A curiosity about the South, for people who live here

[tyrannosaurus vex]

I do find it interesting that Cain's description of the South's military strategy makes him a bigot of some kind.  So now we've reached "revisionist history is canon:  to argue implies racism".

That discussion was dropped when Cain clarified he was talking about the leaders and not the populace.

Dropped by whom?  If I were him, and it was merely "dropped" after an accusation of bigotry, I'd never speak to anyone here ever again.

Dropped by me and Nigel, after he clarified the targets of his statement, and we admitted the misunderstanding.

[Freeky]

Hay guise.  I heard that you were feeling attacked. I'm here to tell you " Take a breath, plz," because you guys are all sort of on the same page, its the absolutes vs eprime that seems to be causing the ruckus.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

Hay guise.  I heard that you were feeling attacked. I'm here to tell you " Take a breath, plz," because you guys are all sort of on the same page, its the absolutes vs eprime that seems to be causing the ruckus.

STOP TRYING TO INSTILL TOLERANCE IN THIS THREAD FREEKY.

[East Coast Hustle]

I would also suggest that people who haven't spent much if any time in the southeast have little to no business generalizing an entire region of the country in such a manner. It comes off as foolish at best, at worst it reeks of bigotry.

I've spent literally years in the Southwest, as described as "South of the Mason/Dixon Line, and everything East of the West border of Texas."  This particular hate is based entirely on experience.

There are vast cultural differences between the southeast and southwest. Your experience with Arizona/Texas/etc. is not particularly relevant to generalizations about Virginia/Georgia/Tennessee/etc.

[East Coast Hustle]

I do find it interesting that Cain's description of the South's military strategy makes him a bigot of some kind.  So now we've reached "revisionist history is canon:  to argue implies racism".

Odd, since the implied stance of everyone ITT engaging in anti-southern bigotry seems to be "defending the south in any way implies racism".

[Freeky]

Hay guise.  I heard that you were feeling attacked. I'm here to tell you " Take a breath, plz," because you guys are all sort of on the same page, its the absolutes vs eprime that seems to be causing the ruckus.

STOP TRYING TO INSTILL TOLERANCE IN THIS THREAD FREEKY.

I DO WHAT I WANT! YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME! YOU'RE NOT SO BIG.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

I would also suggest that people who haven't spent much if any time in the southeast have little to no business generalizing an entire region of the country in such a manner. It comes off as foolish at best, at worst it reeks of bigotry.

I've spent literally years in the Southwest, as described as "South of the Mason/Dixon Line, and everything East of the West border of Texas."  This particular hate is based entirely on experience.

There are vast cultural differences between the southeast and southwest. Your experience with Arizona/Texas/etc. is not particularly relevant to generalizations about Virginia/Georgia/Tennessee/etc.

I think when he said Southwest he meant Southeast.

The Southwest is sort of like the Southeast, except instead of green we have dirt brown; instead of good food we have Americans botching Mexican food; and instead of 'Southern hospitality,' we have 'fuck no I don't have a spare bedroom you fuck!" Oh, and we still have slavery (thanks, Sheriff Joe.)

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I would also suggest that people who haven't spent much if any time in the southeast have little to no business generalizing an entire region of the country in such a manner. It comes off as foolish at best, at worst it reeks of bigotry.

I've spent literally years in the Southwest, as described as "South of the Mason/Dixon Line, and everything East of the West border of Texas."  This particular hate is based entirely on experience.

There are vast cultural differences between the southeast and southwest. Your experience with Arizona/Texas/etc. is not particularly relevant to generalizations about Virginia/Georgia/Tennessee/etc.

1.  You are partially correct:  Arizona is very different, having absorbed both the Southeastern meme and the Northern meme (What's yours is mine; what's mine is mine.  Get off my oil/banana plantation/etc).

2.  Much of my experience was in Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina.  So it's relevant.

[East Coast Hustle]

I think I got hung up on a typo. I assume you meant "southeast" when you said "southwest".

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I think I got hung up on a typo. I assume you meant "southeast" when you said "southwest".

You are correct.  My bad.  I had intended to say "Southeast".

Again, I'd like to stress that the unpleasantness wasn't universal, just prevalent.

[East Coast Hustle]

And to be fair, the vast majority of my experience in the south comes from tidewater Virginia, which seems to have done a better job of ditching the rampant racism than other places in the south I've been. But none of that changes my point, which is that simply falling back on the "southerners are racist rednecks" trope does nothing to advance the racial and cultural dialogue and, in a large-scale application, makes it a mortal-lock cinch that southerners are gonna cling even harder to their cultural cues (both good and bad) in the face of regional bigotry.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The Southwestern meme is:

1.  "Rugged individualist".  There are about 5 actual rugged individualists.  The rest are land whales.

2.  "Git offa my propitty".  Aw, I was just so desparate to tromp all over YOUR coyote poop, seeing as how it's so Goddamn different than all the OTHER coyote poop.

3.  "MAH GUNS!  DERE TRYIN' TA TAKE MAH GUNS!"  We have the least gun control in the country.

4.  "We're better than those soft Easterners."...Spoken by a guy wearing size 50 jeans.

5.  "Those damn illegals all over the place."  80% of our Hispanics are 3-7th generation Arizonans.  Note that this can and does predate Arizona as a state or even a territory.

6.  "Fucking California."  We're California without the water or the veneer of class.

Again, this isn't complete.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

But none of that changes my point, which is that simply falling back on the "southerners are racist rednecks" trope

I can only speak from my own experience...and again, as I've said, it's not a universal set of behaviors. 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I do find it interesting that Cain's description of the South's military strategy makes him a bigot of some kind.  So now we've reached "revisionist history is canon:  to argue implies racism".

Odd, since the implied stance of everyone ITT engaging in anti-southern bigotry seems to be "defending the south in any way implies racism".

Cain said nothing of the kind.

I said nothing of the kind.  I DID say that GA has his/her head firmly up the poop-chute.  I didn't say that about anyone else in the thread.

[East Coast Hustle]

Cain was talking about military/political strategy, not the entire culture of a region.

As for everyone else, that's why I said "implied stance".