With the Russian invasion of Georgia (the one on the Eurasian continent, not the one on the North American continent), and Google Maps’ colossal blunder in locating the correct Georgia, we once again are going to be subjected to comments such as these.
- From Mark O’Neill, contributing writer at Geeks Are Sexy:
you?ve probably still got the crazies in Georgia, USA hiding in the bushes with their shotguns waiting for the Russian tanks to come rumbling past muttering to themselves ?that Google map thingie said they were coming!? Gotta stay vigilant!
- From freebsdgirl, commenter at Valleywag:
I *do* know what it’s like in the south, and the post that was made on Yahoo! Answers was completely typical.
Do you honestly think that people in the South aren’t racist? Think again. What does MARTA stand for again? Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta, or so I’ve been told *many* times. Just because whites are a minority in Georgia (ed. note: not according to current Census Bureau figures) doesn’t mean that they aren’t making all the comments their grandparents made when they think no one is listening. Also, when is the last time you saw a Mexican in Georgia in a suit?
Sigh.? Here we go again with the stereotypes.? Apparently they think it’s okay, though, because this is a Politically Correct stereotype, the Ignorant Redneck Southerner.? Sorry, folks, your high-mindedness is badly misplaced.? It’s NOT okay.? Bigotry is bigotry, just as ugly when it’s PC as when it’s not.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going into the studio to do a little cleaning while Gretchen Wilson’s cranked up on my stereo…
Are you honestly telling me that you don’t have any crazy people in the state of Georgia?! If you don’t then you are very lucky indeed. I’m sure the other 49 states of the United States will be very jealous to hear that!
I wasn’t making any biased commentary on Georgia residents in general so I think you rushed to judgment on me and my article. I’m British and I actually have good friends in Georgia so I don’t have any axe to grind with southern Americans or any Americans for that matter.
So just lighten up, have a laugh and don’t be so quick to take offence!
Oh, believe me, bigots exist in Georgia … and they come in all colors. I live in a very ethnically diverse neighborhood, and my neighbors all like each other now… but the Vietnamese guy who used to own my house moved out because he didn’t like the Vietnamese man who lived two houses down. The black woman who lived next to me moved out because she thought my neighbor across the street had raised his dogs to hate black people (he’s gay, and he and his partner — who happens to be black–raised the dogs together. Dogs, btw, are colour-blind). The white man down the street dislikes his neighbors from El Salvador and calls them the “Guacamoles” (because he “can’t pronounce their name” —but he can say Guacamole?), and he isn’t real sure about my gay neighbor. The folks who lived in my house prior to the Vietnamese couple hated everyone, but when they were sent to jail (at least once a month) it was usually for battering each other.
The rest of us all get along just fine.
Yes, the South has legacies of racism. So does the North, for that matter. Yes, we have problems with neighborhoods and entire counties that were built around white flight. So do other neighborhoods in the north and west–residence based on exclusion, social class, and race is not unique to the south.
I guess what I’m trying to say in this long screed is that responding to this story about Yahoo’s stupid mistake with comments about racism and hatred in the South IS a form of stereotyping, and while I don’t take offence, I am saddened.
As for the crazies waiting for the troops to arrive? My bet is that they’re all in Homeland Insecurity.
I’ve never lived anywhere, or made an extended visit anywhere, that I didn’t run across evidence of prejudice and stereotyping among residents and visitors. Ironically, I’ve encountered a number of people who loudly proclaimed their enlightenment and lack of prejudice, yet who were actually among the worst about stereotyping others. They just choose “acceptable” groups such as older people, rednecks, and the overweight.
The last time I saw a Mexican in a suit? I’m not sure he’s Mexican, but I saw at least one person of Hispanic ethnicity in a suit on Monday at Fall Convocation.
Perpetrating these stereotypes in the media, no matter how cleverly done, isn’t helpful. Nor is telling someone to lighten up (ad hominem response). Ethnic/cultural jokes are in bad taste unless told by a member of that ethnic/cultural group. And, as my husband and one of his former co-workers concluded, it is NEVER, EVER appropriate for a Caucasian to say “Whazzup, nigga?” to an African-American even if they are BFF.
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