Must be quite a shock to see this vulgar return of overt white racism

[malaise]

being pushed by ReTHUGs and their financiers in the South and elsewhere
Folks must really have be hiding this hate.
Damn this is hard to process..

[B.See]

1. A shock. Not at all. On the contrary. I've been WARNING about it for at least a DECADE now.

Those of us familiar with the dog whistles, the coded messages, and all the rest, were quite adept at reading between the lines.

(And that signature on the bottom of my posts has been around for almost as long. I'm guessing it's only now dawning upon some what it meant.)

[malaise]

2. True

Thy crawled out when Obama won

[SouthBayDem]

29. Step by step, the social taboo on overt racism decomposesd.

Racists got permission once they heard politicians and talk show hosts say out loud what used to be limited to the dinner table.

[DemocracyForever]

59. This started with the Rehnquist 5's Bush vs Gore ruling

because most of the uncounted Florida 2000 votes are the votes of women voters of color. Everything we're seeing today is pile on from that unconstitutional decision as in the attacks on women's rights and African American rights and the list goes on.

[misanthrope]

3. Not hard to process at all

I've been in Alabama all my life. I'm white so I've been privy to the things white people say when they assume they are surrounded by similar prejudices.

None of this is surprising. None. That's why those like me have told people beyond the region that had no clue how deep the Lost Cause mythology and resentment ran.

[malaise]

4. Scary

Indeed

[Solly Mack]

6. Yep

[Stuckinthebush]

8. Same here

Alabama was always Alabama but now our neighbors feel comfortable saying the quiet things out loud.

[misanthrope]

10. They did before

Then they quieted down a little bit in the 1990s and stopped saying it in mixed company. Now it is back in the wide open again.

[Stuckinthebush]

11. Yep

And I’m in the bluest part of the state. It is unsettling. Now we are going to have to”Coach” as our governor. It’s going to get worse.

[JT45242]

35. Was in Alabama just after Trump took office in mobile airport

It was MLK day and he said loud enough to try to start something "this is the last day we'll be getting off for Martin Luther Coon day."

Been in the south to know that was said, was surprised that it was said that loud in what shouldn't be a safe space for that.

[misanthrope]

52. The most ironic aspect of your story

Mobilians have long deluded themselves that Mobile was a racial nirvana because it didn’t get the negative press that Birmingham did. Yet Jim Crow still ruled. Civil rights leaders had their home fire-bombed. Klan marches took place downtown in the late 1970s. People were lynched, including one killed in 1981. There were “whites only” establishments into the 1990s.

[BeneteauBum]

12. I also grew up in the rural south

The bigotry was just the way things were and I didn’t question it until my senior year in high school. There was black girl in my calculus class who was sharp as a tack and very funny. She just blew me away. I was fortunate to get to know Nettie before going to the University of Florida in 1969. I can’t imagine carrying those racist views to college. Nettie opened my mind and 57 years later, I am still grateful.

Peace ☮️

[erronis]

19. Nice story. Sometimes it takes just one real encounter to understand that we are all one, all the same.

[malaise]

32. Nice

Rec

[Sequoia]

67. How The South Won The Civil War

by Heather Cox Richardson is a good read on that wretched Lost Cause.

[JBTaurus83]

5. I grew up in a small town in Michigan

I’m shocked that people think it ever went away. People love the fact they can say it all out loud again. I’m gay and same goes for glbt hate. I think the only reason that the “pig” has any support at all is because of his allowance for bigotry.

[Johonny]

40. White people talking to white people

Has now become white people talking openly in public. But these people never stopped talking like this...

[3catwoman3]

7. I was thrilled by the election of President Obama, believing it to be...

...evidence that our country was finally evolving.

How wrong I was.

[dalton99a]

16. +1. I'm afraid Obama was a rare anomaly.

