Kentucky church bans interracial marriage

[IDrinkaRum]

The Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church in Pike County, Kentucky, has banned interracial marriages after a member of the church became engaged to a black man from Zimbabwe (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-marriage-150009470.html).

The young woman, was baptized at the church, but is not an active member. In June of this year, she and her fiance performed a song in the church (she played piano and he sang). Shortly afterward, they were informed they would not be allowed to perform in the church ever again.

The only time interracial relationships will be recognized is during funerals. Which has me :confused:

I don't understand this. The churches around the Baptist church are all condemning their stance. Even the new pastor of the Baptist church has invited the woman and her fiance back there.

Isn't this 2011? Or has the calendar suddenly gone back 60 years?

[protege]

...and now those of us in the North have yet another reason to think that those who live in the South...are a bunch of backwards hicks :rolleyes:

[Andara Bledin]

The head pastor for the church actually voted against the rule. But he was among the minority of 6 votes against, versus 9 votes for.

The tortured logic behind the prohibition of inter-racial couples being allowed to participate in official church functions is to supposedly make things easier for the non inter-racial couples. Basically, the people in favor of this bullshit didn't want to upset the bigots among their delegation.

And they aren't banned from the church, just banned from church functions. Which isn't quite the same thing. And banning anyone who isn't being actively disruptive from a funeral is too much a dick move for even these guys.

^-.-^

[smileyeagle1021]

...and now those of us in the North have yet another reason to think prove that those who live in the South...are a bunch of backwards hicks :rolleyes:

there, fixed it for you.

Then again, even Utahns are saying "holy fuck that's bigoted"... and we're always proud of our top 10 bigoted states listing.

[AdminAssistant]

there, fixed it for you.

Nope. I've said it before and I'll say it again, there's an equal percentage of racist, bigoted assholes in the North as there are in the South.

But please, continue to make Southerners the national scapegoat for bigotry. :rolleyes:

[protege]

But please, continue to make Southerners the national scapegoat for bigotry. :rolleyes:

That's *not* what I was trying to do. Unfortunately, the South still has the 'taint' of slavery and the founding of a certain group of white sheeted idiots who burn crosses. That's why the South still has that image.

[AdminAssistant]

That's *not* what I was trying to do.

I didn't say that you were. I was saying that smiley was.

In terms of 'backwards hicks', I've met just as many that hail from Western Kansas as I have that are from places like Kentucky. Racism/bigotry/hatred are not geographical or regional constructs.

[smileyeagle1021]

But please, continue to make Southerners the national scapegoat for bigotry. :rolleyes:

this isn't an issue where because you're wrong means I'm right or that if I'm wrong that you're right.
Just because the south is racist doesn't mean the north isn't, but let's face it, the north repealed their discriminatory laws long before the south did, so if nothing else the south has a worse history of institutionalized racism rather than mere individual racists (not to imply that any racism is okay, but an individual racist does not as oppress as much as a racist system).

[jackfaire]

In terms of 'backwards hicks', I've met just as many that hail from Western Kansas as I have that are from places like Kentucky.

This is going to sound stupid but my first reaction was, "Kansas is in the North?"

Honestly I am from the PNW we seem kind of exempt from that whole North South thing possibly because our part of the country didn't really have as big a stake in the Civil War.

[Fire_on_High]

Freakin appalling! And I'm from GA.

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

Update: the church has now voted unanimously to rescind the ban.

[Evandril]

I'm from Colorado, and honestly thought the whole 'racisim' thing was completely overblown...Until I was stationed in arkansas *shudders* Having people look at me funny when I was polite to anyone, even if they weren't the same color as me just broke my heart...and that was before I knew they had a publicly known kkk group in the town near the base.

North/South might not be a valid arguement...but on a state by state basis? Yeah, there are some BIG differences, trust me.

[AdminAssistant]

Well, I've been yelled and cursed at in Little Rock for committing the crime of being white, so there's that, too.

