<<Why do they continue to vote for people who hurt them?>>
Who is the "they" you are referencing? I know you think people in the south are stupid and you never miss an opportunity to run us down. You do this because you don't understand or think about the demographics of the southern states.
So let's start with statistics.
Gross measurements put southern states at the bottom of the pecking order with regard to wealth, hence the south is the poorest section of the country.
Gross measurements of educational achievements put southern states at the bottom of the pecking order with regard to schooling, hence the south is considered the most uneducated section of the country.
Gross measurements of welfare put southern states at the top of the pecking order, hence the south is the section of the country most dependent on government handouts.
These statistical measurements make you wonder why the South votes Republican, why we vote for the people who hurt us, impoverish us, keep us down. You think southerners would be better off if only we voted Democrat. That's why I asked who is the "they"?
The answer is there is no "they". There are three large demographic groups that make up the south--White, African-American, and a growing Hispanic one. Statistically speaking, white southerners stack up just fine in terms of income and education with the rest of the country. My state of Arkansas, a small state in terms of population, sends a significant number of its white residents on to Ivy League schools. We produced a POTUS and several notable business leaders. White people in the south are primarily business people and farming people, not government workers. Therefore it makes perfect sense that we would vote Republican. White southerners are NOT voting against their own interests
What makes my state fall into the category of poor, uneducated, and disproportionate users of welfare is our black population. It's not that we're doing things to keep them down and oppressed. There are the same achievement gaps between blacks and whites in every state. The problem is that the south has so darn many blacks. In my state it's close to 25%. I think it's closer to 35% and higher in MS, AL, and GA. Maybe LA, too. It's the disproportionate numbers of blacks that drag down the overall measurements of the general population. Look at any state in the US. The higher the percentage of blacks, the lower the measurements of success. Even health statistics are skewed.
Quite frankly, Koan, southern blacks are a ball and chain, and I wish they would all move to your state, lol.
Seriously, I vote for letting you and your democrat friends deal with it. What's your percentage of blacks in Alaska? Under 5% I'm guessing. What are the demographics of the entire northwest?
Sadly, blacks sap state resources that could go to building infrastructure that might attract more businesses to the south. They also sap the energies of public school teachers who work hard just to control misbehavior and low test scores of blacks. This leaves white students and brighter black students to fend for themselves. Blacks all seem to be on Medicaid which means they soak up all the openings in nursing homes. I could go on and on and put myself in a really bad mood, so I'll stop.
The main thing is that I want to suggest that the next time you feel the urge to ignorantly defame the South, keep in mind that it is YOUR VOTERS you are maligning. Southern blacks are Democrats. It's their poor performance as a group that makes the south look bad. Oddly enough, if they all voted, there's enough of them to turn the South Democrat. So what's going on? Apparently they don't care enough to get out and vote. Maybe they are lazy or maybe they think life is pretty good for them here. I say that because actually race relations are considered by experts to be good in the south.
At any rate, the stuff you say and have said for years about the South just makes you look superficial. You overgeneralize. I know you value education. If you want to appear educated, get familiar with all the sides to an issue. |
