I’m glad someone picked this up. This is disgusting, I emailed the mayor this morning for all the good that will do. I’m not crazy about the whole structure of “elite” travel teams for kids but as long as they exist there should be some equal treatment.

Slainte!

Giilaird

A line to a song that I’ve never gotten around to writing:

“America means everybody, and don’t you ever forget it.”

Thanks, Steve (and Pach).

Here’s a link to soccer in Georgia Georgia Soccer

raven @
1

I’m glad someone picked this up. This is disgusting, I emailed the mayor this morning for all the good that will do. I’m not crazy about the whole structure of “elite” travel teams for kids but as long as they exist there should be some equal treatment.

I agree with Raven.

Nothing substantive to add here, just a failed attempt “win” – I’ll settle for “place” instead.

It’s a school night, sleep well everyone.
cl

If you can meet with TriumphWinning and DisasterLosing
And treat those two impostors just the same;

Kipling

As a teacher in a public school, I like it when our kids win a game. But… and I will go to the mat on this: I insist that my kids put the three ‘R’s first. No ‘ifs’; no ‘ands’ and no ‘buts’.

I think it’s great when kids win too, I just feel that there is way to much emphasis on the final score instead of skill development. I’m talking about children’s sports, not interscholastic.

Oklahoma kiddo @ 8

As a teacher in a public school, I like it when our kids win a game. But… and I will go to the mat on this: I insist that my kids put the three ‘R’s first. No ‘ifs’; no ‘ands’ and no ‘buts’.

Steve G in the house!

Thank you for writing on this!

raven @ 9

I think it’s great when kids win too, I just feel that there is way to much emphasis on the final score instead of skill development. I’m talking about children’s sports, not interscholastic.

Oklahoma kiddo @ 8

As a teacher in a public school, I like it when our kids win a game. But… and I will go to the mat on this: I insist that my kids put the three ‘R’s first. No ‘ifs’; no ‘ands’ and no ‘buts’.

That’s right. And this may sound extremely outdated and old fashioned, but I try to tell my kids it’s how they play the game that counts.

Thanks for posting this, Steve. I had read the story in the NYT before you posted, and at parts tears filled my eyes.

Things I noted:

- the refugees are expected to pay back the air fare for their transport to the US, and they do – although I’m not sure how they manage it.

- the mostly helpful role of the YMCA, even though their members are clearly not from the refugee community

- the truly heroic role of their coach, a female muslim from Jordan – she deserves the Medal of Freedom if anyone does, and certainly quick advance to US citizenship.

- the truly flakey excuses from the mayor and town council about the use of the park – he is no leader, that’s for sure – but he’s unconcerned with the refugees since they don’t vote.

- the flint-hearted attitudes of the established residents – they say it is about change, but it really is about racism of the old Southern variety.

- the kids, full of grit in their souls, even after heartbreaking and personality deforming experiences in their home countries.

- my ‘righteous’ anger at these local people who’d undoubtedly say they are ‘good Christians’. There were’nt many quotes in the story from them, but I’d bet the Times would self-combust if their true feelings were printed.

You are correct that this is a movie waiting to be made, but I sure hope someone of great sensitivity and progressive leanings tells this story. It would be all to easy to make this into movie that pulls punches when it needs to land them on the jaws of bigots who disgrace the word American.

Seamlessly

So much of it is a function of things that kids can’t control the opponents, officiating, lucck etc. The only thing they really can control is their effort and that should be the focus. Of course, after 20 plus years of trying to promote that in my work in parks and rec I gave up and changed professions! The little league mothers finally ran me off!

Oklahoma kiddo @ 8

As a teacher in a public school, I like it when our kids win a game. But… and I will go to the mat on this: I insist that my kids put the three ‘R’s first. No ‘ifs’; no ‘ands’ and no ‘buts’.

That’s right. And this may sound extremely outdated and old fashioned, but I try to tell my kids it’s how they play the game that counts.

Read the article. The coach emphasizes scholastics.

