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Geography-related Questions 71-80

THE QUESTION:
G76: I recently had a discussion with a woman who believed that the United States had stolen Texas from Mexico and that Cucasians and African Americans had no right to be here. Do Mexicans really believe Texas is rightfully a part of Mexico?
POSTED APRIL 5, 1999
J.D., 30, white male <Spazdog30@msn.com>, Arlington, TX

ANSWER 1:
The first part of her assertion is historically accurate. In spite of what the myth of the Alamo would have you believe, Texas was stolen by force from Mexico by outsiders, namely Anglos from the United States. But as for Anglos and blacks not belonging here, I and every Mexican I know don’t believe that. I do know most resent it when the media or Anglos refer to us as an immigrant group, when most of us are native. Our ancestors were here quite a bit before yours, so being lumped in with illegal aliens is wrong, both factually and morally. I don’t know any Latinos who want Texas to be part of Mexico, either. Many of us have visited Mexico and don’t care for the corruption or poverty. I wonder if you are misreading her anger over exclusion and racism in the United States to mean she wants to be back in Mexico, when actually she might simply want America to live up to its promise – that there be a true society of equals here.
POSTED APRIL 7, 1999
A.C.C., Mexican and American Indian <bigi__@yahoo.com>, San Antonio, TX
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THE QUESTION:
G75: Why do some mainlanders still have no idea Hawaii is part of the United Staes, despite the fact that A) Hawaii has been under U.S. control for 100 years and a state for almost 40 years; B) Everyone can speak English; and C) You don’t need a passport to come here?
POSTED MARCH 23, 1999
Reid S., 19, fourth-generation Japanese American, Kailua, HI

ANSWER 1:
Most likely because they’re dumb. I’ve been to Hawaii seven times and have lost count of the times I’d meet another tourist and ask where they were from and get the answer, “I’m from the United States.” They never could seem to understand my answer that it was a strange response, since they were in the United States. Aloha, and hope to be back in Honolulu, USA, soon.
POSTED MARCH 24, 1999
Lewis <Lengel@ix.netcom.com>, New York, NY

FURTHER NOTICE:
I grew up in Kailua, graduated from Kalaheo High School and traveled the world, and I have never met anyone who doesn’t know Hawaii is part of the United States. People do wonder, however, if I grew up in a grass shack. As for “everyone speaking English,” “pidgen” isn’t really an acceptable form of English (and when your teachers, state politicians and local news anchors speak it … need I say more?)

As a side note, the dislike for “haole” tourists by younger locals doesn’t make Hawaii a prime vacation spot for younger travelers (if they can afford it), and the extremely high cost of living doesn’t allow young people to stay in Hawaii after they graduate from high school. Hawaii has a lot of issues to remedy before it can expect people to embrace the idea of visiting or living there. Funny, it’s “home,” but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
POSTED MARCH 24, 1999
Kyle, 30, black Hawaiian male <kyllr2v231@aol.com>, San Francisco, CA

FURTHER NOTICE 2:
Mainlanders know about Hawaii. It’s New Mexico they think is a foreign country.
POSTED MARCH 24, 1999
B. Hale, People’s Republic of Connecticut <halehart@aol.com>, Hartford, CT

FURTHER NOTICE 3:
I think mainlanders know Hawaii is part of the United States. I’m curious where you got that impression. As a mainlander who has never known anyone who did not understand Hawaii’s place in the union, I suspect your impression is somewhat inaccurate. Given Hawaii’s importance to the United States in World War II, everyone should know that it is a state. There’s really no excuse for such scant familiarity with the nation as a whole, and I’m ashamed to think there are enough people like that to give you such an impression.
POSTED MARCH 24, 1999
D.M.M., 24, <donikam@hotmail.com>, Charleston , SC

FURTHER NOTICE 4:
Perhaps many Americans do not know the names of all 50 states. For that, I give public education a failing average.
POSTED MARCH 24, 1999
Christopher D., 22, male <ngc1977@hotmail.com>, Arlington, TX