The racists couldn't wait to seize power and turn back the clock the whole time Obama was president

[wnylib]

28. The fact that we had a Black president drove the racists crazy.

Trump tapped into that sense of outrage and encouraged it.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

9. Never left!

[Marcuse]

66. True dat. This explains the history of modern American racism. We've gone back to the future.

[Solomon]

13. I knew as a child, when i first heard the words "all men are created equal", that the shit was going to hit the fan one

day. I just didn't imagine it would look like this. That it would be this bad. And it is bad. I was far from fooled about Obama being elected means we're past it. White folk have always hired black folk to clean up a mess. Obama might as well have been a janitor mopping the floor. I took note that police were shooting black men in the head and in the back when he was president. I felt bad for Obama because I think he knew it was because of him. Too bad there's so many people who don't believe the laws of physics. When a white mates with a non-white, another non-white is produced. They will never be able to make America, all white. But they believe they can. And if they can't, they want to stay in charge as a minority.

[erronis]

21. I wonder how other countries have evolved past this. Or have they?

I think of European and especially Scandinavian countries as exemplars. But on reflection, I know that many/most of them are also torn by racial/ethic/language/religious divisions.

Common, people - let's all live together!

[malthaussen]

45. They have not.

The RW parties in Europe make bank on hatred and demonizing of "migrants," which has at root a racist basis. In lesser-developed countries, the racism and "ethnic cleansing" is more overt, but no less pervasive. A somewhat exception is Brazil, but they have their problems, too.

Hatred of the other is one of the most persistent characteristics of humanity.

-- Mal

[Trueblue Texan]

38. I just never understood why they think racism is advantageous.

I Know. I sound stupid. But it’s always been so stupid. Why would anyone think there is an advantage to white supremacy when there are so many obviously stupid white people? Why do they want to be in league with such morons? I’m white and I know a whole lot of white people that are dumb as a bucket of rocks. I know stupidity can come in all colors, so where is the advantage to choosing white supremacy over some other color or ANY color? It’s never made sense to me.

[hamsterjill]

41. I never understand how people do not get the simple concept that

No one gets to choose what color they are born. Therefore, how can one be more/better/smarter, etc. than another? No one controls their birth.

Yes, I know. I sound stupid, too.

[malaise]

58. There are stupid people and brilliant people from every race

It’s that effin simple. Opportunity and the quest for knowledge make the difference

[KT2000]

14. A lot of racists in this country

who are now speaking out. What a disgrace. The reasons for racism are rooted in fear of having to compete, and ignorance. The most vocal racists are not living in multi-racial communities but white ones. They believe the media stereotypes and biased news coverage describes anyone other than whites.
I consider racists to be ignorant hayseeds.

[Joinfortmill]

50. They think everyone is like them. They're not, thank God.

[AverageOldGuy]

15. I am not at all surprised

I'm 81, born 1944 in deep SW Mississippi . . little crossroads cotton picking town; county was 75% Black, as best I can tell from this vantage point, about 15 - 20 Blacks were registered to vote. I left at age 18 and never looked back. However, in those 18 years, three Black men were murdered, all of them for trying to register to vote or to form an NAACP chapter. Murders never solved -- what a surprise.

I have a dozen Mississippi and Louisiana cousins as well as my wife's Alabama cousins, in-laws, nephew.

Of these MS, AL, and LA kin, three families are Democrats. They take a lot of shit from their communities. The rest of our MS, LS, AL kin are MAGAts and white supremacists.

Their children and grandchildren all attend lily-white segregation academies -- Indianola Academy, Wilkinson County Christian Academy, Centreville Christian Academy, Bayou Academy (Cleveland MS). Read about them here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segregation_academy

They do not use the word "Black" or the term "African-American." They use as a normal part of their vocabulary the word "n####r" and "n####rs." They use these words as easily as the rest of us say "Hello" or "Goodbye."

They tell me Donald Trump was sent by God. They all -- except for a couple of families who are Methodists -- are Southern Baptists who are in church every time the doors are open and who tell me the Bible is literal -- flood, prophecy, resurrection -- it all happened.

I posted on my Facebook account a condemnation of the Supreme Court after last weeks decision gutting the Voting Rights Act. All Hell rained down on my Facebook, email, text messages, and phone calls from my beloved cousins who are delighted with the decision.

Not a fucking thing has changed in the Old South from the days of Southern Redemption following the end of Reconstruction in 1876. The six "justices" who overturned the VRA should swap their judicial robes for Klan robes and hoods.

Later, I'll post a comment telling everyone how I really feel.

[erronis]

22. Helluva post already! I got a great taste of southern living from this

Let us know when you have more, please.

