"I here declare my unmitigated hatred to Yankee
rule--to all political, social and business connection with the Yankees
and to the Yankee race. Would that I could impress these sentiments, in
their full force, on every living Southerner and bequeath them to every
one yet to be born! May such sentiments be held universally in the
outraged and down-trodden South, though in silence and stillness, until
the now far-distant day shall arrive for just retribution for Yankee
usurpation, oppression and atrocious outrages, and for deliverance and
vengeance for the now ruined, subjugated and enslaved Southern States!
And now with my latest writing and utterance, and with what will be near
my latest breath, I here repeat and would willingly proclaim my
unmitigated hatred to Yankee rule--to all political, social and business
connections with Yankees, and the perfidious, malignant and vile Yankee
race."
==================================
You know who won the election (or whether we face another Florida 2000), and as I write I don't.
But whether Barack Obama is re-elected to a second term or Mitt Romney
is elected the 45th president, the contours of their support during this
fiercely fought campaign show that we live in Two Americas.
The culturally cohesive America of the 1950s that some of us remember,
usually glossing over racial segregation and the civil rights movement,
is no longer with us and hasn't been for some time.
That was an America of universal media, in which everyone watched one of
three similar TV channels and newscasts every night. Radio, 1930s and
1940s movies, and 1950s and early 1960s television painted a reasonably
true picture of what was typically American.
That's not the America we live in now. Niche media has replaced universal media.
One America listens to Rush Limbaugh; the other to NPR. Each America has
its favorite cable news channel. As for entertainment, Americans have
100-plus cable channels to choose from, and the Internet provides many
more options.
Bill Bishop highlighted the political consequences of this in his 2008
book, "The Big Sort." He noted that in 1976 only 27 percent of voters
lived in counties carried by one presidential candidate by 20 percent or
more. In 2004, nearly twice as many, 48 percent, lived in these
landslide counties. That percentage may be even higher this year.
We're more affluent than we were in the 1950s (if you don't think so,
try doing without your air conditioning, microwaves, smartphones and
Internet connections). And we have used this affluence to seal ourselves
off in the America of our choosing while trying to ignore the other
America.
We tend to choose the America that is culturally congenial. Most people
in the San Francisco Bay area wouldn't consider living in the
Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, even for much better money. Most
Metroplexers would never relocate to the Bay Area.
It is my pleasure to announce that the 2012 -
Fifth Southern National Congress - will be held in the Alabama LS
culture center and headquarters in Wallsboro (Elmore County), Alabama,
on 15-16 March 2013 (Friday-Saturday).