FURTHER NOTICE 5:
It’s because many mainlanders are geographically ignorant, and not just about Hawaii. I have met people who think New Mexico is not part of the United States, that Alaska is part of Canada and that New York is more than just a city. I’d bet most people don’t know the capital of their own state. I’d bet many are unsure what state they live in.
POSTED MARCH 24, 1999
Andrew, 35, male <ziptron@start.com.au>, Huntington, NY

FURTHER NOTICE 6:
Reminds me of a friend who placed a business call to a Texas company. She told the switchboard operator, “This is Portland, Maine.” The operator asked, “Is Portland your first name?” That was back in the ’70s.
POSTED MARCH 26, 1999
N. Smith, formerly from Maine <ranebow@iname.com>, Butler , PA
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THE QUESTION:
G74: If I were to visit Cambodia, what would be some cultural differences I might encounter?
POSTED MARCH 23, 1999
Elizabeth W., female, <elizabeth_anne17@hotmail.com>, Richmond, VA
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THE QUESTION:
G73: I’m reading Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz. Are white Southerners really still hung up on the Civil War? Do some Southerners still perceive the South as being occupied by the Federal government?
POSTED MARCH 3, 1999
B. Hale, Yankee <halehart@aol.com>, Hartford, CT

ANSWER 1:
From my experience growing up in the Deep South, only a small percentage of people were intensely interested in the Civil War – some out of historic curiosity, others out of more sinister, racist motives. But I have also observed people with this interest while living/working in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast.

As for the feelings of the majority of Southerners, the Civil War is probably no more a topic of daily interest than for most Northerners. There is, however, probably some dichotomy of opinion or perception on the subject. Certainly, or at least hopefully, almost everyone would agree that any actions necessary to bring about an end to slavery were necessary and justified. But I think many Southerners feel a certain bitterness or melancholy about that period in history due to the capricious destruction visited upon the South during the war, the impoverishing federal tax and trade policies after the war and the wholly inadequate protection of the lives and liberties of freed slaves before, during and after the war. For this variety of reasons, I think most Southerners do not view the Civil War quite the same way that many Northerners do – as a clear-cut struggle between good guys and bad guys and winners and losers, with a beginning and an end.

As for the second question, I have never heard anyone speak in terms of the federal government as an occupying force, but many Southerners believe more strongly in the concept of States Rights as enumerated in the Constitution. This causes us to chafe at massive unfunded federal mandates, federal intrusion into public education, federal mandatory sentencing laws for state crimes and things like that. One of the unfortunate lingering after-effects of the war is the national inability to seriously debate these issues.
POSTED MARCH 16, 1999
Mark, 32, white male, Alexandria, VA

FURTHER NOTICE:
Almost without exception, the Southerners I know will tell you with some vehemence that the War Between the States was not fought on racial grounds. Sadly, some morons feel the need to align these two things and have, as a result, besmirched the Confederate Flag as well as Southern history. Sane and otherwise rational Southerners frequently do feel very strongly about the Civil War, viewing it as the tragedy it was. The South was galvanized by its defeat, and that affects Southern culture to this day. The South, for many decades after the War, was captured land. I remain a part of the Union only grudgingly. Southern history is my history, and the people whose homes were destroyed and lives reduced are my people. This land, language, food, culture – all of it is who I am, and it is too frequently misunderstood by Yankees who persist in the notion that they are the Great Moral Hope of the world, and that they can do things bigger, better, faster and more. Like any Southerner, I resist this change with all my being. Part of resisting it is maintaining my identity as Southern. As a little P.S. I’ll add that I am also left wing, feminist and queer.
POSTED MARCH 18, 1999
Kathryn, Southern Dyke <barefoot-rivergirl@usa.net>, Roanoke, VA

