Rednecks

Some people say redneck like it's a bad thing - here, in the South, Redneck is practically worn with a badge of honor. Talledega: "yeah man, we love our NASCAR"; Bush, "Best president ever"; Oh-bama, "Do you mean the guy in the white house or the university?"

So here I am, my little, liberal, Jewish self, trying to blend in. Today I went to Niki's West (owned by the "Gleeks", and I don't mean lovers of the show Glee), where I had fried chicken livers, collard greens, fried green tomatoes and peach cobbler. I was asked, "were you raised in the South?" "No, I'm Jewish" ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I had tried to hide that fact as long as possible as I sat swilling my beer with the good 'ol boys, as I was prodded, and cajoled about "the gays" in San Fran, and how there are a lot of "I-talians" and "Gleeks" in this area. And while I was driving around today, I was informed, while in the ritzy part of town, that there are a lot of Jews there. I had to wonder... what's "a lot"?

I'm not saying they are bad people here, because they aren't. I've been treated with nothing but good, Southern charm. My sense is that the problem here, and with most rednecks in general, and I mean this of rednecks of all persuasions, in all states, is that they simply hang out with other rednecks. They don't have friends who are gay, and if they do have "a" relative, it's "my gay cousin Larry"; they don't have friends who are black or Jewish or I-talian, or G-leek. They know these people exist - co-exist - but they go to different churches, and they have their own BBQs, and they simply don't mix. Sure their lawyer is probably Jewish, because they know that that's what you do is get yourself a smart, Jew lawyer. And of course they aren't racist, if they were racist, would they hire a Jew?

So I do my best to try to blend. I hide my Jewishness as best as I can and I don't mention that yes, I do like Barak Obama, as they carry on with their chatter, and back-slapping, and talk of huntin' and fishin'. And as I drive around Alabama, I think, it sure is pretty here, and it sure would be nice if...