does this apply if you are, say, Black or Latino?

Dunno why this is getting downvoted. It's a fair and important question. I've never been to Tennessee, but I spent a week in Atlanta once 15 or 20 years back, and as an Australian the segregation and underlying racism really surprised and disappointed me. (Not that Australia is really any better with respect to how we are institutionally and often socially and causally racist towards our indigenous people...)

> Dunno why this is getting downvoted. It's a fair and important question.

It's getting downvoted because it's neither of those things. It's basically bigotry towards his outgroup ("ewww those rural hicks" drips from that comment) with a thin veneer of pretending to be concerned for minorities.

this right here is why acknowledging racism is so hard for so many. The US south has a long history with racism, this is a website that skews white and wealthy and your accusation is that a question asking about rural racism is bigoted against rural people?

wow.

Say you don't know southerners without saying you don't know southerners. And the answer is yes.

Presumably if they were familiar with Tennessee culture, they wouldn't be asking?

Now they know

I know a lot of people in the area. I'd say yes.

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