Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

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A Karenina
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by A Karenina »

Hey there yoshman. I'm sorry you're having a rough time in rural GA. How long until your daughter graduates?
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

Aristotle
lady cop
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by lady cop »

hello yoshman...we are contemporaries , i also grew up in DC area in same time frame, and was on the mall for Dr. King's historic speech. i played at being a hippie( i was the 5'11" girl with raven hair down to my butt) , but was in fact a privileged kid going to private prep school, however, i had a social conscience. i was at JFK's funeral, i will never forget that November day. i was a high school kid at the time. my dad was up there in the government, not a political type, but a scientist of international renown among those circles. he was a great patriot as well. i was taught huge respect for America, there is nothing quite like the Nation's Capital on the Fourth of July. i never knew bigotry, was not taught that. .i was horrified by george wallace. the civil rights movement was the defining moment of my generation. so now i am a cop in the deep south. and every idiot down here has a rebel flag on their truck and a six-pack in the cab (PLEASE don't write me with the usual southern- pride excuses, we all know what it's code for...) or a swastika tattooed on their chests ( those guys i want to use for target practice on the academy firing range).... neanderthals. fools. apologists and morons. by the way, i am a white female cop...2 strikes! what exactly are you dealing with there in rural georgia? racism? stupidity? i will admit to something deep and dark...since i have been a cop and dealt so much with a certain element of black jitterbug drug-dealers and incomprehensible language barrier, i have developed a certain attitude towards that demographic , the same as i feel towards the white redneck, inbred, skinhead , three remaining teeth , ignoramouses right out of " Deliverance". (see above). care to discuss the nature of your difficulty? perhaps then you could be steered to the right part of the country.
A Karenina
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by A Karenina »

Now now... I'm from southern GA, I have all of my teeth, there was no family inbreeding, and I have no tattoos. I don't even own a Confederate flag, which may account for why I am the black sheep of the family. :D I do, however, have a "thing" for hound dogs, or pronounced properly: hound dawgs. LOL



That way of life is completely unreal to those who have never experienced it. One of the problems you will face is that the communities are so insulated. You are an outsider, and will remain an outsider. Since there is so much on the line for common people, they often won't speak out for more humanitarian ideas. There are open-minded people there who are not racist and bigoted, but they probably won't open up to you. If you think about it, you can't really blame them, you know? (sad smile) These things take a lot of time and trust.



West coast! I don't know anything about California - except that they come to Oregon and drive like maniacs. :p

Portland, OR is an open-minded town, but they say that the rest of Oregon is strongly KKK - one of the worst parts of the country, I've heard. I haven't seen it, so I can only report it as hearsay. I do run into skinheads from time to time complete with shaved heads, tattoos, and leather. If they talk to me, I use my drawl. They've never shown me any disrespect at all...but then I'm a light-skinned blue-eyed female, so I may have an advantage of some sort.

The Confederate flag is a symbol of how the south ran things. White supremacy, blacks working for us, knowing "their place", the good ole boy system, etc. It used to be a symbol of a people that wouldn't lose their identity - but that identity has become twisted in hate. There is little remembrance of southerners who wanted to abolish slavery but still keep a sound economy, of those who fought for their land (literally) but didn't own slaves or didn't agree with it.



My great great grandfather fought in the War Between the States (as I was taught to call it). We did own slaves, much to my horror. His sword is a family heirloom, but nobody really wants it. My cousin has it hidden in her attic. My immediate family is not racist, and in fact we had a few violent encounters when I was a little girl against those who were. KKK tried to kill me twice to shut my father up. Once I had a knife on my throat, and once I was locked into a garage for a couple of days, hidden by my father. Unreal, yes? Welcome to the 60's, deep south style.



Things have improved since then, but even so I can never go home to live there. I can love them better from here, and remember the good things they did for me. I prefer it that way.



Just be polite, bring homemade food to your neighbors often, and share your opinions with your friends who aren't living there. Go to church. Get a shotgun and threaten boys who want to date your daughter with it. Quit laughing, this is sound advice! You'll be fine, just hang in there. :)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

Aristotle
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along-for-the-ride
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by along-for-the-ride »

I just came to this post today. I can relate.

Even though I was born in Chicago, my family moved to the suburbs of Washington, DC. when I was a young teen in the mid-sixties. But even there and then, there were only three black kids in my graduation class of 500 or so. I attended a college that used to be a black teachers college but became integrated at some point. I met young people from Iran and Africa and enjoyed their company. Back in Chicago, I went to school with kids of all races and backgrounds. We were all just kids. I was just one of them. No big deal.

Now, I live in Georgia and hear that "n" word used in conversation regularly . I see in high-schools, black proms and white proms, and now, hispanic proms.

Now, I work with people of different races, but they are all just people to me.

I see that racism is still quite prevalent here in the South. It's not in the headlines: it's not on banners everywhere; it just exists...still.

I guess I am a Damn Yankee--but I am proud of it. I am no hero; there is nothing particularly remarkable about me. I just try to show respect and common courtesy to all folks in my everyday life----even down here in the South.

