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[GK86]

Full article at link. Pretty interesting read.

Jackson may not register nationally as an outpost of bohemianism like Austin or big city liberalism like Atlanta. But its city government, which is majority black and Democratic, refuses to fly the Confederate-themed state flag at municipal buildings, and this month voted unanimously to oppose a new state law that creates special legal protections for opponents of same sex marriage.

Jackson is among a group of Southern cities from Dallas to Durham, N.C., where the digital commons, economic growth and a rising cohort of millennials have helped remake the culture. Many of these cities have found themselves increasingly at odds with their states, and here in a region that remains the most conservative in the country, the conflicts are growing more frequent and particularly tough.

Fights are raging over gay rights here and in North Carolina, where a new law limits transgender bathroom access and pre-empts local governments from passing their own anti-discrimination ordinances. The resistance has been particularly fierce in North Carolina, where companies have called off expansion plans and Ringo Starr and Bruce Springsteen have canceled concerts.

The potential consequences of these boycotts point up the complications, though: in a South dominated by the politics of rural and suburban conservatives, a canceled rock concert or technology project is likely to punish the places that oppose the legislation, and have little effect on the areas that support it.

The skirmishes over gay rights are only part of the growing conflict between Southern cities, with their mostly Democratic municipal governments, and Southern state legislatures, which have come to be dominated by Republicans. While the region’s state leaders may still espouse opposition to the federal government and to leftward trends in the national culture, they are increasingly having to quell mini-insurgencies in their own urban backyards.

Lawmakers in Alabama and Missouri recently blocked cities from setting up their own minimum wages, while Charlotte and Jackson have fought with the states over control of their municipal airports. North Carolina’s Republican Legislature has redrawn city council districts and tried to stop municipalities from becoming “sanctuary cities” for immigrants. The Arkansas and Tennessee Legislatures have passed laws that, like North Carolina’s, ban local anti-discrimination ordinances that differ from state law.

This version of a civil war even extends to the Civil War. Alabama is considering a law that would prevent local jurisdictions from removing Confederate symbols without state approval, the Virginia legislature recently passed a similar one — though it was vetoed — and Republican legislators in Louisiana unsuccessfully pushed a law that could have blocked a New Orleans plan to move Confederate monuments.

But Southern cities have pushed back with vigor. Birmingham and Kansas City tried to go forward with minimum wage laws even after their states overruled them. Several in Arkansas passed anti-discrimination ordinances despite the state law intended to ban them. Across Mississippi, cities, counties and public institutions have responded to the Legislature’s unwillingness to take the Confederate battle cross out of the state flag by refusing to fly the flag altogether.

All of this exasperates conservative lawmakers like State Senator Bart Hester, an Arkansas Republican, who says he is constantly trying to play defense against a rapidly changing culture.

“Ten years ago, no one would have ever imagined someone would have deserved protections under civil rights because they didn’t know what gender they were,” he said. His biggest frustrations as a legislator, he continued, are dealing with municipalities, on everything from gay rights to taxes. “It just shocks me every day how different our opinions and basic core values are,” he said.

Fourteen of the 20 fastest-growing metro areas in the nation between 2010 and 2015 were in the South, according to an analysis of census data by the Institute for Southern Studies. That boom has not been driven by heavy industry, but by banking, insurance, health care and, increasingly, technology.

 

[Dennis]

Cities more progressive than rural areas?

Who could see this coming?

 

[JoeBoy101]

So in other words, like Virginia? I'll never forget growing up in NOVA how so many people wanted to create a separate state from the rest of VA. Not the least of which of how their tax dollars flowed out to the podunk counties.

But at least back then, the podunk counties weren't dictating law. Like they are now in NC.

Spoiler

Fuck you, Phil Berger

 

[echoshifting]

All of this exasperates conservative lawmakers like State Senator Bart Hester, an Arkansas Republican, who says he is constantly trying to play defense against a rapidly changing culture.

“Ten years ago, no one would have ever imagined someone would have deserved protections under civil rights because they didn’t know what gender they were,” he said. His biggest frustrations as a legislator, he continued, are dealing with municipalities, on everything from gay rights to taxes. “It just shocks me every day how different our opinions and basic core values are,” he said.

So....maybe he should stop doing that? Maybe he should, I dunno, represent the majority rather than his rapidly shrinking base? Just an idea! Crazy, I know.

 

[phanphare]

as someone who lives in Charlotte, NC it's fucked

 

[JesseEwiak]

So....maybe he should stop doing that? Maybe he should, I dunno, represent the majority rather than his rapidly shrinking base? Just an idea! Crazy, I know.

He probably is representing the majority in his district.

