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I haven't seen so much stupidity over the colors red and blue since I worked dealing with all the bullshit between Crips and Bloods with the L.A. City Attorney gang unit. I was born and raised in Texas, any of the members of my family for as long as I can remember who chose to align themselves with a party were hardcore yellow dog Democrats. My great uncle was one of the first and best labor organizers in the state. I'm one of literally thousands of others who have similar upbringings and histories.
So for everyone posting the "oh, yeah and all those people used to own niggers" and the "those ignorant dickweed bible thumpers are taking over the world!" maps....can I get a fucking break please??? Can the rest of us poor fucking uneducated racist hicks down here in the south get a respite from everyone wagging fingers and clucking tongues about how stupid and unenlightened we are? THIRTY-EIGHT PERCENT OF TEXAS DID NOT VOTE FOR BUSH. In fact, you can take a look at this map, roll over on any of the states that went to Bush and see that a good number of the people in every one of these states did not vote for Bush and his agenda. In fact, the state that lost the election for Kerry, OHIO, was a free state...so what the fuck is the purpose of these maps??
Why not have a map for states that treated their factory workers like shit, or states where "No Irish" signs used to hang in storefronts, or where people still live in neighborhoods that look like bombed out ghettos? This devisiveness is ridiculous! This stereotyping of everyone who happens to live in a state where Bush (sometimes barely!!) won is only adding insult to injury for many of us down here. Do you think, you who are so much more "enlightened" than the rest of us, that it is easy trying to be the voices of dissent down here? Do you think that none of us worked ourselves ragged in hopes of some sort of positive change here?
Bush only won the popular vote in this country by a very slight margin. It offends me that my so-called comrades in arms are so quick now to start placing blame and redrawing lines that are over a hundred and fifty years old. The south is a beautiful place, and it's full of beautiful people. I know its ugly warts and underbelly better than most. But it's a place I love and it's a place where we cried after a hard-fought struggle with all the rest of you.
It offends me to think that our hard work down here is now so easily discounted just because everyone wants a scapegoat. Those of us who are just as disappointed as anyone at the outcome of this election should not be forced into that position because of our geography.
If it offends you that I have said my piece about it, go read my friend Joi's post (because this is what I've actually seen a lot of people saying SERIOUSLY) then feel free to move right on along and color yourself from head to toe with a big giant blue Sharpie. Me, I'm going to just keep doing what I've always done...yeah, even down here in the land of the bible thumpers and racist, homophobic Jesus freaks.
So for everyone posting the "oh, yeah and all those people used to own niggers" and the "those ignorant dickweed bible thumpers are taking over the world!" maps....can I get a fucking break please??? Can the rest of us poor fucking uneducated racist hicks down here in the south get a respite from everyone wagging fingers and clucking tongues about how stupid and unenlightened we are? THIRTY-EIGHT PERCENT OF TEXAS DID NOT VOTE FOR BUSH. In fact, you can take a look at this map, roll over on any of the states that went to Bush and see that a good number of the people in every one of these states did not vote for Bush and his agenda. In fact, the state that lost the election for Kerry, OHIO, was a free state...so what the fuck is the purpose of these maps??
Why not have a map for states that treated their factory workers like shit, or states where "No Irish" signs used to hang in storefronts, or where people still live in neighborhoods that look like bombed out ghettos? This devisiveness is ridiculous! This stereotyping of everyone who happens to live in a state where Bush (sometimes barely!!) won is only adding insult to injury for many of us down here. Do you think, you who are so much more "enlightened" than the rest of us, that it is easy trying to be the voices of dissent down here? Do you think that none of us worked ourselves ragged in hopes of some sort of positive change here?
Bush only won the popular vote in this country by a very slight margin. It offends me that my so-called comrades in arms are so quick now to start placing blame and redrawing lines that are over a hundred and fifty years old. The south is a beautiful place, and it's full of beautiful people. I know its ugly warts and underbelly better than most. But it's a place I love and it's a place where we cried after a hard-fought struggle with all the rest of you.
It offends me to think that our hard work down here is now so easily discounted just because everyone wants a scapegoat. Those of us who are just as disappointed as anyone at the outcome of this election should not be forced into that position because of our geography.
