Sunday, January 20, 2008

Racism in Illinois

Racism knows no boundaries, in spite of our most cherished American myths. To quote an article by Steve Berg in Chronicles:
Most people believe the history of race relations in the United States is neatly divided by geography. Those states north of the Mason-Dixon Line were paragons of equality and liberty, where race was not an issue and diversity flourished in all its glory. In the benighted states to their south, however, the entire social structure was based on slavery and racist oppression. Consequently, the War Between the States was fought purely over the issue of slavery, and, as is usual in trial by combat, the arms of the virtuous side were strengthened by the Hand of the Almighty, which led to their victory over those rebellious slaveholding cretins. For some unknown reason, the books written by court historians do not start with the words “once upon a time.”

In reality, things were much different, as the history of Illinois demonstrates. (Read the entire article.)

Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

As someone who grew up south of the Mason Dixon Line, then lived north of the Mason Dixon line, it is quite apparent that racism has no boundaries. In the South it is cultural, in the North it is hatred.

elena maria vidal said...

All I know is that some of the ugliest racist remarks I ever heard came from northern liberals, highly-educated people. I remember being so shocked. We were never allowed to talk that way at home.

Anonymous said...

No one who has grown up in the North would be surprised to read that racism isn't confined to the South.

elena maria vidal said...

Yes, the problem is with how the south is routinely portrayed in films and on television.