Hey, Y'all, And Youse Guys -- Enough Stereotypes

By Manifesto Joe

Normally, I try to be as supportive as possible of any lefty blogger out there. "Viva la causa," as certain Tejanos say. But I'm seeing too much depiction of Southern whites, especially us Texans, as being irredeemably ignorant. My experience is that ignorance is very much an equal-opportunity employer.

This is only one example of such plowboy-bashing. One will do. Here's the link. See the piece titled, "Lincoln Screwed Up -- Let's Fix It."

I've lived among necks vermillion long enough to understand this sentiment. But I've also known people from many other backgrounds who had all the same problems, and perhaps a few more.

Here was my response in the comments:

Not only do Yankees harbor a lot of stereotypes about us Texans –

– Your pot roast and bean soup are bland enough to serve in jails or a college cafeteria (you all seem to have gotten the notion that chile peppers really will eat holes in your stomach).

– In the (Republican) Dakotas and points east of there, you still have people who sound like, "My name is Yon Yonson, I leeve in Visconsin, I vork in a lumber mill zere!" They guzzle a lot of something they call "pop" that we call soda water or soft drinks down here. I know all this from having attended a Lutheran college.

– You have places up there like Fort Wayne, Indiana, where I think they still have active chapters of America First. And Indiana was the state with the biggest Klan membership back in the '20s. One of the most stupifyingly bigoted Religious Right types I have ever known was from Minnesota (that's "Meene-soat-a" up there). He was definitely acquainted with the "N" word, and believed quite sincerely that any person who had ever heard the name of Jesus even mentioned, and did not immediately convert, was damned to everlasting perdition.

– Bush and Cheney are not native Texans. Cheney is from Wyoming, the heart of Red-state Yankeeland, and Bush was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and "educated" mostly at blueblood Yankee schools. His Texas accent is reputed to be largely an acquired affectation.

Anyway, enough with all the stereotypes, Southern or Northern, yours or mine. In post-Bush America, let's try to live peacefully without them.

Manifesto Joe Is An Underground Writer Living In Texas.