Why oh why do I have to be an Alabamian?

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/KKK_antiimmigration_rally_draws_over_300_0506.html

:cry:

And then never, ever admitting to having lived in Alabama. :hi:

to get rid of the southern accent. :P

when I went into the service 40+ years ago I noticed that in the evenings I would always be surronded by several of my fellow bootcampers. Then I realized they were listening to my accent rather than what I was saying. you sound great young lady and don't forget that, ok.

Georgia, maybe.

Then job loss, Republican corruption and Lancelot Link-voting redneck bastards took over the state completely.

. . . but Ohio can be AS bad, since we've now become the most regressive state in the North thanks to bible Repuke homophobes like Rawn Hood and Ken Crackwell. You would think that a state that has Cleveland, Columbus, Lakewood, Lorain, Toledo and Athens would be somewhat inclined to not vote a drooling oil Chimp that's taking an eight-year nap twice . . . but then, they'd be wrong.

I live in Mobile in 1968. I still remember the segregated bathrooms.

With your talent you will soon be able to go anywhere you like. Just hang in there.

i don't dare tell the people around here about my website or else i might wake up with a burning cross in my front yard. :scared:

And let them know it. I guarantee it!

:(

least 200.

Not just Alabama. If you find a state where there is no racism, let me know and I'll move there with you. But such a state just does not exist.

but some are worse than others.

I've lived here all my life and I'm still kicking. Around these parts, I actually see more condescension by Yankees toward Southerners than I see racism. That's probably why the right wing KKK had their pitiful little rally, because they weren't getting enough attention. Boo freaking hoo.

...that southerners decry "Yankee condescension," but whenever one of us Yankees presumes to comment on the apparent prevalence of regressive social tendencies in the South -- the area which has, after all, given us the Mayberry Machiavellis now squatting in the White House (and so much more, besides) -- we are immediately flamed by those DUers who hail from the south. Every stereotype has some basis in reality, I think, and if we Yankees can be condescending, so too, based on the last 40 years' electoral results, most southerners vote racist/homophobic/xenophobic agendas.

and Cheney is from Wyoming, Rumsfeld is from Illinois...

Education Secretary Spellings is from Michigan. Energy Secretary Bodman is from Massachussetts, Treasury Secretary Snow is from Ohio, Homeland Secrurity Chief Certoff is from New Jersey.

Just because you can find a few idiots from a section of the country doesn't mean everyone in that section of the country are idiots.

...but GW's "folksy" persona for the racist/homophobic/xenophobic Repug sheep is (his sorry simulacrum of) down-home Texas country charm.

Cheney's last known address before DC was Texas -- yet another reason the entire 2000 candidacy of GW/Dick should have been dumped on the scrap heap of history.

As for Rummy being from Illinois, most of Illinois is red; it's just Chicago that makes it a solidly Dem state.

And the point was: Why do I have to read about Yankee condescension from southerners using a very broad brush, but cannot write anything about the prevalent ignorance of so many southern/rural voters?

...should tell a story to anyone that looks under the surface. Lots of white supremacists in several organizations in those states.

Illinois had the largest KKK group in the country back in the 1930s.

Look at the racial problems in Cincinnati.

Boston is heavily racially divided...ask anyone of any race that lives in that city.

New York City? Same as Boston.

Philadelphia? Same as Boston and New York City.

If you travel through the Southwest, you'll find all kinds of racial biases.

In short, every city/state has their own set of racial issues.

:hug:

:(

i gotta get out of this place.

:thumbsup:

We need more like Ava here, not less!

:rofl:

not when they don't want you. Sometimes people don't know what's good for 'em. :pals:

:hi: madokie!

**Ray Larsen, imperial wizard of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan from South Bend, Ind., told the crowd on a megaphone that illegal immigrants are in America to take jobs. "They want to take all jobs," he said.**

This should give you the clue that those that choose to follow the tenets of the KKK are no more than booger-pickin' morons, who are attempting to serve their own agenda...

I would not doubt for a minute that some of those that cherish the robes and secrecy of one of the most racist organizations on the planet, are some that do the hiring at companies that may hire undocumented aliens.

The thing about a Klansman doing the hiring at a company that hires undocumented aliens. No way. I've known a Klansman or two and they are so pathetically stupid...they aren't the ones doing the hiring; they're the ones who get fired for passing out on the job. The only bit of entreprenuerial spirit they show is in being paid gov't informants.

... I doubt that they are smart enough to change their shoes when they wear the robes either.

you must be thinking about the Greenwich,CT Klan.;)

.. Most people wear the same shoes most of the time, at least I do, and they will forget to change them, so you might be able to tell who is under that sheet if you are observant about the shoes... :shrug:

because Alabama won the contest for most poisonous radio when I was driving though the south a couple of yeara ago. It was like another planet.