- the mostly helpful role of the YMCA, even though their members are clearly not from the refugee community

It’s also important to point out the C is for Christian and I am happy they have been helpful. I belong to the Athens Y and they have come light years in terms of race in the last 20 years.

ps

I am not a christian, just a swimmer.

The coach does a nice job overall but I wish she had a bit less “Bobby Knight” in her approach.

Pachacutec @ 15

Read the article. The coach emphasizes scholastics.

To quote the good book:

“When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for your were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your G-d.”

Leviticus 19:33-34

raven (17) — I hear you, but I think it’s good to read between the lines to understand the “tough love” position Mufleh takes with her team.

First, I can tell you having coached boys of the same age for a robotics team that they need to understand that this is a commitment, and the commitment is solid; the are easily distracted at this age and can be lured into multiple, competing teams for other sports, even in a poor school. Mufleh doesn’t expect any less of herself than she does from them, either, so it’s not a one-way street.

Secondly, I don’t hear a lot about father figures in these boys’ lives; Mufleh is the next best thing, providing that firm, demanding discipline they need at a most critical time in their lives.

Thirdly, some of these boys come from countries and cultures where women are not held in the same esteem as men (some of their comments reflect that); she has to be as firm as any man would be. And she also has to make them see the team and the commitment to the team being on par with any commitment they’d make to a wealthy team with a male coach if they are to play head-to-head with those kinds of teams.

Good for her, I say. Too bad Bobby Knight wasn’t more like her — less screaming and abuse and more simple, solid, firmness.

Fourth, you are right I’m not there and I really don’t know what the day-to-day is. I get too soapboxy on this stuff becuase I fought stupidity in kids sports for too long. The focus here should be on how they are being mistreated by Clarkston.

Good for her!

Rayne @ 19

raven (17) — I hear you, but I think it’s good to read between the lines to understand the “tough love” position Mufleh takes with her team.

First, I can tell you having coached boys of the same age for a robotics team that they need to understand that this is a commitment, and the commitment is solid; the are easily distracted at this age and can be lured into multiple, competing teams for other sports, even in a poor school. Mufleh doesn’t expect any less of herself than she does from them, either, so it’s not a one-way street.

Secondly, I don’t hear a lot about father figures in these boys’ lives; Mufleh is the next best thing, providing that firm, demanding discipline they need at a most critical time in their lives.

Thirdly, some of these boys come from countries and cultures where women are not held in the same esteem as men (some of their comments reflect that); she has to be as firm as any man would be. And she also has to make them see the team and the commitment to the team being on par with any commitment they’d make to a wealthy team with a male coach if they are to play head-to-head with those kinds of teams.

Good for her, I say. Too bad Bobby Knight wasn’t more like her — less screaming and abuse and more simple, solid, firmness.

Two African American coaches in the Super Bowl, it’s about goddamn time!

Wow, what an amazing article. My recollection of refugees is from the VietnamWar’s end, growing up in Northern Virginia. Lots of “strategic hamlets” guilt led to open doors when Saigon fell.

I’m rooting for the soccer team, but the description of this Georgia community reminds me of the ghettos around Paris. If American values prevail, we’ll successfully integrate new immigrants into our shared dream. If xenophobia (also an American value) prevails, I wonder at the opportunities these young players will have after soccer.

Let’s hope the Georgia public educational system doesn’t fail them, or we’re all sunk.

The soccer group has a website worth looking at:

http://www.fugeesfamily.org/

They accept donations and I’m going to send some. You can
donate online or mail to:

Fugees Family, P.O.Box 388, Scottdale, GA 30079-0388

They are a 501c3 non-profit

Some other interesting parts to this story:

* The Atlanta-Journal Constitution wrote about Coach Mufleh in 2005.
* The coach (Jordanian) applied to be an FBI linguist after 9/11
* The Clarkston city website has a seal ‘Certified City of Ethics’ :)
* Here is The Fugee’s website
* This website highlights the cleaning company Coach Mufleh started to help improve the employment of some player’s parents.