My thoughts are that no matter where you live, you will encounter petty and narrow-minded folks. We can either tolerate them, or teach them by example.
Life is a Highway. Let's share the Commute.
lady cop
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by lady cop »

i attended a prep school whose students were mostly government and diplomat's kids...from every country on the globe. i loved the diversity! Thais, Euros, Cubans who were sent out of Cuba during the revolution and Russian occupation, i mean that school was a veritable United nations. (it was also a boarding school, so we were together all the time).i never felt a moment's bigotry, i was thrilled with the atmosphere. in my current work i don't see any color but that forest green uniform. we need each other. .......in that old post above i was referring to the criminal element that i deal with in such a concentrated fashion, not everyday life as most experience it. i did become affected by it, and did develop some attitudes, toward the TYPE, not the color or demographic.... and now i intend to move to England, and look forward to the many nations and nationalities i will be presented with. (but nonetheless, i enjoy sticking it to the French, supercilious lot that they are! LOL) .......in point of fact, being a rabid history buff, i will be in HEAVEN all over the UK and Europe. attitudes are different there. but bigotry resides everywhere. the frogs hate the krauts, the english hate the frogs and the krauts, the northern irish hate the brits, ....of course these are only stereotypes, but stereotypes have a grain of truth. WWll is still fresh in the minds of many, as the civil war is still being fought in some backwoods here.
gmc
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by gmc »

This is a fascinating post. I watched the civil rights riots as a kid from the UK, in other words it was like watching a different planet. It was hard to understand what it ws all about. I never spoke to a black man till I was in my twenties because there simply are still not that many around in Scotland,Even asian kids were very rare.

I worked in London for a while, I walked in to a store in London and 80% or so of the staff were asian, caribbean, nigerian, ghanian. I was the exotic one though because I was from Scotland and nobody could understand a word I said. Nobody could pronounce my name either-you don't appreciate how exotic scots names can be until you meet someone that can't pronounce words with ch in them properly.or roll their rrr's in the correct manner. It was so difficult to understand each other we all ended up getting on very well because you had to try harder and take the time, standing joke all you english people look the same to me. Biggest problem was muslim supervisors with hindu women staff. It had to be explained to me what the problem was as it never occurred to me it was an issue.

When you see US tv programmes you get the impression racism is a thing of the past and everybody lives together happily ever after. Then I suppose the cosby show and sex and the city are a bit unrealistic
Bothwell
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by Bothwell »

I have to say GMC what you say is true. It is also true to say (In my Experience) that whilst travelling in the USA I have encountered far more racism than I ever have at home. It is seriously true to say the the first time I heard the word N****r used (it is too shocking for me to type it) was in Illinois, not the south. I have encountered racial prejudice in all the states I have visited, and I just dont understand it. I love America and have always been treated with open hearted hospitality there, this side of things is beyond me. Perhaps some explanation could be sought by using Thomas Jefferson as an expample, the man responsible for writing (I think, sorry if I am wrong) "All men are created equal" saw no irony in employing slaves on his planation, and may even have fathered children by them in what would be hard to believe would be completely consensual sex.

For me one of the great attractions of the USA is this type of contradiction, then again I suppose us Brits have plenty of faults as well.
"I have done my duty. I thank God for it!"
kensloft
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by kensloft »

Living in the Filmore district of San Francisco I found myself one morning wanting breakfast before I went home. I wandered into a reataurant and sat myself at a table and after my order felt myself being looked at by everyone. A quick look around the restaurant told me that Iwas the only white guy in the place.

They weren't going to talk to me but they certainly were going to talk at me. Their talk had to do with civil rights and the changes that had been made to their lives since the early sixties. What they told me absolutely stunned me.

They had big smiles on their faces when they talked about how wonderful it was that their children could now go to school in the Mississppi and be educated to beyond grade two or three. Now they could get an elementary education and the world was good.

It was good until they moved to California to discover when the sent their 6th and 7th grade children to register in the local schools and they were given the disconcering news that their children had the equivalent education to the grade two or three standards in California. It was a breakfast and message that stayed with me for my entire life and all I can do is hope that things will get better.
A Karenina
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by A Karenina »

My dad often said that the North loves the black people as a whole, but wants nothing to do with them individually, whereas the South hates the black people as a whole, but loves them individually.

I'm not sure how much truth there is in that, but I can't tell you how many times I've heard a warm southern drawl talk about how "his" particular Negro is different, better than the others. Meanwhile, most of the Yanks I've known vehemently denied any prejudice whatsoever.

I guess our first step to improving racial relations would be some honesty. North and South.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

Aristotle
kensloft
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by kensloft »

A Karenina wrote: My dad often said that the North loves the black people as a whole, but wants nothing to do with them individually, whereas the South hates the black people as a whole, but loves them individually.

I'm not sure how much truth there is in that, but I can't tell you how many times I've heard a warm southern drawl talk about how "his" particular Negro is different, better than the others. Meanwhile, most of the Yanks I've known vehemently denied any prejudice whatsoever.