FURTHER NOTICE 2:
From my experience in the Army, where most white soldiers are Southerners, there is still an enormous anger left over from the Civil War, which must have been passed down for generations. Some were all right by themselves, but in groups had on open hatred of all “Yanks,” were found of saying “It (the war) ain’t over yet!” and believed the South was in the right about their causes, both states rights and slavery. You could not even mention slavery, civil rights, Dr. King, the Klan, lynching or the Confederate flag without it becoming a shouting match or near-fight. Yet the evidence shows the South suffered less than it would have you believe. They lost on the battlefield but won control in politics. How many other defeated rebel groups were able to elect a President, an ex-Confederate general at that, only 11 years after their supposed defeat? How many rebel groups were able to dominate one of two major political parties for more than 100 years?
POSTED MARCH 18, 1999
A.C.C., Mexican and American Indian, San Antonio , TX

FURTHER NOTICE 3:
As a Southerner, I rarely encounter people who think about the Civil War on any kind of regular basis. My grandparents’ generation tends to have more of an interest in that era. When children in the South study the Civil War today, they are likely to be studying it in a very similar way to children in Northern schools. With modern technology and culture, some of the historical divides between Northerners and Southerners are closing. Sure, there are still a few people down South fixated on “The War of Northern Aggression.” There are people who are terrible racists and would love to return to those days. And that crosses socioeconomic lines, too. But you’re much more likely to discuss the Gulf War or even Vietnam with a typical middle-class Southerner these days – probably because these people can see the direct impact these more recent wars have had on their own lives.
POSTED MARCH 18, 1999
Jennifer, Memphis, TN

FURTHER NOTICE 4:
Southerners are still hung up on the Civil War. I’ve lived all across the United States and Canada, and was astounded when I moved to the South. The regionalism there is overwhelming. I believe Southerners are quite unaware of the large presence of the Civil War there, but to anyone from another region, it’s a glaring force. The war is history elsewhere on the continent, but in the South, wartime mentality still prevails.
POSTED MARCH 23, 1999
Yankee Female, 42 <donotlistme@hotmail.com>, Toronto, Canada

FURTHER NOTICE 5:
To Kathryn: Your childish name-calling helps prove my point. Some white Southerners become irrational when the war is brought up. Saying the war was not about slavery or race is like saying “Titanic” was not about an iceberg. It is denial on a huge scale and flies in the face of massive evidence. The CSA had white supremacy explicitly written into its constitution and declaration of independence, so denying the Confederate flag is racist is like saying the swastika is only a good luck symbol. As for the endless complaints of Southern suffering, I will keep my sympathy for those who suffered far more: the South’s black inhabitants, who unlike the South’s whites did not bring that suffering upon themselves by their wrongs committed against another group, and who are not still mired in self-pity over the hardships of 120-140 years ago. It’s hard to have sympathy for those who brought hardship upon themselves by committing mass treason.
POSTED MARCH 23, 1999
A.C.C., Mexican and American Indian, San Antonio , TX
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THE QUESTION:
G72: What types of punishments do kids receive in different countries or cultures for misbehaving, or disobeying their parents? What are specific examples, as well as the reasoning behind these punishments, and what are some opinions on which countries have the harshest punishments? Thanks.
POSTED FEB. 25, 1999
Spanish <Lmgause@hotmail.com>, Raleigh, NC

ANSWER 1:
I don’t speak for all North American parents. We have two children, son is 13 and daughter is 6. When my son misbehaves, he loses privileges. No television, no computer, or no friends. My daughter would receive similar losses of privileges. Defiance by either one would require time out in their room for 6 or 13 minutes, respectively, or instant bed time depending on the severity of the offense. Persistent defiance would invite a well-planted spanking on the seat of the pants for the younger one. The older one would be grounded for a week or more, depending on the offense. We have expectations of our children. If these expectations are not met, they lose privileges. Defiance is a much more serious offense. Most offenses can be attributed to forgetfulness, wilful or otherwise. However, authority must be preserved if defiance is exhibited.
POSTED FEB. 28, 1999
Ronald V., 46, male, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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THE QUESTION:
G71: Why do Italians use their hands so much when they speak?
POSTED FEB. 17, 1999
Melody, 34, white, female, San Diego, CA
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