don't pretend that the South doesn't have a greater concentration of prejudiced folks than anywhere else in the country. 

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I couldn't disagree more. Ignorance and hate can be found everywhere. Painting an entire region with such a broad brush is completely unfair.

Bruce Buchanan wrote: Painting an entire region with such a broad brush is completely unfair.

While it can be hard on the eyes, the monochrome look can be very tasteful if done properly.

Oh, wait -- this is ByrneRobotics, not the automotive style newsgroup.  Nevermind . . .

;-)

but don't pretend that the South doesn't have a greater concentration of prejudiced folks than anywhere else in the country

The recent passage of Proposition Hate in California would evidence that prejudice, ignorance and stupidity knows no region.  In truth it dwells in us all.

But compared to the population of the state, the membership may be rather small. We shouldn't be using the number of hate groups to make a determination of anything.

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Exactly right, Michael. It looks to me like the biggest number of hate groups are in states with the largest populations (TX, CA, FL). Conversly, sparsely populated states like Nebraska or the Dakotas have few hate groups.

But that doesn't tell anything. You could substitute "reading clubs" or "fantasy football leagues" for "hate groups" and get the same results.

Plus, these types of groups aren't necessarily reflective of the population at large. A "hate group" may be two kooks who huddle together in a garage and post diatribe on the Internet. This map is hardly indicative of any state as a whole.

 South Carolina and Georgia should hang their heads in shame, if you go to the link Don attached you see the actual numbers  of groups, than if you look up the population, the southern states don't bode well. Interesting note I didn't realize The Nation of Islam was in the same league as the Klan, because in CA that is where a lot of their high numbers come from.

• North Carolina :28 hate groups, 9,061,032 population
• South Carolina: 45 hate groups,  4,407,709 population
• Georgia: 42 hate groups,  9,544,750 population
• Alabama: 24 hate groups,  4,627,851 population
• Florida: 49 Hate groups, 18,251,243 population
• California: 80 hate groups, 36,553,215 population

Last I checked, there are plenty of Interstate highways, outgoing flights and outbound trains leaving the South on a daily basis. This isn't North Korea - no one is being held here against their will.

Sad you said that Bruce.

If you are protesting Viet Nam, Iraq invasion or say anything critical about our country, the republicans whip this out. I don't get the "Love it Or Love it." thought, I think the only way we get better is to look at ourselves with a critical eye. But being an art student you learn when you are critiqued it may hurt your feelings but it does make you better.

But Jodi, how many people are we really talking about here?

From what I've seen, most hate groups are small, poorly-run underground operations. It's not like the Klan has a headquarters in a downtown office building. We're talking extremely small numbers here.

Take North Carolina for example. This report says we have 28 hate groups. Let's assume that each of those groups has an average of 20 members (I think that's a very generous assumption - most probably have five or less. But for the sake of argument, I'll say 20). That comes out to just 460 people in a state of more than 9,000,000 -- a statistically negligible number.

The vast majority of people in all of these states have nothing to be ashamed of. It's inaccurate to define a state or a region based on a tiny number of crazies. 

I think the only way we get better is to look at ourselves with a critical eye.

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I agree, but that wasn't what Greg said. He said he was "embarrassed to live in the South." That's hardly constructive criticism.

I simply responded that if he was so embarrassed, he's always welcome to go somewhere else where presumably he would be more at ease. I mean, why stay somewhere that you don't like?