I guess our first step to improving racial relations would be some honesty. North and South.
My favourite saying in the whole world is one that I made up and live by.

Racism comes in all sizes, shapes and colours.

I think that it says it all.
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Lon
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by Lon »

yoshman wrote: I was raised in Washington DC during the 60's. My neighborhood was multi-cultural. During the 60's Washington was the place for anyone with an enlightened vision to come and express it. For example, I was on the Mall when Reverend King gave his "I had a dream" speech. I saw the hippies and the peace signs.

What I'm getting at here is that i grew up in an environment where everyone's differences were considered to be the societies strength. Where tolerence was the norm. Where for the most part everyone accepted each other and their differences. I'm not implying that it was perfect, just that there was a feeling of "we're all in this together, so let's make the best of it". I guess I beleived that it was this way across the entire nation.



I now live in southern georgia, and have been appauled at the attitudes that I have encountered. I see every day the prejudice and closed mindedness that Dr King was talking to. My wife and I are going to move after our daughter graduates high school.



Anyone want to jump in here .............

Any other places to avoid.........................

Peace
Welcome to the real world Yoshman. Bigotry is alive and well. I lived in the south in the 50's and being from San Franciso had multi-racial friends. I could not believe the abject, foaming at the mouth, 24 hr a day obsession with what was then NEGROS on the part of what was eventually to become some relatives. Certain of these neanderthals proudly confessed certain atrocities perpetrated against Blacks. Fortunately my new wife shared none of the bigotry displayed by her family and relatives. I finished college, moved back to California, and visited the South every two years or so. THE GOOD NEWS is that over the years the majority of these relatives have actually come to see the light, particularly since the Civil Rights Movement.

Some of them discovered that it was Socially Unacceptable to be a bigot and others have confessed to me that they were wrong all along, but having been raised in a bigoted atmosphere, knew no better. Whatever----things are better than they were at one time. They ain't perfect by a long shot, but they are better. BTW----there are even bigots in Des Moine, Iowa-----not just limited to the south.
Beth
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by Beth »

My FIL was in the KKK as a teen. I still hear bigotry everywhere, but I think that tolerance is being taught in school and eventually it will be breed out of people. Another bigotry that I think will eventually be enlightened against is the bigotry against gays.
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BTS
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by BTS »

yoshman:

Having lived in the North, South, East and West I would say the most racism I saw was in the North..............No question about it.

Or as the ol boy from Wisconsin told me once........... "We know how to treat our N%**#@s"......... We don't let them get upity upity............... I left his store at once.



The South is VERY clickish. You will never be accepted as one of their own. I never was after 10+ yrs. in South Carolina and my forefathers for the biggest part were on the side of the South in the War Between the States. I don't think the biggest part are predijust either........just leery of northern aggession down that way to exploit them........
"If America Was A Tree, The Left Would Root For The Termites...Greg Gutfeld."
David813
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by David813 »

Open Minds in southern Georgia? I bet not, except for the black population.
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kensloft
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by kensloft »

David813 wrote: Open Minds in southern Georgia? I bet not, except for the black population.
:yh_rotfl :yh_rotfl :yh_rotfl
Gypsy
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by Gypsy »

May I ask a stupid question here? if you lot hate Georgia so much, why the hell are you there?

I have many family members in Georgia and Florida and I feel that you are a harsh lot.

Sorry, just my opinion.

I think it is very sad that a supposed police officer gets on here and wants to use humans for target pratice. That is not very professional.

I have been to the state of Georgia and what I saw was the opposite. I saw every morning on the local news, nothing but crime, crimes committed by black people. Yes, there are white people who do crime but, what I saw was 95% black people on the news, every morning for 2 weeks during my holiday.

The flag they fly? This is Southern heritage, I have done my studies and I see nothing wrong with PRIDE of your heritage!

I think that blacks in America want everything their way and they play on this thing of being used as slaves. The blacks that are alive today were never slaves

Get over it and let life go on as others who have been discrimanted against have done.

This topic is in itself very RUDE! and you are judging a whole state of people.

You should be ashamed.:rolleyes:
Gypsy
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Are there any open minds in Rural Sothern Georgia

Post by Gypsy »

canaan;49320 wrote: South Georgia has the best hunting! Deer that is. :wah:

I have lived in GA all my life. I love it. Are there rednecks? of course! Are they all bad? No. There is still alot of tension here at times. But I have to tell you...it comes from both sides. Now there are those few ignorants who hate all black people...but most are not like that. I have found that some of the nicest people I have met are the older generation black people. Those who really had it rough. Who have every right to remain bitter. But they don't. The tension comes from the young punks who are looking for an excuse to hate. It is everywhere and it is all races who are like that to some degree. Sad fact is, you see people killing their own more than you see them killing other races. So yes, while it does still exist....it is not just South vs. Blacks. Honestly, I have seen more tension between the blacks and mexicans as of late.

Maybe you just live in the wrong town?

Rednecks in North Georgia are a pretty friendly bunch. ;)
A man with some sense!;)
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