[misanthrope]

53. That "taste"

Is a small portion of how revolting it is to live in it.

[malaise]

39. Freaking wow

Now I am in shock

[Keepthesoulalive]

63. Thank you

People keep saying if we have the right message we can reach them. You have explained what I have been trying to tell folks, they are happy where they are and they are unreachable. They would rather rule in hell and their wishes will come true.

[OldBaldy1701E]

17. As someone born an raised in the south, my reply is to ask "What do you mean, 'return'?"

One nice thing about being rural is there is no one other than the locals there to see just how racist some people are.

And, when most of the town of 500 agrees with them...

(You may have guessed that even Warp Factor 20 could not get me away from there fast enough, once I was able to do so.)



The sad fact is that racism is just as alive and well as it was at the turn of the last century. It was not able to be as overt after the eighties, but it was still there and no one dared to question it, unless they had another place to live before they asked.

And, the unfortunate truth is that once I did start traveling around, I leaned that it was still just as pervasive as it always was. Some places were much less so, but it was still everywhere.

[moondust]

18. MAGA like 1850!!!

Back during his first term I recall posting here a time or two that the Chief Birther would probably try to make some moves back toward slavery or at least Jim Crow. The only thing I noticed was something regarding prison labor/slavery.

I suspect quite a few who voted for him in 2024 did so to continue normalizing his legacy of racism and they now whitewash it by claiming they voted for his promises of no wars, lower cost of living, etc.

[chouchou]

20. Generally speaking, most Republicans are "Surface People".

Seems they have never understood the simple realities like "Don't judge a book by the cover" and all that.
Sad part (Like MAGA) is fairly easy to mold them.
"You know..that man was so clean, nice perfect haircut..wonderful suit and Sooo nice...
..I just cant understand why he jostled my bank account and somehow emptied my savings"

When Republicans judge..it's RIGHT NOW....
No wonder they grab the so-call obvious. Black man?...."mmm don't know...
The poor bastards never see the inside soul of a person....Oh Me.
My parents taught me so young...Look deep

[PatrickforB]

23. It is mind boggling how these Kluxers are reimposing Jim Crow. My God.

There is deep, deep discontent throughout this nation. Trump is doing Putin's bidding to take this country down.

[pat_k]

24. More of our electeds and candidates must do a FAR better job of denouncing, demonizing, and delegitimizing...

... the intolerable conduct and agendas that has been "normalized" as "political difference" in the era of Trump.

Our federal and state governments have been co-opted and infiltrated by people who have NO PLACE in a legitimate American government.

These people are defined by one or more of the following characteristics:

Does the bidding of Trump, no matter how corrupt, criminal, cruel, or destructive to our freedoms, our families, and our futures.

Abuses power to line their own pockets, the pockets of others in their gang, and the pockets of their billionaire backers.

Advances a racist agenda that seeks to reverse decades of social progress and seeks to purge African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, and other people of color from our history, our civil service, and our elected offices.

Advances a Christian Nationalist agenda. That is, they are committed to passing laws that impose their PERSONAL religious beliefs on Americans who DO NOT SHARE those beliefs. Seeking to pass such laws is both deeply Un-Christian and Un-American.

Is determined to deport as many people of color who have come to this nation from elsewhere as possible, regardless of whether they are naturalized citizens, documented, or undocumented.

It is the business of of every American who believes in constitutional moral principles to demonize and unequivocally reject all attempts to abuse the apparatus of any branch of our government to advance these illegitimate ends.

These are not matters of "policy difference" or "political debate." These are red lines. Where these people have been successful in advancing their intolerable agendas, the affected legislative, executive, or judicial bodies are no longer legitimate parts of the American constitutional system.

We need a label for these people. A shorthand.

The label I use is trumpublicans. My definition of trumpublican clearly distinguishes it from the broader terms MAGA or Republican. (See related post.)

Trumpublicans have NO PLACE in any branch of a legitimate American government.

More of our electeds and candidates must be out there making it clear to the American people that trumpublicans must be purged from our courts, from our legislatures, and from our executive agencies and offices. This is more important than "affordability." It is more important than any policy because until there is greater consensus on what IS and IS NOT a legitimate use of the levers of our our constitutional system, we will be fighting a losing battle.

