Nearly Half Of Mississippi Republicans Think Interracial Marriage Should Be Illegal

[Nolan]

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/nearly-of-mississippi-republicans-think-interracial-marriage-should-be-illegal.php?ref=tn


Americans nationwide are evenly divided over the issue of same sex marriage. But Republicans in Mississippi are divided over a wholly different wedlock issue: interracial marriage.
In a PPP poll (http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_MS_0407915.pdf) released Thursday, a 46% plurality of registered Republican voters said they thought interracial marriage was not just wrong, but that it should be illegal. 40% said interracial marriage should be legal.
Gov. Haley Barbour, with a home state advantage in Mississippi, also topped PPP's survey of the GOP primary field at 37%, followed by Mike Huckabee at 19%, and Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich at 10%.
The poll also found that voters who thought interracial marriage should be banned liked Barbour, Palin, and Huckabee the most among the slate of potential GOP presidential candidates. Seventy-nine percent of those voters said they approved of Gov. Barbour's job performance, while 74% said they had a favorable opinion of Sarah Palin, and 73% viewed Huckabee favorably.
In February, a Gallup poll found that Mississippi was the most conservative state in the nation. (http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/02/americans-far-quicker-to-embrace-conservative-than-liberal-tag.php) In that survey, 50.0% of adults identified themselves as conservatives.
The PPP poll was conducted March 24-27 among 400 registered Republican voters. It has a margin of error of 4.9%.

[DrStrangelove]

This is why I'm embarrassed to tell people what state I'm from. *shakes head in shame*

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Quite believable.

As I've said before:

Spend some time in the south and you may very well become a proponent of the Sparts' call to "Finish the Civil War."

[Aurorus Ruber]

Spend some time in the south and you may very well become a proponent of the Sparts' call to "Finish the Civil War."

Sure sounds like it.

[Red Commissar]

It wouldn't surprise me really. There are some really socially backward areas in the South- I mean it isn't like an interracial couple could exist without some prejudices from the populace in much of the US, but in parts of the south it is particularily pronounced.

There's a documentary I remember watching a couple years back called "Prom Night in Mississippi". It was about a town that held its first integrated prom. In 2008.

[eric922]

If you all do decide to finish it, do us sane southerners get amnesty? We aren't all neo-Confederates. Oh God, on the topic of neo-confederacy here is a quote I found from a neo-confedarte colluminst on wikipedia: "... Lee and Jackson did not fully comprehend what they were fighting. Had this really been a "Civil" War, rather than a secession, they would and could have easily seized Washington after Manassas and hanged our first Communist President and the other war criminals." Yes, they think Lincon was a Communist.

[DrStrangelove]

Spend some time in the south and you may very well become a proponent of the Sparts' call to "Finish the Civil War."
Can I join your side? This Confederacy fetishism is really irritating.

And interracial couples are still looked down upon in many areas within the South. I had a black girlfriend last year. When teachers start threatening to lower your grades to "encourage" you to make smarter "relationship decisions,"
you realize just how socially backwards the place you're living in is. It's even worse for gay and bisexual students, who are openly insulted by the teachers within the classrooms.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Marx was sympathetic towards Lincoln and Honest Abe did make speeches condemning "wage slavery" during the Lincoln-Douglas Debates but unfortunately he probably couldn't be considered a communist.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

If you all do decide to finish it, do us sane southerners get amnesty? We aren't all neo-Confederates.

Definitely. Revolutionary Reconstruction would rely on militant workers in the south to see the changes through.

[agnixie]

Can I join your side? This Confederacy fetishism is really irritating.

And interracial couples are still looked down upon in many areas within the South. I had a black girlfriend last year. When teachers start threatening to lower your grades to "encourage" you to make smarter "relationship decisions,"
you realize just how socially backwards the place you're living in is. It's even worse for gay and bisexual students, who are openly insulted by the teachers within the classrooms.


If you all do decide to finish it, do us sane southerners get amnesty? We aren't all neo-Confederates. Oh God, on the topic of neo-confederacy here is a quote I found from a neo-confedarte colluminst on wikipedia: "... Lee and Jackson did not fully comprehend what they were fighting. Had this really been a "Civil" War, rather than a secession, they would and could have easily seized Washington after Manassas and hanged our first Communist President and the other war criminals." Yes, they think Lincon was a Communist.

Funny historical factoid: in terms of army size, there were at least two volunteer regiments in the federal army raised from every confederate state, and in some states, the CSA had trouble even raising as many troops as the union was getting volunteers. Something like 1/3 to 40% of the confederate military deserted. That's about how popular the lost cause was before it was lost.

And yes, "Freedmen and Scalywags" will very much be part of the deal.

[Aurorus Ruber]

There's a documentary I remember watching a couple years back called "Prom Night in Mississippi". It was about a town that held its first integrated prom. In 2008.

Whoa, that is just flabbergasting.

[The Vegan Marxist]

Marx was sympathetic towards Lincoln and Honest Abe did make speeches condemning "wage slavery" during the Lincoln-Douglas Debates but unfortunately he probably couldn't be considered a communist.