This was an excellent article that highlights the troubles many teams, especially teams made up of children of immigrants, can have getting a team together and finding a place to play. A very similar story can be found in ‘A Home on the Field’ by Paul Cuadros about the Siler City Jets.

Colts Win!

raven — oh, please, do keep fighting the stupidity in kids’ sports. Good gravy, it seems to get worse every year.

And while I am so very happy that Title IX has made enormous strides for girls and young women in school sports programs, I am now seeing far too much emphasis placed on sports for girls and not enough on academics. Equal opportunity should not mean equally bad choices; women still represent less than 15% of all technology degrees awarded every year, and that hasn’t changed in spite of equal opportunity in sports. Nothing to do with refugee populations per se, but some countries actually have higher percentages of women graduating with technology degrees than we do in the U.S.; hate to think they came here to backslide. Ditto for young men; they need to continue to strive to make their families proud, not to fit in to American social norms.

Soccer Dad @ 24

Some other interesting parts to this story:

* The Atlanta-Journal Constitution wrote about Coach Mufleh in 2005.
* The coach (Jordanian) applied to be an FBI linguist after 9/11
* The Clarkston city website has a seal ‘Certified City of Ethics’ :)
* Here is The Fugee’s website
* This website highlights the cleaning company Coach Mufleh started to help improve the employment of some player’s parents.

Thanks Soccer Dad, I googled my ass off trying to find a link to give some dough!

Rayne @ 26

raven — oh, please, do keep fighting the stupidity in kids’ sports. Good gravy, it seems to get worse every year.

And while I am so very happy that Title IX has made enormous strides for girls and young women in school sports programs, I am now seeing far too much emphasis placed on sports for girls and not enough on academics. Equal opportunity should not mean equally bad choices; women still represent less than 15% of all technology degrees awarded every year, and that hasn’t changed in spite of equal opportunity in sports. Nothing to do with refugee populations per se, but some countries actually have higher percentages of women graduating with technology degrees than we do in the U.S.; hate to think they came here to backslide. Ditto for young men; they need to continue to strive to make their families proud, not to fit in to American social norms.

Well, now my job is developing online courses here in Georgia. Our participants are about 65% women and we serve mostly folks who couldn’t go to college any other way.

raven — wow, now that is groovy!! Funny, I had a lengthy chat with an associate dean this weekend about the changes that technology will bring to education over the next 10 years. What I see coming will continue to make what you are doing a real growth opportunity. Cool!

On phone with Jane. She sounds great.

Our son’s TYSA team played the Fugees last year. They creamed us. I wasn’t upset because everyone creamed us. They just creamed us worse than the others. They were the best team in our league.(They were also great sportsmen, and if I’d known the back story I would have gladly brought extra snacks and drinks.)

But there are some deliberate falsehoods in the NYT story.

First, most of the teams they’re playing are not white suburbanites. Some are. Ours was. But their league includes Rockdale and South DeKalb and Atlanta YSA — black suburbs or white teams. It also includes Norcross (mainly Mexican kids) and a “Stone Mountain” YSA team that actually lives 10 miles from there, in Chamblee, and consists of Mexican immigrants. But boy it sure reads better as “white suburbanites,” don’t it?

Second, the “hostility” toward immigrants in Clarkston is phony. Clarkston is largely immigrant. The real problem is that, given that it’s outside the Perimeter (I-285) its property values have been declining (while those inside the Perimeter have been rising). The hostility is economic, not racial.

Oh, and our “white suburbanite” team wasn’t coached by a “former professional.” It was coached by a film editor. There were former pros on the TYSA staff, but they ran the Select program, not the recreation program, which is where the Fugees play.

But, boy, it sure sounds better the way they wrote it, don’t it?

And what’s the difference between that and claims that Rahm Emmanuel was the reason Democrats won last year? Just asking.

Give her our very best, Pach, we’re all thinking of her and look forward to seeing/hearing her on line again very soon.

Dana — thanks for sharing your perspective.

