Welcome to the new South

from JoeUser Forums
A fellow JU blogger has once again thrown out misconceptions about the south that are outdated and skewed, and it's up to me to set the record straight!

Homosexuals: The south doesn't hate gays. Honestly, we really don't care what you do. Want proof? Look to Montrose in Houston, one of the largest gay communities in the USA. It's not known nation wide like San Frnaciso is, probably because it's just a regular community. No gay bashing, no killings, no protests...just good people, living together. The area also happens to be one of the best night life areas in Houston, with a heavy emphasis on art and culture.
Look to Miami, one of the largest alternative havens in the world. Gay men and women live openly on the sunny streets of Miami, without a care.
Visit Atlanta, and you'll quickly discover that Peachtree from Buckhead to downtown Atlanta is another gay community. No riots, no killings, no assaults on people because of their sexuality... once again just people, straight southerners and gay southerners, living together as southerners, not gay or straight.
My next door neighbor could be gay and I wouldn't care... as long as he/ she was a good neighbor. Keep the house up, mow the yard, maybe come over for a BBQ. I think alot of people reading this blog would be amazed how many people in the south are gay... and just live their lives without any worry at all, other than regular daily pressures all people face.

Guns. Everyone seems to think that every southerner is armed to the teeth. We aren't. I turn on the news and see gun fights in Los Angeles, Detroit, Kansas City, New York, Washington and Seattle every week. Once in awhile, Dallas or Little Rock make the news, or some guy hits Florida speeding away on some high speed chase, but for the most part we don't have the gun nuts most people associate us with. Many of us are armed, as is our 2nd Amendment right, but many of us are not. Luckily, we don't think anyone is "out to git us". Because if they tried, we'd shoot them dead.

Abortion. Why is it that having a moral compass, similar to the same moral values that the USA was founded upon, has become a bad thing? Some people, myself included, are cautious in the taking of innocent life. We have laws against killing and kidnapping 8year old children, because we are a society that values life. The question with abortion is, basically, where does our cautious value of human life end and a persons private rights begin? As a "pro-lifer", as some southerners are, we err on the side of caution, and think that after the third trimester, children, who can live outside the womb at this point, should be protected. Some of us believe they should be protected from conception... it's our right to have this opinion, just as it is others rights to believe that life does not start until birth. The discourse on this serious subject should not include either side insulting or making fun of the other.

I'm happy that I'm a southerner, and more importantly a Texan. Here in Texas, we run the largest space program in the world. More technology is developed in Texas than any other part of the USA, even the renowned Silicon Valley. Gays, straights, Hispanics, Asians and any other "type" of person you could imagine have made wonderful strides towards living together in harmony in Texas. We are all southerners. We have things we still need to work on. Dragging people behind trucks, like what happened with James Byrd a mere 6 years ago, is unacceptable to us Texans. The idiots that did this will answer for this crime against another Texan (James Byrd was not black to us, but a Texan, and we protect our own). We put people like these three under the needle... but if most of us we had our way, we'd probably hang them. And I'm certain many of you northerners would probably do the same, if you had your way.

So, we don't hate gays, we aren't scared our guns will be taken away, and we don't hate people because we all disagree on abortion. Their are radical elements everywhere. To truely appreciate the south visit our Florida beaches, see our scenery or be amazed at a weekend at some of the most modern cities in the USA... where people are friendly to you, regardless of your race, sexuality or religion.

republican
9,654 views 22 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
You respond to an article written about the rural South with an article touting the values of cities. We're talking about apples and oranges.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
No, we are discussing the South. Not all of us southerners live in the hills like you do up in Arkansas.
Seriously, you title your article "what the South is afraid of", and to me that reads as pretty all inclusive of the south. Myself, I see the south as having developed quite alot over the past 40 years. There are still places where people really do live in the hills, but then again, in the north youve got people that still live without electricity, so apples and oranges back at you.

For the most part we southerners are very civilized people. We are more inclined to hit a coffeeshop and talk up current events than jump in the back of a pickup and "hoot" and "holler" on a Saturday night. Your ideas of the south are outdated and paint an unfair image of the real, modern south.
SoundPackager - Customize the Windows sound scheme
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
My article was written about the rural South. As a response, this fails, because it only sites the cities. Not that Texas is really part of the South anyway.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
Then say "what the RURAL south is afraid of in your title please, and stop misrepresenting the land I live in. And BTW, if you don't think that Texas is a part of the South you really dont understand the South at all...
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
My article was written about the rural South. As a response, this fails, because it only sites the cities. Not that Texas is really part of the South anyway.

Whether you are talking rural south, or urban south, your misconceptions make your post irrelevant. You might as well be talking about the Mid West Bible belt, but you dont. You instead slam an entire sub culture with yoru ignorance and bigotry.

And that makes you worse than those you would so hautily condemn. It is a shame they have no mirrors in your house or you would be able to see how hypocritical and small minded you truly are. It is very sad that you try to teach those values to young children. I am sure you sometimes suceed.
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
Texas is more a part of the South than Arkansas is.

True! Texas never gave us an impeached president.
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
But we did kill as President once... shhhhh.
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
As a westerner who's family is from the south. I have always felt that the south gets a bad rap in the race dept. There are enclaves that have not yet stepped out of the 60' s(Birmingham) but for every one of them there's an Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, and New Orleans. The south really is no different than any other part of the US.

I can say that per capita, there are more redneck assholes where i live (Utah) than in most cities in the Dirty South.

Good post Zombie!
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
translation from Dr. Guy: You're a liberal, so anything you write is bad. Are you Dan Rather?

Texas doesn't really fall into South IMO, as I would mark it as being the beginning of the Southwest with New Mexico and Nevada, etc. However, it's a big place, and I admit that my intense dislike for Texas and things Texan feeds into that belief.