[love_katz]

75. I would shorten your term to just Republicans.

The Republican party has been fighting against and impeding progress for my entire life.
From the McCarthy attacks on suspected communists in the 1950's through their opposition to every single progressive movement throughout the 1960's, they have promoted oppression and the status quo and opposed justice.
The problem with the Republican party is that it's full of Republicans. Their party platform is a dead giveaway because it's full of their regressive and hateful unjust policies. Trumppublicans are just the latest iteration of a party that promotes a hateful and cruel agenda.
Otherwise, I agree with you. Vote them all out! Every last one.

[pat_k]

78. Something I posted elsewhere applies here (corrected link)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=21225115

[RetiredParatrooper]

25. Not surprising at all

If you live here.

[mcar]

26. I live in ruby red Florida

not a shock, but yes, hard to process when I interact with people here.

[PCB66]

33. I live in Purple Florida

Where I live it is about 55% MAGA and 45% Democrat.

Nice neighborhood where we all get along. Help each other out during hurricanes.

Come election time you see the different yard signs but in 40 years of living here I have never heard of any conflict over politics.

The only thing is that 40 years ago it was probably 70% Conservative and now it is only a little bit over 50%.

[BradBo]

27. When sports in America starts being effected we will see some change.

[Scalded Nun]

30. Not a shock. The racism never left. Like cockroaches, they hide in the shadows awaiting the dark

'The Dark' is the one thing Trump can gladly provide.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

31. Seems not too long ago comments like this would get a rash of shit from southerners claiming the north is just as racist

I wouldn’t be surprised if the white thugs in the Tennessee legislature started carrying ax handles.

This video is sickening to watch.

Link to tweet

?

[malaise]

34. Wow!

Rec

[Passages]

42. That should be an OP on its own.

Disgusting racists.

[Kid Berwyn]

36. JFK tried.

While he didn’t say, “DEI,” JFK put our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion into action -- promoting Abraham Bolden personally to the White House Secret Service detail.

Former U.S. Secret Service Agent Abraham BOLDEN was the first African American Secret Service agent to serve in the White House, personally appointed and literally hand-picked by President John F. Kennedy to the White House detail. Agent Abraham Bolden reported overt racism by his fellow agents and outright hostility toward the "n------loving president," quoting fellow Secret Service agents on the JFK detail.

In addition to enduring all manner of personal indignities, he was concerned at the lack of professionalism in those assigned to protect the president and reported his concerns. He was told, "OK. Thanks" by his superiors. When the problems weren't addressed, Bolden requested transfer back to the Secret Service office in Chicago.



President Biden recently pardoned Abraham Bolden



The story of a man who told the truth:

After 45 Years, a Civil Rights Hero Waits for Justice

Thom Hartmann
June 12, 2009 11:52 AM

A great miscarriage of justice has kept most Americas from learning about a Civil Rights pioneer who worked with President John F. Kennedy. But there is finally a way for citizens to not only right that wrong, but bring closure to the most tragic chapter of American presidential history.

After an outstanding career in law enforcement, Abraham Bolden was appointed by JFK to be the first African American presidential Secret Service agent, where he served with distinction. He was part of the Secret Service effort that prevented JFK's assassination in Chicago, three weeks before Dallas. But Bolden was framed by the Mafia and arrested on the very day he went to Washington to tell the Warren Commission staff about the Chicago attempt against JFK.

Bolden was sentenced to six years in prison, despite glaring problems with his prosecution. His arrest resulted from accusations by two criminals Bolden had sent to prison. In Bolden's first trial, an apparently biased judge told the jury that Bolden was guilty, even before they began their deliberations. Though granted a new trial because of that, the same problematic judge was assigned to oversee Bolden's second trial, which resulted in his conviction. Later, the main witness against Bolden admitted committing perjury against him. A key member of the prosecution even took the fifth when asked about the perjury. Yet Bolden's appeals were denied, and he had to serve hard time in prison, and today is considered a convicted felon.

After the release of four million pages of JFK assassination files in the 1990s, it became clear that Bolden -- and the official secrecy surrounding the Chicago attempt against JFK -- were due to National Security concerns about Cuba, that were unknown to Bolden, the press, Congress, and the public not just in 1963, but for the next four decades.

