People in cities straight up don't believe me when I tell them this is what it's like in the rural south. I get a lot of "I was raised in the South and I never saw anything like this!"
Wow, anyone who feels like we just have the “casual racism” of some people being impolite to other races needs to read this article. Full of stuff like:
Two years ago, Braxton says he was the only volunteer firefighter in his department to respond to a tree fire near a Black person’s home in the town of 275 people. As Braxton, 57, actively worked to put out the fire, he says, one of his white colleagues tried to take the keys to his fire truck to keep him from using it.
It’s worse than the old cross-burning shit. Horrific. Not sure how to combat it when a whole town’s leadership and infrastructure is so overtly racist.
With bricks through the windows of all their homes. Fuck these racist fucks. They’re willing to let black peoples houses burn down for no reason? Yeah fuck them.
Perhaps not just “let”. Look up the lady that’s been helping him. Her house recently burned down. I didn’t dig deep enough to know if anyone has tried to tie it to this particular town, but I’m gonna let them be guilty until proven innocent in this particular case.
Here’s what I don’t get… town is 85% black and only has 275 people.
That means a 234 to 41 split black to white. 5.7:1 ratio.
If those 41 people really are that racist and regressive, you haul them all out of their homes, tar and feather them, and ride them out of town on a rail.
I suspect (based on nothing, really) that most white people in this country are not racist. It’s the tiny pockets of diarrhea like this town that are disproportionately racist, and have disproportionate representation in national politics.
I wonder if WFH could change this, as liberal white people from places like California start moving to different states, and begin to turn them blue. Or maybe I’m being too optimistic?
The problem isn’t just small towns like this where the clock stopped 70 years ago, it’s huge portions of the South.
Gentrification from blue states isn’t happening because the services needed (high speed internet) aren’t available in small towns like this, and, because of other problems, nobody from the outside wants to live there.
Racism/bigotry is not really a yes or no thing. It is a spectrum. Everyone is at least a little bigoted. Some people are pretty far up in that racism spectrum though.
Idk about moving state to state but I noticed people’s definition of “reasonable commuting distance” got a little bigger durring covid. Like I’ll do a longer drive if I’m doing it 2x a week instead of 5x. People that’d otherwise be in town or a blue suburb pushed a little farther into the exurbs.
I think a lot of people are racist tho so idk if that’s helping
The minute, and I mean THE MINUTE, some racist asshat burns someones house down, as happened here, you deserve the right to stop being polite about it.
i understand, and that is the point. using a term for how some people simply “are” as an insult is demeaning to them regardless of who the insult is aimed at.
i only ask that you try to see it from a so-called “retard’s” point if view, the message being that trump is as stupid as they are. its not very considerate to be compared to trump, or to be considered the lowest bar for intelligence.
That’s just cruel. Someone shouldn’t be not allowed serve soley for the color of their skin. That’s not the point of the election – it’s meant to be for the citizens elected this person! They’re just being racist at this point and it’s obvious!
I agree with you, with the caveat that the article says that there wasn’t an election - it was a win by default as the only person to qualify / submit candidacy.
Sounds like a town so devoid of life that it would be more productive to just let it collapse.
There’s a bunch of tiny rural towns that have basically no jobs and no real reason to exist anymore.
Globalization was not kind to rural America. And people listen to snake oil salesmen like Trump because he’s the only one talking at them with a distorted compassion.
That vid does a good job of showing what some of the people that live in those towns are like. He doesn’t really ask them any pointed questions but you can get a better sense of the communities and why they might cling to someone like trump (even if it is bad for them)
From the article, they’re such a “good ol boy” community that the people in power just kinda picked the mayor, who served until he was ready to retire and pick another. He was the first person in town, basically ever, to properly fill out electoral paperwork. So they had a mayor picked out (not him) and they basically just pretended he didn’t do it the right way because it isn’t THERE way.
Until I say the next thing and just looking at that, you could kinda see the back-and-forth about how the town’s so messed up his situation was like a loophole, and no doubt if it were a white person winning the mayorship on those terms people might have taken issue and justified a repeat election…
But his reason for running for mayor puts the whole thing into much clearer contrast. When he was a volunteer firefighter, they’d take away the keys when he tried to respond to fires at black folk’s houses, and when he made it he’d be the ONLY firefighter there. They wanted to let those residences burn because of the color of the residents’ skin. As one of the town’s medics, he was specifically locked out of the station for racist reasons and it led to a patient dying.
