5 ms·

The South keeps coming off as racist/homophobic these days, constantly. So does a fair bit of the Midwest. I have this weird allergy to that.

by pnathan 10y ago

my_first_acct 10y ago
Can't speak for the rest of the South, but Houston (which you might or might not count as a Southern city) elected an openly gay woman as mayor in 2009 [1]. The current mayor is African-American [2]. Obviously, looking at mayoral demographics is a pretty crude way of judging a city's tolerance, but it is better than extrapolating from news reports, which can hardly give a detailed picture of a region that encompasses a dozen or so states. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annise_Parker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annise_Parker [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_Turner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_Turner
- Arizhel 10y ago
  To be fair, Texas isn't really part of the "Deep South", and isn't really known to be as backwards and racist as places like MS, AL, etc.
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    > Texas isn't really part of the "Deep South" I dunno, it seceded to protect slavery from twice as many countries as any other state in the South; that's got to count for something.
    - Arizhel 10y ago
      Tennessee seceded in the Civil War too but it's not part of the Deep South either. I think Arkansas did too, and that's definitely not part of the "South" at all. Same goes for Missouri.
dakrootie 10y ago
So I see you've learned everything you know about the South from TV/movies. When you get a chance, visit (in person) Jacksonville, Savannah, Asheville, Charleston, Austin, Birmingham, Atlanta...and on and on. It's amazing how they're just like the other non-hateful cities from time to time.
- greglindahl 10y ago
  I grew up in the south, and it really hasn't changed.
  - WillPostForFood 10y ago
    You are old enough to know better than that. No difference between Ivan Allen and Shirley Franklin?
    - greglindahl 10y ago
      I am old enough to remember when Jeff Sessions was radioactive enough to not be confirmed by the US Senate. What more needs to be said?
      - WillPostForFood 10y ago
        That the Senate isn't the south, and the Senate used to have an ex-Klansman in it (Robert Byrd), so even the Senate is better than it used to be.

The South keeps coming off as racist/homophobic these days, constantly. So does a fair bit of the Midwest. I have this weird allergy to that.

by pnathan 10y ago

The South keeps coming off as racist/homophobic these days, constantly. So does a fair bit of the Midwest. I have this weird allergy to that.

my_first_acct 10y ago

Can't speak for the rest of the South, but Houston (which you might or might not count as a Southern city) elected an openly gay woman as mayor in 2009 [1]. The current mayor is African-American [2]. Obviously, looking at mayoral demographics is a pretty crude way of judging a city's tolerance, but it is better than extrapolating from news reports, which can hardly give a detailed picture of a region that encompasses a dozen or so states. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annise_Parker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annise_Parker [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_Turner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_Turner

Arizhel 10y ago
To be fair, Texas isn't really part of the "Deep South", and isn't really known to be as backwards and racist as places like MS, AL, etc.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > Texas isn't really part of the "Deep South" I dunno, it seceded to protect slavery from twice as many countries as any other state in the South; that's got to count for something.
  - Arizhel 10y ago
    Tennessee seceded in the Civil War too but it's not part of the Deep South either. I think Arkansas did too, and that's definitely not part of the "South" at all. Same goes for Missouri.

dakrootie 10y ago

So I see you've learned everything you know about the South from TV/movies. When you get a chance, visit (in person) Jacksonville, Savannah, Asheville, Charleston, Austin, Birmingham, Atlanta...and on and on. It's amazing how they're just like the other non-hateful cities from time to time.

greglindahl 10y ago
I grew up in the south, and it really hasn't changed.
- WillPostForFood 10y ago
  You are old enough to know better than that. No difference between Ivan Allen and Shirley Franklin?
  - greglindahl 10y ago
    I am old enough to remember when Jeff Sessions was radioactive enough to not be confirmed by the US Senate. What more needs to be said?
    - WillPostForFood 10y ago
      That the Senate isn't the south, and the Senate used to have an ex-Klansman in it (Robert Byrd), so even the Senate is better than it used to be.