Can you follow up on the Lee Swaney angle? If anybody could, it would be you. Because if that part of the story is true (as some of it surely is), then Swaney isn’t hurting the Fugees alone. His decisions are probably hurting others as well.

Pachacutec @ 30

On phone with Jane. She sounds great.

HI JANE !

Pachacutec @
30

On phone with Jane. She sounds great.

That is great news. Give her my best wishes for a good recovery and a good longterm outcome.

Thanks for the update Pach.

Thanks very much for the post Steve.

MLK, Malcolm X, and many others fought the Civil Rights Wars of the 60’s to end legalized white supremacy. European Americans, sadly have made little progress since then in understanding their own ethnicity and its lethal legacy in the US.

With all the outrage over the Duke LaCrosse team, I was hoping that some European American Journalists would use it as an opportunity to write about the Scottsboro Boys and countless other examples where the “shoe was on the other foot.” Too often in my experience European Americans think that the surviving, massive, cultural white supremacy (eg. SWM seeking SWF) isn’t “their problem.” They think they’re insulated from dealing with their ethnicity, because they’re “pure” European American. It’s someone else’s problem. If they were at least willing to discuss what they owe the descendants of the slaves in unpaid wages, the situation imho wouldn’t be quite so bad.

Dana Blankenhorn @ 31

But there are some deliberate falsehoods in the NYT story.

No . . . not the Times!?! Not the Grey Lady! Not the Paper of Record! You mean it’s not just the political that suffers from less-than-accurate reporting?

I’m shocked! Shocked!

Steve wrote: “How could a field take football, with cleats and not soccer, which doesn’t have kids in pads running around.”

Believe it or not – soccer will wreck a field faster than football, for a variety of reasons. Many youth (not high school) football seasons end in late October/early November – soccer often pushes into mid November. The Bermuda grass has gone dormant (brown) and unless the field is overseeded with Rye, they will deteriorate fast. Even with rye they get some damage. Consider the pauses in your average youth football game, in between plays where players cut and run. The actual ‘action’ on the field is probably 1/4 the total game time – in soccer, the kids are running up and down the field non stop.

Add onto that most areas have soccer seasons in the Spring (often starting in February) and Fall, it can be very stressful on the fields, especially those used for practice AND matches. By the time bermuda starts to green up and regenerate, most soccer seasons are 2/3rds over. Many fields are quarantined for part of the summer to give the grass a chance to regenerate and fill in the bare spots that always form in front of the goals.

I’m not saying the town is right for banning soccer from the park – far from it. Fields can be managed in a way that they can sustain heavy use. But in a small town where the field would be used by Football, Baseball, and Soccer, the fields would be stressed.

Of course Clarkston using the field abuse argument is a joke because this is ONE TEAM – not an entire league. One team will not wreck their field. But trust me – I see firsthand what our league of 50 teams can do to a soccer complex.

While Jane’s been off sick, we’ve had the best babysitters on the block.

Steve–you are so bloody perceptive and your writing is moving and evocative. Everytime I read anything you’ve written, I am not just informed, but challenged to rearrange my worldview. I had no idea that this article was also about the repopulation of the South by people of color.

You must have a great relationship with a fabulous Greek blogging muse no one else knows.

Dana, thanks for the update. Blogs invite the kind of error correction you have provided.

Dana Blankenhorn @ 31

Our son’s TYSA team played the Fugees last year. They creamed us. I wasn’t upset because everyone creamed us. They just creamed us worse than the others. They were the best team in our league.(They were also great sportsmen, and if I’d known the back story I would have gladly brought extra snacks and drinks.)

But there are some deliberate falsehoods in the NYT story.

First, most of the teams they’re playing are not white suburbanites. Some are. Ours was. But their league includes Rockdale and South DeKalb and Atlanta YSA — black suburbs or white teams. It also includes Norcross (mainly Mexican kids) and a “Stone Mountain” YSA team that actually lives 10 miles from there, in Chamblee, and consists of Mexican immigrants. But boy it sure reads better as “white suburbanites,” don’t it?