SNIP...

Abraham Bolden paid a heavy price for trying to tell the truth about events involving the man he was sworn to protect -- JFK -- that became mired in National Security concerns. Bolden still lives in Chicago, and has never given up trying to clear his name.

Will Abraham Bolden live to finally see the justice so long denied to him?

CONTINUED...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thom-hartmann/after-45-years-a-civil-ri_b_213834.html

After the assassination, Agent Bolden traveled to Washington on his own dime and reported what he saw to the Warren Commission. For his trouble -- and despite an exemplary record of excellence as a Brinks detective, Illinois State Trooper, and Secret Service agent with integrity -- Bolden was framed by the government using a paid informant's admitted perjury and spent a long time in prison. The government also drugged him and put him into psychiatric hospitals. His real crime was telling the truth.

FBI taped Joseph Adams Milteer saying JFK would be shot from a high rise by a patsy...

Joseph Adams Milteer, below left, a rabid right-wing racist was tape-recorded 13 days before Dallas detailing the assassination of JFK "with a high-powered rifle from a high-rise office building." In the discussion recorded by FBI informant William Somersett, Milteer outlined the official version of Dallas, complete with patsy, before it happened.



Seems he was prophetic, as two weeks later, Milteer or his lost twin, appears in photographs in Dealey Plaza (above, right). That story should have made the front page and lead every broadcast when FBI Special Agent Donald Adam’s went public with his account, but it didn’t, for some fascist reason.

Somersett: Kennedy’s coming here, I think, on the 18th or something like that to make some kind of speech…

Milteer: You can bet your bottom dollar he is going to have a lot to say about the Cubans because there are so many of them here.

Somersett: Yeah, well, he will have a thousand bodyguards. Don’t worry about that.

Milteer: The more bodyguards he has, the more easier it is to get him.

Somersett: What?

Milteer: The more bodyguards he has the more easier it is to get him.

Somersett: Well, how in the hell do you figure would be the best way to get him?

Milteer: From an office building with a high-powered rifle…

Somersett: They are really going to try to kill him?

Milteer: “Oh, yeah. It’s in the working…

Milteer mentions the name of a Klansman who might do the job, someone he claimed had stalked Dr. King, “but couldn’t get close enough to him.” Shortly, the conversation returned to the President.

Somersett: Hitting this Kennedy I’ll tell you is going to be a hard proposition, I believe. Now you may have it figured out how to get him…an office building and all that, but I don’t know how them Secret Service…they’d never cover all them office buildings and anywhere he’s going. Do you know whether they do that or not?

Milteer: If they have any suspicion they will, of course. But without suspicion the chances are they wouldn’t….You wouldn’t have to take a gun up there…take it up in pieces. All those guns come knock down and you can take them apart.”

Before the end of the tape, the conversation returned to Kennedy.

Somersett: Boy, if that Kennedy gets shot we’ve got to know where we’re at because you know that would be a real shake if they do that.

Milteer: They wouldn’t leave any stone unturned there, no. No way.

Somersett: Oh, hell no.

Milteer: Hell, they’ll pick up somebody within hours after, if anything like that would happen, just to throw the public off.

Somersett: Well, somebody is going to have to go to jail if he gets killed.

Milteer: Just like Bruno Hauptmann in the Lindbergh case, you know.

President Kennedy came to Miami on Nov. 18 without incident and attended the Inter-American Press Association dinner at the Americana Hotel in Bal Harbour. In his diary, Gelber wrote that police assured him the Secret Service knew Milteer’s whereabouts.

Source:

A Miami Police Informant, A Prophetic Racist And Fresh Questions About JFK’s Death

https://www.wlrn.org/politics/2013-11-14/a-miami-police-informant-a-prophetic-racist-and-fresh-questions-about-jfks-death

The late Prof. Donald E. Wilkes documented how the FBI taped the RWNJ who said JFK would be shot by sniper, patsy set up for blame (9 November 1963):

The Georgian Who Knew a Sniper Would Kill JFK

https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1182&context=fac_pm

https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/fac_pm/103/

Predictions of Joseph Adam Milteer

https://www.maryferrell.org/pages/Predictions_of_Joseph_Milteer.html

Milteer and his ilk in the KKK and ulatraconservative circles didn't like JFK and Civil Rights. As those traitors were never held to account, We the People lost a better future when they — the racist, warmongering cabal — killed the Kennedys and Dr. King.

