Cultural Divide in the South Between Liberal Cities and Their States - Where Sanders is wrong

If he cares about progressive ideas he should pay attention to the whole country. His fellow Vermonter Howard Dean had a successful 50 state strategy.

Cross posted in general discussion.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027760444

JACKSON, Miss. — It was not that long ago that Victoria Fortenberry figured she would mark her 18th birthday by getting on a bus and getting out of Mississippi. But here she was, blue-haired, tattooed and 19 years old, singing at a party for a new line of craft beer to a crowd that included her girlfriend.

Ms. Fortenberry came here to attend a Christian college and found a place where she could be unashamedly Southern and openly gay in a way not possible in her conservative suburban hometown, or even in the Jackson of a decade ago. And so: “At some point,” she said, “I decided I won’t just leave.”

Jackson may not register nationally as an outpost of bohemianism like Austin or big city liberalism like Atlanta. But its city government, which is majority black and Democratic, refuses to fly the Confederate-themed state flag at municipal buildings, and this month voted unanimously to oppose a new state law that create special legal protections for opponents of same sex marriage. And it has a place for blue-haired singers — and their girlfriends.

Jackson is among a group of Southern cities from Dallas to Durham, N.C., where the digital commons, economic growth and a rising cohort of millennials have helped remake the culture. Many of these cities have found themselves increasingly at odds with their states, and here in a region that remains the most conservative in the country, the conflicts are growing more frequent and particularly tough.

Fights are raging over gay rights here and in North Carolina, where a new law limits transgender bathroom access and pre-empts local governments from passing their own anti-discrimination ordinances. The resistance has been particularly fierce in North Carolina, where companies have called off expansion plans and Ringo Starr and Bruce Springsteen have canceled concerts.


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/cultural-divide-in-the-south-between-liberal-cities-and-their-states/ar-BBrO8oH?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=edgsp