Second, the “hostility” toward immigrants in Clarkston is phony. Clarkston is largely immigrant. The real problem is that, given that it’s outside the Perimeter (I-285) its property values have been declining (while those inside the Perimeter have been rising). The hostility is economic, not racial.

Oh, and our “white suburbanite” team wasn’t coached by a “former professional.” It was coached by a film editor. There were former pros on the TYSA staff, but they ran the Select program, not the recreation program, which is where the Fugees play.

But, boy, it sure sounds better the way they wrote it, don’t it?

And what’s the difference between that and claims that Rahm Emmanuel was the reason Democrats won last year? Just asking.

Very interesting. Would you consider a NYT LTE?

Dana Blankenhorn @
31

Our son’s TYSA team played the Fugees last year. They creamed us. I wasn’t upset because everyone creamed us. They just creamed us worse than the others. They were the best team in our league.(They were also great sportsmen, and if I’d known the back story I would have gladly brought extra snacks and drinks.)

But there are some deliberate falsehoods in the NYT story.

First, most of the teams they’re playing are not white suburbanites. Some are. Ours was. But their league includes Rockdale and South DeKalb and Atlanta YSA — black suburbs or white teams. It also includes Norcross (mainly Mexican kids) and a “Stone Mountain” YSA team that actually lives 10 miles from there, in Chamblee, and consists of Mexican immigrants. But boy it sure reads better as “white suburbanites,” don’t it?

Second, the “hostility” toward immigrants in Clarkston is phony. Clarkston is largely immigrant. The real problem is that, given that it’s outside the Perimeter (I-285) its property values have been declining (while those inside the Perimeter have been rising). The hostility is economic, not racial.

Oh, and our “white suburbanite” team wasn’t coached by a “former professional.” It was coached by a film editor. There were former pros on the TYSA staff, but they ran the Select program, not the recreation program, which is where the Fugees play.

But, boy, it sure sounds better the way they wrote it, don’t it?

And what’s the difference between that and claims that Rahm Emmanuel was the reason Democrats won last year? Just asking.

This is what I love about the internet. I would never accept the NYT’s word about anything *cough*Judy Miller*cough. But, within an hour of the posting, there’s someone on FDL with concrete, firsthand experience. Thank you! I hope you’ll also pass along your observations to the NYT itself at executive-editor@nytimes.com.

I posted an update at the top linking Dana. Refresh to see it.

Hey all — I finally made it to DC. Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet will prevent this ReddHedd from blogging the Libby trial. *g*

Pachacutec,

As someone heavily involved in youth soccer, the knee jerk reaction to color it ’suburban white’ is strong and happens often because for the most part, it is. However, who the Fugee’s faced as opponents is minor compared to what they faced from the town and the difficulties the team faces just because of who they are.

This is still an amazing article and my search of the article finds no mention of ‘white’ describing the opponents. One specific team was described as well off and coached by someone paid.

As for the hostility in the town being economic – that very well may be and the article highlighted that with it’s quote of a black gentleman talking about the immigrant problem and their ‘give me’ attitude.

The racial overtones in the article, IMHO, were from experiences against CERTAIN opponents.

What a juxtaposition…opening arguments of a trial about lying on the same day as Bush will give another speech full of…. oh, you know!

To Pach’s suggestion on reading at the top, I’ll add, don’t miss Frank Rich’s column from today, linked at truthout.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012107B.shtml

Looking forward to the Libby liveblogging and the Webb response. Bushwa, not so much.

Thanks, Christy and Pach…and speedy recovery to Jane.

Christy!

Christy Hardin Smith @ 44

Hey all — I finally made it to DC. Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet will prevent this ReddHedd from blogging the Libby trial. *g*

is it still snowing?

I’m doubtful of this story as well. Clarkston isn’t the sleeply little southern town it is being portrayed as in this story. It’s more of a Dekalb county suburb, with a community college as it’s claim to fame. Dekalb county extends into Metro Atlanta. The county and the town has a strong majority of African Americans who vote Democratic. There’s always been diversity there.

