Jerome wrote: I think if Mr. Brooks prefaced every instance of America or American in his little essay with 'white', he may be closer to the truth. He needs to get out more...perhaps walk down 125th St. in Manhattan or any street in the Bronx... or....
Jerome, that's a good point. I was thinking something similar myself, that he seems to represent the East Coast establishment very well and wondered if he spent much time in less affluent neighborhoods. Again, confession time, one of the reasons I like him is that he is not antagonistic, is pleasant as he disagrees, and does not send off the kind of superiority vibes of a Bill Bennett, Rush, Novak or even the sage old man, Safire, of conservative punditry. Good southern manners. After 20 years in various Southern cities and communities, I have a pretty good feel for white conservatives there. I lived among many wonderful people who were what I would call "benign" racists because they didn't do or say anything aggressive but lived a passive life of ignorance and acceptance. I also can say with conviction that there are many white Southerners of all incomes with common values and sense of identity closer to Southern blacks than they share with damn Yankees or the "Left Coast", and I think this comes from ties to the land. The North was industrialized earlier, faster and more thoroughly; there are plenty of families and communities in the South with deep roots in land ownership - not to say it doesn't exist in rural NE (heaven help me, I'll hear from others on that!) but the culture is still very strong about it even if people live in cities. I have actually seen and heard more direct racism and hostility to "liberals" since moving to Portland, ironically. I think it can be partially explained by saying that I was no longer a fulltime homemaker living with the country club set and instead a working single mom associating with many different people. My earlier southern accent was not welcome here and my job references from Texas suspicious. I might as well have been a wetback. There are plenty of rednecks and bubbas to go around. But I've run into many here who are shocked to think someone thinks so. Great to hear from you. Regards, Karen East of Portland, West of Mt Hood Outgoing mail scanned by NAV 2002 _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
