Why didn't Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana boom along with the Sunbelt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those states are horrible. Have you ever visited one of them? I have *shudders* Never again.

You are a good example of why people in the South distrust and dislike DC.

Are you just opposed to being around poor people or being reminded of the legacy of a slave economy? Can you recognize anything good in the region that gave America some of its finest writers and musicians? Whose black pastors led America's civil rights movement? Can you recognize that black Southerners were never given the compensation promised and that this fact stalled economic growth? That, in the false promises and manipulation by the ruling class of these states, poor white Southerners were given black Southerners as someone to blame for their misfortune?

I'm a white Southern liberal who frequently finds herself in the middle of conversations like this. Until we solve this problem of rural white Americans communicating with urban elites, we'll see increasing polarization and a populism that leads to an authoritarian state. How will that serve those of us who live in the urban mid-Atlantic or Northeast?

I'd counsel DCUM posters to read Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Cooperhead to get a little insight. If it doesn't move you, there's something wrong with you. Find a way to talk to the people of Alabama and Mississippi that doesn't make them hate you. This population has seen rapid change and globalization that has cost them their livelihoods. Understand it, or just sit back and endure the unfolding catastrophe.

+ 1 million

[Anonymous]

My son is a NMF on a full ride to Alabama. I’ve been to Birmingham and Tuscaloosa several times now.

My observations:

Birmingham - small city that reminds me of a smaller Richmond. There are pockets of wealth and many of poverty. There is some diversity but not nearly to the extent of DMV. However there is a strong focus on finance and UAB.

Tuscaloosa - it’s a true college town, not much outside of the university. Diversity pretty much ends at campus - town is very much a black and white population with few immigrants. This means there’s also a serious lack of diverse food options and activities.

There is definitely an issue of wealth disparity in Alabama but there are also plenty of nice, hard working and kind people.

However, I could never relocate and live there. Diversity is too important to me - I love the mix of people, culture, food and activities present here.

Haven’t been to Huntsville yet but have heard great things about UAH and the space/engineering industry there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:During the 50s and 60s, MS, AL, and parts of LA were the center of violence around the civil rights movement. Even if you weren't Black or actively involved in fighting for civil rights, I can't imagine why you'd want to move to a place where there was so much lawlessness and violence. So these areas experienced less growth than others.

MS in particular never invested in modern infrastructure. There are large parts of the state today that don't have access to clean water or really any modern water treatment system. Just a few years ago Jackson's entire water system failed, even worse than Flint. And Jackson is the capital!

It's the murder capital of the U.S., with the highest murder rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those states are horrible. Have you ever visited one of them? I have *shudders* Never again.

You are a good example of why people in the South distrust and dislike DC.

Are you just opposed to being around poor people or being reminded of the legacy of a slave economy? Can you recognize anything good in the region that gave America some of its finest writers and musicians? Whose black pastors led America's civil rights movement? Can you recognize that black Southerners were never given the compensation promised and that this fact stalled economic growth? That, in the false promises and manipulation by the ruling class of these states, poor white Southerners were given black Southerners as someone to blame for their misfortune?

I'm a white Southern liberal who frequently finds herself in the middle of conversations like this. Until we solve this problem of rural white Americans communicating with urban elites, we'll see increasing polarization and a populism that leads to an authoritarian state. How will that serve those of us who live in the urban mid-Atlantic or Northeast?

I'd counsel DCUM posters to read Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Cooperhead to get a little insight. If it doesn't move you, there's something wrong with you. Find a way to talk to the people of Alabama and Mississippi that doesn't make them hate you. This population has seen rapid change and globalization that has cost them their livelihoods. Understand it, or just sit back and endure the unfolding catastrophe.

Nice speech. Now what do you tell the rural white Americans who hate DC why they should try to understand it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After WWII, the warm weather states boomed in population. But AL/MS/LA didn't. You had a South Atlantic sunbelt (Carolinas, Georgia, Florida) and the Southwest running from Texas to Southern California. Why the gap in between?

Republicans keeping the masses uneducated

You appear to be the uneducated one. Those states were 90% democratic until the 1980s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After WWII, the warm weather states boomed in population. But AL/MS/LA didn't. You had a South Atlantic sunbelt (Carolinas, Georgia, Florida) and the Southwest running from Texas to Southern California. Why the gap in between?

Republicans keeping the masses uneducated

You appear to be the uneducated one. Those states were 90% democratic until the 1980s.

Yeah, and Lincoln was a Republican, too. Things change, and they're hostile to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those states are horrible. Have you ever visited one of them? I have *shudders* Never again.

You are a good example of why people in the South distrust and dislike DC.

