6 ms·

Regional elitism in the USA is definitely a form of soft caste system. If you are from the upper East coast or the West coast you are a member of a higher caste

by api 4y ago

Regional elitism in the USA is definitely a form of soft caste system. If you are from the upper East coast or the West coast you are a member of a higher caste than if you are from the interior, and inside the US there are definitely smaller caste differences. The South gets it the worst. When I was in college (University of Cincinnati) engineering students from the South were sometimes encouraged to lose their Southern accents because it made them sound "stupid." I heard a few stories about this.

mattcwilson 4y ago
Reminds me of: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albion's_Seed https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albion's_Seed
cebert 4y ago
I live in the Midwest in Michigan, and I can’t say that I feel like I’ve been treated as a lower caste in the Midwest. We have some wonderful learning institutions, such as the University of Michigan, and a lot of talented and individuals.
seneca 4y ago
This is maybe the strongest out-group bias in elite circles in the US currently. I believe that is largely because it is acceptable, or even required, in the current elite ideologies that dominate corporate and academic entities currently. And they hate to have it pointed out.
- api 4y ago
  I've thought for a long time that woke could get actual traction by being more woke and extending the concept of "-isms are not okay" to include American caste and regional elitisms and classism that isn't about race. A course on recognizing bias against lowland Southerners would be funny but not wrong or inappropriate and you'd see plenty of rich coastal fragility on display. Classism and regionalism are absolutely huge in this country, especially when those on the receiving end are not in a racial minority. But what would people do if there were no easily identifiable out groups to stereotype and mock?
floraandfauna 4y ago
As someone who grew up in the Deep South but studied and worked on the east coast for many years, I can confirm this to be 100% true. At a past job, I worked for a company headquartered on the upper east coast, but which had opened a "tech hub" in the mid-sized Southern city where I lived at the time. Some of my co-workers had fairly pronounced Southern accents and people in the home office would regularly laugh and make fun of them during meetings. And after I put in my notice, the tech lead on the project I was on declared, completely unprompted, during a completely unrelated call that "we haven't had any issues with code quality or anything, but Southerners are just slow. That's just how they are. It's the culture." I think that I will regret for the rest of my life not telling him to go eff himself right then and there. And I wish I could say that that was an exception to my experience elsewhere, but while living on the east coast I heard more offhand comments about "stupid Southerners" than I can count, often followed by an awkward "I mean, not you of course, you're different". Interestingly, many (but not all) of the same people who think it's funny to beat up on the South are also the most likely to make impassioned performative declarations of support for every DEI initiative they come across. The level of cognitive dissonance required to maintain that kind of mindset must be intense.
- carapace 4y ago
  For what it's worth, the stereotype of the "stupid Southerner" in America got started due to an absolutely massive hookworm infestation, "an average of 40% of school-aged children were infected with hookworm". The crazy thing is that it has handled a century ago yet the stereotype and prejudice still linger. > On October 26, 1909, the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease was organized as a result of a gift of US$1 million from John D. Rockefeller, Sr. The five-year program was a remarkable success and a great contribution to the United States' public health, instilling public education, medication, field work and modern government health departments in eleven southern states.[45] The hookworm exhibit was a prominent part of the 1910 Mississippi state fair. > The commission found that an average of 40% of school-aged children were infected with hookworm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookworm_infestation#Eradication_programmes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookworm_infestation#Eradicati...
- api 4y ago
capitalsigma 4y ago
Show me someone in tech with a strong Brooklyn or Boston accent.

by api 4y ago

mattcwilson 4y ago

Reminds me of: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albion's_Seed https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albion's_Seed

cebert 4y ago

I live in the Midwest in Michigan, and I can’t say that I feel like I’ve been treated as a lower caste in the Midwest. We have some wonderful learning institutions, such as the University of Michigan, and a lot of talented and individuals.

seneca 4y ago

This is maybe the strongest out-group bias in elite circles in the US currently. I believe that is largely because it is acceptable, or even required, in the current elite ideologies that dominate corporate and academic entities currently. And they hate to have it pointed out.

api 4y ago
I've thought for a long time that woke could get actual traction by being more woke and extending the concept of "-isms are not okay" to include American caste and regional elitisms and classism that isn't about race. A course on recognizing bias against lowland Southerners would be funny but not wrong or inappropriate and you'd see plenty of rich coastal fragility on display. Classism and regionalism are absolutely huge in this country, especially when those on the receiving end are not in a racial minority. But what would people do if there were no easily identifiable out groups to stereotype and mock?

floraandfauna 4y ago

As someone who grew up in the Deep South but studied and worked on the east coast for many years, I can confirm this to be 100% true. At a past job, I worked for a company headquartered on the upper east coast, but which had opened a "tech hub" in the mid-sized Southern city where I lived at the time. Some of my co-workers had fairly pronounced Southern accents and people in the home office would regularly laugh and make fun of them during meetings. And after I put in my notice, the tech lead on the project I was on declared, completely unprompted, during a completely unrelated call that "we haven't had any issues with code quality or anything, but Southerners are just slow. That's just how they are. It's the culture." I think that I will regret for the rest of my life not telling him to go eff himself right then and there. And I wish I could say that that was an exception to my experience elsewhere, but while living on the east coast I heard more offhand comments about "stupid Southerners" than I can count, often followed by an awkward "I mean, not you of course, you're different". Interestingly, many (but not all) of the same people who think it's funny to beat up on the South are also the most likely to make impassioned performative declarations of support for every DEI initiative they come across. The level of cognitive dissonance required to maintain that kind of mindset must be intense.

carapace 4y ago
For what it's worth, the stereotype of the "stupid Southerner" in America got started due to an absolutely massive hookworm infestation, "an average of 40% of school-aged children were infected with hookworm". The crazy thing is that it has handled a century ago yet the stereotype and prejudice still linger. > On October 26, 1909, the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease was organized as a result of a gift of US$1 million from John D. Rockefeller, Sr. The five-year program was a remarkable success and a great contribution to the United States' public health, instilling public education, medication, field work and modern government health departments in eleven southern states.[45] The hookworm exhibit was a prominent part of the 1910 Mississippi state fair. > The commission found that an average of 40% of school-aged children were infected with hookworm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookworm_infestation#Eradication_programmes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookworm_infestation#Eradicati...
api 4y ago

capitalsigma 4y ago

Show me someone in tech with a strong Brooklyn or Boston accent.