Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1008082voter1.html

It doesnt make me sad to be southern at all. I know things like this happen, and I know I am not biased as such, so its alright with me. I see where your coming from though.

Seeing as you live in Murfreesboro, and I live in Jeff City, lol.

It's yahoos like this that are the face of the South, in many other areas of the country, and it's depressing that there are so many that keep getting face-time in the news. THAT is why it makes me sad. I share none of this idiot's views, but that doesn't help the shame of even vague geographic association with him.

It's not just the south. I live in Kansas City and I overhear that sort of talk all the time. Unfortunately, the only way to get past it is to discourage racism in the younger generations and wait for the old farts to die off.

Sad to be human.

That's why I cut myself listening to Linkin Park.

Hey lord_sutekh, many years ago I spent a year living near Murfreesboro, in LaVergne. I had many pre-conceptions about living in the South before I came across but found the people to be hugely frindly and integrated and loved my time there. Ok, it was a bit of a culture shock from Scotland, but I loved it! LHS for the win!

There are racists in every country and region.

lord_sutekh wrote:http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1008082voter1.html

Come on, we have international visitors here. Don't confuse people. We all know Louisiana is a foreign state.

Besides you want right wing nutjob militias you have to go to PA. Just ask their representatives.

And Malfred, we know you cut yourself listening to Barney as well you sick puppy.

There's good and bad people all over the place.


You see people like that guy or the schmucks here and you can despair, but there's sound people out there as well.

Consider :

Brittany Crandall, 23, who lives in a similar, one-floor home with a pumpkin scarecrow just a few doors down, has never met Mr Wurzelbacher, but she felt he was being unfairly treated. "He is just an ordinary person, let him be," she said, opening the door for a New York journalist to use her internet connection. "I just don't understand what the fuss is about."

But as the evening drew in, her husband, Dan, 26, wheeled out his barbecue and began cooking hotdogs to feed the crowd of journalists camped outside, selling them for $2 each.

That's more the America I prefer to see.

Hell my wife's biological donor (Dad) found out she married an Asian (edit:sorry get a little heated when I think about this), I am half Okinawan and half White, so he had her car repo'd (it was a joint loan). He then went on to say that she's basically polluting the family by marrying someone like me.

I wrote it off as he's an ignorant red-neck...but then that was insulting to my family...so I worte it off as him being a total oxygen thief.

Anyhow, about a year later my wife's Grandma died so she went up to Missouri for the funeral. She took our oldest who was about 1 at the time. The first thing out of this douche's mouth..."Hell he looks white to me let me hold my Grandbaby and let him get to know his Paw Paw"

My wife, bless her, replied "He already knows his Paw Paw and he's named Patrick after him!" Now Patrick is the name of her Mom's husband and the man I consider my father-in-law. Pissed El Douche' off but who gives a flip.

So there's loser bigots in all walks of life in every sountry of the world...can't be helped it's just a fact of life. Narrow mined thinking and shallow gene pools lead to it IMHO.

AoS

Ace_of_Spades wrote:Hell my wife's biological donor (Dad) found out she married a F-ing [see forum posting rules], I am half Okinawa and half White, so he had her car repo'd (it was a joint loan). He then went on to say that she's basically polluting the family by marrying someone like me.

I wrote it off as he's an ignorant red-neck...but then that was insulting to my family...so I worte it off as him being a total oxygen thief.

Anyhow, about a year later my wife's Grandma died so she went up to Missouri for the funeral. She took our oldest who was about 1 at the time. The first thing out of this douche's mouth..."Hell he looks white to me let me hold my Grandbaby and let him get to know his Paw Paw"

My wife, bless her, replied "He already knows his Paw Paw and he's named Patrick after him!" Now Patrick is the name of her Mom's husband and the man I consider my father-in-law. Pissed El Douche' off but who gives a flip.

So there's loser bigots in all walks of life in every sountry of the world...can't be helped it's just a fact of life. Narrow mined thinking and shallow gene pools lead to it IMHO.

AoS

A kid once called me (what I think you posted) once. I kicked him out of the classroom
but laughed about it later because come on. I'm Filipino.

Hey Frazzeld, I won't let you badmouth my state.


In fact, Louisiana is at least 3 distinct demi-states in their own rights.

First you have the Southeast. The Toe of the Boot. This is where you find most of your Cajuns and (in its northern section) the relatively cultured , intelligent section of the state that revels in the irony of loving Cajun culture and being primarily made up of corporate gypsies. Also New Orleans and everything that goes with it. I am from there.

Then you have middle, west Louisiana. They basically don't know whether to follow the North or Southeast, but you can tell them apart primarily because they don't go either way strongly enough.

Then you have North Louisiana. Totally different. It's basically southern Arkansas as far as culture is concerned. I go to school there.

Freaking hell for an intellectual type who just wants to finish pharmacy school and go back to crazy, paradoxical home.

I can't stand Louisiana. I have never met more arrogan people who could back their claims up less. However, let me not tar them all with the same brush. Most of the Creoles I have met have been great people. It's the french derivatives I kept having issues with.

However, all that being said. Love them, or hate them, I bow to the cooking capabilities of even the most humble [see forum posting rules]-ass. They can ALL cook, and do it well. I never had poor, or even mediocre, food in Louisiana. If you need to put on weight for whatever reason, then take a brief trip to the Dirty Third coast between Lafayette and Venice. Those people fill slap meat on your bones, and you will enjoy it.

malfred wrote:Sad to be human.