If it offends you that I have said my piece about it, go read my friend Joi's post (because this is what I've actually seen a lot of people saying SERIOUSLY) then feel free to move right on along and color yourself from head to toe with a big giant blue Sharpie. Me, I'm going to just keep doing what I've always done...yeah, even down here in the land of the bible thumpers and racist, homophobic Jesus freaks.
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In other words, I hear you, sister.
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oh wait, that's a good thing.
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http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2004/purple_america_2004.gif
I wish they'd chose different colors though. This one gets the point across ok but something like bright-yellow and dark blue would have been more informative. (maybe I'll work on it myself.)
I agree with you about the divisive and useless "arguments" are choose to make that really do nothing more than demonize those who voted for Bush. I was pretty angry there for a while and actually said at one point that I'm ashamed to be an American... because I am automatically lumped in with this country that IMO made such a poor choice. ah *heavy sigh*. What helped me overcome that was a little education. The problem was I just could not fathom how in the world anyone could vote for that man. He rubs me in exactly the wrong way in probably every way possible. And on top of that, he seems like such a complete idiot, which ... ah... you know. my immediate thought is, wouldn't you have to be an idiot in order to vote for one?
well, I learned that people didn't vote for Bush so much as they voted for his religious beliefs. That's what really cinched it. As far as I can tell there are two big camps of people who voted for Bush.
1) the camp I already mentioned. people who have strong religious beliefs and for whom the gay-marriage issue was just too much to deal with. I'm told (and believe) that as people grow they're ability to handle complexity in life increases... but when people are confronted by an issue that runs totally counter to their core belief system then they'll rush away from complexity and take the simple, hard-line road in order to fight against what threatens their core.
2) conservatives who didn't hear a positive message about Kerry. There was such a loud/shrill "anybody but Bush" mantra coming from the Democratic party that it's the only message most people ended up hearing. all the more rational discussions were lost or drown out. in the end, people didn't hear a reason to vote for Kerry and voted for Bush simply because change is scary.
what I find more disturbing right now though is how the leadership of the Republican party is more or less ignoring the dissenting opinion. You're absolutely right when you say the margin is really pretty small. A record number of people voted for Bush (I hear from the White House Chief of Staff) but a record number also voted against him (from Howard Dean). Republicans I hear on the news though keep saying over and over again that Bush now has "political capital" (which he says he intends to spend) and something about a "clear mandate", blah blah.... Our own leaders (especially that divider who likes to call himself a uniter) are painting the country simple red and blue, not purple, for political reasons. The rhetoric coming out of the White House drives the anger. He does it in order to increase his power, but it's just so bad for the country. I hear historically speaking there was a time back near the birth of our country, and of course around the time of the Civil War, that our country was more divided than it is now, but this has to be the worst since the late 1800's. it's foolish decision to push your own agenda at the expense of alienating half the country, especially at a time like this. So many people are participating though, and that scares me.
we need a "madness" map. or maybe a dogma map... or people who handle complexity well vs. poorly map. I'm thinking, right now, the "poorly" side would be winning hands down.
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p.s. Happy Belated Birthday. I'm a jerk for not saying something on your day. Hope it was good.
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I have always known that the South is full of progressives, and that even in the days of segregation there were Southerners in Congress who, on issues other than race (on which they had to be reactionary in order to even be elected) were strong supporters of progressive positions. I can feel sympathy for progressives in the South, especially since I live in one of California's "blue" counties. I'm probably surrounded by as many hard-core reactionaries as you are.
In any case, I've never thought of Texas as an entirely Southern state. It's as much, if not more, Western as Southern, and I'm more inclined to see its strong support for Bush as a result of the set of frontier beliefs that prevails on the great plains than of its connection to the Confederacy.
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And you're right, Texas is a strange hybrid sort of state...not completely southern, not completely western.
I suspect that many of the people who voted for Bush had all sorts of different reasons...and certainly not any that could be understood by region, given that Bush had strong bases of support in almost every state.
The issues need to be approached as transcending borders, because in my mind at least, they really do.
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Pollsters.....
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These "blue state" "red state" comments that have begun settling into snotty pop culture lingo is really irritating.