I’m not sure where this reporter got the idea that soccer is some kind of strange new sport to Atlanta. Soccer is popular here and has been popular for many years.

About the only thing I would agree with is the attitude towards immigrants. There is increasing tension here in Georgia, but most of it is being directed towards Hispanic and Latino groups. It’s getting ugly. I have a friend who is half Arabic, born Southern and looks Hispanic. The bigotory she faces every day is mind numbing and it seems to get a little worse every day.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 44

Hey all — I finally made it to DC. Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet will prevent this ReddHedd from blogging the Libby trial. *g*

Are you at the FDL/Huffington Plame Safe House? Are there nylons hanging over the shower rod? Are they Pach’s nylons?

carolyn13 @ 49

I’m doubtful of this story as well. Clarkston isn’t the sleeply little southern town it is being portrayed as in this story. It’s more of a Dekalb county suburb, with a community college as it’s claim to fame. Dekalb county extends into Metro Atlanta. The county and the town has a strong majority of African Americans who vote Democratic. There’s always been diversity there.

I’m not sure where this reporter got the idea that soccer is some kind of strange new sport to Atlanta. Soccer is popular here and has been popular for many years.

About the only thing I would agree with is the attitude towards immigrants. There is increasing tension here in Georgia, but most of it is being directed towards Hispanic and Latino groups. It’s getting ugly. I have a friend who is half Arabic, born Southern and looks Hispanic. The bigotory she faces every day is mind numbing and it seems to get a little worse every day.

Do you think the reddest red states like Georgia are scapegoating immigrants because their hero, George W. Bush, failed to get them to the promised land?

Do you think they feel a teeny bit like they’ve lost control of their reality?

Prairie Sunshine @ 46

To Pach’s suggestion on reading at the top, I’ll add, don’t miss Frank Rich’s column from today, linked at truthout.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012107B.shtml

I just discovered that Marion in Savannah regularly posts the NYT’s behind-the-wall columnists (including Frank Rich) at her blog. Another great resource.

I don’t think it has much to do with Bush. It has more to do with economics and a resistance to cultural change. The southern states have experienced a large jump in Hispanic and Latino populations in the past 15 years.

Georgia is really a beautiful state, with a great climate if you don’t mind being fried alive in the summertime. We have mountains, beaches, swamps and marshland, wonderful white water rivers and a strong economy that never seems to dip as low as other parts of the country in the lean times. So it attracts people from everywhere, especially in the Atlanta area. We absorbed an influx of Asian immigrants without much trouble.

I think it’s because Hispanic and Latino immigrants are almost always considered to be Mexican illegals by the bigots. They can claim they aren’t being racist, just concerned Americans.

It’s a darn shame that this beautiful state has more than it’s fair share of Republicans and fundies.

Soccer Dad @
38

Steve wrote: “How could a field take football, with cleats and not soccer, which doesn’t have kids in pads running around.”

Believe it or not – soccer will wreck a field faster than football, for a variety of reasons. Many youth (not high school) football seasons end in late October/early November – soccer often pushes into mid November. The Bermuda grass has gone dormant (brown) and unless the field is overseeded with Rye, they will deteriorate fast. Even with rye they get some damage. Consider the pauses in your average youth football game, in between plays where players cut and run. The actual ‘action’ on the field is probably 1/4 the total game time – in soccer, the kids are running up and down the field non stop.

Add onto that most areas have soccer seasons in the Spring (often starting in February) and Fall, it can be very stressful on the fields, especially those used for practice AND matches. By the time bermuda starts to green up and regenerate, most soccer seasons are 2/3rds over. Many fields are quarantined for part of the summer to give the grass a chance to regenerate and fill in the bare spots that always form in front of the goals.

I’m not saying the town is right for banning soccer from the park – far from it. Fields can be managed in a way that they can sustain heavy use. But in a small town where the field would be used by Football, Baseball, and Soccer, the fields would be stressed.

Of course Clarkston using the field abuse argument is a joke because this is ONE TEAM – not an entire league. One team will not wreck their field. But trust me – I see firsthand what our league of 50 teams can do to a soccer complex.