[malaise]

37. Thanks for this my friend

Rec

[Joinfortmill]

51. A lot here I didn't know. Thank you

[MustLoveBeagles]

62. Rec'd

[Sequoia]

73. Never knew this, thanks for posting.

[malthaussen]

43. A shock, but not an unexpected one.

I suppose there might be people whom, having never personally seen or practiced much racism, thought it was extinct or nearly so. Those of us who are a bit long in the tooth had no such illusions.

-- Mal

[Hope22]

44. Sheathing for eight years with a black president their brains filled with putrid puss.

The cockroach came down the escalator and imprinted on the puss. Nothing can get between the two.

[Baitball Blogger]

46. I have family members by marriage who voted for him.

What I heard in the nineties:

"Racism does not exist any more."

"Why do you keep defending them? You're white."

"You're not really Hispanic."

[eppur_se_muova]

47. Not if you voted for it, which Trmp's supporters most certainly did.

You don't have to be Black to be disappointed, but I'm damned sure it helps.

I remember self-appointed pundits asking "is America ready for a Black President ?", each evidently feeling this was a product of insightful deliberation peculiar to themselves, and forming my response as "The rest of the world is ready for America to have a Black President; If America isn't ready that's our problem."

Well. It turns out America had/has a much bigger problem than I realized. A painful learning experience for me, and much of the country, I'm guessing.

In the Fifties (and before), it was popular on the Right to say "America, love it or leave it". Much later, I remember a country music star adding "and if you do love it, stay here and try to fix the sonofabitch". I have to say I admired that addition, and felt like Democrats weren't the ones wanting to destroy the country (that was the oligarchs, as always), but rather had a moral obligation to be the ones who did the fixing, and I always wanted to be on the side of that effort. I'm not so sure about that anymore. I've pretty much lost any chance of having a normal life and career because of the way things are tilted towards the rich and connected, and I don't see much chance of that changing within my remaining lifetime, and I'm assuming 20-25 years to go is not unreasonable. If I were offered an academic position in a foreign country, with the kind of benefits those Socialist Yerpeens all enjoy, I'd move if I could afford it. And I'm not sure how much it matters what country, or what the native language is. (Well, almost. Hungary is still iffy for a while, and not because of the language.) My expectations for improvement in this country are that low. It will happen, I suppose, but not soon enough to help me live any but a marginal existence as a "consumer", maybe even a "voter". "Citizen" in a meaningful sense is out of reach for many Americans now. Maybe even me.

I used to think of America's future as always getting better and better. Now, I think the longer the country lasts, the more its fundamental flaws emerge (legalized slavery being a flaw that's now gone, at least in name); if these aren't reckoned with, I think we could end up going the way of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1918), weakened by internal ethnic conflicts until broken apart by crises of internal or external origin. Austria-Hungary was once a major industrialized state and economic power in Europe, but fell apart when the accumulated stresses became too great, and the Russians attacked in alliance with Serbia. I'm not convinced a similar thing for America (1776-20??) is out of the question.

[PJMcK]

48. The racism in the U.S. is deep and wide

When President Obama was elected then reelected, I naively thought the country was progressing away from this stain of hatred.

Then Trump came along and poured gasoline on the hidden embers of hatred. The resulting bonfire has exposed the evil that has been hiding beneath the surface all along.

This is pathetic, disgusting and hopeless.

[Joinfortmill]

49. I'm so damn sick of racism. It's STUPID. We are all humans. WTF?

[dlk]

54. America has a deeply racist history that gets swept under the rug

By not facing and reconciling with it, the hatred continues to bubble and metastasize under the surface.

Trump has only given it a green light. It has always been there.

[underpants]

55. This IS what they voted for.

[Aristus]

56. They want their slaves back awful bad.

Worthless dipshit rednecks won't get up off their lazy asses and put in an honest day's work. That explains the pickups up on blocks out in front of the trailers.

They want a free workforce to do everything for them instead.

