The "Dirty" South

The other day I was asking Mark why we were called this. Now, I think I know why.

Yesterday as husband and I dined on the quaint Marietta Square for lunch I saw a newsreel on TV with a T-Shirt with Curious George on it and something about Obama.

(First let me say that I don't normally get into politics but this seems very relevant.)

So I laugh and say to Mark. Is the dude in trouble for using Curious George w/o liscencing or is it b/c he is referring to Obama as a monkey. This is cruel I know but here is the thing. I was born and raised in Marietta, GA. I have seen and still see the horrors or racism. My parents lived through it. They went to school during segregation. They had to "relearn" that color didn't matter. I was raised to not see color. I think under the circumstances that my parents did well. As wrong as this is let's not forget that there are millions of people that were raised to see color. I am NOT saying it is right I am saying we need to have grace, mercy and forgiveness for these people. It has been long enough and you don't really see it this blatant anymore, but you do still see it here and you will FOR A LONG TIME!!! We live in the South, change occurs very slowly. I mean take a look at recycling. Nothing but good can come from it but we just don't "understand" it so we shy away.

My friend Carlos has a simple post about this on his blog with several comments. As I read the comments is made me sad that we can "hate" this person that did this as much as some have vocalized. This is not the true image of the South and honestly I don't even know if the owner of the bar is from the South. That establishment used to be a Taco Bell until about 10 years ago. Let's just remember, we are all people and we all need forgiveness. Christ doesn't rant and rave at the stupid things I do daily. Shake your head, say to yourself how totally stupid this whole thing is and move on. It is the constant attention that the media is giving this that makes matters totally worse. They smelled a "dirty" headline and ran with it.

Now for clarification before I get a ton of hate comments. I DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS MORON!!! I do think we need to let it die and not feed the fire. If we keep acknowledging this kind of stuff society will never let this "dirty" south get clean!!! My 2 cents for anyone who cares.