[Evandril]

Being yelled at for your color/racisim *IS* racist, no matter the color they are upset about, fyi.

[Amanita]

^Exactly! Nobody should have to hear racial slurs aimed at them because of their color, NOBODY.

A non-white being racist and hateful to a white person just because they happen to be white is no better than a white person being hateful to a person of color.

[Skunkle]

I've got family in east Texas who I see regularly. And it's pretty rampant there, too. Admittedly, I've never heard anyone say "wetback", but I hear the term "meskins" all the time. As in "I hireda coupla meskins ta haul some junk." Go into almost any store, 99% of the employees are white and the remaining 1% are black or Asian. NEVER Hispanic. The ONLY time I see Hispanic people down there are the guys cutting lawns.

[drunkenwildmage]

it's the same in the Midwest also.. One of my Wife's cousins(who lives in Indiana) was in a biracial relationship, and when her stepfather found out, his first comment was 'Well..If they get married, then we will need to get a white sheet, and a rope to add him to our 'Family Tree'

[HYHYBT]

I've heard the word "wetback" in actual use no more than five times, and the only memorable one was at work. This guy was up at the counter ranting about all the "wetbacks" we had working there and got all shocked and offended at being asked to leave. :confused:

[RecoveringKinkoid]

The head pastor for the church actually voted against the rule. But he was among the minority of 6 votes against, versus 9 votes for.

^-.-^

Nine people. Nine people in a congregation of about thirty are enough to warrant comments such as:


...and now those of us in the North have yet another reason to think that those who live in the South...are a bunch of backwards hicks :rolleyes:

and this...



...and now those of us in the North have yet another reason to prove that those who live in the South...are a bunch of backwards hicks

there, fixed it for you.



And, of course, the obligatory reference to a historical event from two hundred years ago that proves we're all members of the KKK. I guess we won't bring up the genocide that the rest of the country was engaged in during that very same time period because hey, that's not convenient information right at the moment. No, two hundred years ago, a small group of people perpetrated a travesty in a certain part of the country. And that's proof that everyone who lives there now has blood on their hands:

That's *not* what I was trying to do. Unfortunately, the South still has the 'taint' of slavery and the founding of a certain group of white sheeted idiots who burn crosses. That's why the South still has that image.

Anyways, evidently there was a great hue and cry from the other backwater hicks at that church, who promptly unanimously voted to overturn this bigoted decision:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/04/kentucky-church-interracial-couples_n_1128712.html

For those of you who aren't interested in the updated article:


Stepp said about 30 people who attended church services voted on a new resolution that welcomes "believers into our fellowship regardless of race, creed or color."

Stepp said the Sandy Valley Conference of Free Will Baptists declared the vote on Thompson's resolution null and void during a meeting on Saturday.

He said he told church members on Sunday about the decision and proposed a resolution to promote "peace, love and harmony."

He said the resolution to welcome all believers passed with a unanimous vote (emphasis mine)


So, yeah. Nine assholes are uncovered in Kentucky and all of a sudden, the entire Southeaster quadrant of the country is full of racist bigots. That's an extremely broad brush, don't you think?

Am I the only one who is absolutely floored to reading this sort of ugly generalization in a thread decrying bigotry? :no:

[AdminAssistant]

Am I the only one who is absolutely floored to reading this sort of ugly generalization in a thread decrying bigotry? :no:

No, I'm quite used to it, especially after being told that if I want to be an academic, I better lose my accent. Because apparently intelligent people don't speak with a Southern twang. :rolleyes:

[RecoveringKinkoid]

You know what? This is the very reason I stopped deliberately neutralizing mine. Why should I? I know I'm not stupid, and I know I'm pretty well respected by people around me. If someone wants to take everything I'm about into consideration, and then still decide I'm stupid because THEY have some crippling prejudice about the way other people speak, then they deserve to be wrong. It's not my problem. It's their problem.

