look around if they do. A lot more of us have actual black friends, and casual greetings for strangers are genuinely cordial. Police still incarcerate and stop blacks disproportionately to whites, but they do it for cultural reasons associated with race, not solely about the race. That has got to be a little relief for black folks. I was raised by good people to be a racist white guy, under the guise of some timeless principles, not all bad, either. My family friends had well-formed lists of gene and culture-based traits for all the common ethnic groups. A lot of those people are passed now, and things are better. But there are a lot of things that have NOT changed, about white culture, and politics, in the South. Feel free to add to this list. I think youll have to admit, there might be a little sardonic humor here, but the things I list here DO just happen to be the truth: 1) We tend to vote against whoever the black folks are voting for, and we do it in lockstep and by a high percentage. 2) We still want to find reasons to use things that work like a poll tax, that would favor our side. Because we are a republic, not a democracy, and we are generally more comfortable with a few old men defining our policies, than with letting the masses decide. Except here in this state, where we like the majority, and rules that work like poll taxes can keep us that. 3) We still dont like the federal government telling us what to do, and welfare for black folks that live around here is one of those things. We dont figure they are going to get off their asses if you pay them, and resent the feds doing that. That has really been our plan since 1870 or so, and if theyd just given us another century before they started welfare it would have worked, we are sure. 4) We still dont want to go to school with blacks, and resent the federal government for Brown V Board of Education that claimed separate was never equal. Thats our point really -- theyre not equal so we want our kids to be separate. 5) We still gerrymander based on racial demographic, but we figure we have to, or too many blacks would get into office. See #2 above. 6) The 2nd Amendment is even more important to us because there are too many desperate people around here (black ones AND wild, no account rednecks) NOT to have one, and also because one day, we might need to fight the federal storm troops. We might need a gun to shoot ourselves in the head before they capture us because we know we wouldnt win (see Waco). Any of us not scared still support the 2nd religiously because we want to be able to hunt. 7) The federal government spends too much of our money for welfare, and foreign aid, so we dont like taxes, because we are sure that is where most of our taxes go. 8 ) We still dont like affirmative action, because that is racism, and we are sensitive about racism. We also like the idea that without affirmative action we tend to be more qualified for jobs, college and the rest of life, and feel that should count more. Its not our fault they are less qualified, but it IS our effort that we are more qualified, so affirmative action is bad. 9) We still like free enterprise. When we were free the South could have a wealthy farm economy, but now we cant, so much. Free enterprise means more like it once was, back when we could own anything we could afford. We like cheap foreign electronics but are starting to get irritable about not being able to get a job -- and were sure that last part is the federal governments fault, and not because of that cheap 42 inch TV we bought at the Walmart. 10) We will still at great sacrifice, fight the Feds. When our governor says he wont accept the billions to enlarge Medicaid to the working poor males, 90% paid for by the feds, the white ones still cheer in larger percentage. We know that is our war tax and those billions could be running through our state economy. But were true patriots and dont mind sacrificing po folks money to fight the ancient battle with the federal government. For all the above reasons. Please feel free to add your own favorite ways we have not changed so much in the South.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 14:44:40 +0000