My mother - a native Texan - has been a staunch liberal all her life. She's worked for a number of causes, namely women's rights and abortion rights (she was one of the core group of women here in Dallas who got Roe vs. Wade to the Supreme Court). An activist friend of my mother who switched off with her to drive our car-pool was Ann Richards, well before she ever thought of running for governor. There are MANY people in this state - and throughout the South - who have no Republican leanings whatsoever.
And, by the way, Dallas - known for YEARS as the most conservative city in Texas - gained Democratic votes this election. Voters are now 50-50. We are neither red NOR blue. And Dallas voted an openly gay, Hispanic woman to be SHERIFF.
But the South has gotten a bad rap for years. Political correctness has made it off-limits to ridicule racial minorities and the "mentally challenged," but it's always fine to perpetuate tired cliches about all those stupid and racist red-neck Southerners.
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Pefect description.
And I love, love, love Ann Richards. : )
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It is particularly vivid given that some of the most extreme racists, homophobes and sexists in major office in modern times were Democrats before the Civil Rights Act/Voting Rights Act and for the past fourty years or so have been Republicans. I find it particularly hard to ignore when South Carolina elected a prominant (ex?) segregationist to Congress every election between 1954 and 2000.
I do not mean to suggest that everyone in the south is bad. Nor do I intend to discount the people there who are doing the hard work. Rather I am pissed on their behalf that they start behind the 8-ball because of issues that should have been sorted out at the end of the Civil War (well, they should have been sorted out much earlier.
But I don't want to gloss over those regional differences either (differences that are just as much forty years old or twenty years old as they are one-hundred and fifty years old). Nor do I believe this is a matter of the blue states having to be more understanding of regional differences. I expect those vocal minorities in the South to take the confederate flag off the statehouse. And I am disapointed that this late, so many people sit by passively and let the confederate flag, and all it symbolizes, live as a symbol of how far the South has refused to budge.
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The south does not have the monopoly on racism, ignorance, or fundamentalism. Some of the worst racism I've ever seen was actually far outside the south. I don't expect anyone to be more understanding of regional differences...chances are they won't be unless they come and live down here for a while. What I do expect is for people to clean their own house before they come and start gleefully and maliciously pointing out the dirt in my corners.
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I am sick to death of people posting these smug "look how things haven't changed" maps on LJ. Even "back then"--the North had just as much backward rascism going on, but wow, it wasn't labeled "slavery." That in and of itself is a simplistic statement but I won't even get into it here, and I am hardly a historian.
But, I won't stop here. There is rascism, yes, even in *GASP* Europe!!! And not ONLY against one kind of people!!
People suck. No one is better than anyone else. They all fight to be, but they aren't.
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i got So. Much. ATTITUDE when i first announced we were moving to TX. i know part of it was the sheer cognitive dissonance of Cranky Black-clad Rothko entering the Land of Howdy Y'All, but there was a lot more to it than that, from many. "texas?! good god, WHY?!?!" my attempt to placate them with "dude, austin is sorta like cambridge, only friendly" were met with extreme cynicism. "but it's texas," was the standard reply. not everybody was like this, certainly, but i heard it enough that it really pissed me off. like *every single resident* of *every northern state* is that damn much more "enlightened." please.
tell me why massachusetts and minnesota, both historically democrat states, have continually elected republican governors and professional wrestlers for *years*, and then get back to me on the whole southern thing, k?
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And I can't wait to hear how it is to live in Austin. I've recently been pondering how it would be to move back to Texas to be closer to my family. But I've only lived there as a dependent, so I don't know how it would be to live there as an independent adult. Please do report!
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Sorry for the governors...
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Bush has already disproved his claim that he is a "uniter, not a divider". Let's not contribute, y'all.
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I understand where you're coming from - really.
If people are gonna bust on the far away New Yorkers rather than try to effect change locally, they're just as bad as the people they're putting down. Yeah I see a certain amount of what you're talking about here, but it's mostly from New Yorkers who don't KNOW what the south is like, have never lived there. Their idea of "the South" is visiting grandma down in Miami or Orlando. Likewise if you've never visited NY then it's easy to put that place down too. I've seen enough of the south to know better, and my arguments are not based on where people live so much as how well they are educated. Poor education is a problem that exists ALL OVER THE PLACE - including where I live, especially in the inner city.