The person who told you that is an idiot. And a bigot.

[Andara Bledin]

The person who told you that is an idiot. And a bigot.
Not necessarily. It's quite likely that due to the number of bigots and idiots at the top, those who aren't "like them" enough have a harder time advancing, and the person who made the statement was just making a statement.

Unfortunately, too many people are willing to change who they are to advance in a system that's broken than make the effort to fight to make the changes in the system to help fix it. I see this a lot with the fashion and celebrity magazines aimed at the Hispanic crowd. Most of the covers feature people who are doing their best to look white - bleached hair, sculpted brows, paler makeup... It's quite sad that even within their own demographic, they feel the need to disassociate themselves from their own heritage to succeed in the industry.

^-.-^

[protege]

And, of course, the obligatory reference to a historical event from two hundred years ago that proves we're all members of the KKK. I guess we won't bring up the genocide that the rest of the country was engaged in during that very same time period because hey, that's not convenient information right at the moment. No, two hundred years ago, a small group of people perpetrated a travesty in a certain part of the country. And that's proof that everyone who lives there now has blood on their hands:


Uh, you do realize I was being sarcastic, right? I never said I *agreed* with the stereotypes. Some people really need to get over the past.

[Panacea]

No, I'm quite used to it, especially after being told that if I want to be an academic, I better lose my accent. Because apparently intelligent people don't speak with a Southern twang. :rolleyes:

Ugh. I hate this.

I love listening to a cultured Southern accent, and wish I had one.

By cultured I mean, speaking with the accent using correct grammar and English. It's not the accent that makes people sound like hicks from the holler: it's the poor word choices and garbled grammar. Similar to that of folks who speak like homies from the hood with the "gansta" language.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Uh, you do realize I was being sarcastic, right? I never said I *agreed* with the stereotypes. Some people really need to get over the past.


No, I didn't. Sorry. I can see now I could have/should have read your post with an entirely different slant.

Granted, I admit I am a bit touchy about this subject. Because you're right, there are people out there who will think that because I have a certain zip code, or happen to drop a few g's when I talk, I must be a sheet wearing, ignorant, inbred racist. And it gets old. And we get overly sensitive to it.

Bigotry sucks, no matter who's doing it and no matter who it's applied to.

As for bad grammar and whatnot, well, I see it as the difference between folk dialect and proper English. There's a time and place for both. I use triple contractions and words like "duddn't" and "ain't" and "fixin' ta"...I just don't use them during, say, job interviews. :lol: Just because I don't always use proper standard English does not mean I don't know HOW to.

[AdminAssistant]

As for bad grammar and whatnot, well, I see it as the difference between folk dialect and proper English. There's a time and place for both. I use triple contractions and words like "duddn't" and "ain't" and "fixin' ta"...I just don't use them during, say, job interviews. :lol: Just because I don't always use proper standard English does not mean I don't know HOW to.

LOL, exactly. Although sometimes I have to work very hard to not slip into some of those habits, even in professional situations. But since I'm diving headlong into a study of popular entertainments in 19th century Ozarks...I figger I'm allowed.

[protege]

No, I didn't. Sorry. I can see now I could have/should have read your post with an entirely different slant.

No worries, stuff happens :p

Granted, I admit I am a bit touchy about this subject. Because you're right, there are people out there who will think that because I have a certain zip code, or happen to drop a few g's when I talk, I must be a sheet wearing, ignorant, inbred racist. And it gets old. And we get overly sensitive to it.


Again, I understand. I get pissed when people rip on my town (Pittsburgh) because of the image the town still has--either the smoky steel town it once was, or because they think most of us talk like Myron Cope (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myron_Cope). Yes, we *do* have an accent--I've been known to drop a "yinz" or two--but I'm by no means an idiot. Nor do I work in a damn steel mill, and no, it is *not* dark here 24/7 because of said mills. The smoke has been gone since WWII; since then the city has reinvented itself...as a tech center.