Yes. Both Marx and Lincoln exchanged letters to one another on the topic of slavery and the civil war. There's an upcoming book that publishes all the letters between Marx and Lincoln. I'd recommend everyone getting a copy, as I will as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Revolution-Karl-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/1844677222/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302430068&sr=1-2

[southernmissfan]

Being from Mississippi and having lived in Alabama the last ten years, this is not particularly surprising. However, I must point out that this poll is extremely flawed.

Discussion on the prevalence of racism in the American South is not only a valid topic, it's something we must address if we are to ever make any sort of progress there. But I have to point out that poll itself is flawed to the extent of being bogus, even if it probably is fairly close to the truth.

[Blackscare]

However, I must point out that this poll is extremely flawed...




But I have to point out that poll itself is flawed to the extent of being bogus, even if it probably is fairly close to the truth.

Care you explain what you mean?

[MarxSchmarx]

So how precisely do comrades active in the American deep south plan to combat these reactionary views held by people, some if not many of whom are working class? How do you propose to even begin to work to include what I'm guessing are primarily suburban and rural whites in your broader work? How do you struggle against racism and for class consciousness among these peoples?

I am genuinely curious, because I don't think reactionary ideas likes these are unique to the American southeast (c.f. that Pauline Hanson thread). So what lessons of other struggles elsewhere do you draw on, and how do you propose to apply them to your local situation in your activism?

Edit: Whilst I think protesting KKK rallies and the like are a necessary comopnent of the solution, I'm curious to hear what more creative ideas have been brought up and considered.

[Cheung Mo]

Maybe we should all the fuckwits in Eastern France who vote Front National all these dumbshits from Mississippi wipe each other out in a Battle Royale. (Actually, it would be more like the French racists massacring the Incestistan racists, because at least Le Pen and his disciples would be capable of some degree of cooperation and coordination given their support for the welfare state)

[chegitz guevara]

Yes. Both Marx and Lincoln exchanged letters to one another on the topic of slavery and the civil war. There's an upcoming book that publishes all the letters between Marx and Lincoln. I'd recommend everyone getting a copy, as I will as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Revolution-Karl-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/1844677222/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302430068&sr=1-2

Wait, Lincoln wrote back? :ohmy:

[Rakhmetov]

Mississippi---- This is where the Republican party finds its fascist base, where funds are obtained to fight the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, etc. :mad:

[chegitz guevara]

While it's easy to use this as a way of bashing the South (and I've already had my two minutes of hate about this elsewhere--being in a twenty year interracial relationship makes me take such things personally) a number of things should be pointed out.

First, the poll itself shows that overwhelmingly, these views are held by older Mississippi Republicans, i.e., the folks who were segregationist Dixiecrats who bolted the Dems in the 70s for Nixon and Reagan. By and large, younger Republicans do not hold these views.

Second, the South is not heterogeneous. I lived in Jacksonville, FL three years, and least some Southerner say Florida ain't the real South, they beg to differ. When someone says Jax is more like South Georgia than South Florida, they take it as a compliment. I saw more interracial couples there than I ever saw in Chicago or elsewhere up North. Now, I suspect in large part that has to do with the fact that Jax is largely a military city, with seven military bases. Interracial couples are very common in the military.

My fiancee/wife had less trouble with people in Jax than we had in Chicago, where some people were overtly hostile to us. In fact, the most hostile people to our relationship were other Black people. But that was in the 90s. Now I live in South Florida, and here interracial relationships are so common it blows my mind, but I suspect that's because of so many islanders living here, and it's quite common in the Caribbean.

Racism is just as bad in the North. It's just different. Down here, racism is just under the surface. It's like a knife to the throat. In the North, you never know where its going to come from, and when it comes, it's violent and traumatizing. In the South, it just grinds you down. In both places, it destroys you. Neither is better.

[southernmissfan]

Care you explain what you mean?

The poll consisted of 400 people who voted in Republican primaries (not to mention older people were over represented), making it such a small slice of the electorate (much less the general population) to have no basis as an accurate portrayal. We have to remember that just because something is a poll, doesn't mean it is accurate.

From personal observations, spending my life down here, I've noticed a trend of white/black relationships mostly in poor communities. There seems to be a perception of the white partners (mostly females) as "ghetto" or "white trash". But it's pretty common to see them. Of course most people I know or am around are the poor, "white trash", "ghetto" types of whites or black, so my perspective might not be completely accurate. Here recently I was interested romantically in a black girl (I'm white) and my more middle class white acquaintances thought it was "gross".

Anyway, excuse me from my ramblings. As to the question posed by MarxSchmarx, I honestly don't know. It's not just racism either. It's a combination of racism with sexism, fundamentalist religion, jingoism and other extreme, backwards attitudes. Poverty, poor health and lack of education are widespread here in the South, moreso than any other region of the country. Unions are rare and state laws are extremely anti-union (hence why the little domestic manufacturing that exists, exists down South). It's a daunting challenge.

