"ya'll stole our dignity"
subtitle: defining moments in the delta
sub-subtitle: enter "mtc disclaimer" here

so, i got called a "yankee bitch" yesterday by a semi-random, 17 year-old academy brat, who then proceeded to sexually harass me via IM for about 15 minutes. you know, for all of the southern hospitality bullshit that they're famous for, the true feelings of a community do come out to play in its young. when i helped priss with her youth group last year, one stupid little girl had the nerve to call my students and their families "the dark people" and tell me that she refused to go across the tracks to the dangerous side of town. i debated with the sweet-tea boy the other day about the merits/detriments of putting children in academies to isolate them from the "dangers" of public schools.. an entirely frustrating conversation for me because i believe in public schools so strongly and, as a product of his environment, he does not. if these are some of the things that i'm coming across as an outsider, as the yankee bitch, what the hell's being said behind closed doors?

the sad part is that almost every time i venture out into the white community here, almost believing that, somewhere, somebody has to go against the stereotypes of delta whites, they disappoint me. i'm living in the 1940s... NOT the decade i would have chosen. there are times when all i want to do is pack up, go home, and teach and live in the 21st century. there are times when i doubt how much progress was actually made during the civil rights movement in Mississippi (mostly the delta, but other parts as well). this is one of those times... but then they would have won, and my children would not be getting the education that i know they deserve, and i'm not going to let those bastards win.