Even worse, are the assholes who once lived here...yet spew comments about the town....even though they've never been back. They piss me off, because I *chose* to stay here, even though times were tough. Apparently, I'm seen as an idiot because I believed that things would get better. Anyone want to guess who was rewarded? Not the pussies who fled, that's for sure.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Oh, yeah, I believe it. I hear people who've never set foot anywhere even near the Mason-Dixon line act like they're the experts on what goes on down here. You'd be surprised at the number of idiots out there who think that Deliverance and The Dukes of Hazzard were documentaries.

But more to the point, some idiots in Kentucky thought they knew something about interracial relationships (they didn't) and decided to do something bigoted in response to their misguided thinking errors. As you stated, some more idiots most likely read about this in the paper and decide that everyone in the south are bigots. Which is bigoted.

It never really ends, does it? :rolleyes:

What's messed with the "logic" of "I met/saw/read about someone in State X that acted like an asshole. Therefore, everyone in State X is an asshole." They want to think this, so they look for evidence to support that belief. They discard the evidence that doesn't. Such as the several hundred people they've encountered that were okay folks that didn't even register as a blip on their radar screen because they didn't support the belief.

People don't do this on purpose, usually. It just happens.

Anyways, I have been to Pittsburg and personally, I think it's a beautiful city in a gorgeous part of the country. The buildings there look like glass castles to me. So pretty and different from what I'm used to. First time we drove through there, we hung out of the windows with our hick mouths hanging open, like hayseeds just off the turnip wagon.

I understand your beer sucks, though. ;)

[protege]

I understand your beer sucks, though. ;)

Some of it, yeah...does suck. I won't argue there :p Some of it really is cheap shit. Avoid it, and get a Yuengling or two :p

The 'castle' you're referring to is PPG Place, the headquarters of PPG Industries (formerly Pittsburgh Plate Glass). That went up during the city's "Renaissance II" when it was trying to reinvent itself. A pretty neat place, with its plaza, winter garden, ice rink, etc. For now, it's the 3rd tallest building (behind the US Steel Building, and BNY Mellon Center) here. For the life of me, I can't remember what the city looked like before some of those buildings went up...and I was down there constantly when I was a child! But, the city skyline is going to change again soon--5 more buildings are going up. Probably because the costs of living here haven't gone up, and companies seem to be heading back downtown.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, it's a pretty building, as are the ones around it. I took pictures. :D

Yep."Iron City Beer:The Pale Stale Ale With The Head That Sinks To The Bottom."

Our Pennsic buddies (an hour north of your fair city) turned us on to Yuengling. We get it in our keg when we're up there.

[Gravekeeper]

I'm so unuse to witnessing racism first hand that on the few rare occasions I have I was too stunned at the absurdity of it to say anything. Last time I distinctly remember was from a couple of American callers during Hurricane Katrina. Who just threw it so casually into a conversation as a matter of fact thing it was mind boggling. I didn't know what to say.

Before that, a long long time back, we use to handle a client that only operated in the deep south and once in a while I'd get a stunner there too. I distinctly remember a woman from Texas just making pleasant conversation with me during her order when she casually commented that since I was up so early I couldn't be Mexican. Because "wetbacks never get up before noon". I was speechless I'll admit. >.>

[RecoveringKinkoid]

See, that's what I'm saying. The key phrase is "once in a while."

Racism and bigotry exists. Make no mistake, I am not denying that.

But even here in South Carolina (where an awful lot of people from other parts of the world think the clock hasn't ticked since the Buchanen administration) when we witness it, we are stunned and offended. We are outraged. Because we simply don't see it as commonplace.

They're here. And they very often band together in clumps where they don't feel the need to hide the truth about what they are. But even hardcore bigots around here usually understand that most people do not share their view and they know better than to spew their hate in public, at least.