[Robocommie]

If you all do decide to finish it, do us sane southerners get amnesty? We aren't all neo-Confederates. Oh God, on the topic of neo-confederacy here is a quote I found from a neo-confedarte colluminst on wikipedia: "... Lee and Jackson did not fully comprehend what they were fighting. Had this really been a "Civil" War, rather than a secession, they would and could have easily seized Washington after Manassas and hanged our first Communist President and the other war criminals." Yes, they think Lincon was a Communist.

I was looking for information on Karl Marx's view on the American Civil War, and I found some discussion of him corresponding with Abraham Lincoln, and at first I was totally excited until I realized it was a bullshit Lost Cause website and they were making Lincoln out to be a ravening socialist dictator.

[The Vegan Marxist]

I was looking for information on Karl Marx's view on the American Civil War, and I found some discussion of him corresponding with Abraham Lincoln, and at first I was totally excited until I realized it was a bullshit Lost Cause website and they were making Lincoln out to be a ravening socialist dictator.

Though, it's not really bullshit. Both Lincoln and Marx did send each other letters on the topic of the civil war and slavery, as I pointed out here:

http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2074091&postcount=12

[KurtFF8]

So how precisely do comrades active in the American deep south plan to combat these reactionary views held by people, some if not many of whom are working class? How do you propose to even begin to work to include what I'm guessing are primarily suburban and rural whites in your broader work? How do you struggle against racism and for class consciousness among these peoples?

I am genuinely curious, because I don't think reactionary ideas likes these are unique to the American southeast (c.f. that Pauline Hanson thread). So what lessons of other struggles elsewhere do you draw on, and how do you propose to apply them to your local situation in your activism?

Edit: Whilst I think protesting KKK rallies and the like are a necessary comopnent of the solution, I'm curious to hear what more creative ideas have been brought up and considered.

Well I have an entire website about the answer to your question: http://southernleftists.net/

But while these are obviously quite problematic trends, the idea that the South is somehow more racist than the "more progressive North" is also just as problematic. We must not forget that the Panthers, for example, did not meet repression just in the South, but all over the United States.


I was looking for information on Karl Marx's view on the American Civil War, and I found some discussion of him corresponding with Abraham Lincoln, and at first I was totally excited until I realized it was a bullshit Lost Cause website and they were making Lincoln out to be a ravening socialist dictator.

I just posted an article about this very thing on the site I mentioned above.


Both Lincoln and Marx did send each other letters on the topic of the civil war and slavery, as I pointed out here:

I was aware of the international's letter to Lincoln (I believe penned by Marx, but not a personal correspondence), and was under the impression that Lincoln had a brief letter drawn up in response (thus not really taking it too serious).

It seems mistaken to call it a correspondence between Marx and Lincoln, though.

[Agent Ducky]

Can I join your side? This Confederacy fetishism is really irritating.

And interracial couples are still looked down upon in many areas within the South. I had a black girlfriend last year. When teachers start threatening to lower your grades to "encourage" you to make smarter "relationship decisions,"
you realize just how socially backwards the place you're living in is. It's even worse for gay and bisexual students, who are openly insulted by the teachers within the classrooms.

Within the educational sytem? That's just sickening O_O

[#FF0000]

One of the first things we should do after the Revolution is erect statues of General Sherman in every single southern town.

[KurtFF8]

One of the first things we should do after the Revolution is erect statues of General Sherman in every single southern town.

In all honesty that would upset very few people in the South.

[☭The Revolution☭]

I really fucking hate Conservi-fascists...

[Red Future]

One of the first things we should do after the Revolution is erect statues of General Sherman in every single southern town.

Perhaps not with the hindsight of his attitude to the Indians

[KurtFF8]

I really fucking hate Conservi-fascists...

Well fortunately for you they are still quite a marginal force even in the South

[CAleftist]

I live in the SF Bay Area, and I've seen (and heard) plenty of racism.

The difference is, here it's subtle. In the South, there isn't as much subtlety (especially in poorer rural areas).

But in suburban/elite city areas everywhere, you have white flight, gentrification, condescending, patronizing attitudes towards non-whites, and all kinds of "institutionalized" racism. And as was noted upthread, there's no warning with the kind of racism you find in more liberal areas.

Common remarks I've heard by liberals:
"I don't want to live in an undesirable (code for non-white) area"
"The Bay Area attracts better-educated, progressive immigrants than other areas"

Often, they don't even acknowledge someone who they feel is "inferior" to them.

Racism is everywhere.

[Manic Impressive]

Though, it's not really bullshit. Both Lincoln and Marx did send each other letters on the topic of the civil war and slavery, as I pointed out here:

http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2074091&postcount=12
I've never heard of Lincoln responding to Marx's letter. Unfortunately I can't afford to buy every book which is referred to me, is the letter published online anywhere?

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/iwma/documents/1864/lincoln-letter.htm


The Government of the United States has a clear consciousness that its policy neither is nor could be reactionary, but at the same time it adheres to the course which it adopted at the beginning, of abstaining everywhere from propagandism and unlawful intervention. It strives to do equal and exact justice to all states and to all men and it relies upon the beneficial results of that effort for support at home and for respect and good will throughout the world.

lol