Butch Femme Planet - Living in the land of Dixie and proud of it!

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- - Living in the land of Dixie and proud of it! (http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=546)

Apolcalipstic, whether you know it or not you just hit upon the main reason the civil war was fought to begin with with this statement:

"There is so much resistance in the South to the Federal Government,"

Many people believe it was the issue of slavery that was the dominating factor, it was a factor indeed but not the main one. The main issue was the soverignity of states, the ability of states to govern their own and adopt what federal guidelines the young and loosely formed federal government came up with at the time. The states wanted the right to say no to some of those laws and guidelines, they were denied, seven states had already seceded from the Union before Lincoln was ever elected.

As for the flag, I don't own one, I don't fly one, however I believe all individuals should have the right to express themselves as they please, after all that is what we are asking for, the right to live our life in freedom, to be recognized as a group, to have the same rights and equality as "straight" people. I do not view the flag as racist, it was created as a battle flag and a way for southern troops to distinguish themselves from the northern troops. The original flag of the confederacy was the Stars and Bars and was to close to the federal flag, Bars and Stripes, in design that it was hard for the troops to distinguish themselves apart. To many people of the south it merely represents the ancestry of their forefathers in fighting for the rights of state soverignity against the federal government. It is people whom make it racist as people can make "anything" racist. That being said racism exists across all states/countries in one form or another and it always will. There will always be a class of people who will be frowned upon, looked down upon. Is it right, heck no, and I'll always stand up for those that I see being oppressed, bullied, beat, and spat upon. All of us know firsthand that oppression as it's the life that we lead. There will always be a bigot out there shouting to be heard. It is we (people) who empower the bigots of the world by giving them a platform to spew their hatred and rhetoric upon. If no one listened, if no one acknowledged them, if no one gave them a platform then it would merely fizzle out and die it's own slow death.

All that being said, am I proud to be a suthurner, damn right. Am I proud of my southern heritage, damn right. You will not find a more welcoming hospitable group of people anywhere in the US. There is a reason that people from the north and west move down here. It's the hospitality, the slower pace of life, the lower cost of living, the ease with which we go through our day, it's the food, it's the beauty of the land, the strong familial ties and our bond with the land.

Here in NC, in a couple hours I can be in our majestic mountains (the Smokies, there is a reason it's the most visited state park in the nation), in a couple hours I can be standing on the sand in front of the great Atlantic ocean. I love my home state and wouldn't think of moving out of it for anything or anyone.

It is my hope that one day that all of us can embrace one another, look past our differences and sit for a spell, have a glass of iced tea (suthurn style of course) and just chit chat about anything and everything without discord.

Have a great day and weekend everyone.

ps. If I've offended anyone with my post that was certainly not my intention at all. I can only be the one person I know I can be and that is me.

hey y'all :)

Hope it's ok for me, a SC native, to post here!

i was raised in SC and except for a few years in Va & Fl, i've always lived here. When i was younger, i was *dying* to get out, to escape this place. i hated everything about the south, both real & imagined, and wanted to move to NYC. i wanted a BIG city and people all around and a place that was alive 24/7, instead of a place that rolled up the sidewalks at 6 pm, for the most part.

It took moving to FL to make me realize that maybe i didn't hate SC as much as i thought. i experienced Orlando, and hated the big city feel of it immediately. Everyone was behind tinted car windows and no one smiled or waved at each other, much less actually greeted others!

So, i moved back home, and began appreciating what was good about here. i have to admit i am not proud to be southern, though i no longer hate that fact. i know the actual history of "the flag", but still....most people, around here at least, fly it as a statement of their racism - which they call their "white pride" (trying to compare it to black pride or gay pride).

Anyway, though i would have no issue moving away from here, i no longer crave that. i love the weather here (except for the dead of summer), the city of Greenville has revitalized the downtown area and it is just awesome now.

Asheville is a city i would love living in, except for the dead of winter lol. i do not know how to live/drive in snow & ice. But i love the charm and progressive nature of Asheville!

:hangloose:

Many people do say the the Civil War was fought over Federal intervention in State issues, but I still think it did have more to do with how the states out West were going to get split up on the subject of Slavery.

The "keep the Federal Government out" rhetoric continues in the South, which is why I keep mentioning all the great things the Federal Government has done for us. I am kind of a Socialist at heart and believe in a strong central government.

The Confederate Flag? Say what you want, but it makes so many different groups of people feel unsafe. People of Color, Jews, Catholics, Romas and Queers....to mention a few. To me it is very unwelcoming at the very best and far beyond racist at it's worst.

East TN is lovely, but when I first went up there to college, I saw a cross burning and it made me quiver in my young lesbian loafers. I just knew someone would show up at my apartment with pitchforks to get me. It is not the usual occurrence it was 30 years ago, but it continues to affect my life choices...and that of so many Southerners.

I do agree that we have free speech and people have the right to the flag...but I wish it would just go away.

Like my signature line states, things don't change much, we just call them different things. :)

Can we sit and chat? Would love to! Will be disagree on the Civil War? Very likely!

Iced tea? Hell yeah!

Quote:

Originally Posted by princessbelle (Post 203728)

((((apocalipstic))))) You certainly did not sound in any way that you were afraid of small towns. To the contrary, I completely agree with you. There are some places in the mountains here that you would not venture into if they didn't know you were visiting for reasons of help or just being neighborly. The culture and ideals of some people here are shoot first and ask questions later. I know that....because it is the truth. I have been fortunate to be known in a few of these areas as "Doc" which is sorta funny to me just being a nurse, however, it is amazing and a blessing that sometime I or another nurse are the only medical professionals these people ever see. Again, it is NOT to say I would be a martyr or want to take any chances and it would be foolish to not recognize that some properties are protected at all costs....shotguns are abound in some places, I've seen it first hand and I completely understand it.

Of interesting fact.....In East Tennessee, Fort Sanders Hospital (which is where I was born, my kids were born and where I worked previously) is built on the land where a Fort was constructed by the Union Army, not Confederate. There are a some Union areas in West Tennesee also and throughout the South that supported the Union and where confederate flags did not fly. Just goes to show you, people in Dixie can be as diverse and nonconforming as parts of the rest of the world.

Interesting post.

Perfectly beautiful post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by apocalipstic (Post 204730)

Revision.....this is the quote that is perfectly and beautifully said......Yes DomnNC you are right there is a reason people call this "God's country" it is the best of almost everything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DomnNC (Post 204176)

i love the south and honestly i wouldnt live anywhere but...

I love the south too; having spent most of my childhood and adult life here. Am I proud right now to be a Southernor? No. Georgia for the most part is a hard-liner Red State where Republicans, Tea Partiers, homophobics and racists abound. Though it is better than say twenty years ago. I have a hard time finding like-minded individuals. I might be happier living in a Blue State or a city like Asheville. I could put up with the snow and ice.