4.11.04

normally i love new york ยป

but how fucking patronizing can you get? clearly the heartland of america is different from the northeast (as is the south, and the southwest, and almost ever other area), but to act as if you're the motherfucking messiah and it's your mission to show the poor bigots in the heartland what real diversity is, then fuck you.
If the heartland feels so alienated from us, then it behooves us to wrap our arms around the heartland. We need to bring our way of life, which is honoring diversity and having compassion for people with different lifestyles, on a trip around the country. [nyt via gmist]

i'm glad i'm planning to move out of the northeast after i graduate. ugh.

posted by hes at 11:35 AM

4 Comments:

Blogger Jinna said...

Good point. But don't give up on the Northeast!

4/11/04 10:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

it is wrong to be patronizing. you should be humble and love your neighbor. but. there are places in the south that predominantly display the confederate flag. not only that, it's acceptable for them to do so. one of my friends who lived in richmond over the summer commented on how flippantly non-blacks used the "n" word to each other. even eminem doesn't toss the n word around. there are still high schools in the south that ban interracial couples at school dances.

the fact is that most conservatives in the heartland don't feel passionately about government initiatives that work towards social reform, unless it's banning gay marriage, stem cell research, and abortion. there is biblical precedence to not tolerating such things, but. i don't understand the lack of compassion for social reform. and i'm not convinced that it's because america's heartland recognizes the more important agenda for spiritually converting people.

before the action must first come the belief. it makes no sense to force people to abide by christian rules in a democratic government. it is clearly making them despise christianity.

that still doesn't justify a liberal's disdain for america's heartland. and liberals are indeed narrow-minded about middle america. but assertions that such places have more difficulty embracing diversity or change are not far off, if only shown by some of the examples i mentioned above. the thing that rings most true however is that so many of my friends from the heartland agree with me on such beliefs about their hometowns. or rather they can personally attest to it. it's not just blind liberalism of people who've never even given these places a chance.
-- hester

5/11/04 2:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

sorry, one more thing. probably one of the biggest differences i see between the coasts and the middle (excepting the midwest) is how much each side believes that race is significant enough of a factor in affecting one's welfare and success in this country. this is why i think so many religious asians tend to be conservative, while religious blacks are not. asians can claim that they too have suffered racism but that they were able to succeed. thus, it's as if other minority groups are using excuses when they are so sensitive to racism. i think that many conservatives feel like the race card is overplayed and exploited. perhaps it is, but that still doesn't change the fact that racism is still a pervasive and horrible problem in this country. and that's something that most conservatives don't believe is true.

and again i'm generalizing by saying heartland = conservative, and coasts = liberal. but i think for the purposes of this argument they hold true.

5/11/04 2:26 AM  
Blogger j4r3d said...

i think your profile picture should be the one with you with the tp turban.

;D

5/11/04 2:01 PM  

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