Have you seen what 10 adult football teams can do? It’s not pretty.

Only online can you hear from people who actually know the story. I apologize for any misaprehenshions based on the Times reporting

New York Times Bigotry
Yet another example of the NYT and its problem with perception and the truth. (see Judith Miller and Jason Blair)Be careful readers, who are way to quick to assume a “southern community” is full of racism and xenophobia. This community is in a county that has had an openly gay state representative for a number of years and one of the most welcoming multi-ethnic communities in the S.E. United States.

Yeah, Steve, we like all sports down here. We even tried to have a hockey team for a little while. Sports, cars and big trucks is what the South is all about – besides Republicans. lol

jesus, jesus, jesus, how sad can we be, as a country that we cannot embrace these kids and let them have a home here. WTF is the MATTER with us, anyway.

You really would have to live in Georgia to understand the mindset of the people of Clarkson.I do. White southern Baptist.No group talks about how wonderful their faith is and can generate more hate then them.They are everything that Jesus was against. The love Jesus but hate his teachings. I hear it everyday at work. They hate liberals, and Jesus was the biggest liberal there ever was. This
is the racist south. It won’t ever change.

I second countryjoe @58
I will not say the NYT is right, but having spent too much time in the South as part of an interracial couple certain stuff has a bitter ring of truth to it. Bigotry is often “invisible” to white Southerners because they do not walk in others shoes. Ex of some daily wearing crap: knee jerk reaction to honk at an Asian driver because being Asian means being a “bad driver”. This and other habitual crap is very very wearing, much much more so than in the North. One person said to me that walking around some part of Long Island freaked her out, because “there are no Americans.”(?!?)
What I hate most is the defensive inability of many Southerners to see racism for what it is. There is always some alternative explanation. Northerners don’t understand our culture, yadda, yadda, yadda.

In other words, I would not be so quick to dismiss this article despite some of the facts in dispute. Even living in southern university town can be total sh*t for for Orientals and otherwise.You just want to say “cultural” my ass . But that’s bitter me.

I’m not denying the bigotry in the South. In fact, that was the one thing I agreed with in the article. However, Clarkston is not a typical white southern baptist town. The demographics are 19.44% White, 55.66% African American and 12.57% Asian, mostly Vietnamese. It calls itself a small town in the heart of metro Atlanta, but it’s really an Atlanta suburb.

I am about to send them off a check for $130–to match the amount the kids raised raking leaves to finance a road trip. I hope others will do the same. These kids and their coach deserve it. One of my kids did field work for his dissertation in northern Mozambique, and gave away everything but his cameras and notes when he left after a year–literally even the shirt off his back. He arrived home in a torn t-shirt and flip-flops and a carry-on. These refugee kids, and all the rest left back in Africa and elsewhere deserve a break. Here at least there is something concrete to give to.

One note: maybe the Fugees website is a litle too slick, and makes you wonder just how desperate they are–but just for a moment. The coach ought to look into the ‘psychodynamics’ and maybe throttle back to a more ‘homemade’ look. Just sayin’.

I am not disputing you by and large, but like I said, I have experienced blatant stuff in university towns. Regarding the town’s demographics, I am not an expert on the South, but ghettoization seems to have pernicious qualities particular to the South. Yes, I’ve been to Atlanta. It’s only a hop skip away from E. Tennessee if you’re hellbent on Asian food, and IMHO a breath of fresh air in comparison.
I will also argue with another commenter that this is one and the same.: The hostility is economic, not racial. In fact the two feed into each other, notoriously.

the problem is not racism – duh. it’s economics. got it?

because, you know, racism and economics have no history, and absolutely no correlation to one another. you do know that, right?

racism doesn’t exist down here in the south, much less anyplace else. there has, in fact, never been any racism in america to speak of. really. instead, it’s always been economics. that’s all. just simple economics.

it’s that darn liberal new york times again – always fightin for civil rights, even while they cheer on any and all foreign interventions. they just got me so mixed up them new yorker peoples.