Are you just opposed to being around poor people or being reminded of the legacy of a slave economy? Can you recognize anything good in the region that gave America some of its finest writers and musicians? Whose black pastors led America's civil rights movement? Can you recognize that black Southerners were never given the compensation promised and that this fact stalled economic growth? That, in the false promises and manipulation by the ruling class of these states, poor white Southerners were given black Southerners as someone to blame for their misfortune?

I'm a white Southern liberal who frequently finds herself in the middle of conversations like this. Until we solve this problem of rural white Americans communicating with urban elites, we'll see increasing polarization and a populism that leads to an authoritarian state. How will that serve those of us who live in the urban mid-Atlantic or Northeast?

I'd counsel DCUM posters to read Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Cooperhead to get a little insight. If it doesn't move you, there's something wrong with you. Find a way to talk to the people of Alabama and Mississippi that doesn't make them hate you. This population has seen rapid change and globalization that has cost them their livelihoods. Understand it, or just sit back and endure the unfolding catastrophe.

Nice speech. Now what do you tell the rural white Americans who hate DC why they should try to understand it?

I explain that they're voting against their own self-interest and rising to MAGA bait and lies. I explain that they may cheer for the dismantling of federal agencies but that only 15% of federal employees are in the DMV, so they're shooting themselves in the foot. I explain that federal investment in technology, education, and science has fueled economic growth these last 50 years. I explain that rule of law is more important in the long run than the policies of any individual administration, and that's being sabotaged by the people they're electing.

I said that I was in the middle of these constant arguments and I am. I should get paid by both sides for the decades of explaining I've done. What DC people fail to understand is that the orthodoxy of their rhetoric is undermining their own cause. All the virtue signaling and ignorance of how non-urban citizens live -- attitudes prevalent in the private schools my children have attended -- have hastened the rise of MAGA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During the 50s and 60s, MS, AL, and parts of LA were the center of violence around the civil rights movement. Even if you weren't Black or actively involved in fighting for civil rights, I can't imagine why you'd want to move to a place where there was so much lawlessness and violence. So these areas experienced less growth than others.

MS in particular never invested in modern infrastructure. There are large parts of the state today that don't have access to clean water or really any modern water treatment system. Just a few years ago Jackson's entire water system failed, even worse than Flint. And Jackson is the capital!

It's the murder capital of the U.S., with the highest murder rate.

Murder per capita statewide Alabama is 14.9 per 100,000 people. For Washington, DC it is 27.3 per 100,000 people. For Baltimore it is 51.1 per 100,000 people. What do Baltimore, Washington, DC and Alabama have in common? Because they do have something in common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those states are horrible. Have you ever visited one of them? I have *shudders* Never again.

You are a good example of why people in the South distrust and dislike DC.

Are you just opposed to being around poor people or being reminded of the legacy of a slave economy? Can you recognize anything good in the region that gave America some of its finest writers and musicians? Whose black pastors led America's civil rights movement? Can you recognize that black Southerners were never given the compensation promised and that this fact stalled economic growth? That, in the false promises and manipulation by the ruling class of these states, poor white Southerners were given black Southerners as someone to blame for their misfortune?

I'm a white Southern liberal who frequently finds herself in the middle of conversations like this. Until we solve this problem of rural white Americans communicating with urban elites, we'll see increasing polarization and a populism that leads to an authoritarian state. How will that serve those of us who live in the urban mid-Atlantic or Northeast?

I'd counsel DCUM posters to read Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Cooperhead to get a little insight. If it doesn't move you, there's something wrong with you. Find a way to talk to the people of Alabama and Mississippi that doesn't make them hate you. This population has seen rapid change and globalization that has cost them their livelihoods. Understand it, or just sit back and endure the unfolding catastrophe.

Nice speech. Now what do you tell the rural white Americans who hate DC why they should try to understand it?

I explain that they're voting against their own self-interest and rising to MAGA bait and lies. I explain that they may cheer for the dismantling of federal agencies but that only 15% of federal employees are in the DMV, so they're shooting themselves in the foot. I explain that federal investment in technology, education, and science has fueled economic growth these last 50 years. I explain that rule of law is more important in the long run than the policies of any individual administration, and that's being sabotaged by the people they're electing.

I said that I was in the middle of these constant arguments and I am. I should get paid by both sides for the decades of explaining I've done. What DC people fail to understand is that the orthodoxy of their rhetoric is undermining their own cause. All the virtue signaling and ignorance of how non-urban citizens live -- attitudes prevalent in the private schools my children have attended -- have hastened the rise of MAGA.

