In 1865, enslaved people in Texas were notified by Union Civil War soldiers about the abolition of slavery. This was 2.5 years after the final Emancipation Proclamation which freed all enslaved Black Americans. But Slavery Continued… In 1866, a year after the amendment was ratified, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina began to lease out convicts for labor. This made the business of arresting black people very lucrative, thus hundreds of white men were hired by these states as police officers. Their primary responsibility being to search out and arrest black peoples who were in violation of ‘Black Codes’ Basically, black codes were a series of laws criminalizing legal activity for black people. Through the enforcement of these laws, they could be imprisoned. Once arrested, these men, women & children would be leased to plantations or they would be leased to work at coal mines, or railroad companies. The owners of these businesses would pay the state for every prisoner who worked for them; prison labor. It’s believed that after the passing of the 13th Amendment, more than 800,000 Black people were part of that system of re-enslavement through the prison system. The 13th Amendment declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Lawmakers used this phrase to make petty offenses crimes. When Blacks were found guilty of committing these crimes, they were imprisoned and then leased out to the same businesses that lost slaves after the passing of the 13th Amendment. The majority of White Southern farmers and business owners hated the 13th Amendment because it took away slave labor. As a way to appease them, the federal government turned a blind eye when southern states used this clause in the 13th Amendment to establish the Black Codes.

"But fighting is wrong violence is not the answer!!"

Those cunts tried to kill a black guy in broad daylight A PUBLIC EVENT AT THAT and you think we just gonna SIT BY and let that happen??? Fuck outta here with that respectability politics bull!

Hello from New Orleans!!!

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

THINGS I LEARNED LIVING IN THE SOUTH

1. A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.

2. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in the South.

3. There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in the South, plus a couple no one's seen before.

4. If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.

5. Onced and Twiced are words.

6. It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy!

7. Jawl-P? means: Did you all go to the bathroom?

8. People actually grow, eat and like okra.

9. Fixinto is one word. It means I'm going to do something.

10. There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there's supper.

11. Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar. It is referred to as the Wine of the South.

12. Backwards and forwards means I know everything about you.

13. The word jeet is actually a question meaning, 'Did you eat?'

14. You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is, you work until you're done or it's too dark to see.

15. You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH em.

16. Y'all is singular. All Y'all is plural.

17. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect, or animal.

18. You carry jumper cables in your car for your OWN car.

19. You only own five spices: salt, pepper, mustard, Tabasco and ketchup.

20. The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local high school sports, the motor sports, and gossip.

21. Everyone you meet is a Honey, Sugar, Miss (first name) or Mr (first name)

22. You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

23. You know what a hissy fit is..

24. Fried catfish is the other white meat.

25. We don't need no dang Driver's Ed. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive!!!

Living in a predominantly black southern city sometimes makes you forget you stay in racist states. It’s almost like living on your own island……. until elections lol

Banned Book: 

Intro: To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, in 1960. Was banned in multiple school districts in states such as Mississippi, Texas, California, Virginia, and Washington in between 1970 and 2018. It was banned for a multitude of reasons, including the way it talks about race, sexual acts, and social injustice. It has been challenged across most states in the U.S., and in parts of countries such as Russia, China, England, and Canada

Major Plot Points/Topics in Book: -Southern Life -Class issues -Class and Society -Courage/Compassion -Gender Roles -Loss of Innocence -Laws -Societal Conventions -Trial by Jury -Legal Systems

Brief Synopsis: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee centres on Atticus Finch's attempts to prove the innocence of Tom Robinson, a black man who has been wrongly accused of raping a white woman in 1930s Alabama.

Trigger Warnings: -Rape -Wrongful Conviction -Court of Law

Long Summary: Scout Finch lives with her brother, Jem, and their widowed father, Atticus, in the sleepy Alabama town of Maycomb. Maycomb is suffering through the Great Depression, but Atticus is a prominent lawyer and the Finch family is reasonably well off in comparison to the rest of society. One summer, Jem and Scout befriend a boy named Dill, who has come to live in their neighborhood for the summer, and the trio acts out stories together. Eventually, Dill becomes fascinated with the spooky house on their street called the Radley Place. The house is owned by Mr. Nathan Radley, whose brother, Arthur (nicknamed Boo), has lived there for years without venturing outside.

