jgg, WTF do I have to do with whateverthefuck a "coastal liberal" is? I live in St. louis, Mo. for Christ's sake. What the hell is "unconcious discrimination"?
On Sep 9, 4:02 pm, jgg1000a <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > the author will not say racism and sexism, I will... These Coastal > Liberals need to work on their prejudice BEFORE they demand that their > EQUALS work on theirs... Hollywood and PA are but examples on this > board... > > http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/coastal_privileg... > > >>> I'm surprised--though I shouldn't be, of course--that any number of > >>> liberals who are (presumably) comfortable with concepts like unconscious > >>> discrimination and privilege when it comes to race, have not even stopped > >>> to consider that the same sort of thing might be operating here. > > Let's be honest, coastal folks: when you meet someone with a thick > southern accent who likes NASCAR and attends a bible church, do you > think, "hey, maybe this is a cool person"? And when you encounter > someone who went to Eastern Iowa State, do you accord them the same > respect you give your friends from Williams? It's okay--there's no > one here but us chickens. You don't. > > Maybe you don't know you're doing it. But I have quite brilliant > friends who grew up in rural areas and went to state schools--not > Michigan or UT, but ordinary state schools--who say that, indeed, when > they mention where they went to school, there's often a droop in the > eyelids, a certain forced quality to the smile. Oh, Arizona State. > Great weather out there. Don't I need a drink or something? This > person couldn't possibly interest me. > > People from a handful of schools, most of them hailing from a handful > of major metropolitan areas, dominate academia, journalism, and the > entertainment industry. Our subtle (or not-so-subtle) distaste for > everything from their entertainment to their decorating choices to the > vast swathes of the country in which they choose to live permeate > almost everything they read, watch, or hear. Of course we don't hear > it--to us, that's simply the way the world is. > > In the 1980s, I played on possibly the worst girl's basketball team in > the state of New York. Every time another Catholic school kicked our > asses (I believe one memorable game ended at 48 to 2) we consoled > ourselves by making fun of their big, sprayed, permed hair, and the > lavish eye makeup that ran down their faces when they sweated. We > didn't know that what divided us from those girls was economic class-- > they were the children of plumbers and bodega owners, while we were > the children of bankers and lawyers and lobbyists. We genuinely > believed that we had simply been gifted with a better fashion sense. > > But I bet those girls knew exactly what we were saying as we got on > the bus. And I'm pretty sure they knew what we were really talking > about. > > Red America exaggerates the contempt, of course. It's also true that > if you're expecting racism and sexism, you'll probably end up > misinterpreting perfectly innocent remarks. But the fact that they > aren't right in every particular does not mean that, in general, > they've got it wrong. For one thing, in both DC and New York I've > spent a fair amount of time listening to liberals make jokes about red > states that would horrify them if they were told about blacks. But > even if that weren't true, I wouldn't be the best person to assess > whether there is prejudice or not. I'm so close to it that I can't > see it. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
