Congenital racism? Wow, never heard that one! So, according to Chicklet, the mere fact that you are born in the South, means you are born a racist, and there is nothing you can do about it. That's what "congenital" means, and he chose the word, not me. I actually read this long sentence a few times, I wanted to fully appreciate the level of sheer hate displayed by Chicklet for his fellow man... read it again... can you feel it? It's a deep-rooted seething hate. Now Chicklet doesn't know me, doesn't know anything about me, but he has devout hatred in his heart for me, because I am someone who was born in the South, and that means I am a congenital racist, I can't help that. He goes on to accuse me of being dishonest and lying or distorting the facts, when everything I pointed out is absolutely true. That's why he failed to specify what I was lying or distorting.
What? The creation of the Confederacy marked the legal end to slavery? Is that what you learned in public school? When the Confederacy was created, slavery was still legal. In fact, just months before the Confederacy was created, Abe Lincoln was busy trotting out alternative ideas, like keeping slavery legal until 1911... rounding up the slaves and shipping them off to Haiti and Central America, or back to Africa. Yeah, that Abe really did believe black people should be equal to whites, that's why he said "The negro will never be able to occupy a place in society with whites." Slavery would remain legal in America until Congress and the people amended the Constitution after the Civil War!
You seem to ignorantly think that Abe Lincoln abolished slavery, and the South got mad about that and formed the Confederacy to fight for slavery, but that's not what happened, and it's a gross misunderstanding of history to believe that's what happened. There was a great deal of concern that Lincoln would free the slaves, and there were many Southerners who had no problem with that, the sticking point was compensation for property owned. Now, I know you don't like to think of slaves as property, but the Confederacy didn't make them property, the Supreme Court ruled that, long before anyone ever thought of the Confederacy. So we have these people who owned legitimate property, according to the Supreme Court, and the Bill of Rights already in existence, says that government can't seize your property without compensation. Naturally, these people felt like they had a legitimate complaint, and there was a great deal of money invested in slaves. But that was still not the reason for secession, it was clearly about states rights versus federalism. Slavery was a huge part of that, and it's understandable that people reading the articles of secession would get the impression it was about slavery, but it wasn't about the issue of enslaving human beings, it was about just compensation for property, and the federal government's stubborn refusal to deal with that.
Jim Crow laws were enacted as early as 1866, shortly after the war. They were the basis for what became known as 'segregation' and while we currently have a negative connotation of segregation, a great many Americans believed segregation to be a legitimate way to assimilate blacks into society. Much of their belief was based on ignorance and bigoted prejudice, and it did last way too long, but again... The Confederacy had been defeated before the first Jim Crow law was passed, and for a century, the SCOTUS upheld the Jim Crow laws... the Confederacy didn't force them to do that. The South didn't make the SCOTUS rule as it did, and they didn't make Congress become complacent and disinterested in civil rights for black Americans. It's amazing how you attempt to tie Jim Crow laws to The Confederacy, when they didn't come about until after the Confederacy was no more.
I haven't denied there are racists throughout the 50 states, but I refuse to accept some idiocy that Southern people are just natural born racists because they happened to be born below the Mason-Dixon line! There is no "intrenched racism" in the South, or anywhere else in America, that was maybe the case 60 years ago, but not today. No one currently alive in the South, ever owned a slave or knew any relatives who owned a slave. It doesn't matter what people who were here before us did, how can we be responsible for what they did? If we're going to live vicariously through history, maybe we can stick a bone in your nose and send your unhappy black ass back to Africa, where you can be the ignorant little jungle bunny history intended you to be?
Fuck YOU, and the mentality behind the BS rationalizations for your OWN racist beliefs.