Scout goes to school for the first time that fall and detests it. She and Jem find gifts apparently left for them in a knothole of a tree on the Radley property. Dill returns the following summer, and he, Scout, and Jem begin to act out the story of Boo Radley. Atticus puts a stop to their antics, urging the children to try to see life from another person’s perspective before making judgments. But, on Dill’s last night in Maycomb for the summer, the three sneak onto the Radley property, where Nathan Radley shoots at them. Jem loses his pants in the ensuing escape. When he returns for them, he finds them mended and hung over the fence.

The next winter, Jem and Scout find more presents in the tree, presumably left by the mysterious Boo. Nathan Radley eventually plugs the knothole with cement. Shortly thereafter, a fire breaks out in another neighbor’s house, and during the fire someone slips a blanket on Scout’s shoulders as she watches the blaze. Convinced that Boo did it, Jem tells Atticus about the mended pants and the presents.

To the consternation of Maycomb’s racist white community, Atticus agrees to defend a Black man named Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white woman. Because of Atticus’s decision, Jem and Scout are subjected to abuse from other children, even when they celebrate Christmas at the family compound on Finch’s Landing. Calpurnia, the Finches’ Black cook, takes them to the local Black church, where the warm and close-knit community largely embraces the children.

Atticus’s sister, Alexandra, comes to live with the Finches the next summer. Dill, who is supposed to live with his “new father” in another town, runs away and comes to Maycomb. Tom Robinson’s trial begins, and when the accused man is placed in the local jail, a mob gathers to lynch him. Atticus faces the mob down the night before the trial. Jem and Scout, who have sneaked out of the house, soon join him. Scout recognizes one of the men, and her polite questioning about his son shames him into dispersing the mob.

At the trial itself, the children sit in the “colored balcony” with the town’s Black citizens. Atticus provides clear evidence that the accusers, Mayella Ewell and her father, Bob, are lying: in fact, Mayella propositioned Tom Robinson, was caught by her father, and then accused Tom of rape to cover her shame and guilt. Atticus provides impressive evidence that the marks on Mayella’s face are from wounds that her father inflicted; upon discovering her with Tom, he called her a whore and beat her. Yet, despite the significant evidence pointing to Tom’s innocence, the all-white jury convicts him. The innocent Tom later tries to escape from prison and is shot to death. In the aftermath of the trial, Jem’s faith in justice is badly shaken, and he lapses into despondency and doubt.

Despite the verdict, Bob Ewell feels that Atticus and the judge have made a fool out of him, and he vows revenge. He menaces Tom Robinson’s widow, tries to break into the judge’s house, and finally attacks Jem and Scout as they walk home from a Halloween party. Boo Radley intervenes, however, saving the children and stabbing Ewell fatally during the struggle. Boo carries the wounded Jem back to Atticus’s house, where the sheriff, in order to protect Boo, insists that Ewell tripped over a tree root and fell on his own knife. After sitting with Scout for a while, Boo disappears once more into the Radley house.  

Later, Scout feels as though she can finally imagine what life is like for Boo. He has become a human being to her at last. With this realization, Scout embraces her father’s advice to practice sympathy and understanding and demonstrates that her experiences with hatred and prejudice will not sully her faith in human goodness.

southern states aesthetic moodboards as created by me

Arkansas- i used arcadecore, analog horror and art academia. diamonds were discovered in Arkansas, hot springs has an alligator farm hence the alligator picture, and i just think Arkansas would watch analog horror

Virgina- i used old webcore and webcore for the fact that Virgina was given the title home of the internet and the heart is for the campaign Virginia Is for Lovers and the one mermaid tail pic is for the mermaids of Norfolk

West Virgina- i used crowcore and cryptidcore and west Virgina gave us Mother's Day so hence the picture

South Carolina- sc is the golf Captial, sweet tea was invented in sc and sc has produced more peaches than Goergia and i used Green Academia and frogcore

