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bobalou2you t1_jdmxgh5 wrote

Reply to comment by MalibuHulaDuck in Bob Dylan on the back porch of the SNCC office, Greenwood, Mississippi, 1963 by MalibuHulaDuck

I spent time there in the eighties and found that to be mostly the case but there was a significant change from the sixties. For example, it was no longer unusual for there to be management or foreman positions held by minorities that in the sixties would not have been the case. I haven’t been back to the Delta but my assumption would be it has continued to make progress but not as much as would be preferred!

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MalibuHulaDuck OP t1_jdpl3ri wrote

I had the misfortune of living 14 years in one such place and then 5 months in another such place (MUCH too long). Idk what you’re talking about because it really is the same. Even though segregation has long been out of the law books, they still function in the exact same way. The neighborhoods are 100% segregated by skin color. I witnessed whites yelling at POC and openly treating them all like crap, rednecks criticizing minority race groups including racial slurs without a second thought on a daily basis, racial altercations on the bus, POC acting completely submissively towards whites, races never intermingling as friends. You’d swear you stepped into 1950 Alabama. It really is the same and anyone who says otherwise just doesn’t want to admit it. Swastika tattoos on hands and on bald heads, confederate flag T-shirts, kkk bumperstickers. MAGA hats & flags. Perceived gay or perceived feminine men always in danger just for existing. Being verbally accosted called “f—“ threatened to be beat up (yeah that was me victimized). It’s living hell and the stereotypes are 100% true.

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bobalou2you t1_jdrdauz wrote

You obviously know more about the workings of the Delta than I. What I can say, I actually had men of color as bosses in the trades and that could not have or probably would not have happened during Jim Crow. Additionally, I know for a fact that at least two neighborhoods have a pretty significant number of different races living on the same and adjacent streets. The little I’ll say is my grandparents (now deceased) were folks that interacted as neighbors often do with respect and friendship and they were poor, ignorant, sharecropper rednecks born in the 1910’s. A blanket “100%” statement is simply not correct, at least not in the town I lived in. Is it still bad, I am sure. Are their racist assholes there, of course. They are everywhere and I believe on all sides of the race issue. But it is significantly better than Jim Crow. I will say, things are probably deteriorating in the Delta, but more specifically all over America especially in small rural towns, and other than poor employment due to factories leaving for China I am not interested in expressing my opinions on why fiscal and monetary policy are screwing up our country. 1950’s Alabama could not have been much worse than Mississippi, and Mississippi may have been worse than Alabama certainly in the Delta, though as I was either very young or not yet born I am not really speaking from experience. I am sorry for your pain and anger. You should try to let go of that. It sounds like it was quite a while ago and holding on to the anger doesn’t help you. Our society has obviously made changes along the way. Unfortunately not all folks change at the same pace. But given time, the US seems to get it right. At least eventually; and often quite painfully. I hope you’ve found your peace/place in the world.

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MalibuHulaDuck OP t1_jdrohuz wrote

I appreciate that very much, and I apologize I was rude to you. It’s interesting we had 2 very different experiences, which makes me think it’s very possible some parts were/are more open to progress whereas others cling to the opposite. Could very well be the case. But on the other hand you can relate to, as you said, there being plenty of racist assholes, and racially integrated neighborhoods not being the default norm. Your grandparents sound like genuinely good people, and a person that is a genuinely good soul is never a bigoted jerk.

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