5 ms·

If this is true, it's insane. Really, in a "civilised" country ?

• sterlind 5y ago
  the evidence seems plentiful and high-quality. parts of the deep South are really weird and terrifying like this. there's snake-handling churches in the Georgia county my dad grew up in. the Baptist church was desegregated in the late '90s, and a school in another area apparently had segregated proms in the 2000s. but then there's also Atlanta which is hip and developed. so the big metro areas are fine, things just get real weird in the sticks.
  • snedfree 5y ago
    Rutherford County, TN isn't Deep South or even particularly rural; with a population of more than a third of a million, it's a one of the primary suburban/exurban appendages of metro Nashville and is home to the 2nd largest university in the state. I don't see any reason to doubt the veracity of the story, though; it seems pretty well investigated and reported.
• tgv 5y ago
  When there's no oversight by decent people, this can happen. Hence the importance of fair elections, education, and scrutiny, in particular for corruption.
  • snedfree 5y ago
    One town in Rutherford Co re-elected the same corrupt mayor for decades on end; he was the longest serving elected official in state history. Over the course of his administration he stole the contemporary equivalent of millions of dollars from the small town, which had a population of a thousand or so during his tenure. He won his last election (with ~80% of the vote) while actively & publicly embroiled in the lawsuit that would ultimately cause the state supreme court to order his removal from office. After he was forced out, the town's elected council immediately appointed the town manager, his twin brother, as temporary replacement; his twin announced he'd just do whatever his deposed brother told him to do... and won his own election in this platform. One resident, when interviewed about the affair, admitted the former mayor was corrupt and a thief, but defended his record saying he was a good old boy and "never did anything bad-wrong" like murder. One of the town's major thoroughfares is named after this long-(self)serving mayor and he's still revered with nearly saint-like status in that town.
• hnbad 5y ago
  You may not know this but your question is somewhat ironic. The narrative of doing this "for their own good" is a lot like the language used to justify abducting children from native families in North America to "kill the savage, save the child" and "civilize" those children in white schools. "Civilized" is an extremely loaded term and it's worth reflecting on whom we label as "uncivilized" and how we actually behave in comparison.
  • x86_64Ubuntu 5y ago
    There was an incredible amount of what they call "white paternalism" from the the people in the article. Historically, natives and blacks were seen of as deserving of state backed abuse and destruction in the name of "civilization". Even General Lee wrote in his letter to his wife: "The painful discipline they are undergoing, is necessary for their instruction as a race, & I hope will prepare & lead them to better things. How long their subjugation may be necessary is known & ordered by a wise Merciful Providence." when referring to African slavery.