Delaware- half of Delaware's population is chickens, and it's the home of many like m a n y horseshoe crabs and there's an aesthetic called Coastal Grandmother and i put that in as well as earthcore

Oklahoma- the shopping cart was invented in oklahoma and oklahoma is the only state that produces iodine, and the aesthetics i use are urban fantasy and analog horror the pictures are from omega mart, local58 and boisvert

North Carolina- nc produces a lot of Christmas trees, Blackbeard frequented nc, and nc is obsessed with cheerwine and i used light academia and golden hour

Alabama- Alabama was the first state to declare Christmas a legal holiday, Alabama was actually the first place to celebrate Mardi Gras and Dotham Alabama is the Peanut Capital of the World, the aesthetics i used are goblin academia and red and blue academia

Kentucky- Kentucky is one of the few places in the world where you can spot a moonbow, and Ninety-five percent of all bourbon is produced in Kentucky and the aesthetics i have put here are soft indie and spacecore

Tennessee- Nashville, Tennessee is Nicknamed Music City, Tennessee is the birthplace of the tow truck, Coca-Cola owes much of its success to Tennessee and the aesthetics i used Honeycore and Hauntology

Mississippi- After casinos were legalized in Mississippi in 1990, the state underwent a small boom, teddy bear was coined in Mississippi, and blues music was born in the Mississippi Delta, and the aesthetics i used are vaporwave and Synthwave

Georgia- there are about 4 dozen varieties of peaches from Georgia, Georgia outranks other states in the production of Vidalia onions, Coca-Cola was invented in Atlanta, Georgia, the aesthetics i used were pastel and peach

Louisiana- The first opera ever performed in the U.S. took place in the French Quarter of New Orleans in 1796, Louisiana's one of America's greatest salt producers, Louisiana is known as the birthplace of jazz. i used Autumncore and i put a pelican to ref the nickname and Mardi Gras beads

Texas- Texas Is Among US’s Top 5 Wine Country, Dr. Pepper Was Invented in Texas, Texas Has More Bats Species Than Any US State, i used Southern Gothic, plant mom, rock, and classic academia

Florida- Florida has the most golf courses of any state in America, the gator is there bc why not and Florida produces the most oranges in America and i used kidcore and rainbowcore

As a lifelong Floridian, I know that Florida has, for a very long time, been the only state in the Southeast where a majority of people living there support the right to abortion, and it is also has the third highest rate of abortions right behind New York and Illinois, DESPITE the Republican-dominated government. The reason this is is because many people seeking abortions, who reside in other, more strict states in the American South, travel to Florida to undergo the procedure. Florida was a haven for Southern people who needed abortions.

With Roe v. Wade overturned, that can change. Most of the Southern states are likely to fully ban abortions, without exemption for cases of rape, incest, or human trafficking. Florida legislators are considering this ban as well. I say legislators. The government. The people are different. They are ALWAYS different.

More than half of Americans, across the board, said that they do not want Roe v. Wade revisited. More than half also said they wanted abortion to remain legal. What is wrong with the US, especially the American South, is not its people, but the very structure of its government.

The US government have never truly represented their people. This is a country that favors capitalism and has a horrid history with racism/sexism. The rich, white men will always rise above the poor, the people of color, and the women, and the rich will typically be conservative.

But gold standard, non-partisan surveys have determined a majority of Americans are liberal in ideology. Despite a majorly white Republican government, especially in the Southern states, most of its population is Black. It is no wonder Southern states are poorest states in the US. The government sees their people as subhuman cash cows they can exploit for their own gain.

It is not an issue of poor education, and even if it is on an official level we are not cut off from the rest of the world. We are well aware of what we’re going through. We see how voting systems favor the rich, straight, white male voice. And many people, especially those in poverty, see the jagged lines of our districts. We are not stupid hicks who brought this upon ourselves. We are fighting an uphill battle. We are drowning. Something that is socially commonplace to a Northern city or state, such as a pride flag, an interracial marriage, or an abortion procedure, is just as common in the South, but their very existence is more dangerous.

