What makes people think the South is racist?

Question

I dont see how it can be known both for southern hospitality and racism at the same time..Only people who call the South racist are people whove never been there.

Answer 1

Stereotypes. Your history is held against you. (The south did start the civil war and they are against most political change.) The southern hospitality has always been there during racism as well so that's just regional custom I'd think Don't take it to heart though cause there are racists everywhere.

Answer 2

rednecks, hillbillys, KKK, Atlanta and crunk is the only things I know or have been told about the south and everyone says its racist then again im ignorant to the place as I aint been there or know anyone from there but i swear most the black people in the US are in the south it cant be that racist if most of you lot are down there

Answer 3

Because people are dumbazz idiots

Answer 4

Well the South has a pretty bad track record when it comes to racial relations. I'm not really surprise people think that way about it.

Its not so bad though, its like anywhere else.

Answer 5

The South is considered racist due to days of slavery. When the civil war broke out the North (Union States) wanted to abolish slavery. The South (Confederate States) wanted to keep slaves to work on the large plantations. As you probably know, the North won and we no longer have slaves, but this stigma still lives on by many who refuse to accept they are no longer oppressed.

Answer 6

It's the history of the southern United States that make people feel that way. The South gets a bad rep for that reason alone. There was a time when blacks were treated like c**p and it still goes on to a smaller extent yet it's becoming a place full of opportunity for people of color and people from the North are moving down there in the droves.

My ex boyfriend decided to go into the military and he was stationed in North Carolina. I occasionally went to visit him and it was quite refreshing to be in a place that was slower and where the people of all races were friendlier to me- a nonwhite person- than any other place I had ever been. Yet I've been called a "f*cking n*gger" by a white man in New York. Amazing right?

Answer 7

Probably all the dumb rednecks who live in the south.

Answer 8

Im from the south and its racist depend on whichs parts of the south u go i mean  most of the people hide there racism

Answer 9

It's bad reputation from slavery.  

Answer 10

well, the south is where slavery began in america so people do have a reason to believe that. and alot people still have rascist minds, especially the old people cause thats how they were raised

Answer 11

Even in the '60s when most people or their parents were around there were huge issues with racial segregation and violence (like the church bombing) in the south which continued to a lesser extent in the following decades.  It takes more than 40 years for such major and well deserved stereotypes as those about the south to die.

"Only people who call the South racist are people whove never been there."  I have been to Alabama multiple times as much of my family lives there.  I stayed there for a week last summer,  and people just say things in racist things in public I have never even heard in private from LIVING in the north for my whole life!   You must be in a good part of the south, Atlanta?

Or you hang out with a good crowd.  If you compare the underclass in the south in say Montgomery Alabama as opposed to the underclass in say Lansing Michigan, you will find a huge difference in the amount of racism and the degree.  There is a reason so many southern states didn't have a single black Congressman(woman) since Reconstruction till the 1990's.

Even today, look at the issues with golf courses in the south.

Answer 12

right on!

Answer 13

Homeboy I was raised and born in the south, and it wasn't racist where I was at. Some people think its racist down there coz they've just heard of the civil war and stuff. But I've heard more stories that say the East is racist. Trying living in New York and tell me what racism is.

Answer 14

I agree with you. All of the people I know that claim the South is racist have never been to the South. Furthermore, majority of the Southern stereotypes were developed by people who are not from the South. I read through all of the answers to this question, and majority of the people need history lessons. People say that the South is racist because of slavery.

First of all, slavery did not begin in the South. Slavery began in the US when the Europeans tried to enslave Native Americans, followed by poor Europeans, indentured servants, and then, in 1619 the first African slaves were brought to the Americas. At the time the first Africans were brought to the Americas -- the South was occupied by Native Americans of Creek, Choctaw, and Cherokee tribes. So, again, how did slavery "begin" in the South? It didn't.

The South earned it's reputation for being "racist" during the Civil Rights Era if you want to actually be correct. It is then that the South became known for racism.

Yes, I know racist people. Majority of racist people are ignorant, and know very little about the ethnic groups they are against. Furthermore, blacks, whites, and Natives in the South all have racist tendencies. However, as I previously stated, most people need history lessons and have no idea what they're talking about and if they have never been to the South- again, they have no idea what they're talking about.

  

Answer 15

Amen! I'm from the south & I never really ran into these racial attitudes until I moved up north. All these yankees want a scapegoat to hide their true nature. Remember, we also are illiterate, rednecks, don't wear shoes, & we're all in the klan! True, the south has it's history, but the north isn't pure either. It's all a stereotype .