[Ron-N]

I am from Western Maryland, which was a border slave state before the Civil War, and I can remember segregation in schools, theaters and public facilities. I have also lived for several years in both Macon and Atlanta, Ga. It is my exeperience that most educated Southern people are proud of their Civil War heritage and honor their ancestors’ valor and fierce courage under adversity, just as all of us today honor our fading World War II veterans. However, these same Southerners are also deeply ashamed of slavery and the institutionalized racism that followed the war. Does anyone out there seriously think that legalized segregation could have ended relatively peacefully without the efforts of tens of thousands of white Southerners such as Harry S Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter, who knew in their hearts that slavery and segregation were deep moral wrongs? In my opinion, the so-called Southern attitude today is largely influenced by the ongoing rapid urbanization of the United States and the resulting conflict between city and rural cultures. Southerners both black and white are nostalgic for a romanticized rural and small town past that probably never existed in the first place. Who hasn’t sat for hours in backed-up rush-hour traffic and not felt the same way? Why are Thomas Kinkaid paintings and prints so popular? Americans in general and Southerners in particular are simply trying to recapture a slower-paced, less-complex rural past that is rapidly disappearing from America. While all of us must recognize the harsh lessons of history, we can honor and learn from the victories, defeats successes and failures of all our ancestors to build a better future for the peoples of the world.

User Detail :  

Name : Ron-N, Gender : M, City : Canyon Country, State : CA, Country : United States,