I stumbled across a blog entry titled Why The South Bleeds Republican Red looking through Digg. This blog entry is so insulting I find it necessary to take on the rank arrogance of its assertions. Here’s a sample of some of the wild generalizations going on in this “analysis.”
Deep in the Southerner’s psyche is a desire for the past: a romantic, “Gone With The Wind” past, a past where the slaves were happy and knew their place, a past where slave owners were kind and generous – a past that never existed. I was raised in the lower class. We never owned a house and it took ten years to finally pay off our one car. But even I have felt the tug to return to that imagined past.
But ingrained in that false memory is an ugly truth. A return to the way things were means a return to race discrimination. This is the reason not spoken: the fear that people of color will take a position of power. The white Southerners, from plumbers to politicians, are afraid that a black man will take their job, or worse: be their boss.
There you have it. Every southern conservative Republican wants a return to race discrimination. I have lived in the South my entire life (Georgia, NC, and now Florida) and I’m a conservative. The ideas of smaller government and personal liberty do not make me long for the days of racism. I was born in 1979 and have never seen segregation. I’ve lived in an integrated South in college, on baseball teams, and in the Boy Scouts. Blue cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, and the District of Columbia are far more hopeless destinations for minorities than Atlanta, Tampa, and Charlotte.
To get an idea of how ignorant the blog’s assertions are imagine if I tried to argue that all liberals secretly long for an America with Soviet style gulags. In other words, since liberals believe in socialized health care they long for political dissidents to be sent work camps. It’s a straw man argument.
The author also beats the “fear” drum. Which I always find hilarious coming from liberals who seem perpetually worried about Global Warming, health care, and the economy. Fear is a relatively used by both parties to advance their agendas. Obama sold the stimulus plan on the fear that it would help the nation avoid a catastrophe.
what are your views on making amends for slavery?
If there were any former slaves alive I would consider “amends.” I’m not looking for any money or services because my Creek Indian ancestors were treated terribly two hundred years ago. I don’t feel guilt for something that happened 173 years ago than I had no control over. I guess you feel guilty about it? Do you feel guilty that you won the lottery and were born in America? Everyone who is a citizen of the United States is lucky to be here.
i don’t look at history through guilt. the notion that liberals try to rectify the wrongs of the past due to guilt is a republican world view, not a reality. plus, the fact that you immediately took the guilt angle on my question shows that this is a very emotional issue for you. i thought republicans weren’t emotional?
i think your last sentence is pretty funny though.
so, how about this: do you believe that the historical accumulation of wealth and opportunity (access to education, ability to own property, etc.) has favored certain groups over others? in other words, you make an individualist argument on this issue but that ignores instutionalized forms of racism.