A Comparitive View on the Varied Hue of Southern vs Northern Racism


          When an average guy (someone with a Y chromosome) possessing a vanilla tapioca mayo on wonder bread lack-of-cultural-heritage, decides to open his mouth and express an opinion about something he read about, or learned from others, or maybe witnessed—but which he could never have experienced (and will never live-thru)—because he was never a woman, or obese, or transsexual, or suffered from depression, nor was he ever homeless, or Black, or Native American, or in constant fear of being a victim of state violence (etcetra) . . . I want to tell that fucker to keep his opinion to himself.  And when that fucker is me, I tend to follow my own advice.  Not always.

          Statistics about racial populations and political tendencies are (in this white guy's mind) insufficient to explain why I'd never-again live in Alabama or Georgia or Kentucky or Indiana, nor why I am (relative-to-my-own-past) content living in Vermont.
 
          In the US South, the entire society which comprises The System (controlled by white people) is waaay beyond casually racist.  If you, dear reader, happen to be Mr or Mrs Mayo Wonderbread who lives in the South and thinks ‘beyond casually racist’ is not an accurate description of you?  Re-read my statement before you take umbrage.  The system is.  Not all people are.   (You might-could-just be casually racist and not waaay beyond).
 
          Racism is so routine-normal in the South that white strangers assume everyone who looks like they do, thinks like they do, and they'll freely talk about their KKK opinions.  The reason Trump was (and still is) so popular with white conservatives (from every state) is not because he accomplished things they wanted the President to accomplish, or that he fooled them (I met some intelligent people in the six years I lived in the US South), the reason is:  he's as extremely, hatefully, intentionally racist as they are.

           Vermont is more Caucasian than Oregon, but the few racists in Vermont who I've talked to are careful in their probing conversations.  They know they're a small minority of the population here and they don't like getting scolded or ridiculed for letting an errant word slip out of their mouth. 

           The week we moved here, I met a neighbor from the next building.  He'd seen our license tags and said, “Where in Oregon are you from?”  I told him and he replied, “I heard Portland was a really liberal city, but I guess that's something that can be beat outta somebody.”  “Sounds like a threat,” I said.  He got all apologetic-giggly and denied it with, “just jokin, not my intention, sorry sorry.”

           In Georgia that guy never would have backed down.  He would have known 90 strangers out of a 100 (including most cops) would back him up in an argument, or a fight, or maybe even in a late-nite follow-up lynching.  In Georgia, that probing conversation would have quickly switched to fighting-words.  And I would have been the one backing down when he took out a weapon.

           Here in Vermont, the hate-filled Republicans might risk getting recorded on your security camera sneaking into your yard to take your Black Lives Matter sign, or your We Stand With: sign, or your rainbow pride flag but they don't call attention to themselves.  Everyone here knows that 60% of the state is progressive (Bernie lovers) and 25% are a strange type of Northern Libertarian (love their weed, hate VT's high taxes, rarely leave New England). 

           The best way to describe Vermont is to say that the entire society which comprises The System doesn't tolerate people who are unwelcoming of people with differences. 
 
 
 
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