I agree that the post is even-handed in this regard, but the reason I brought it up in the first place was the comments.

As a MS expat, I wanted to say that the whole “can we stop talking as though racism is a Southern problem?” theme in this comment thread–while well-intentioned, I’m sure–does a disservice to the South and just distracts from the very real problems we have.

Discrimination IS a huge problem in my home state, and it is often supported or even instigated by people who should know better–local government, churches, pastors, school boards, etc. What’s happened to Constance is pretty much par for the course…the system is flexible, and it will bend to find a way to exclude you.

And it’s not a coincidence that things are that way. Cultural context matters. Yes, there is racism and discrimination elsewhere. No one is debating that. But making the point of “oh, Chicago’s really racist too!” is just a distraction, not proof that the South’s history is irrelevant.

I also want to say that what I read in this post is WAAAAY more even-handed in its treatment of the South than what I’ve read about the McMillen case elsewhere on the internet (where “redneck”, “KKK” and “Mississippi Burning” keep coming up). I don’t know if that’s because Becky is Southern or just because this site tends to be more thoughtful in tone, but I appreciated it.

I’m not trying to say that bigotry isn’t a problem in the South, but bigotry is not a Southern problem.

@Becky – I’m not saying don’t call out southern racists — I’m fully in the camp of calling out ALL racists. But when a story about bigotry in the North comes around on the internet (say, I dunno, the young men from Long Island that are on trial now for murdering a Latino man, as part of a sport they call “beaner jumping” which is just randomly assaulting Latino men on the street: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/nyregion/21immigrant.html), the news is reported as: WHAT?!! WHAT A SHOCK!!! And when a story about bigotry in the South comes around on the internet it’s treated as, “Well, what do you expect? Southerners…” and it really pisses me off. bluebears is totally right: it comes with an undercurrent of moral superiority that is completely unwarranted, and, what’s more, leads to people in the North not working to correct their own prejudices.

Schools here are still functionally segregated, because the whites pulled out to the suburbs and/or moved their children into private schools – something further aided by the selling out of the public school system to the charters post-Katrina. The better schools are 90%+ white, and the horribly underfunded public schools (often missing such basics as textbooks, A/C, and functioning plumbing) are 95%+ black & Latino. And forget “functionally”, schools here were still formally segregated as late as the 1980s! My friend’s older brother went to fully segregated schools in Jefferson Parish (home of David Duke) that did not integrate until after his graduation in the early 1980s (1983 IIRC).

Then there are the roads, which are bad throughout the city but MUCH worse in the black neighborhoods. Same with public services. Same with police – I can call from Uptown and get a cop to respond relatively promptly, but if you’re calling from Central City forget about it (unless you report a naked woman running around. No, I’m not joking or being sarcastic – people have tested this). Plus the 1993 integration of MG krewes I mentioned earlier.

There’s racism everywhere. But not only is it more visible here, it’s more acceptable and more built into the legal and social systems here than I’ve seen anywhere else in this country.