DP

Correct: the orthodoxy of rigid rhetoric and purity tests most certainly did hasten the rise of MAGA. Coupled with the inability to examine or understand the plight of real people struggling across the country—not just in red states and rural areas—the rigid rhetoric and pet causes fueled the backlash and over-correction we are experiencing today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During the 50s and 60s, MS, AL, and parts of LA were the center of violence around the civil rights movement. Even if you weren't Black or actively involved in fighting for civil rights, I can't imagine why you'd want to move to a place where there was so much lawlessness and violence. So these areas experienced less growth than others.

MS in particular never invested in modern infrastructure. There are large parts of the state today that don't have access to clean water or really any modern water treatment system. Just a few years ago Jackson's entire water system failed, even worse than Flint. And Jackson is the capital!

It's the murder capital of the U.S., with the highest murder rate.

Murder per capita statewide Alabama is 14.9 per 100,000 people. For Washington, DC it is 27.3 per 100,000 people. For Baltimore it is 51.1 per 100,000 people. What do Baltimore, Washington, DC and Alabama have in common? Because they do have something in common.

Baltimore's per capita murder rate is actually much lower, at 34.8 per 100,000. All cities and states are bound to have something in common with each other, but by misrepresenting statistics, you're not making a very convincing argument.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those states are horrible. Have you ever visited one of them? I have *shudders* Never again.

You are a good example of why people in the South distrust and dislike DC.

Are you just opposed to being around poor people or being reminded of the legacy of a slave economy? Can you recognize anything good in the region that gave America some of its finest writers and musicians? Whose black pastors led America's civil rights movement? Can you recognize that black Southerners were never given the compensation promised and that this fact stalled economic growth? That, in the false promises and manipulation by the ruling class of these states, poor white Southerners were given black Southerners as someone to blame for their misfortune?

I'm a white Southern liberal who frequently finds herself in the middle of conversations like this. Until we solve this problem of rural white Americans communicating with urban elites, we'll see increasing polarization and a populism that leads to an authoritarian state. How will that serve those of us who live in the urban mid-Atlantic or Northeast?

I'd counsel DCUM posters to read Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Cooperhead to get a little insight. If it doesn't move you, there's something wrong with you. Find a way to talk to the people of Alabama and Mississippi that doesn't make them hate you. This population has seen rapid change and globalization that has cost them their livelihoods. Understand it, or just sit back and endure the unfolding catastrophe.

Nice speech. Now what do you tell the rural white Americans who hate DC why they should try to understand it?

Yes! Or any blue city they’ve never been to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those states are horrible. Have you ever visited one of them? I have *shudders* Never again.

You are a good example of why people in the South distrust and dislike DC.

Are you just opposed to being around poor people or being reminded of the legacy of a slave economy? Can you recognize anything good in the region that gave America some of its finest writers and musicians? Whose black pastors led America's civil rights movement? Can you recognize that black Southerners were never given the compensation promised and that this fact stalled economic growth? That, in the false promises and manipulation by the ruling class of these states, poor white Southerners were given black Southerners as someone to blame for their misfortune?

I'm a white Southern liberal who frequently finds herself in the middle of conversations like this. Until we solve this problem of rural white Americans communicating with urban elites, we'll see increasing polarization and a populism that leads to an authoritarian state. How will that serve those of us who live in the urban mid-Atlantic or Northeast?

I'd counsel DCUM posters to read Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Cooperhead to get a little insight. If it doesn't move you, there's something wrong with you. Find a way to talk to the people of Alabama and Mississippi that doesn't make them hate you. This population has seen rapid change and globalization that has cost them their livelihoods. Understand it, or just sit back and endure the unfolding catastrophe.

Nice speech. Now what do you tell the rural white Americans who hate DC why they should try to understand it?

I explain that they're voting against their own self-interest and rising to MAGA bait and lies. I explain that they may cheer for the dismantling of federal agencies but that only 15% of federal employees are in the DMV, so they're shooting themselves in the foot. I explain that federal investment in technology, education, and science has fueled economic growth these last 50 years. I explain that rule of law is more important in the long run than the policies of any individual administration, and that's being sabotaged by the people they're electing.

I said that I was in the middle of these constant arguments and I am. I should get paid by both sides for the decades of explaining I've done. What DC people fail to understand is that the orthodoxy of their rhetoric is undermining their own cause. All the virtue signaling and ignorance of how non-urban citizens live -- attitudes prevalent in the private schools my children have attended -- have hastened the rise of MAGA.

DP

Correct: the orthodoxy of rigid rhetoric and purity tests most certainly did hasten the rise of MAGA. Coupled with the inability to examine or understand the plight of real people struggling across the country—not just in red states and rural areas—the rigid rhetoric and pet causes fueled the backlash and over-correction we are experiencing today.

Is JD Vance no longer on vacation?

