After Jared Williams was elected Augusta DA, a lawyer and state lawmaker made an unusual proposal: that the whitest county split from the circuit
After Jared Williams was elected Augusta DA, a lawyer and state lawmaker made an unusual proposal: that the whitest county split from the circuit
White Southerner here. Southern culture is NOT all white, and most of us are actually aware of that.
When I think of southern culture I think of southern hospitality and sweet tea, neither of which are limited by race.
I’ve lived on 3 continents and every culture has individuals that are racist. By far the worst was when I lived in a homogeneous Asian country - people felt the constant need to stare and comment (and because I’m white they were trying to say NICE stuff) and it made me so uncomfortable. I have no idea what it’s like to be black, but I got a glimpse of how people will made dumb assumptions about you based on your skin.
The biggest key to defeating racism is melting the pot further - which the South is doing. Yes, there are plenty of racists here, and plenty of racists communities, but I can guarantee you they exist elsewhere too. Fighting it only happens when we confront it.
John Oliver did a great bit on school segregation that goes into how racism isn’t a Southern issue.
I’ve been around too, and the place I felt the most uncomfortable was every time I’ve been in the South, specifically around the white people in the South.
The “southern hospitality” comes off fake as fuck btw. I’ve seen the confederate flags. I know how y’all vote. I see your representatives & what they say.
When y’all think southern culture y’all think hospitality & sweet tea: I think Try That In A Small Town by Jason Aldean, voter suppression, lynchings, and Emmitt Till.
To be honest, I think it’s easiest to feel sentiments like “There is no racism anymore” when you’re in a completely homogenized culture. eg, a Japanese person living in Japan, or a white person in Poland (the latter was a common critique for the monoskin designs of The Witcher). Those people don’t ever even need to confront the question of racism.
In a way, that at least means the ideological “war on racism” is only being fought in multicultural areas like the South - where minorities at least exist. It’s harder to identify whether that means it’s “worse” than other multicultural areas.
I feel similarly about the flags. At worst, I try to remember that even if 10 people on a street fly confederate flags, it’s likely some of them wish for slavery, while others just have jaded, disillusioned ideas that it vaguely represents independence and national pride.