I am baffled by the racism of the pre-1970s Deep South

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I studied Jim Crow in college. If you want a reading list, just holler. This goes back hundreds of years, and was done so that the ruling economic class (plantation owners etc) could sustain the terrible racism and patnernalistic justifications needed to enslave another race.

Of course, that doesn't begin to skim the surface. But economics has a lot to do with it.

Not the OP, but I'd like a reading list.

[Anonymous]

The racism of the pre-1970s Deep South appears to be alive and well in 21st century Pittsburgh:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/pittsburgh-basketball-game-marred-horrible-racist-banana-suited-131740578.html

[Anonymous]

I think this thread is a very good example of how quickly people forget. Reminds me quite a bit of folks in East Germany who are quick to point to instances of anti-Semitism elsewhere.

"Hey, let's not overemphasize the Holocaust! In the US, Jews were often barred from joining country clubs!"

Disgusting.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in rural Va. in the 70's. My family didn't use the 'n' word or hate black people, but I did know older folks who did both, and it was because that was the way they were brought up and it was ingrained in them that whites were superior. They were too ignorant to know any better or to choose to believe anything else. Although I have been away from my hometown for a long time now, from what I see the black people are now accepted but it is the hispanic and asian people who are talked badly about, and some of that is because there are not many hispanic families for people to even get to know. Fear of the unknown can lead close-minded people to all sorts of ideas.

For those who are racist, there will always be a group to spew hatred about. Hopefully the younger generations can be more accepting of everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know what, OP. People concentrate on the South, but racism is and was everywhere in the US. Check out the book Sundown Towns -- which is the history of towns in the United States in which African Americans were lynched or refused admission after sundown. NINETY PERCENT of them were in the north. Indiana, Illinois, Ohio. Yup. People like to believe that racism was a southern phenomenon, but most Southern towns were integrated.

I agree that racism was and is everywhere, although I think the chances for enormous mobs converging to beat just a few dozen individuals while law enforcement looked away are greatly reduced from what they were. However, Southern towns were "integrated"? I politely disagree. Moreover, southern Illinois and Indiana are more culturally similar to the South.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what, OP. People concentrate on the South, but racism is and was everywhere in the US. Check out the book Sundown Towns -- which is the history of towns in the United States in which African Americans were lynched or refused admission after sundown. NINETY PERCENT of them were in the north. Indiana, Illinois, Ohio. Yup. People like to believe that racism was a southern phenomenon, but most Southern towns were integrated.

I agree that racism was and is everywhere, although I think the chances for enormous mobs converging to beat just a few dozen individuals while law enforcement looked away are greatly reduced from what they were. However, Southern towns were "integrated"? I politely disagree. Moreover, southern Illinois and Indiana are more culturally similar to the South.

Southern towns had black and white residents. They may not have mixed socially, they may not have eaten in the same restaurants, but both races lives in the town. As opposed to the north, which posted signs that said "N---, the sun better not set on you in this town." And I'm not talking about Southern Illinois and Southern Indiana. Try Michigan, Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Connecticut, California.

[Anonymous]

Somerset Village just outside of Friendship Heights was a "sunset town" just until @1970 or so.

[Anonymous]

and the gays equate their stupid quest for the definition of marriage to be changed as the same struggle as civil rights.

[Anonymous]

Stupid quest? To be treated equally? I see news about gays being assaulted and killed. Is it simply the size of the institutionalized hatred? Gay hatred in 2012 is much different than 1970s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:and the gays equate their stupid quest for the definition of marriage to be changed as the same struggle as civil rights.

That does piss me off, even though I fully support gay marriage / rights. Don't compare apples to oranges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what, OP. People concentrate on the South, but racism is and was everywhere in the US. Check out the book Sundown Towns -- which is the history of towns in the United States in which African Americans were lynched or refused admission after sundown. NINETY PERCENT of them were in the north. Indiana, Illinois, Ohio. Yup. People like to believe that racism was a southern phenomenon, but most Southern towns were integrated.

I agree that racism was and is everywhere, although I think the chances for enormous mobs converging to beat just a few dozen individuals while law enforcement looked away are greatly reduced from what they were. However, Southern towns were "integrated"? I politely disagree. Moreover, southern Illinois and Indiana are more culturally similar to the South.

Southern towns had black and white residents. They may not have mixed socially, they may not have eaten in the same restaurants, but both races lives in the town. As opposed to the north, which posted signs that said "N---, the sun better not set on you in this town." And I'm not talking about Southern Illinois and Southern Indiana. Try Michigan, Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Connecticut, California.

Yeah, but you said integrated. They had those awful signs in the South, too. Where is the ninety percent stat from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:and the gays equate their stupid quest for the definition of marriage to be changed as the same struggle as civil rights.

You think that gay, lesbian, and transgendered people aren't assaulted and killed in this country all the time? Just happened in DC a few days ago.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-buzz/post/dc-transcoalition-speaks-after-transgender-stabbing-victim-dies/2012/02/03/gIQAnMjanQ_blog.html

It's not just a bunch of silly people on a "stupid quest" to get married. Get a clue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And let's not forget that other racial minorities (other than AA) also suffered lots of racism too, from both AA and Caucasians.

I would say that no other racial minority has faced racism to the same degree. You are overlooking the slavery that AA faced that other minority groups did not in the US. That coupled with the later racism already mentioned in this thread.

They put Asians in "internment" camps for... being Asian. They didn't do anything wrong and lost their property and jobs. They should have called it prison camps. Or concentration camps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My in laws all live in the deep south. I am not a southern myself and am baffled by it all as well. They do NOT talk about it with me. Every once in a while there will be a slip where someone expresses bitterness about being judged harshly by the world, that the rest of the world is equally racist or even more racist.

One thing that was new to me when I first met them was that they all have "help" cleaning their houses and "sitters" staying with the elderly. And the help and the sitters are always black women who go by Miss Winnie or Miss Whatever, no matter how old they are. And no one talks about it or acknowledges that they are there. We just go about our conversations and use the house as if these servants were part of the plumbing in the house. It makes me feel uncomfortable. I guess it's something like Downton Abbey.

sERIOUSLY? At my daughter's daycare, here in 2012 Washington DC, the teachers (who are about 70% AA) are called "Miss First Name". It is a sign of respect - Miss or Mrs Last Name is overly formal for someone you see regularly, but First Name alone seems presumptuous. Race has nothing to do with it. And most people I know in DC have "help" cleaning their houses - here we call them "maids". And as for talking about it or acknowledging that they are there - people in DC schedule it so the maid comes when they are not at home so that they intereact with the maid (who is inevitably poor and a different race) the bare minimum. I'm sure it comes as a shock to you that DC is not the classless paradise it seems to be. In fact I've even heard rumors of all-AA, all poor neighborhoods in Washington DC! Its like something out of a movie!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And let's not forget that other racial minorities (other than AA) also suffered lots of racism too, from both AA and Caucasians.

I would say that no other racial minority has faced racism to the same degree. You are overlooking the slavery that AA faced that other minority groups did not in the US. That coupled with the later racism already mentioned in this thread.

They put Asians in "internment" camps for... being Asian. They didn't do anything wrong and lost their property and jobs. They should have called it prison camps. Or concentration camps.

Not an equal comparison. Look at the amount of time that the internment camps lasted compared to the amount of time race-based slavery continued in the U.S. I would even venture to say that the discrimination following the end of slavery would also be something to note in comparison.