Rural “real people” didn’t want to be told that society is changing. They felt entitled to their careers in the mines and chose to listen to the conman who said they didn’t have to learn new skills instead of the woman who said she’d retrain them.

I grew up in rural America. They’re easy to manipulate because they don’t travel much. Fox has their attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After WWII, the warm weather states boomed in population. But AL/MS/LA didn't. You had a South Atlantic sunbelt (Carolinas, Georgia, Florida) and the Southwest running from Texas to Southern California. Why the gap in between?

Republican control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those states are horrible. Have you ever visited one of them? I have *shudders* Never again.

You are a good example of why people in the South distrust and dislike DC.

Are you just opposed to being around poor people or being reminded of the legacy of a slave economy? Can you recognize anything good in the region that gave America some of its finest writers and musicians? Whose black pastors led America's civil rights movement? Can you recognize that black Southerners were never given the compensation promised and that this fact stalled economic growth? That, in the false promises and manipulation by the ruling class of these states, poor white Southerners were given black Southerners as someone to blame for their misfortune?

I'm a white Southern liberal who frequently finds herself in the middle of conversations like this. Until we solve this problem of rural white Americans communicating with urban elites, we'll see increasing polarization and a populism that leads to an authoritarian state. How will that serve those of us who live in the urban mid-Atlantic or Northeast?

I'd counsel DCUM posters to read Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Cooperhead to get a little insight. If it doesn't move you, there's something wrong with you. Find a way to talk to the people of Alabama and Mississippi that doesn't make them hate you. This population has seen rapid change and globalization that has cost them their livelihoods. Understand it, or just sit back and endure the unfolding catastrophe.

+ 1 million

Except one problem, Trump isn't bringing back their "livelihoods" he's taking the little they have left.

No one is building factories or warehouses and bringing more jobs to any of those places.

Those people voted for Republicans for the last 30 years and Republicans have done nothing but rape them blind.

These people you want us talking to voted for Tommy Tubberville for god's sake. Nothing will fix their stupidity nothing. Republcians created a deep cult it's not going away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those states are horrible. Have you ever visited one of them? I have *shudders* Never again.

You are a good example of why people in the South distrust and dislike DC.

Are you just opposed to being around poor people or being reminded of the legacy of a slave economy? Can you recognize anything good in the region that gave America some of its finest writers and musicians? Whose black pastors led America's civil rights movement? Can you recognize that black Southerners were never given the compensation promised and that this fact stalled economic growth? That, in the false promises and manipulation by the ruling class of these states, poor white Southerners were given black Southerners as someone to blame for their misfortune?

I'm a white Southern liberal who frequently finds herself in the middle of conversations like this. Until we solve this problem of rural white Americans communicating with urban elites, we'll see increasing polarization and a populism that leads to an authoritarian state. How will that serve those of us who live in the urban mid-Atlantic or Northeast?

I'd counsel DCUM posters to read Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Cooperhead to get a little insight. If it doesn't move you, there's something wrong with you. Find a way to talk to the people of Alabama and Mississippi that doesn't make them hate you. This population has seen rapid change and globalization that has cost them their livelihoods. Understand it, or just sit back and endure the unfolding catastrophe.

Nice speech. Now what do you tell the rural white Americans who hate DC why they should try to understand it?

I explain that they're voting against their own self-interest and rising to MAGA bait and lies. I explain that they may cheer for the dismantling of federal agencies but that only 15% of federal employees are in the DMV, so they're shooting themselves in the foot. I explain that federal investment in technology, education, and science has fueled economic growth these last 50 years. I explain that rule of law is more important in the long run than the policies of any individual administration, and that's being sabotaged by the people they're electing.

I said that I was in the middle of these constant arguments and I am. I should get paid by both sides for the decades of explaining I've done. What DC people fail to understand is that the orthodoxy of their rhetoric is undermining their own cause. All the virtue signaling and ignorance of how non-urban citizens live -- attitudes prevalent in the private schools my children have attended -- have hastened the rise of MAGA.

DP

Correct: the orthodoxy of rigid rhetoric and purity tests most certainly did hasten the rise of MAGA. Coupled with the inability to examine or understand the plight of real people struggling across the country—not just in red states and rural areas—the rigid rhetoric and pet causes fueled the backlash and over-correction we are experiencing today.

Is JD Vance no longer on vacation?

Rural “real people” didn’t want to be told that society is changing. They felt entitled to their careers in the mines and chose to listen to the conman who said they didn’t have to learn new skills instead of the woman who said she’d retrain them.

I grew up in rural America. They’re easy to manipulate because they don’t travel much. Fox has their attention.

This is the truth, and it's been this way since the beginning of time. It's not a recent pheomenon caused by black and gay people insisting that their lives matter, too.