Do you know where the term "Hick" as a putdown for farmers originates? It's the surname of a prominent, wealthy family of LONG ISLAND farmers (http://www.antonnews.com/hicksvilleillustratednews/2004/10/15/obituaries/) who got up the noses of the more industrially minded, city-living Gold Coast millionaires - the Vanderbilts in particular in the early 20th century because they wouldn't fall for games that were designed to do them out of their land. Specifically, lands that were owned by the Hicks and other Quakers in the middle of Long Island were not sold to one of the Vanderbilts so that he could build a private motor parkway to the Hamptons. The road had to be built around the Quaker community of Jericho because of the stubbornness of the Hicks. You can still see where the road takes an otherwise illogical turn around the area if you follow maps for the Northern State and Meadowbrook parkways.
This caused rancor, and so at the parties these more industrially minded millionaires started to get into this trip that those FARMERS, those HICKS, were really annoying... that is where the whole thing comes from and as you can see it's pretty stupid no matter where it is happening.
Democrats divided will equal Democrats steamrollered for election after election. Yeah, everybody is pissed off right now but for crying out loud, remember who the real bad guys are already. If you fall into the same old trap of focusing on where people live then you're just as bad as the ones who are doing it elsewhere. The problem is all over the country. Don't assume all New Yorkers are saying "where you live is the problem", because I am not one of them. Turning around and saying where NEW YORKERS live is the problem is an equally ignorant generalization. How many people where you are know that there are STILL WORKING FARMS on Long Island, hmmmm? Regards to you all from Hicksville, New York! ;-7
Oh, kick ass icon, BTW.
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Re: I understand where you're coming from - really.
And don't get me wrong, I am all for ranting about the reasons that Bush is still president. We need to rant about it. We need to do something about the issues behind our anger. I agree with you completely...it's about education and it's a national problem, not a regional one. And my complaint was not directed at any person north of the Mason-Dixon line who had a bitch; it was directed at those who were making a point of blaming the lost election on these regional lines that really are not an accurate picture of what went on in the election at all.
My problem was not with the ranters. My problem was with this (http://www.livejournal.com/users/jamie_miller/606825.html?nc=2) sort of thing, both in visuals and commentary. (And I don't even know this guy and don't mean to single him out. He was just the quickest route to the maps I was bitching about. I know nothing about him at all.)
No doubt at all that we will get there. I saw this somewhere else yesterday (I wish I could remember where...I am pretty sure it was in someone's journal) and I can't think of any more appropriate quote to reflect how I see things on my own particular horizon:
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant. --Martin Luther King
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Re: I understand where you're coming from - really.
There is a great deal of power in knowing the origins of terms. The fact that this pejorative dates back to a time when Long Island was mostly rural farmland takes a lot of wind out of the sails of current New Yorkers who'd use it against others even while they're living on that erstwhile farmland... as well as people NOT from New York who'd think it was only ever used against THEM. It's a little parable that truly shows that no one area in the country has any sort of a monopoly on prejudice of any type. (Incidentally if you read Mr. Hicks' obit you'll see that this family has NEVER been a group of poorly educated hayseeds.)
We sure see eye to eye. One of my other friends,
Also, would you mind if I friended you? In general I am a little shy about friending people out of the blue, but you seem pretty neat. *chuckle*
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Re: I understand where you're coming from - really.
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Red and Blue
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This is what I've been trying to formulate into words for a week now.
Thank you, from the bottom of my born-and-bred southern heart.
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Thank you for your refreshing and interesting post.
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I have got to call you one of these days to hear your friendly voice. What's the best number these days?
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Thank you, thank you, thank you...
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I'm a little sick of the south-bashing myself, but when the vote turned on "moral issues", it's hard not to accept it. :(
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You're totally entitled to your rant, CC, but I would suggest channeling the resentment against the electoral college. Until that's abolished, regional division will continue unabated. Sadly, I find myself in a red state this time around. I also find the maps pretty humorous. And some of them quite disturbing for the history not overcome that they reflect. (And you know I know a bit about the dead wrong-ness of simplifying racist history into a regional morality play.)
Finally, I'd say there's no need to take offense on behalf of the incomprehensible majority of voters that supported Bush in the South and Midwest. 'Cause those folks are the real targets of the maps and consternation.