What we need is the help of the rest of the US. What we need is for people to see us, to see our struggle, the risks we take, and fight alongside us. We need to protect abortion rights in Florida, a state that could swing right or left politically. We need to keep being a haven for abortion. We need the government to fear our repercussion, not the other way around.

When you think of the folks down South, do not think only of your racist uncle, your homophobic cousins, and stop there. Think of the trans teenager who runs their small town high school GSA. Think of the single Black mother who still finds time to volunteer at her church’s food pantry and belt with her gospel choir. The homeless man who feeds his dog before he feeds himself and plays the grooviest jazz you’ve ever heard. The punk rock chick who runs the sex stores you’ve seen advertised on the billboards during your road trips. They know what is going on all around them, they see the pain the government turns a blind eye on.

We are just like you. But we say “y’all”. We call every soda “coke”. Every house has an AC. And we are hidden behind a wall of suppression.

"ADVOCATED WOOD BLOCK PAVEMENTS," Kingston Daily Standard. December 17, 1913. Page 8. --- Paving Expert Addressed Board of Trade. --- H. L. Collier, of St. Louis, Mo., Presented Some Strong Arguments Last Night. ---- The members of the Board of Trade at last night's meeting were favored with an excellent address on the paving question by a well-known expert. Mr. H. L. Collier of St. Louis, Mo., who has had a large experience on the paving question, both in connection with. the United States government and in private capacities with a number of large American firms and cities in the Republic.

Mr. Collier went into his life work in regard to the question of street paying, which, he said, was attracting great attention in all the cities of the world. He gave a large number of statistics regarding wood block pavements, and claimed that their superiority could not be overestimated. The advantages of their use for paving he summed up as follows: Resistance to wear, dustlessness, noiselessness, non storing and non-radiating of heat, and ease of cleaning. These advantages would commend them to general use.

The lecture was listened to with great attention and at its close a number of questions were asked by members.

In answer to Mr. J. M. Campbell, Mr. Collier stated that wood blocks would stay down against a "T" rail as long as any other type, provided they were put down properly.

Ald Fair also asked where there had been success obtained with the blocks against a "T" rail, and in reply Mr. Collier instanced a number of cities in the Southern States, where they had been used.

A vote of thanks was tendered Mr. Collier for his able and instructive address.

n370_w1150 by Biodiversity Heritage Library Via Flickr: The natural history of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands :. London :Printed for B. White,1771.. biodiversitylibrary.org/page/38993718

So my AC has been slightly busted for the past three days and because I live in the South of the trap I call America, it's humid and hot. It's been hell. :)

Country girl 🤠🐮

I love the argument between people who are English and people who are Southern. The one where when the English see a Southerner drinking iced tea and just lose it. Go full “Pineapples dont belong on pizza” type thing. And the reason I love this is because my grandmother was born and raised in England. I grew up drinking hot tea before many other common drinks for children. Every time I’d go to my grandmothers house we fix a cup of tea. We eat like were in England and all that jazz.

But the thing is, I grew up in one of the most southern south states you can imagine. Like when you think of the south, where i live is possible what comes up in your mind. And the thing is, where im from, EVERYONE drinks iced tea. Like there are a small few that dont bc their just weird like that (like how can you not like iced tea?!?) Every restaurant and fast food place has iced tea. You dont have to even check if they have tea, just say you want some iced tea and boom, there you go.

So what im getting at here is that I grew up drinking Hot tea . The “English way” some might say. And also the Southern Iced tea. I got the best of both worlds. And guess what. My English grandmother also drinks iced tea. She loves it. When our family who still lives in England come and visit, THEY ALSO drink iced tea; no complaint.

So the argument is just so funny bc i have never seen someone who is English judge ice tea. NOW ON THE OTHER HAND, i have seen and been judged by someone in the South for drinking hot tea. But hey! Its ok, Hot tea is not for everyone. But if you Ever diss iced tea…man, you don’t know what your talkin about.

I say all this bc i keep coming across the cod comic strips where graves or another southern is just judged by all the brits. Even the ones where Soap judges everyone else in the 141 for drinking tea is hilarious bc my mother was born in Scotland and she drinks tea.