[misanthrope]

65. Here's the rub

Those with broken trucks and leaking double-wides weren't the ones who owned slaves. They couldn't have afforded them.

Instead they were exploited by the same oligarchs who preserved the existing order and owned most of the land in the county. Slavery kept poor whites in metaphorical chains, as well.

[Aristus]

69. But as long as slavery existed, those dipshits wouldn't be on the lowest rung of the socio-economical ladder.

So much has been made of the fact that the bulk of the fighting the Confederacy did during the Civil War was by poor, uneducated dirt farmers. The "Lost Cause" bullshitters always say they were fighting for states rights, not slavery. And it's, well, bullshit. Poor non-enslavers wanted slavery as much as the wealthy plantation owners. Only in their case, it wasn't wealth, but some kind of greasy, odious self-respect they were looking for. "At least I'm not a slave"; that kind of thing.

[misanthrope]

70. I would say it was like today's poor Americans who take the side of the wealthy

They wanted the right to own slaves, partially because of what you stated. In the same way that so many poor Americans choose to see themselves as temporarily disadvantaged millionaires, many poor Southern whites choose to view themselves as temporarily disadvantaged slave owners.

[CousinIT]

57. Their racism & misogyny has been barely hidden

I've watched it for 50 years. From backrooms to the mainstream in media, society & policy. Personally, I never thought it was hidden, or not very well. Now, it's just in your face overt. Because America elected a black POTUS twice and tried to elect women.

That brought the racism & misogyny backlash front & center.

Now, were back to 100 years ago.

[Keepthesoulalive]

60. It. Is right here on DU

So many times someone writes what needs ro be done to win elections. The first thing is eliminate identity politics, right wing framing. It is distracting us from what is important. They don’t see a problem with amplifying racists or minimizing their destruction but I find there is little pushback from most people on this forum. The racism is insidious but it’s here. We need to pull it out by its roots everywhere including our representatives in the Democratic Party. Stop giving a pass to anyone who normalizes this garbage.

[Ocelot II]

61. Living in a blue bubble as I do, it's always a bit shocking to see or read about

the hard-core, in your face Jim Crow-type racism in some places where people freely use "n****r" and openly rejoice in the legal deprivation of the voting power of Black people. That's not to say there are no racists here; there are. But it's more subtle, which actually can make it harder to eradicate because people don't like to admit it exists here. Nevertheless, saying "n*****r" in most places would definitely result in blowback - we can't even spell it, let alone say it - and most racists in these parts are at least a bit circumspect about their racism.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

64. Roberts and the five of the other justices have been paving the way for this for a while

[malaise]

79. Nailed it

Rec

[pfitz59]

68. I grew up in a lumber town in California with no black residents.

It was an old Gold Rush town with place names like 'Negro Hill', 'Negro Hollow' and "Negro Bar', named after the Black miners who arrived in the 1850's. Over the years the Black residents were forced out, moving to San Francisco and LA. Growing up everyone used the other 'N-word' in describing the places I mentioned. Only as I sought answers did I learn of 'restrictive covenants', 'red-lining' and other measures designed to prevent Blacks from residing in my very white town. Black folk passed through, headed toward Lake Tahoe and beyond. The local police, sheriffs and highway patrol encouraged them not to linger. The town is still a dark red bastion of MAGA nonsense. I escaped long ago. There are many towns like this, not all in the deep south.

[malaise]

72. Unbelievable

What a planet

[red dog 1]

71. K&R

https://democraticunderground.com/100221225174

[OC375]

74. Tribalism and exclusivity. Hate follows in their paths.

I'd expect it to intensify in some proportion relative to how divided and inequitable we are as a country. That's what history says about us, anyway. Plenty out there feeding it as anything can be monetized or leveraged these days.

[UpInArms]

76. I am grieving for the loss of my country

maybe what I thought we were was fiction, or a pipe dream

but, what we have become breaks my brain and my heart

[Skittles]

77. Obama's election made them emerge from under their rocks

Trump made them loud and proud of their racism

Trump's hacks on the SC have validated it all.

we still outnumber them but they currently hold all the cards

these cockroaches need to be CRUSHED in November

[themaguffin]

80. Unfortunately I am not shocked. It's alway been there, just more quiet etc.