MLK

[waveplayer]

HA HA HA i like that one [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[imported_biggamesjames]

I would say the average person wouldn't know who in the heck you were talking about...Probably think you were talking about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie or something

[RaiderWahoo0105]

UVA gets out for nothing short of on an act of God... Sorry but Casteen is known for being a hardass, but you have to admit, he keeps the University in line.

As for "Beast", it's morons like you why I believe being an American should be a privelage and not a right - yes I don't believe being born here is sufficient enough for calling yourself an American.

There are far too many other blacks and other minorities pounding on our immigration office's doors to get on our shores who would do a much better job of representing this great country and contributing to society than you do.

[imported_biggamesjames]

VTgal have to agree with about everything you said on this thread in regards to race relations and regional dialect...very very true on all accounts!

elp6n you might be the first person I have ever heard of who had to change their way of speaking in order to keep from starving to death!...lol thats kinda funny if you really think about it. you must have been butchering the language or something my friend i don't know! Having a heavy southern accent didn't seem to hurt GW Bush, Slick Willie or Jimmy Carter too bad. Not to mention Lyndon Johnson or Daddy Bush both of whom were from Teeexas.

I was in Boston doing a TV show once and the production assistants asked me where I was from so I told them to take a guess...they rattled off Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas among others but when I finally told them Virginia they were definitely surprised because people from the north usually relate Va to "DC" area...one other thing I seemed to notice from the times I've been in the New England and New York area is the women seem to be really drawn to the "cowboy" or "southern gentleman" image so let it work to your advantage rather than letting others make you feel like its a detriment to you as a person because its definitely not!

[RaiderWahoo0105]

elp6n
I may not be white and have a good ol' boy's accent, but I was born in Huntington, WV, and I've always lived in coal mining type areas and I take pride in being associated with you all when I tell people where I've lived.
After going to UVA, I realize how much I despise the hoidy toidy Northerners. Be damned proud of your heritage and if you aren't righteously indignant when people make fun of where you're from, you definitely have a right to stand up for yourself and your family and be a little assertive. Hell shock the hell out of them with your intelligence and let them walk away feeling belittled.
I got made fun of because of being from/living in SWVA myself while at UVA and how I wished I would've told all those NOVA and tidewater kids to f' off.
People like them seriously think the world revolves around their tidy little suburbs and everyone else is uncivilized.
It's just a part of human nature than needs to be corrected, I mean it happens at all levels.
People from NYC think civilization ends west of the Hudson, people from NOVA and the like think the world stop at Roanoke, and even we from SWVA look down on Kentucky and West Viriginia.

Then again I agree that you should choose your battles, and if the livelihood at your family is really at stake, use your discretion. But if it's at the grocery store or somewhere casual, raise some hell.

[imported_elp6n]

Had you read thoroughly - you would know I am proud of my heritage, and will recount stories, history, etc. to anyone that will listen. Start mocking me or laughing, and that person is not worth my time.

I am an insurance agent.
My previous job was Property/Real Estate Manager, where I leased/sold townhomes to yankees and other "city folk." Unless the person you're selling/leasing to has the same accent, if they hear the SWVA accent, you're dismissed. This is not a guess folks - this is from experience in practice.

I do use my natural accent in ordinary settings - around here - and occasionally when I lived in Blacksburg.

Perhaps what I'm really trying to say is: I really don't care if anyone on here thinks its a horrible thing for me to drop an accent. It's what I do and it has worked for me many times. I accept the fact that I as an individual am not going to change a stereotype by being intelligent and sounding like a backwoods hick at the same time. How about the hillbilly that doesn't have to sound like a hillbilly? That's more likely to shed a positive light to the "yankees." A hillbilly that can enunciate? Wow - they can be educated! Sad but true.

I'm just not going to argue it. I went a full round with this already last night. I shouldn't have to defend something this simple. If you dont like it, you dont like it - simple enough.

[RaiderWahoo0105]

hehe sorry bad grammar - which I seem to be horrible at only while on this forum... should have been read as two independent statements
1. I agree you should be discretionary at your work place no matter where it is
2. In all casual situations where you are spoken down to, raise some hell

and I wasn't questioning pride in your heritage, sorry if it sounded like that

but I find that the reason why a lot of negative stereotypes stand is that the people being made fun of say nothing about it... dismissing them is good, polite, and proud thing to do... but speak up to them and you're a hero for your people...

I'm just waiting for the next time I walk through wal-mart or anywhere for that matter and someone cracks a racist joke at me

happened twice last summer as a matter of fact... once at food lion in wise, once at walmart by two idiots

[imported_Mercury]

I believe President's Day (February 20th) honors all President's of the USA, including Ulysses S. Grant who was the 18th President of the US.

Here's a little timeline for you....

Grant was a general for the Union army during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Grant and the Union army defeated the Confederate army.

Slavery was abolished in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln and this happened in the middle of the American Civil War as you can see from the dates of the war.

MLK was born in 1929 and was assassinated in 1968. Since slavery was abolished in 1863, which was more than 60 years before Martin Luther King was born. Since slavery was already abolished, MLK didn't fight against slavery, he fought against segregation. You know that whole thing about racial equality (all races get the same freedoms). MLK fought against the segregation that was seen in the US even after the Supreme Court struckdown segregation of the races into different schools, bathrooms, restaurants, etc. in 1954. MLK lead this struggle for equality with the belief in nonviolence and never swerved from his beliefs. MLK was gunned down because he was a civil rights leader who wanted equality for all races, not just blacks.

All i can echo is the words. I don't think of myself as racist or a person of segregation. I grew up with many great friends.
We all have those of our own color that we give names that discredit us.

But to echo one thing.

"I have a dream."

"I have a dream" of one day when people will not only unite because of hostilities or wars or a threat. But also to love one another, no matter what color the skin, but as humans. We may not always agree, but let our disagreements mean and be less than those who come before us.
And never let another war have to be fought over a few matters including slavery.
"I have a dream" of a nation that will always strive to go forward, we may not have it all right, but may we always strive to, so others will have something to follow after.
"I have a dream" that some day, we all will find that peace to forget what we were taught and learned and learn that all men and women and all children boys or girls are just that. And i will see their respect and show them the same.
"I have a dream" that one day we all may live in a world where hatred is not known for what it use to be, due to people like Lincoln, MLK, and all those who set out not to make it about race, but about a country making change. One toward another. Not one to another. But both towards each other.
"I have a dream" that even if me and you disagree it will not cause us to be enemies but be adults and act that way and work through our problems, or agree to disagree, but not hold grudges.
"I have a dream." Some day i may see that dream if not me, then maybe someone who follows after me.

[Craes]

I have argued that same point countless times on here....I am half Native American, smidgeon of Cherokee and mostly Blackfoot (of the Blood tribe out of Canada, not to be confused with Blackfeet, branch of the Sioux tribe) my grandfather (recently passed away with 70 grandchildren and children) was full blooded Blackfoot and lived out on the Res in the Dakotas. He had no clue who he was, who is family was, due to the eradication of records and taking of children to grow up white.