Sure, there are ugly racist sentiments like this in Alabama but people here would die rather than have them show up AGAIN in a national newspaper. The people here learned their lesson in the sixties. There's too much invested here in trying to undo the ugly past and bring in automobile plants and tourists and shit. The Birmingham Pledge is specifically designed as an antidote to Alabama history, folks.
Jeebus West Virginia, the spotlight turns to you and you totally fuck it up. And Senator Clinton's win there is a complete embarrassment now, too. Racist assholes are born stupid, so I guess we can't expect them to shut up about it.
Yeah, thank you guys for reinforcing the stereotype that West Virginians are ignorant hillbilly racist borderline Deliverance types. Gawd, they've gotta be near hanging themselves at the West Virginia Tourism Board.
Lemme say it in plain words for ya: if I were Senator Clinton I'd be ashamed to get the votes of these people and if I were Bill Clinton? Shit. All he did has been undone. All of it.
I've said this before in defense of people voting for Obama over Clinton and I feel it fits here too: not every vote for someone other than Obama is a vote against them. There are many good reasons for people to support each (personally, I find the scale tilted completely in Obama's favor). It is likely that some of the vote is racist, just as some of the vote for Obama has been sexist, but I don't feel it is nearly as strong as some would have you believe on just plain numbers. (hopefully I will not be proven wrong)
ReplyDeletepretty much spot on!
ReplyDeletewhen i saw the older white woman from there, in an interview, insist that obama is a muslim even when asked about 20 years in a christian church and the tone of her voice, well that just said it all.
the clintons? well, i used to think so highly of them.
every time i hear her sound bite where she says "sumpin" instead of "something" when speaking of jfk winning west virgina, i get angry!
oh boy :(
ReplyDeleteI don't know whether this really is that widespread but to the real racists/ sexists that would never vote for Obama or Clinton I can't wait to see there heads explode when (it looks like) Obama is sworn in.
ReplyDeleteFuck those people. I never want to understand them. Because to have their head up their ass that far they obviously don't want to understand anyone else.
They don't need sympathy and they don't need a voice. They need nothing but derision.
Having been born in WV and having grown up in the south, you've stumbled across something about racism that I learned long ago. The south's race relations are far from perfect, but many people in the north are far worse.
ReplyDeleteDuring desegregation, northeners looked down their noses at racists in the southern states with an air of crapulent superiority that was easy for them to come by. Chances were there wasn't a non-white person within 50 miles of them so they never had to expose their own racism.
But now, they're having to face an issue that the south had to start facing 50 years ago. The south still has a long way to go, but at least they're moving along.
yeah that's the story of race relations in the US in a nutshell, Poobah: Southerners never cared how close blacks got as long as they didn't get too equal. Northerners never cared how equal they got as long as they didn't get too close. What we're learning, as a nation is, racism is racism. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Blue Gal.
ReplyDeleteAnd Omnipotent Poobah, you fuckin nailed it too.
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ReplyDeleteBG you are absolutely correct in saying that racism is never acceptable. I would, however, like to point out one thing about your post. The article you link to talks mostly about my home state of Indiana. What some might not know is that Indiana was one of the biggest strongholds for the KKK during my grandfathers day.
ReplyDeleteAnd while there are still areas in Indiana who cling firmly to that history, Obama did receive 49% of the vote there. Much better than I thought he would do, given my feeling about how much more I think my home state needs to do regarding race.
There is no question that race played a significant role in the WVA vote. There is also no question that economic issues were a major factor as well -- and time and time again we have seen that when people cast their vote based on their pocketbook, Sen. Clinton wins.
This is a significant issue that Sen. Obama is going to have to address if he becomes the Democratic nominee.
States like WVA, OH, IN, PA, and MI could be in play for the Democrats if they sense that the candidate can actually do something to ease the economic pressure.
I think voters believe that Clinton would do a better job of this than Obama. And as the economy has gotten worse, she has racked up more wins.
BAC
Ditto what Dean Wormer said. Treat the racists with the contempt they deserve, and move on.
ReplyDeleteObama does need to start hammering away at the economic message -- I'm not sure why people think Clinton would be better after her husband gave us NAFTA, but she does seem to have suckered people into thinking she'd do something substantive.
and then there's this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C8wD4HHmZA
ReplyDeleteunbelievable ...
Nan said: but she does seem to have suckered people into thinking she'd do something substantive.
ReplyDeleteNah, just suckered.
I keep waiting for substance across the board. Don't we all?
it is a state with problems and Hillary harnessed them and their backward ways ....the 7% that would not vote for Hill or Obama - says it all- they are the ones that would not vote for a Black man or a Woman...but the daily show and the people interviewed- wow...and I think the state is stuck in the 1950's....they have limited education, jobs, and internet and cable- and small numbers of libraries, and limited Starbucks ( don't laugh coffee shops are where politics get dissected...).
ReplyDeleteMy teenage son pointed out that THAT state really needs better Education....( he also asked since I have kin there- "omg, it really is like Deliverance")
And I hung my head and shame.....
What an assinine article. What is wrong with you people. I read this stuff and think where we these people raised. The People of West Virginia voted for Hillary Clinton because she cared about them not because they hated Barack. Grow up people!!!
ReplyDeleteBlue Gal and others...
ReplyDeleteI have a post up tonight on watergate summer about Racism in America ( and no I am not blogwhoring), Linked to the Title, is an amazing video that shows people in West Virginia being interviewed about Obama....it is eye opening...stunning...( I have more if anyone wants to see them)..and yes, the videos show HOW real people answered...and yes, racism is alive in the US....and sadly it is our time to be honest about it.This is Our Time....it ain't pretty...but we are all grownups we can deal with this...
( and we thought our parents dealt with it in the 50's and 60's.....)
thanks Blue Gal...
i am grown up. i see racism and sexism and a lot of isms and they aren't dead, just better hidden away, most times.
ReplyDeletebut, i hear things all the time that a lot of people have decided to stop hiding their own isms and take them out, polish them up and proclaim their "god" given right to any ism they choose.
bg is right about south/north attitudes. got people in the south( alabama, tennesse, fla., got people, including myself in the north, pa. jersey,ohio, and so i see the differences.
when i was real young i too would have said "fuck em" about bigots but as i got older i figured perhaps, since time passes anyway( unless you die) 1 of the things i might be able to do is to maybe, even if it's just 1 person, show by example, by patience and logic, or maybe just wear em down over time, that isms are wrong, stupid, hurtful and that by being bigoted one loses out on many wonderful people and experiences.
that way, if just 1 person changes, then they won't pass their isms onto their children.
every little thing helps, but if you start out confrontational over any subject, it just makes people shut their ears and their hearts.
for me, it's worth a try and has worked more than once so i am happy to continue. it ain't much, but better than nothing.
Hillary Clinton has chosen to make racist hate her main campaign theme. So, it is hardly surprising for her West Virginia supporters to express those sentiments. Clinton's campaign has given them more cultural and political space to do so.
ReplyDeleteI originally supported Kucinich, but after his very low showing in New Hampshire I started looking into other candidates. That was the same time the Clinton campaign went ultra racist. That made it clear to me that Hillary Clinton had to be stopped, or we would have two white supremacist political parties instead of just one, the GOP.
As someone who has some Cherokee and Iroquois ancestors as well as European ones, I can never forget what Hillary Clinton has done. She has burned every bridge with me.