You have to change oxcarts at Hartsfield

I’m a native Georgian, and can’t believe what passes for being well-informed by those from outside the region, particularly from Yankees, all earnest and know-it-all-y and pushy. I’ve grown up with this all my life, and now it looks there’s a new generation to train/suffer. Yes, Southerners have paved roads and electricity. I’ve only seen one outhouse in my life.

By the time you turn nineteen, and go to Alabama to learn about civil rights, you should know better than to write this:

It was my first time in the South. For some reason, my conception of the South before going didn’t include cities, and cars. Imagine my surprise in seeing Atlanta and Birmingham. They looked like cities, and they felt like cities. But they were also different.

Sean Jones, “It’s Our Turn Now,” A human rights weblog [Unitarian Universalist Service Committee]

If for no other reason, it suggests that your readership is so “neighborhood of Boston” that such insights are necessary. We’re talking in part about the ATL, the Big Peach. Not cool.

3 Replies to “You have to change oxcarts at Hartsfield”

  1. Scott,

    My favorite part was this:

    “I was shocked to see just how many civil rights activists were not only still alive, but still doing things.”

    I guess I should get out my cane and think about active retirement! You are right, though, about the need to suffer/educate another generation. May we have the fortitude to suffer them gladly and educate patiently in a way that empowers.

  2. Oh my GOD. My living GOD. On behalf of pushy (and apparently unbelievably stupid) Yankees, I do most heartily apologize. Now it’s time to track this yahoo down and give him a piece of mah mind.

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