Via Instapundit: Over and over, I was questioned about why I would ever leave the Golden State for a “flyover” red state. This phrase alone troubled me, and the implied perception that one flies over the Midwest just to get to their East or West coast home.
As I settled into life in the Midwest, I heard the same assumptive questions: “Did everyone you know vote for Donald Trump?" "Are there African-American, Jewish, Asian, LGBTQ people in Indiana?" "Do people make fun of you for listening to National Public Radio?”
Never does one ask about Indiana’s history as a blue state (Indiana cast its electoral votes blue for President Barack Obama in 2008). Never does one ask how the Indiana public schools provide many opportunities that have been cut from California’s public schools because of one budget crisis after another. Never does one ask about the low cost of living that is allowing us to pay off the mountain of debt we accrued in California. And never does one ask about my fellow community members, who are running successful businesses, enriching the city's arts and making a difference for the local environment.
As I got to know my new Midwest home, I realize how living in a bubble and subscribing to the Middle America stereotypes is truly damaging to this country.
While it is true there are far fewer African-Americans living in Terre Haute than San Diego, that doesn’t mean the city is a bastion of racism either. In fact, very few people know the Lost Creek community in Terre Haute was a stop on the Underground Railroad that helped escaped slaves enter the free state of Indiana before the Civil War. The diversity may not be as evident, but the city has a history of activism.
Never does one ask about Indiana’s history as a blue state (Indiana cast its electoral votes blue for President Barack Obama in 2008). Never does one ask how the Indiana public schools provide many opportunities that have been cut from California’s public schools because of one budget crisis after another. Never does one ask about the low cost of living that is allowing us to pay off the mountain of debt we accrued in California. And never does one ask about my fellow community members, who are running successful businesses, enriching the city's arts and making a difference for the local environment.
As I got to know my new Midwest home, I realize how living in a bubble and subscribing to the Middle America stereotypes is truly damaging to this country.
While it is true there are far fewer African-Americans living in Terre Haute than San Diego, that doesn’t mean the city is a bastion of racism either. In fact, very few people know the Lost Creek community in Terre Haute was a stop on the Underground Railroad that helped escaped slaves enter the free state of Indiana before the Civil War. The diversity may not be as evident, but the city has a history of activism.
(Link to more)
9 comments:
Her bullshit was thoroughly debunked over at Insty. She is a communist hoping to spread her evil wherever she roams.
I have two homes, one in Austin TX and one in Western NC. I won't say where in NC because I don't want any auslanders showing up here and messing things up. It's a perfect beautiful place. We have a town square, two traffic lights, one grocery store and one liquor store. We have everything we need. However, I feel more isolated when in Austin, A definite Blue island in the so-called Red state of Texas. You can't go anywhere because of the traffic, because of a 10K run, or a half-marathon, or a bike rally, or because of a formula-1 race, or SXSW. We have trouble getting to church because of streets being blocked for this or that. These stories about how nice it is outside the blue bubble are true, but they don't need to be told. As Sartre wrote in his play"No Exit", "Hell is other people."
She moved because Gannett offered her a job.
The secret of Indiana is that it was the birthplace of Jean Shepherd, the greatest American of the 20th Century, right rh?
Sixty, that blurb was enough to tell me the author (I'll assume a she, but I don't care to ask which pronoun it prefers) may have moved from California but is still a Californian.
First, there is the fawning of the "Golden State". There are two type of people in this world, people who refer to Texas as Texas and Texans who refer to it as "The Lone Star State". I suspect its the same for California as "The Golden State".
Then there is the interest in discussing politics and demographics. This to me is the most remarkable thing about Californians. It is all they seem to have as a social device. They must discuss politics all the time and talk about others in mass stereotypes. For all the talk of diversity, they don't seem to have diverse things to discuss.
People in Texas or Terre Haute, IN don't talk about slavery like it happened yesterday, and they don't count the heads of black people just to make sure they have enough. We discuss things like what the weather will allow us to do for the weekend. Whether we will go fishing, shooting, swimming, play dominos, drink a few beers, dance, have sex, or just take a nap. The only reason politics comes up is because you have to keep an eye on their hands, or they'll take your wallet.
Finally, only a Californian would think activism means being a symbol of something, either by just voicing support, protesting, carrying signs, or debating. Like many other words made perverse by progressives, normal people would consider being active as fishing, shooting, swimming, playing dominos, drinking a few beers, dancing, or having sex.
If I lived in Terre Haute, IN; I'd be worried about elements trying to turn the state blue again.
So basically she's a lefty colonist and is signalling to likeminded others how easy and cheap it is and that the Trump voters aren't ACTUALLY nazislaveowningrapers. most of them anyway.
I wish more people living outside the middle took the time to get to know the others living a few states away. I did, and I am a better person because of it.
While she may have grown or changed in some way as a result of her move, betterment is an inward awareness that's best left for others to determine through observation and decide on their own. Especially so, in the mid-west.
"Especially so, in the mid-west."
You better not make any grandiose statements in the midwest or AllenS will come after you!
If she misses all her imaginary friends of color she can always drive up to Gary now and then.
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