However, this story is incomplete because it fails to divide the 300 attendees into KKK and protestors. I would think that even Alabama would produce more protestors than Klansmen because although Alabama isn't that good, the Klan is that bad.

or put Alabama down. Not after what has happened to the whole country, guilty of selecting and empowering Il Chimperor and inflicting him on the world.

The question for all of us now is "Why do I have to be an American?"

Everyone here should relate to the feeling of (unfair) guilt by association by now.

PS I was born in Birmingham AL while my dad was doing a stint on The Birmingham News. He actually reported on some of the KKK activities down there. For some years I was ashamed to say I was born there. But now I'm trying to reclaim the good parts of my Southern heritage and working against the bad stuff. I'm not going to accept being lumped in with the KKK just by being from the South. The Grand Wizard hails from Indiana. There is hate all over this country.

I don't take responsibility for the KKK just like I don't take responsibility for Booshco. Anyone who's being honest about it realizes that you don't have to go very far to find closed minds and hate-filled hearts in any community.

intellectually superior to those people. Just keep fighting for what is right!

When you're 18 you can move wherever you want.

It's a big world.

Right now I'm in a place I don't really like. I will take my own advice and be moving ASAP.

COUNTER demonstrators."

Then it goes on to say that 50 people marched against immigration. That means that 250 people might have been there to boo and hiss the rednecks.

I'm in Tennessee and spent many a summer in Alabama - it wasn't all bad. :)

(old joke....older than you.) Man comes home from work, finds wife in bed, man hiding in closet. Screams at the man in the closet: What are you doing in there? Answers the man: Everyone has to be somewhere?

Sympathies from Louisiana!

everything you post. I'm sorry you live in an area where you feel oppressed. It's not that way everywhere. Did you happen to go to the Peace March in Birmingham last Sept. ? It was small compared to larger cites, but there were people from all over the state. Young and old, all races, vets and church groups marching hand in hand against the War. Amy Goodman was there the day before and she was wonderful.

If you feel you could do more somewhere else with your intelligence and talent, then you should go where your heart takes you. It will be hard to find a perfect place with no problems, crimes or bigotted people. I wish you well with whatever you do. I expect to see your name for a very long time. Where ever you are, the people and state will be very fortunate to have you.


You probably know this, but the SPLC in Mongomery provides information on all hate groups in all states and also monitors hate crimes. These groups are in nearly every state.
SPLC Home page

http://www.splcenter.org/index.jsp

34 States are listed with KKK groups. AL does not have the most by far. These 34 states are spread across the nation.


6 states list no hate groups.
HI
ME
ND
NM
RI
VT
10 states have as few as 1 to 5
10 states have 5-10
etc...

A few states have 20-50 known Hate Groups which are monitored by the SPLC.

These are the groups listed.
Black Separatist
Christian Identity
Ku Klux Klan
Neo-Confederate
Neo-Nazi
Racist Skinhead
Other

You can check the maps and where these groups are located at this link.

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp?T=26&m=4


They also list Hate Crimes which are reported.
HateWatch 2006

CA- Ventura (Legal Developments)
Published on 03-29-2006
Bridget Callahan, 34, was sentenced to nine years in prison for her role in the Skinhead gang murder of a 17-year-old in 1998.


MD- Damascus (Vandalism)
Published on 03-25-2006
Racist graffiti was spray-painted throughout a school.


PA- Fountain Hill (Vandalism)
Published on 03-24-2006
Swastikas were drawn on two signs at a local daycare center.


UT- Salt Lake City (Legal Developments)
Published on 03-14-2006
Robby Wayne Baalman, 20, was sentenced to almost five years in prison after pleading guilty in December to one count of interference with a federally protected activity for his involvement in an attack on a black bicyclist in March 2005. He also was ordered to serve a three-year supervised parole and pay more than $20,000 in restitution.


IL- Chicago (Vandalism)
Published on 03-08-2006
Swastikas and racist graffiti were scrawled on several buildings at a college.


CO- Denver (Legal Developments)
Published on 03-06-2006
Malaika Griffin, a 34-year-old black woman, was sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years after she was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery and motor vehicle theft for shooting a white man in the back in May 1999.


MA- Stoughton (Vandalism)
Published on 03-05-2006
Several swastikas were painted on a Jewish community center.


NY- New York (Assault)
Published on 03-05-2006
Two Hispanic men allegedly used anti-Asian epithets and slashed three men with box cutters outside a diner.


NY- Patchogue (Assault)
Published on 03-05-2006
Harley Heyward, 28, was charged with one count of aggravated harassment and one count of endangering the welfare of a child as a hate crime for allegedly kicking a two-year-old boy while yelling anti-Hispanic slurs.