I didn't have room for the word "Rural" in the title. I do mention it in the body. And in my comments. Once again, pointing to Atlanta, Charlotte, New Orleans, or any other urban area fails to address the ideas that I proposed. But I'm through banging my head up against your wall.
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top
Good, because Im blacklisting you for the following reasons:
You dislike Texas.

Reason enough for me.
That, and the unmitigated hatred for anyone not like you. You will not be calling anyone else stupid, ignorant or anything else on this blog Myrrander.
Reply #12 from PolMach Forums Top
than in most cities in the Dirty South.


Dirty Dirty!!

I must have listened to Ludacriss too much. I was born and raised in Lawton, Oklahoma (the part of Oklahoma that is so close to Texas the region is called Texhoma) and from my experience there plus my experience in Dallas, Texas I see fewer racists than I have seen in my time spent in Connecticut, New York, and Ohio.

Racists of all colors stick out to me since I am Hispanic and I loathe racism in any form, some of that loathing comes from my Family's military history and I learning to respect each individual based on the person not the person's skin.

DIRTY SOUTH Plinko!!
Reply #13 from PolMach Forums Top
However, it's a big place, and I admit that my intense dislike for Texas and things Texan feeds into that belief.


Oh I can feel the loathing emanating from Zombie and Texas Wahine for that comment!!

Dons Flack Jacket and ducks for cover Plinko!!
Reply #14 from JoeUser Forums Top
Lock and load baby! I love the smell of razorbacks in the morning! (insert pumped macho references here...anyone want to give out a "yeehah", since we are nothing more than backwards trash?)
Reply #15 from JoeUser Forums Top

translation from Dr. Guy: You're a liberal, so anything you write is bad. Are you Dan Rather?

No, nothing about you being Liberal, and no mention of Dan Blather.  But your arrogance has made you ignorant and dangerous in your profession.  You paint those who disagree with you as PWT, or just ignorant racist, homophobe bigots.  It is you who are ignorant, not the other half of the world.

Reply #16 from PolMach Forums Top
Good, because Im blacklisting you for the following reasons:
You dislike Texas
Spoken like a true redneck southerner.

Seriously, your retort shows just how unlikeable people of your ilk are. You write your opinion. He writes his opinion. You, given the power to do so, want to silence him.

You can always tell the right wing idiots and left wing idiots. They are the ones who really would forcefully silence dissent, given the opportunity.

However, all kidding aside, I doubt that that quality has a bit to do with geographical location.
Reply #17 from JoeUser Forums Top
Actually, Don, it was because Myrrander discounted Dr.Guy's response out of hand. I found that extremely rude after the rather biased and slanderous article Myrrander had posted on his own blog site. The Texas remarks are icing on the cake so to speak, showing to me, at least, that Myrr has pre-conceived prejudices. This is NOT the first time Myrrander has been blacklisted from my site... there is a history here. Myrrander was good enough to apologize for his earlier comments, resulting in his removal from my blacklist. Even now, Myrrander has changed positions on his opinion of me, first it was an apology, lets make peace because I was an interesting blogger, NOW Ive never written anything interesting.Back and forth, as the moment suites him. The truth is that Myrrander has some issues I dont want to deal with on my blog. There is an underlying negativity there that bothers me, and its easier just to cut him off than to continue to deal with it.
But forgiving is not the same as forgetting. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

So in conclusion, please dont always assume you know the entire story based on a few comments. You are quick to comment on my blog that you can tell the "right wing idiots and left wing idiots", insinuating that I, personally, "would forcefully silence dissent, given the opportunity". The truth is you do not understand the issue between Myrrander and I, which I have now put to rest. As your mistatement makes you look bad for jumping to conclusions I will leave it to you to deal with.

Sorry if not blacklisting you undermines your pre-conceived notions.
Reply #18 from PolMach Forums Top
You can always tell the right wing idiots and left wing idiots.


Yes, I can and I would say the scales are balanced!!

Scales of Idiots Plinko!!
Reply #19 from JoeUser Forums Top

Reply #10 By: Myrrander - 11/2/2004 1:48:47 PM
translation from Dr. Guy: You're a liberal, so anything you write is bad. Are you Dan Rather?

Texas doesn't really fall into South IMO, as I would mark it as being the beginning of the Southwest with New Mexico and Nevada, etc. However, it's a big place, and I admit that my intense dislike for Texas and things Texan feeds into that belief.


I'm sorry but IMHO they say ya'll in Texas. Which EVERYONE knows is strictly a "southern" saying. They however do NOT say it in New Mexico or Nevada or for that matter Oklahoma.
Reply #20 from JoeUser Forums Top
Reply #16 By: Don Bemont - 11/2/2004 2:16:15 PM
Good, because Im blacklisting you for the following reasons:
You dislike Texas
Spoken like a true redneck southerner.

Seriously, your retort shows just how unlikeable people of your ilk are. You write your opinion. He writes his opinion. You, given the power to do so, want to silence him.

You can always tell the right wing idiots and left wing idiots. They are the ones who really would forcefully silence dissent, given the opportunity.


And you must be a opinionated snob of a "yankee"! You know..... the ones who *always* manage to piss a southerner off!
Reply #21 from JoeUser Forums Top

Reply #14 By: d3adz0mbie - 11/2/2004 1:56:41 PM
Lock and load baby! I love the smell of razorbacks in the morning! (insert pumped macho references here...anyone want to give out a "yeehah", since we are nothing more than backwards trash?)


Yeeeeeeeeeehahhhhhh, BABY!!!!! I'd like to know how they account for me? I live in PA but I live and think like a rebel. And YES I have a confederate flag hanging in my garage!!!!!
Reply #22 from JoeUser Forums Top
Why does Arkansas always send us pigs?