I have to disagree w/ Ani... my partner & I grew up in the south, and both o us have lived in "liberal" (and I use those quotation marks judiciously... I am so liberal that I'd have probably been on "the list" if I had lived in the 50's) places whre everybody "just gets along." And you know, when it comes to prejudice, I prefer the south... in p.c. places, ppl pretend that they aren't prejudiced, because it's "just not right." Maybe they are educated, and middle class (or at least with pretensions and/ or aspirations of same), and they keep in their little enclaves of people who look and talk and think just like they do, and easily spout platitudes of divesity and equality.
Like, it's easy to talk about the problems of the world if those problems are intellectualized, and somewhat distant form your lived reality. And it's easy to be very open and gracious and generous of spirit if you are comfortable in your life.
When I lived in the south, I always knew where I stood. Race relations were real, lived experiences, not theoretical concepts.
Of course, I still prefer to be out of there, because I couldn;t handle being around such overt classism/ racism/ heterosexism/ etc. I actually do prefer to be where people at least make an effort. Or pretend to.
I have to disagree w/ Ani... my partner & I grew up in the south, and both o us have lived in "liberal" (and I use those quotation marks judiciously... I am so liberal that I'd have probably been on "the list" if I had lived in the 50's) places whre everybody "just gets along." And you know, when it comes to prejudice, I prefer the south... in p.c. places, ppl pretend that they aren't prejudiced, because it's "just not right." Maybe they are educated, and middle class (or at least with pretensions and/ or aspirations of same), and they keep in their little enclaves of people who look and talk and think just like they do, and easily spout platitudes of divesity and equality.
Like, it's easy to talk about the problems of the world if those problems are intellectualized, and somewhat distant form your lived reality. And it's easy to be very open and gracious and generous of spirit if you are comfortable in your life.
When I lived in the south, I always knew where I stood. Race relations were real, lived experiences, not theoretical concepts.
Of course, I still prefer to be out of there, because I couldn;t handle being around such overt classism/ racism/ heterosexism/ etc. I actually do prefer to be where people at least make an effort. Or pretend to.