 

[echoshifting]

He probably is representing the majority in his district.

Yeah I missed that he was a state senator, my mistake.

Very interesting read.

But with liberals still outnumbered in most parts of the South, some are worried that the backlash and boycotts by performers and business in protest of state laws will end up doing the most economic harm to those who despise what state lawmakers are doing.

“The people who would go to those shows from a few hours away now aren’t going to go to the restaurants, or go to the bar and drink craft beer,” said Grayson Haver Currin, an editor of a North Carolina alternative weekly. He and his wife, Tina, recently started a website encouraging artists to keep their commitments in the state, but donate proceeds to gay rights groups.

 

[giga]

City folks just don't get it.

North Carolina’s Republican Legislature has redrawn city council districts and tried to stop municipalities from becoming “sanctuary cities” for immigrants. The Arkansas and Tennessee Legislatures have passed laws that, like North Carolina’s, ban local anti-discrimination ordinances that differ from state law.

Literally evil.

 

[Wilsongt]

Columbia, SC is a fairly liberal bastion in a state where our upstate politicians are idiots. We actually voted out a council member who suddenly became super evangelical and started proposing putting homeless on a bus and shipping them out of the city as well as taking away equality for city LGBT citizens.

 

[Bronx-Man]

I'm telling you, the Triangle must secede from NC. We can't be held back from the future anymore.

 

[old manatee]

“Ten years ago, no one would have ever imagined someone would have deserved protections under civil rights because they didn’t know what gender they were,”

That's not true.

 

[nitekrawlwer]

They truly are fighting for the south. Especially with recent supreme court changes I can't help but think we'll see some landmark cases out of these struggles. I hope they make it to the high courts with much speed so that they don't have to suffer under tyranny much longer.

 

[Technosteve]

I moved to north carolina, i have never seen a state so bias against cities.

 

[RBH]

Pretty much sums up Atlanta versus the majority of Georgia. I still find that people outside the South are surprised to learn how Atlanta is one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the entire U.S.

 

[Kite]

lol Houston says hi.

 

[Grover Cleveland]

I posted about this in one of the NC HB2 threads

Looking at this from a different perspective, I know this bill is being presented as an anti-LGBT bill in the mainstream national media (and quite rightly), but it is interesting to look it at the language of the bill that specifically outlaws the cities of North Carolina from passing local ordinances to override its provisions as a question of state-level devolution (power centralized in the state government vs deferred to the individual cities). We're essentially seeing ideological warfare between the politicians from very Conservative rural districts (which is most of the state by land area) and the state's largest cities (the Charlotte, Triangle, and Triad metropolitan areas take up almost 50% of the state's population).

I imagine we will see more and more conflicts like this between Conservative state governments and increasingly progressive urban centers especially in the South.

 

[AYF 001]

Well conservative politicians argue that states' rights exist to prevent the larger federal entity from bullying. It should follow that cities are allowed to have rights that prevent a minority population geographically dispersed over a larger number of districts and counties from having undue influence over the state legislature and bullying smaller, but much more highly populated urban areas.

Spoiler

Much to those politicians' dismay, that is.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

It's hilarious that the Triangle area, home to some of the most educated, dynamic and diverse communities in the country has to put up with backward ass NC laws.

Actually no it's incredibly depressing.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

Pretty much sums up Atlanta versus the majority of Georgia. I still find that people outside the South are surprised to learn how Atlanta is one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the entire U.S.

It's hard to pick up those broad brush strokes.

 

[ReAxion]

But didn't you want all those lucrative tech jobs?

 

[TheGreatDirector]

It's hilarious that the Triangle area, home to some of the most educated, dynamic and diverse communities in the country has to put up with backward ass NC laws.

Actually no it's incredibly depressing.

It's even more stupid considering the amount of young people going to school and college in the Triangle that have to deal with the older generation through these regressive laws.

 

[Pastry]

I believe all of the cities in the Texas triangle go blue every election. It's just everywhere else in Texas lol.

 

[Africanus]

As someone who used to live near Jackson for a brief stint in my youth, I'm rather proud in how it's progressed in a decade.

These conflicts shall only rage on. I know even in some Northern states such as Indiana it's a constant tug of war.

 

[CastleRybread]

It's hilarious that the Triangle area, home to some of the most educated, dynamic and diverse communities in the country has to put up with backward ass NC laws.

Actually no it's incredibly depressing.

I love how when they lose local elections they get the state to intervene. Wake commissioners getting redrawn because Democrats won 9-0 was ridiculous.

 

[Sax1031]

city rights are even lower on the rung than dead state's rights.

