Race and the South

[jaboobyville]

I was just watching Mark Shields and David Brooks having one of their frequent conversations with Jim Lehrer on PBS. Mark Shields had some disturbing observations about voting trends among white southern voters

Comments

[jules1278]

As a Tennessean, it makes me uncomfortable, too. And really, really sad. :(

[likesoggycereal]

I'm from TN also, and I agree.

Most people I know voted McCain. There reasons weren't intelligent. Ridiculous things like, saying Obama was Muslim, and that Sarah Palin was attractive, so she'd make a good VP. It's pretty pathetic. It's not just about race though. People here think they have to stick to Republicans because that's what they've always voted. It has a lot to do with Christianity too.

[samuraigrrrl]

also from tn. and yeah. all that. ugh.

[jessicameigs]

I'm not sure what is to be made of that observation, but it certainly makes me uncomfortable.

Nothing's to be made of that observation. The southeast has voted primarily Republican for years.

[helholden]

I'm from Georgia, and I think this should definitely be pointed out. They've always voted Republican, even against a white male. Southerners are very conservative, and they don't agree with many liberal viewpoints.

I really don't think it means anything in regards to race. It's always been more about conservative vs. liberal. With some individuals, race is a factor. But overall? I think that's pushing it.

[binni]

That's because no matter how far we come, or how much people insist that they don't think color matter, it does. It shouldn't, don't get me wrong. But until the day humans are wiped from the planet, people will always think one race is better than another.

Disturbing and uncomfortable, yes, but a sad, sad truth.

[fauxklore]

I'm not sure how much is directly about race and how much is the urban vs. rural divide in the southern U.S., which correlates well with race.

[brennakimi]

That too.
The South is very, very rural.

[jaboobyville]

That's an excellent point.

Around the 2004 election there was a website called Urban Archipelago, the point of which was to talk about the urban/rural divide. It had a lot of information about the tendency of urban areas to be intensely blue, and rural areas the opposite.

Link: http://www.urbanarchipelago.com/

[docmom]

Yes

[brennakimi]

It's really an oversimplification of reality, though. There's a lot more to Southern whites than that they're Southern whites. Southern whites are overwhelmingly fundamentalist Christian. Whatever role race may play, Jesus plays a bigger role, and, for them, Jesus votes Republican. And, they're not voting for McCain; they're voting for Palin.

[pewter_wings]

Amen.

[brennakimi]

Right, and Southern whites have been economically conservative for, what? 200 years?

There's a reason it's such a strong lead.

Rural, conservative Christian, conservative economics, "state's rights"...

Right, and some of them are racist. But it's more the baby-killin and the gay-lovin.

*sigh*