[Jack of Arcades]

I really don't know how to say what I'm about to say, but I think it needs to be said and I'll just write and not think about it too much.

I've lived in the south almost all of my life, mostly in south-central Louisiana where some people know there's a significant black population.

Many people get the wrong idea about the South. There aren't many overt racists here - in fact, what's misconstrued as racism is some combination of cultural insensitivity and classism. I guess that's kind've like saying the blacks that act white are okay, but there's really just one subset of people that are really annoying/hated around here, and those are the [censored]. I'm sure you can figure out the censored word, but it starts with an N. Think Chris Rock's bit about [censored] and black people. Of course what you consider a [censored] is really a gradient scale that roughly correlates with how old you are.

For example: my grandmother thinks all black people are [censored]. She's also in her 80s and senile.

Example 2: My mother has a condescending view of most blacks but she hangs out with them, does business with them, etc. She really only has a problem with the ones that are poor. It's a bit of subtle racism that I don't know if it's better or worse than the overt type, you know?

Example 3: Me, I guess. I hate stupid people. This is comprised of a lot of blacks. I think it's important to point out that my generation also hates the stupid white people, too.

The people that are displaying the confederate flag, I think, fall mostly into example 2. It's not an out-and-out racism but I think most people who display it do it with the intent of a bit of a riling up and they hide behind the ideas of states rights and heritage. Obviously it isn't all of them I've known some outright racists and some people that actually DO believe about heritage, etc. But I do wonder why people need to celebrate such a heritage...

Meh. I dunno.