2658: The Onion

[Sparrow]

also attended two confederate rallies last year. weird shit. my cowboy boots disguised my progressive nature.

[Mermaid]

The focus on poverty doesn't bother me so much.

It's the focus on one kind of poverty.

Always the stereotypical "redneck" poverty.

All my coworkers are southeast Asian. They grew up spending their summers on their parents shrimp boats peeling shrimp.

They are such a big community down here that they've even developed several Asian gangs that get into it with the rednecks.

I recently read a story about a small black town here that's so poor they can't afford to maintain plumbing so the residents are pooping in holes out back.

Why not more stories about Southern Latinos?

Why not about the trailer parks full of interracial couples?

It's just so monolithic.

I blame media. Because they always seem to look for the most stereotypical people to do stories on. Like people who the just had to go out of their way to find.

[Mermaid]

The racist acts are happening country wide.

Several nooses found outside of the New African American museum in DC.

Threats at New England Ivy league schools.

Attacks in the pacific northwest.

I don't ever feel "safe" from racism.

I'm not belittling the mental effects of hillbilly antics. But a confederate flag is not as mentally damaging as not being able to afford food/get housing/acquire work/getting arrested.

Northern liberal racism is just as insidious. It's just better hidden cause they have shame.

[Sparrow]

people like to see the stereotype. it's the one you can make fun of and feel awesome. i am still in the process of reconciling belonging to the trope. it is the culture to which i have agency to criticize and change.

i would /love/ to see more stories about our Asian and Latino denizens. to give our inflated sense of 'ownership' of the land and culture to more than the barefoot hick on the news talking about the latest tornado. give us all a stake in the movement forward, ya know.

[Sparrow]

i agree with all the other stuff. you have a perspective on our shared place that is different than mine.

[Mermaid]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

people like to see the stereotype. it's the one you can make fun of and feel awesome. i am still in the process of reconciling belonging to the trope. it is the culture to which i have agency to criticize and change.

i would /love/ to see more stories about our Asian and Latino denizens. to give our inflated sense of 'ownership' of the land and culture to more than the barefoot hick on the news talking about the latest tornado. give us all a stake in the movement forward, ya know.

Does home feel "safe" to you?

For example, when I go home to my mom's house for the holidays I know I am going to walk into a house full of people who share 90% of my social views and understand me completely and are willing and able to comfort me in whatever way cause they've all been there.

How does it feel for you to go home? Is there anxiety about political discussions? Is there a heaviness? Or do people just keep to polite conversations?

[Sparrow]

home is safe. we do not talk politics. a lot of that is that i come from stubborn, opinionated, fiery people. even those on the same side will square off about some local level bullshit. i don't interact with them on a day-to-day basis, so i feel alright picking my battles like shutting down my father's off color jokes. does not affect my sense of belonging. they know exactly who i am and where i stand and their love never wavers. i'm losing my elders to fox news like a lot of my generation, but it's heartening still when i watch them walk their walk it's not quite the tough talk they're talking.

i supplement this with a lot of chosen family who are more like myself with whom i can talk more easily about the nuances of what's happening in the world.

[bellalugosi]

Originally Posted by Turkeysnjunk

It was an episode of the Golden Girls. I think it was Sophia and I can't remember which of the other ladies.

BLESS YOU