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I am a transplant to Birmingham, Alabama. The Deep South. Ground Zero for the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.
Every time there's a news report about Birmingham, it seems that CNN or NBC or whoever trot out the old vintage footage of the police dogs and the fire hoses that were used on marchers when they came to town.
Yet, during the Democratic primaries, Alabama voted for Obama by a convincing margin. And there wasn't a black/white divide in the vote, either. In fact, looking at the returns, the lily-white suburbs of Birmingham voted for Obama by 2-1 or 3-1 margins.
So, with that in mind, do you think the lazy news organizations can finally reconsider the tired old stereotypes about the South being a virulently racist place? When middle-class white people in Alabama go to the polls and vote for a Northern black politician, maybe that says a lot about how far this region has actually come.
So, with that in mind, do you think the lazy news organizations can finally reconsider the tired old stereotypes about the South being a virulently racist place? When middle-class white people in Alabama go to the polls and vote for a Northern black politician, maybe that says a lot about how far this region has actually come.
I'm a transplant to Atlanta, Georgia. Also deep south. And the hub of the civil rights movement.
And while it's true that suburban white democrats did come out to vote for Obama, there are still plenty of suburban white republicans who haven't quite turned the corner of modern times.
But I'll take a progressive effort to get beyond the racist past, rather than an effort at conserving it.
I'm a transplant to Atlanta, Georgia. Also deep south. And the hub of the civil rights movement.
And while it's true that suburban white democrats did come out to vote for Obama, there are still plenty of suburban white republicans who haven't quite turned the corner of modern times.
But I'll take a progressive effort to get beyond the racist past, rather than an effort at conserving it.
More liberal babble....get the chip off your shoulder
How is this a story about Obama? It sounds more like a story about shifting demographics and attitudes in the South.
I think it's more of a undermining of the classic Blue State/Red State, White/Black dynamics that the simpletons in the press want you to think about. White Southerners are fully capable of voting for a black man.
I think it's more of a undermining of the classic Blue State/Red State, White/Black dynamics that the simpletons in the press want you to think about. White Southerners are fully capable of voting for a black man.
Many White southern Democrats and independents, maybe. Many White southern Republicans still have their problems.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,792,165 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpg35223
I am a transplant to Birmingham, Alabama. The Deep South. Ground Zero for the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.
Every time there's a news report about Birmingham, it seems that CNN or NBC or whoever trot out the old vintage footage of the police dogs and the fire hoses that were used on marchers when they came to town.
Yet, during the Democratic primaries, Alabama voted for Obama by a convincing margin. And there wasn't a black/white divide in the vote, either. In fact, looking at the returns, the lily-white suburbs of Birmingham voted for Obama by 2-1 or 3-1 margins.
So, with that in mind, do you think the lazy news organizations can finally reconsider the tired old stereotypes about the South being a virulently racist place? When middle-class white people in Alabama go to the polls and vote for a Northern black politician, maybe that says a lot about how far this region has actually come.
As a resident of Georgia and having lived other places, I can tell you that, for the most part, you are right. But the sins of the south will take along time to erase. The belief is still very much there. I can tell you however that the facts do not bare that out. Northern cities such as Chicago, Boston and NYC are far more segregated and far more racist than anything I have seen down here.
As a resident of Georgia and having lived other places, I can tell you that, for the most part, you are right. But the sins of the south will take along time to erase. The belief is still very much there. I can tell you however that the facts do not bare that out. Northern cities such as Chicago, Boston and NYC are far more segregated and far more racist than anything I have seen down here.
As a native of Chicago who has visited various parts of the deep south and lived in Texas I have to agree with you. While I haven't lived there for a couple of decades, I still have family there and Chicago is as racially segregated as it was in the 60's.
In 1988 Jesse Jackson won the Democratic primary in Alabama -- so what does that tell you?
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