Rusty already wrote about this on his blog, but there are a few things I’d like to say on the topic, as well. Not sure how long this post will be, because a lot of what I want to say, I’m not sure how to translate from the gobbledy-gook in my head to the written word.
I’m no stranger to anti-South bias, especially given the fact that when you spend a lot of your time online, you naturally encounter people from all over. Offline too, there’s plenty of it… I vividly reminder one time, sophomore year of college at NYU, a friend of mine launched into this diatribe that started with, “What I don’t like about the South is…” and he started rattling off a bunch of stereotypes. I stopped him and asked if he’d ever been to the South. He hadn’t. I tore him a bit of a new asshole, he admitted he was behaving like a presumptuous jerk, and we went to dinner.
So anyway, I know that stuff is out there. It bugs me, but not on a daily basis. But in recent months/weeks/days, it’s become a bit more pronounced in my vicinity.
Take PodCamp NYC, for example. I detected a fair amount of anti-South bias - the most egregious example, of course, being the guy who came up to Rusty and me and started a sentence with, “I don’t want to pre-judge, BUT…” - at which time, he proceeded to pre-judge like a mofo. He asked if since we were in Georgia, most of our podcasts were about personal stories and stuff (from “military spouses,” among others), not world events. He didn’t seem to think there was anything fucked-up about that question, and even seemed to be a bit amused with himself. There we were, real live dumb Georgia hicks for him to talk at!! Maw, get the skillet!
Then there was the cab driver who took us to the airport Sunday morning, who said “I don’t care about the South” and “I don’t like the South because it’s too slow.” Okay, first of all, the South is a pretty big region - even if you’ve never been here, wouldn’t you venture a guess that it’s not all completely the same? Secondly, just who the fuck does this guy think he is?
So those are two very in-your-face examples. But there was also plenty of it running just beneath the surface. That, of course, is the type that’s the most insidious, because you can’t point your finger at one specific thing and say, “See?? Bias!!”
I’ve had the feeling, for a while now, that PodCamp Atlanta wasn’t taken as seriously among the PodCamp elite (whatever that means, but bear with me) because it was, well, in Atlanta. My intuition is rarely wrong on perceptions like these, so I think it’s worth mentioning, at least. Never mind what a completely kick-ass event we had, full of energy and passion, with overwhelmingly positive reviews, not to mention making national news. It’s the South; so, obviously, not quite as good. (Or, I imagine, something along those lines.)
I want to be clear: this isn’t an accusation. It’s a statement of how I’ve felt, of perceptions I’ve had, and things I’ve picked up on; little things, here and there. Not that it’ll stop me/us from making my/our voice(s) heard. But it is… annoying, nonetheless.
Now, as for anti-South bias on a broader (ie, not just PodCamp-related) scale?
It’s possible to make observations about certain institutions of the South without reducing individuals to stereotypes. This is exactly the kind of thing we’ve talked about on some of the feminist blogs lately: critique and analyze the structure/issue; don’t make presumptions about individuals, sight unseen.
And, it’s very telling to me when self-identified progressives get squirrely about this WRT the South. I’ve seen some people practically fall over themselves to defend their prejudice. Because apparently this kind of prejudice is okay. (Reminds me of how quickly the mask comes off with some self-identified progressives when they’re called on racist or sexist behavior.)
No - it’s not okay.
And I/we/you should not have to put up with it as some kind of nebulous atonement, which is what the justification typically is.
[Originally posted at the old blog]
podcampnyc
READ ME: Disclaimer