CW: HEART OF DIXIE

[ansky212]

Having been raised in the desert Southwest I had not witnessed blatant racism until moving to Richmond, VA in the mid-70's. Or visiting Atlanta and seeing Lester Maddox selling baseball bats out of his segregationist storefront in Underground. I am White but the poisoned environment of the South was not one I wanted my kids to grow up within so I left and would never return.

Some stereotypes are very well earned.

I hear ya. People in the South tend to be more close-minded than people in other regions. Obviously not everyone, but in general, it's just the way it is. A friend of mine once moved from NY to NC for a job opportunity. He moved back to NY within a year because he could not take the blatant hate his boss had for people from the North.

 

[BlueWanderer]

Preconceived notions and stereotypes are not limited to Alabama or to the South. Virtually every region and most states have their own:

New Jersey - full of criminals and urban decay.
New York - Mafia, Wall St. Everyone on the take.
PA - Amish and coal miners.
Appalachia - lack of teeth and education.
Florida - God's waiting room.
Louisiana - Disaster Central.
Texas - Big hats, mouths and belt buckles.....and BBQ.
CA - Surf's up Dude!
Fly Over Country - self-explanatory.

....etc.

I'm sure people in those states get sick and tired of their state's stereotypes too. Like one poster has said, not everyone subscribes to their state's stereotypes.

Some stereotypes are very well earned.

I get it that some are earned but it becomes unfair to those who happen to live around those stereotypes. Then again, life is often unfair.

 

[kilamanjero]

Having been raised in the desert Southwest I had not witnessed blatant racism until moving to Richmond, VA in the mid-70's. Or visiting Atlanta and seeing Lester Maddox selling baseball bats out of his segregationist storefront in Underground. I am White but the poisoned environment of the South was not one I wanted my kids to grow up within so I left and would never return.

Some stereotypes are very well earned.

I hear ya. People in the South tend to be more close-minded than people in other regions. Obviously not everyone, but in general, it's just the way it is. A friend of mine once moved from NY to NC for a job opportunity. He moved back to NY within a year because he could not take the blatant hate his boss had for people from the North.

Interesting, considering NC has been considered one of the few true "New South" states in the South. Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte to a certain extend this is true. However, I've realized that certain things in the last few years have shown the majority of the South still has a long way to go on evolving from its past habits.

 

[landtuna]

Interesting, considering NC has been considered one of the few true "New South" states in the South. Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte to a certain extend this is true. However, I've realized that certain things in the last few years have shown the majority of the South still has a long way to go on evolving from its past habits.

When I lived in Richmond I worked in a "young" company several of whom had come to Richmond from the Raleigh area. They taught me the saying at colleges in NC at the time was "Readin', Writin' and the road to Richmond".

Later in the decade there was a big movement of major companies, especially high-tech, to push into Raleigh-Durham, the Research Triangle and Atlanta. I knew quite a few people who made the move from the New York area down south but most had left within 5 years. They all had pretty much the same reasons which I won't go in to here.

Suffice to say 30 years ago the South was a "unique" culture and most probably still is despite the continued dilution by yankees.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Having been raised in the desert Southwest I had not witnessed blatant racism until moving to Richmond, VA in the mid-70's. Or visiting Atlanta and seeing Lester Maddox selling baseball bats out of his segregationist storefront in Underground. I am White but the poisoned environment of the South was not one I wanted my kids to grow up within so I left and would never return.

Some stereotypes are very well earned.

I hear ya. People in the South tend to be more close-minded than people in other regions. Obviously not everyone, but in general, it's just the way it is. A friend of mine once moved from NY to NC for a job opportunity. He moved back to NY within a year because he could not take the blatant hate his boss had for people from the North.

Interesting, considering NC has been considered one of the few true "New South" states in the South. Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte to a certain extend this is true. However, I've realized that certain things in the last few years have shown the majority of the South still has a long way to go on evolving from its past habits.

NC doesn't seem to have as much racism as other southern states. I don't remember when we integrated where I lived when I was in the first grade, but there were black kids in my class in 1967 and 1968. We moved and where I lived in 1969, I am told the school I went to had been all-black before a fire that forced students at the local school to go elsewhere. I don't recall any problems.