Word.

I hope you broke the [censored]'s nose.

All my life, I've had friends of different races. Until I moved to New Orleans. Here, the blacks want nothing to do with the whites, as a rule. I have a few black friends, but most of them are co-workers and we were able to develop a friendship over time. Never in my life have I been exposed to racism such as this.

That's quite surprising -- is the integration all a show put on for the tourists then? When I was there a few years ago, the best street-corner jazz band I saw in the French Quarter was three black guys, two white guys, and a Japanese guy, the city mayor at the time was black, all the restaurants and bars I went too seemed sensibly cosmopolitan, and all-in-all the place had every sign of having outgrown its unfortunate racial history. It's sad to hear that that's not actually the case.

Peter

If it is his real opinion, everybody else should respect that, like everybody wants his opinion respected by others.

It is not his opinions that offend. It is his way of expressing them. I don't respect his language, nor should I be asked to.

Ninti, I let the origional comment go because there ARE some pretty bad attitudes in the "south", but it's by no means a good way to characterize the place. There are bad attitudes everywhere in the U.S. and I'm sorry you have to feel like isolating out a particular region. I love Texas, and while we have problems here (like anywhere else), the people here are more considerate and kind that most other places I've been. In fact, I appreciate a lot of what I've experienced as "the south" and believe it to be truly a great place to live. Don't let a few bad apples ruin the batch, and please don't characterize an entire region of people by a few negative attributes you might have isolated in your experience.

Oh, and this is a little late, but I have to try:

What does it feel like to be "offended"? I honestly don't know what's it like. Please, someone try to offend me. I would like a taste of my own medicine.

Liberal!

It's sad to hear that that's not actually the case.

Sad to say but it's true from what I saw, we went there when I was in college. We stupidly had never been there and chose a cheap hotel, one night as we were walking back a fairly nice cab driver pulled over and pretty much asked us to please get in, in a drunken stuper we agreed. He was a black gentleman who explained we were risking our lives walking down the street in that area because we were white. He was actually very cool, he dropped us off at our hotel and took what money we had (we'd spent most of our money at the bars, he basically gave us our cab ride). So yeah he was cool, but still a scary situation. We asked and confirmed this with a police officer the next night when our carriage was struck by a cab, no animals or people harmed. So basically we learned some areas just aren't safe for white people, and cab drivers there drive like maniacs.

Ninti, I let the origional comment go because there ARE some pretty bad attitudes in the "south"

I grew up in Kentucky, live very close to DC now. I've spent some time in California and a few other places throughout our country. It's the same every where you go. I used to get offended, but I'm so used to redneck jokes it doesn't really phase me anymore, funny how the mentallity that it's OK to stereotype certain groups of people work. For the record, I'm not racist, I'm very liberal, don't have an accent and yes wear shoes in public.

I'm having a hard time understanding why this branch of the discussion has continued past this point.

Well, what happened is that the offensive language he was using struck a chord with someone on the BBS. Using a derogatory term for any group is very demeaning to anyone in that group, even if the person offended wasn’t the intended target. While racist language shouldn’t be used at any time or place, doing so on an international BBS is just inviting someone to be hurt and offended by your words.

Should people take the moral high ground and ignore such slanders? It’d probably be the healthiest and most profitable reaction, but it also isn’t reasonable when dealing with human nature. It’s hard to ignore demeaning insults, and one shouldn’t be surprise that poking a sensitive spot should elicit a negative reaction.

I choose the words I put down on this board. I don't "react" to other people's (whoever they may be) inflamatory comments. He only puts his bait out because you take it.

Like yourself I try not to let people control me with their words. I’m not perfect in this area, however, and I know that there are offenses that would be too great that I would have to speak out, and probably in a very negative manner. It’s easy to tell someone they shouldn’t be offended when the slanderous words weren’t aimed at you. I have no idea what being called a “raghead” would mean to me if I were in Heather’s shoes.

Unfortunately this IS the case. On the strip, Bourbon street is pretty safe and cosmopolitan simply because that's the way the quarter is. Just be very very careful when you start walking 2-3 blocks off the main drag. Things get a LOT darker. Less traffic lights and less traffic, less people which means less witnesses. It's a very dangerous place to be, regardless of your color, but particularly if you're white. You're obviously out of place then and as such, a target.

As far as the mayor being black, consider that New Orleans proper is more than 50% black. It makes sense that the mayor would also be black.

Another interesting thing to note is that in New Orleans, over 50% of the males of working age are unemployeed. This is what leads to much of the crime problems downtown. This is also why I don't live and work in New Orleans proper. I live and work in the burbs, and very very rarely go into the city. And then, never for fun, it's all work. When I first moved here, I both lived and worked in the city. Never again.

And while I was in N.O. most recently, the lede on the news was re: white tourists murdered by black gang-bangers, and the African-American mayor was embroiled in a huge, raging scandal. Yes, the big Southern cities can still have problems.

You're on the right track, but let's try this:

Only a closeted, candy-assed, liberal do-gooder would actually apologize to a bunch of losers for "offending" them.

Did I manage to get everybody with that one, or is \[[censored]]\ still unscathed?

OK, time to weigh in on "the South" (which may "rise again," according to some, may the Lord have mercy on their souls).

Having already admitted to having a lineage that includes Gen. Lee (the Civil War era historical figure, not the disco-era TV show prop), I feel that 8 generations of Southern So-Called Aristocracy (ha!) qualifies me to contribute .02+.02.

I've lived in Colorado for 12 years, having left North Carolina over *exactly* the issues some have raised here re: racism and intolerance. Funny thing about the move: when I arrived, all the watercooler talk was about how a Colorado Springs org. called "Focus on the Family" (btw, founded by a local used-car salesman) was spearheading anti-Gay campaigns. Then Matthew Shepard was beaten to death in WY. I'm not Gay, but it goes to show: everywhere you go, there you are.

SWMBO, on the other hand, believes most of the stereotypes of southerners out there (and reflected here) are driven by Hollywood's on-going "Deliverance" obsession. She insists the enclave of enlightenment around Appalachian State University where she was raised (and hung out in coffee shops with Tom Robbins and Orson Scott Card) was never like that. Fine and dandy.

In summary, I know from whence these stereotypes come. They are rarely complete fabrications, but the blanket completeness of them is clearly fabricated from whole cloth. It's always all the pesky exceptions that disprove a "rule."

The way in which 9/11 changed me is that I would once have quoted somebody with whom I share the experience of being beaten up by racist cops (and I'm white): "Can't we all just get along?" Recent history shows the unfortunate answer all too clearly. Striving for civil discource on this board is well and good, but what happens when that guy and his lawyer show back up at Heather's workplace? I'm guessing more than the exchange of kind words....