That's why I cut myself listening to Linkin Park.

I write poems...


Howling chilly wind blows through the mist
Sounds of sorrow spread allover the place
Fuzzy humid air submerges the inner lust
Lives decay slowly as the autumn leaves fall...

*Tilts head back and screams at the star streaked sky*

AoE: I don't know where you found that picture but could you please put it back? You've made your point to a level of excruciation I've rarely seen.

To each his own. Racism is a big problem though. We're just getting to the stage in America where our most vocally racist generation is reaching old age. There are a lot of reasons why they are racists. Brought up that way is the biggest excuse I hear. I work in geriatrics and some of the people I've worked with in the past were black. Some of the things our patients have said to them really shakes me and makes me uneasy. Kind of makes you want to slap them. But I work in home health now so I don't get that anymore really. I'm white btw. Most of the black people I worked with weren't bothered at all though. So whatever I guess. If you just ignore them and extend an honest helping hand to any of your fellow man the wounds of racism will heal over time.

It will never end. It's so much easier to hate than accept defeat. It would require the systematic elimination of the values system of the species to not be out to get each other. Progress is being made, true, but it's a house of cards at best.

Frazzled wrote:Come on, we have international visitors here. Don't confuse people. We all know Louisiana is a foreign state.

If by foreign state you mean French Bowl of Soupy Crap that deserves to be wiped from existence we Americans paid to own, then yes.

If anyone is offended by that, I was born and raised in that godforsaken hellhole, so stick it.

Hey, don't lump in all of Louisiana with the conditions in New Orleans.

The N.O. is a great place to visit, great place to have fun, but pretty bad to live in if you aren't savvy in what to avoid.

Mom grew up in lower Metarie. Flips out every time I go to N.O. like I'm going to war. Not that I don't understand, of course, but I'm not dumb enough to go wandering around alone or in dangerous areas.

Another bit of Southern joy...

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1008/Protesting_early_voters.html#comments

AgeOfEgos wrote:

malfred wrote:Sad to be human.

That's why I cut myself listening to Linkin Park.

Thats nothing. My boy had a teacher with twice that many staples (Austin, go figure). Alamo Drafthouse has a minimum 5 pieces of metal requirement.

Railguns wrote:Hey, don't lump in all of Louisiana with the conditions in New Orleans.

The N.O. is a great place to visit, great place to have fun, but pretty bad to live in if you aren't savvy in what to avoid.

Mom grew up in lower Metarie. Flips out every time I go to N.O. like I'm going to war. Not that I don't understand, of course, but I'm not dumb enough to go wandering around alone or in dangerous areas.

Thats scary. We might be related. You're feet don't suddenly develop webbing, and you have an urge to float like a log and wait for unsuspecting prey er children to venture near the edge when you get in the pool do you? You don't er, never mind...

Railguns: Coastal LA is a cesspool. I worked out of it for two years. When asked to move there for a promotion, I laughed outloud at the thought of moving my wife and kids into that area. If you enjoy it, great and more power to you, and there are some really good people there. But there is nothing unforsaken south of I-10 or 90 as far as I am concerned. At least until you hit the water.

Oh I know there is plenty of awful to go around. Trust me, I know. Several thousand of them moved up into St. Tammany Parish after Katrina(my parish). Brought their ignorance and lazy, self-centered irresponsible behaviour with them. We can't get the Chalmatians to leave. We just have to live with it until we figure out how to get them gone for good.

Typeline wrote:To each his own. Racism is a big problem though. We're just getting to the stage in America where our most vocally racist generation is reaching old age.

Not true. I'd argue each generation is less racist than the one before, all things considered. You might see a spike from folks who were at an impressionable age down south in the early to mid 60's, but overall, we're getting more open every generation.

Typeline wrote:There are a lot of reasons why they are racists. Brought up that way is the biggest excuse I hear.

I think it is underselling it to call it an excuse. Unless you've lived their life in their social environment, then you are making modern judgements where they do not fit. I'd argue your formative years (4 - 10 years of age) have an incredibly powerful pull. That's one reason why George Lucas is so rich. It's why every generational has a nostalgia-laced resurgence in their late 20's/early 30's (and they do, it's cyclical - my generation is simply running over their allotment). The old saying that an "old dog can't learn new tricks" is true. We, all of us, cling very tightly to truisms we learned young. So it's not an excuse. It's reality. The alternative is realizing how ugly it must have been, so they believe the alternative. So would you. Fortunately, we are growing up in a more enlightening time, though the journey continues. I don't blame old people for being racist. It's in their bones, and everyone they ever trusted as a child imbued certain beliefs in them. They can't help it.

And frankly, it's allowed to be a racist, chauvinistic, homophobic douche. We are allowed to have and cultivate our biases. I would NOT want to live in a society where you aren't allowed your failings and personal thoughts. Moral choice requires HAVING the choice.

Typeline wrote:There If you just ignore them and extend an honest helping hand to any of your fellow man the wounds of racism will heal over time.

Absolutely.

MLK wrote:Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

Has anyone considered that the man might have a mental illness? I mean, there are lots of racists , but blowing up publicly like that, at least the way it was described, is bizarre.

Frankly, I'm suprised some one had considered that he didn't have one.