It’s THAT good-ol-boy a community, and it’s such an overwhelmingly black-majority town (like 80%) that going all democratic just won’t work for them. So fuck em. If they win their defense on claims of qualified immunity of an office they don’t actually hold, immo go down there and declare myself governor.
EDIT: Yet on reading more carefully, it’s complicated. The “lame duck” city council voted on a re-election where he did not get the paperwork, and elected themselves back into office, all before he and the new council were sworn in. They may have managed to push the whole thing into a legal grey area in their favor depending on what the local and state laws are. But the problem is that quite literally everyone is telling him “you’re not the mayor” when he tries to execute ANY mayoral duties. The bank is refusing him financial access. The staff at public buildings is refusing him physical access.
It’s interesting because he’s tried to bring in several lawfirms, and they have mostly just taken his money and failed him. This is, at local scale, to too unlike the federal Constitutional crisis we almost had on 1/6/21. What do you do when a town says you’re not its mayor and the laws are unclear?
I feel like we need to have a more concerted focused effort against the racist bigoted trash people, wherever they are. Because they are the ones that don't belong in this country.
And by “concerted focused effort” does that mean we beat them within an inch of their lives until they promise never to do it again? Because that’s what it’s gonna take.
We didn’t fight Nazi Germany because they were racist. We fought them because they attacked us (through their ally, Japan). The sad truth is there were a lot of Americans who were ok with Nazi ideology.
From the looks of it it takes another civil war, where the less barbaric people remove the more barbaric people from power. Unfortunately i am afraid that nothing short of that will work, as the system is so unstanle that things like this can happen.
The US military putting racist authoritarian southern states into order seems like a fairly okay alternative to people constantly being supressed, denies their democratic rights and often being outright murdered without any consequences for the perpetuators.
As you mention the might of the US military that could also mean the issues to be resolved within a short time and without much bloodshed, as the local cop gang probably is made up of pussy posers that only attack the weak.
As a bonus, many of those lunatics who have weapons “to protect themselves from the government” would finally see how laughable is the thought of a redneck with a gun overpowering trained soldiers in their prime.
This dude sounds like a pretty weak mayor. He is literally the mayor, he can unilaterally appoint a new sheriff and arrest all 30 of the “white town leaders” for interfering with the official duties of the mayor. He has 100% of all official power that a local government has and I’d say at least 60% of the unofficial power, and yet he can’t stop <30 people from running amuck?
He is either a collaborator, or so clueless that he should have never been mayor to begin with. Similar to Obama honestly.
arrest all 30 of the “white town leaders” for interfering with the official duties of the mayor
This is America, negroes can’t arrest whites, that’s how it’s always been. If he tries anything like that he’s going to jail and never coming back out.
There is no racism law in America, does that sound crazy? It is.
Well you have to wait for an election for sheriff to happen. It also sounds like there’s some general fuckery happening in that county. Maybe it’s a life or death situation to try to unseat the current sheriff. There are a lot of possible reasons why the sheriff may not represent the people’s choice.
I’m sure there is general fuckery happening, much like the previous 150 years. But if you want to change anything in America, you can’t play by the rules, and you can’t appeal to decency. If you aren’t willing to fight dirty, you aren’t the right person for the job.
Typical out of touch oldhead who’s never had to think, “Hm, is there a probability that these 30 angry white folks in rural Alabama might cause me harm?”
There’s also something to be said about carrying yourself with tact. Do you think your idea elsewhere in this thread of man-handling his local government into accepting his position is going to win any favors with his constituents and community?
Oh no! The threat of violence to enforce the status quo? I’m sure 89% of people in that town have never considered that possibility. Perhaps if they just showed a bit more “tact” with the requests for equality, they would already have it by now? I’ll tell you this, if an elected official actually leveraged their power to end racism, I’d be elated! But I guess for people like you who benefit from the status quo, that would just be uncouth.
