And from the same trash paper that published a screed by Charlie Brooker calling for the assassination of W if he won in 2004. Beer drinkers for Obama: Many southerners are leaving behind the region’s racist history and embracing the idea of a black president
I was headed into my local grocer in Durham, North Carolinalast weekend when I saw a startling sight. A pickup truck of early 1990s era was in the carpark, and scrawled across the side of it in big, carefully-lettered permanent marker were the words “Southern White Hard-Working Beer-Drinking Gun-Owning White Man In His 50s FOR OBAMA!”, with the last two words drawn about eighteen inches high.
The “writer,” Terry Mancour, continues on for several paragraphs, mentioning how important The Pickup Truck is to Southern life, mentioning NASCAR and other means to paint pickup truck owners as sorta racist.
Admittedly, we are in a solidly-Democratic city with a large African-American population, with one of the most liberal private universities in the nation and the South’s second highest lesbian population. If you travel 50 miles in any direction from Durham, you emerge into the “real” rural South, famed in song, story and film for its quaint cultural attitudes, casual violence, extreme politeness and devout religious piety. And, of course, its racial insecurity.
Solidly Democrat. Yes. Voted 70% for Kerry in 2004. UNC Chapel Hill is certainly more liberal then Duke. Never heard the thing about lesbians. And it also has a huge segment of Hispanics, who are mostly legal workers as well as illegal aliens, since Durham is a sanctuary city.
And, if you go 50 miles, you include Chapel Hill, one of the most liberal cities in The South. You run into the state capital of Raleigh, not exactly a small town. Burlington. Cary. Apex. Get close to Greensboro. All areas that have seen a massive influx of Northerners, and the towns and counties they are in tend to vote Democrat. So, seems that Terry’s argument is painting Democrats as, you got it!!!!….. racists.
I gotta tell you, I am a bit annoyed by the article. I could probably excerpt the whole thing, but, I suggest reading it to see the standard liberal viewpoint of the South. I live right down the road from Durham, and I embrace the Southern style of living, which does not include half as much racism as one would find in the hard edged blue cities. And racism works both ways. If I was a liberal, I would probably call for a boycott, a petition, then go egg his house. But, I am a conservative, so, I will be an adult.
OK, two last excerpts
Sometimes it’s slightly more subtle. Another lady from my church, one I privately called “the Right Arm Of God” – not because of her observed piety, I should probably point out, but for her excessive zeal in protecting her daughter’s virtue – is upset that I’ve been vocal in support of Obama in public where people can see. “I hope you’ll use that intellect to get the right man elected,” she cautions me. I don’t need to be a genius to figure out what she means.
But sometimes you find relief from the ignorance in unexpected places. Like when my brother-in-law, a deputy sheriff, epitome of Southern conservative power, pulled into my driveway and nodded to my Obama sticker. “I’m gonna vote for that sumb*tch,” he expressed, colourfully. “Looks like McCain’s gonna be another term for George Bush, and I’d rather vote for a damn Muslim negro than that.” And no, he didn’t use the word “negro”. It was the same day I saw that pick-up truck with the proud pro-Obama message.
In other words, if you criticize Obama, and don’t vote for him, you are a racist. If you vote for him, you aren’t. Makes one wonder who the real racists are.
PS: One of the reasons I started blogging was that it was cathartic, getting it on “paper,” but, I’m still a bit ticked off.