NY- Yonkers (Vandalism)
Published on 03-01-2006
Swastikas were spray-painted on the hoods of two cars.


WI Brookfield (Leafletting)
Published on 02-25-2006
Fliers from the National Socialist Movement were placed on cars in a park-and-ride lot.


PA- Philadelphia (Legal Developments)
Published on 02-21-2006
John Dixon, 45, and Albert Martin, 36, were sentenced to five years of probation and 500 hours of community service for allegedly burning a cross next to an interracial couple's home on September 2004.


WA- Olympia (Leafletting)
Published on 02-21-2006
Leaflets from the National Socialist Movement were found on the lawns of residences throughout a neighborhood.


IN- Hobart (Vandalism)
Published on 02-20-2006
A racial epithet was scrawled on the sidewalk outside a black family's home in a racially mixed subdivision. A swastika was also scrawled on a bulldozer parked near the family's home.


CO- Colorado Springs (Leafletting)
Published on 02-13-2006
Fliers from the neo-Nazi White Revolution were left on the campus of Colorado State University.


CT- Westport (Vandalism)
Published on 02-10-2006
Swastikas and other racist graffiti were spray-painted on trees and street signs in a neighborhood.


NJ- Ridgefield Park (Vandalism)
Published on 02-07-2006
A racial slur was spray-painted on the side of a building.


CA- Agoura Hills (Vandalism)
Published on 02-01-2006
Swastikas and racist graffiti were etched into a car.


CA- Ukiah (Threat)
Published on 02-01-2006
A 14-year-old Jewish girl received a threatening letter with anti-Semitic language and Nazi pictures. Two boys, 15 and 16, were arrested on hate crime charges.


GA- Douglasville (Vandalism)
Published on 02-01-2006
Several swastikas were spray-painted on a well belonging to a black family.


MD- Preston (Vandalism)
Published on 01-29-2006
Two teenage boys, 13 and 14, were charged with malicious destruction of property for allegedly spray-painting the letters `KKK` on a car. The 14-year-old was also charged with committing a religious hate crime.


NV- Las Vegas (Leafletting)
Published on 01-26-2006
A flier from the neo-Nazi White Peoples Party was left on a car.


MD- Rockville (Cross Burnings)
Published on 01-22-2006
A cross was burned in a black family's yard.


FL- Floral City (Vandalism)
Published on 01-21-2006
A dead raccoon hanging from a noose and a racist note were found on the porch of a Methodist church with a predominantly black congregation.


NY- Scarsdale (Vandalism)
Published on 01-21-2006
Four swastikas were spray-painted on a school.


MD- Gaithersburg (Vandalism)
Published on 01-17-2006
Swastikas and other Nazi symbols were spray-painted on a wooden dock, a sidewalk, benches and trees near a lake.


MN- Saint Paul (Cross Burnings)
Published on 01-17-2006
A cross was burned in front of a temple.


FL- Osteen (Cross Burnings)
Published on 01-16-2006
A cross with a racist message written on it was burned in a biracial couple's yard.


MD- Middletown (Leafletting)
Published on 01-16-2006
Fliers from the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan were distributed in front of homes throughout a neighborhood.


CA- Bakersfield (Vandalism)
Published on 01-13-2006
Racist graffiti was scrawled on a black teenager's car.


CA- Santa Rosa (Vandalism)
Published on 01-09-2006
Swastikas and anti-Mexican slogans were spray-painted on a Mexican restaurant.


OR- Gresham (Legal Developments)
Published on 01-09-2006
Three people were sentenced to prison for menacing a mortgage broker with a matchete and using racial insults gainst him outside a convenience store in August. Christian L. Coats, 23, was sentenced to more than two years in prison for attempted first-degree assault and intimidation; William P. Henry, 29, was sentenced to more than three years for attempted first-degree assault and menacing; and Ariane E. Celis, 23, was put on three years probation, also for attempted first degree assault, in connection with the incident.


CA- Santa Rosa (Vandalism)
Published on 01-06-2006
A swastika was dug in the ground near a school.


NC- Durham (Leafletting)
Published on 01-06-2006
Fliers from the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan were distributed throughout a neighborhood.



http://www.splcenter.org/intel/hatewatch/fortherecord.jsp

Once upon a time, the KKK ran entire states, back in the 1920s. At the same time, gangsters--thanks to Prohibition--quite literally had more power in many cities than elected officials did. And after the Civil War, the first KKK managed to basically overthrow the North's victory, and restablish slavery in the South in all but name... So: things *do* improve. The fact that a few hundred lunatics get together in your state is really more a sign of their weakness, than their strength...they're using immigration as a kind of wedge to try and become mainstream again--much as the Communists used to try and use every outrage against blacks...but these people have no future, unless we *really* mismanage our country, even worse than Bush could dream of doing.