You sound ignorant and like your blissfully unaware of the nature of what’s actually going on in that town, giving yourself the ability to sound like a tough guy. It’s embarrassing to read
I have zero power or soft power in that town. But if your projection of me can stop the elected mayor of a town from doing anything beneficial, it sounds like you are just looking for an excuse to support the status quo, like you and your kind always do.
Lol die mad bro, you’re racist and got called out. Nothing’s going to save you from your terrible stances except you. Go to a log cabin in the woods and go meditate on how it is you got to the point where you’re openly defending blatant racism. But don’t cry to me when you’re told the truth.
The previous administration is still running the town, so how is Braxton going to arrest them when they control the police force?
He became mayor because he was the only one to qualify for election in 2020, because the incumbent declined to submit paperwork (because they weren’t planning to actually hold an election; the last proper mayoral election was at least 60 years ago, according to the article). The city council responded by holding an unannounced (and probably illegal) special election to re-elect the previous mayor, which no one knew about so Braxton couldn’t apply for it. So the previous mayor has simply continued doing the job, with the backing of the council and all his officials. That’s why Braxton is bringing a lawsuit against them.
I think this is the same guy who was arrested by his own police force not long ago for “trespassing”. The guy walked down the driveway of a house he thought was abandoned, the homeowner saw him, grabbed his gun and held him at knife point until the police arrived and arrested him. I’ll see if I can’t find a link.
Edit: I was thinking of another (acting) black mayor of a southern state who’s being stymied by his racist colleagues. www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna93318
Unlike many countries, the burden of proof for defamation is on the accuser. You must prove at some bar (based on factors like celebrity status) that the other party spoke false information, and then in most cases you must also prove ill intent. You can’t usually win a defamation suit against anti-vaxers (for example) because they genuinely believe they’re saving people by spreading the misinformation they think is true.
We’re a VERY tough country for that kind of suit, and the First Amendment is cited as the reason.
I don’t know what you mean by anti vaxxers. What defamation cases arr you talking about?
As for the rest of it, defamation laws vary from state to state, and defamation very much is an exception to to the first ammendment.
I think you are a bit confused about how defamation cases work.
If your comments are not protected if they are defamatory. The decision is made in the trial, not “before” the trial.
The defamatory statements are presumed to be untrue, it is for defendant to prove that they are not true.
If you go on record as saying something defamatory, and it can be shown be harmful to reputation, then you HAVE to be able to prove it is true.
Otherwise people could just accuse anyone of anything all the time, and that would be utter chaos.
You can’t prove a negative.
So it you accuse me of molesting my patients, and I have beverage molested my patients, how can one prove it or doesn’t make sense.
Here are the tests for defamation in Alabama:
To be defamatory:
The statements must not be true but presented as facts (not opinions).
The statements must be published or spoken.
The statements must be read or heard by others.
The statements must cause injury to your reputation.
The statements are not protected under any kind of legal privilege.
If this black mayor guy is accusing others of racism, then they can sue him.
Obviously accusing government employees of racism and refusing to follow orders will harm their reputation.
There’s Tests to decide that, but it’s pretty obviously the case here.
The mayor has presented his opinions as facts. That is also clear.
Whether his remark are true or not would be for the court to decide, and would clearly be what the court case would be about.
The mayor has damaged to reputation of these people - and he will be found to have defamed them unless HE can prove his statements were true because HE is the one who made them.
Truth is a (the!) defence for defamation.
The last compounding factor would be whether he has a special kind of legal privelage. I don’t know how it works for them in that regard.
Sorry, but the longer I think about this the more I think it is you who are deeply confused about defamation law.
Instead of arguing over something well-established and well-documented, I’m just going to leave an NPR explanation of it for you or others to read at your leisure.
Sounds about right. When I joined the military I met people from Alabama, and even people from other Southern states had nasty things to say about that state. I didn't believe it at first, but then I saw enough over time to realize, "I hate to say it, but maybe they're right. At least about some of the smaller towns and more rural areas."
I met a few nice people from Alabama, yes. I also met... a surprising number of not so nice types. I'm Asian by the way, not White. I'll let people fill in the gaps.
This is not a state specific thing, and it’s using a single state as a scapegoat because of this single news story. This kind of shit could happen in rural areas of almost any state. This is a ignorance and racism issue, not a geography issue.
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