[fotno]

Whitehall - Bless your heart - You're thinking much too hard ol' son. I am from the south, I still live in the south (and wouldn't trade my little house for the Hearst Mansion). God willin', they'll bury me here. I loved the movie, and contrary to feeling insulted, I thought that it was (fantasy excepted) a fairly accurate representation of not only the south of the 1930's, but also the south of my youth as well.

I've known those people, I've been around those folks all my life. I was baptised in much the same manner as the movie shows. Chain gangs just like those in OBWAT were still active when I was a boy, and sad to say, the KKK isn't dead yet either, although they're a good deal deader than they were 70 or even 30 years ago. We had an outhouse until I was nearly grown, a blacksmith in the center of town, no air-conditioning, and I NEVER wore shoes till school started.

I was born poor, likely as not, I'l die in that same condition. But don't fret over us poor ol' southern fellers, we can take care of ourselves. Matter of fact, I don't recall ever hearing a southerner say he was offended by what people in other parts of the country thought of us. To tell the truth, I'm still trying to figure out how you could be embarassed or offended over something you know little to nothing about.

Thanks for the concern and all, but we're not a bunch of pitiful, backward children who need to be protected from our own reflection in a mirror, no matter how warped that mirror might be. Two of my Great-great Uncles fought at the battle of King's Mountain in October 1780 (about a hundred years after my family originally reached these shores), we KNOW who we are, we don't need anybody else to tell us. If you wanna concentrate on what pisses a southerner off, here's a starter; People from Hollywood using "ya'll" to address ONE person. See if you can get 'em to quit doin' that!