Draw Your Own Conclusions

A few Florida winters ago, I noticed a homemade sign on the shoulder of a busy route US 98, which read: "Go Back Home Nig*^rs." It deeply angered me and I wrote a follow up blog calling out some of the long lasting racial bigotry found in the American South. A reader suggested that I  was "profiling" Southern whites. I will acknowledge that racial prejudice is found in all corners of our country and throughout the world. There are people everywhere embracing prejudicial attitudes about numerous things, i.e., race, religion, ethnicities, etc.

Last evening I thought about those Southern prejudices while watching Chris Cuomo interview a Georgia Defense Attorney, Kevin Gough who is representing William 'Roddie' Bryan who video-taped the alleged murdering of Ahmaud Arbrey by Greg and Travis McMichael in Glynn County, Georgia. Defense attorney Gough and his client, Bryan appeared on the Cuomo show together and as expected, Attorney Gough was very cautious not to permit his client, Bryan to answer many of Cuomo's questions. Early in the interview exchange Attorney Gough said, and I paraphrase, 'All due respect to you Mr. Cuomo, you are a very good prosecuting attorney and Mr. Bryan is a mechanic with a high school education and if you have ever been to any of the high schools around here that ain't sayin' very much.' Here is a Southern educated lawyer truly profiling his neighbors saying essentially, "our folks are not very educated."

I know from research that Red States rank slightly below the national high school graduation average and Blue States rank slightly above the national high school graduation rate. Continuing this  educational theme, I can also claim that people living in Blue States receive college degrees at a greater rate than the national average and Red State occupants garner those college degrees at a rate below the national average. Does that mean Blue state folks are smarter than Red state folks? No! And since Red States' people tend to attend church more frequently than folks in Blue States does this indicate people from Red States are more religious than people from Blue States? Likewise, No! However, consider this: Brown vs. The Board of Education ruled that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Southern States fought this ruling for some nine years. It opened the defeat wounds traced back to the Civil War.

American psychologist, Gordon Allport concluded from his extensive research that prejudices are best reduced when four conditions are met: 1) Group shares a common goal, 2) Intergroup cooperation exist, 3) Every person in group is valued and  4) Law or authority support the contact.
The South fought this Allport concept passionately and regional generational racism became somewhat of a legacy, which is alive today in many areas of The South; embraced with similar passion for the Confederate flag.

You readers can come to your own conclusions and I'm certain you will. Before arriving at your conclusion ask if today's American leadership is making the assimilation of people better or worse?