 

[mclem]

“Ten years ago, no one would have ever imagined someone would have deserved protections under civil rights because they didn’t know what gender they were,” he said.

I think they know full well. Unfortunately they seem to be shouted down by people who think they know better.

 

[Horns]

Everywhere is evolving but republican controlled locations.

 

[Rayis]

City rights over state rights, It's time to fight back against the tyranny of state governments.

 

[Escape Goat]

City rights over state rights, It's time to fight back against the tyranny of state governments.

Small government! Get the government out of our lives. Unless its your bedroom or uterus. Matters of national security those.

 

[Count Dookkake]

Rural areas are backwards!?

 

[Sax1031]

City rights over state rights, It's time to fight back against the tyranny of state governments.

you would probably see cities abolish gun control laws. you might not get what you want.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Columbia, SC is a fairly liberal bastion in a state where our upstate politicians are idiots. We actually voted out a council member who suddenly became super evangelical and started proposing putting homeless on a bus and shipping them out of the city as well as taking away equality for city LGBT citizens.

Not liberal at all. One of the most racist and hateful places I've ever lived. The homeless actually were shipped out on buses, and let's never forget the Confederate flag flew until just last year. It only really leans liberal because of the majority black population.

 

[Third Strike]

you would probably see cities abolish gun control laws. you might not get what you want.

Why would cities abolish gun control laws?

 

[Sax1031]

Why would cities abolish gun control laws?

plenty of rural cities in blue states have far different views on gun control than the state governments.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

so the next civil war isn't fought with muskets but with legislative pen.

 

[eBay Huckster]

rural cities

say what now

 

[Sax1031]

say what now

this might be a shock to you. but their are cities in rural areas. not all cities are New York or LA.

 

[M-PG71C]

I'm telling you, the Triangle must secede from NC. We can't be held back from the future anymore.

You wait a damn minute. We just need to form a new Carolina that has the Triangle, Charlotte, Asheville, Cary, and a few others. Don't you dare leave the rest of us behind damnit! We will call it Best Carolina!

 

[Grover Cleveland]

You wait a damn minute. We just need to form a new Carolina that has the Triangle, Charlotte, Asheville, Cary, and a few others. Don't you dare leave the rest of us behind damnit! We will call it Best Carolina!

Charlotte has already a deal with the devil. We will be annexed by South Carolina.

 

[jjasper]

This has really been an ongoing problem I don't think many from outside the south are aware of. Most of the states got gerrymandered to hell too, really removing any political power in the legislature from these areas.

 

[Team Alucard]

I believe all of the cities in the Texas triangle go blue every election. It's just everywhere else in Texas lol.

That's the way it is in most states, not just red ones.

Here's Illinois' 2012 election map.

Michigan's

Oregon's

 

[Wilsongt]

Not liberal at all. One of the most racist and hateful places I've ever lived. The homeless actually were shipped out on buses, and let's never forget the Confederate flag flew until just last year. It only really leans liberal because of the majority black population.

The city and voters itself are liberal. We still have racist fucks.

 

[Cindi Mayweather]

Just like in Texas it seems.

 

[Envelope]

what the fuck is the south's obsession with glorifying their scumbag traitorous ancestors?

 

[Slayven]

The states could be moving ahead if they voted in midterms.

 

[RumblingRosco]

Millenials coming for dat ass, old people.

BTW I'm proud of the little blue square in the middle of no where on that Illinois 2012 election map. Go go college towns.

 

[entremet]

what the fuck is the south's obsession with glorifying their scumbag traitorous ancestors?

They don't see them as traitors, simple as that.

 

[Envelope]

They don't see them as traitors, simple as that.

it's not even just that though, when you're specifically trying to craft laws to prevent anyone else from disagreeing/removing their influence, it's just bizarre and goes a step beyond "let's remember the good/honorable stuff they did"

 

[Aaron Strife]

For all the snark and derision directed at red states (think the current Dem primary), it's really a matter of city vs. rural. In almost every state, the cities are dark blue and the rural areas are dark red, with the suburbs fluctuating around the middle. If a state votes Republican it just means there happens to be more people spread around the rural areas who vote than in the cities. Politicians from the cities aren't typically more conservative than Democrats in blue states unless they're angling for a statewide run and need more moderate records.

This was the map in the 2010 gubernatorial election in Illinois:

Looks like a GOP landslide, right? That's Cook County in the top right corner, home to Illinois. The Democrat (Pat Quinn) won by a point.

 

[Sobriquet]

You wait a damn minute. We just need to form a new Carolina that has the Triangle, Charlotte, Asheville, Cary, and a few others. Don't you dare leave the rest of us behind damnit! We will call it Best Carolina!

Can Wilmington come?