Comments | liberalrage: Why Won't Dixie Die?

luna_k in liberalrage

Why Won't Dixie Die?

Oct 05, 2005 15:01

This is certainly interesting. Apparently, there's a community in Utah founded by displayed Southerners in the 1850's that is trying to hold on to the Dixie heritage. From today's WaPo:
To many, "Dixie" is a place name for the generic South. To others, particularly African Americans and those sensitive to their feelings, the name harks back to ( Read more... )

virginia, utah, race, media:wp, red states

Comments 12

easilyirritable October 5 2005, 19:19:32 UTC

Dude. I never made the connection between all of the Dixie shit in Utah and the Dixie of the Old South. DUH! But yeah, there's LOADS of Dixie related shit in Utah.

I'm SO GLAD I'm out of there.

luna_k October 5 2005, 19:44:24 UTC

I've always wanted to visit Utah for the gorgeous mountains and valleys, but honestly I don't think I could make it there more than a week.

I'm glad you're out of there too. ;)

easilyirritable October 5 2005, 19:54:41 UTC

Utah is definitely good for visiting, as the natural environment is simply gorgeous. Salt Lake City itself is fairly liberal as far as Utah cities go. I really liked it. But I can't live there.

ladyoneill October 5 2005, 19:24:53 UTC

Except for Kansas, of course. At least we have the Free State thing going for us in this time of intense redness. *sigh* That map isn't completely accurate as Kansas came into the US as a free state in 1861 (true, after the start of the Civil War) but before that, whether or not the government thought it was open to slavery, intense battles were fought throughout the 1850s over the issue, including the one that burned my town.

My town was founded by abolitionists, mostly Unitarians and Congregationalist. :)

luna_k October 5 2005, 19:43:17 UTC

The evolution of Kansas into this Republican stronghold always makes me sad. It started out such a great place - how did it end up like this? Bleh.

ladyoneill October 5 2005, 22:01:21 UTC

It's really sad. Kansas used to be a Republican state because of the large number of farmers. Strong families, middle of the road Christians, with small family farms and businesses. They looked to the Republican party because it was the party that supported the farms and believed in the non-interference in private life that conservatives used to want. I would bet a lot of Kansas Republicans are scratching their heads about the changes in the party--sadly not enough to do much about it ( ... )

(The comment has been removed)

luna_k October 5 2005, 20:02:07 UTC

Hey West Virginia! My grandmother's family was from Charleston and Huntington. It's a beautiful state, a formerly solid Democratic state too, and I can't believe Dubya snatched it out from under us. Grrrr.

For the most part, even all the closeminded rednecks here seem to know that waving that flag is pretty much like waving a swastika (another symbol that has benign origins, but we all know what it represents now).

Exatly! See, that's what I try to tell people, but I guess in parts of the country people don't want to see Earth Logic.

The weird thing is, she's a liberal lesbian, so I was shocked at her speech. But I guess being raised in Texas explains it. :/The Texas thing has a lot to do with it, but you know living in the DC area I'm shocked at how many gay people I meet who are staffers for Republican Senators or working at GOP think tanks, and perfectly happy to go along with their gay lifestyle while working for people who want to destroy their rights. Some people have a way of looking at the world that makes absolutely no ( ... )

delilahkanes October 6 2005, 00:07:40 UTC

Being Texan doesn't explain it. Born and raised, and absolutely nobody I know can condone or support the Confederate flag and it's symbolism. We think it's on par with the Nazi flag ( ... )

xcacophony October 5 2005, 20:01:30 UTC

I moved to a more rural area of Texas two years ago, and now I see the confedorate flag often (whereas when I lived in the city, I only saw it once). The main excuse I get from those I've asked about it is that here, it's believed to be a show of pride over their southern history and uber-conservative views their lifestyle. It's not, however, seen as promoting slavery, which they will not acknowledge as part of southern history.

I feel like I'm surrounded by beings with dangerously low abilities to think freely. Urgh.

luna_k October 5 2005, 20:06:56 UTC

No matter how often people try to tell me it's about history and pride (NOT SLAVERY!) I'm never going to get it. Either people think I'm too stupid to know what it really stands for, or they're too stupid to realize it themselves.

I feel like I'm surrounded by beings with dangerously low abilities to think freely. Urgh.

Word.

gigglestheblood October 5 2005, 20:23:20 UTC

I went to Dixie college a few times for State Academic Decathlon and ya know what their 'mascot' is? The Rebels. That always confused the hell out of me, why on earth would there be a Dixie College at all in St. George and why would they call themselves the Rebels? That part of Utah might have been full of southerners in 1850 but now it's just full of drunken college students from northern Utah and retired people, calling it Dixie makes absolutely no sense.