For the uneducated Brit...

[Reliant121]

From you guys over in the states, I'd be interested to know what is actually happening in Ferguson or at least what your media is informing you? I've just watched a channel 4 report from the region suggesting it's gone as far as white vigilante groups stepping into the fray between the protestors and the police department. We can only get part of the story so I wondered what a more native perspective was?

[Nutso]

From you guys over in the states, I'd be interested to know what is actually happening in Ferguson or at least what your media is informing you? I've just watched a channel 4 report from the region suggesting it's gone as far as white vigilante groups stepping into the fray between the protestors and the police department. We can only get part of the story so I wondered what a more native perspective was?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/oath-keepers-g ... d=27303096

If you're talking about these guys, the Oathkeepers, they are an anti-government, pro-Constitution group who stepped in to patrol Ferguson's streets. They're called the Oathkeepers because when they were in military, they took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic. They're all-white so far but, they're not the KKK or neo-Nazis. They're armed former military personnel who have taken up the job of protecting Ferguson's streets and businesses.

“They were calling us the KKK, they were calling us the police. We were saying ‘We’re not the police, we’re here to defend you. We’re here to defend your rights,’” Andrews told ABC News.

[Jim]

This is what happens when in inbreed... ah, the south...

[Mikey]

This is what happens when in inbreed... ah, the south...

You know Ferguson is in Missouri, right?

[Jim]

"the south" in not necessarily a location/direction. It is a state of mind. Some of the southern states aren't really included in that; Florida, the Carolinas, maybe even Georgia. I would go with "the south" stereotype as being Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana. West Virginia got its own thing going on, but it could potentially be put into that bubble.

[Mikey]

Well, I'd say panhandle Florida is definitely included; the Carolinas, where the people refer the the Civil War as "the recent unpleasantness" are included; and rural Georgia, where a friend of mine once saw a city-limits sign with the hand-written addendum "No n***ers after sundown" - yeah, that's included.

[Vic]

This is what happens when in inbreed... ah, the south...

Knee jerk reaction there Jim? Oh those Oathkeepers, their just sooooo evil!

[Captain Seafort]

Oh those Oathkeepers, their just sooooo evil!

Evil? Maybe not. Fucking imbeciles at best? Absolutely. Vigilantes inviting themselves into an already tense situation is a recipe for trouble.

[Tholian_Avenger]

"the south" in not necessarily a location/direction. It is a state of mind. Some of the southern states aren't really included in that; Florida, the Carolinas, maybe even Georgia.

Yes and no. I've met people from upper New York State, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and California that take to a "country" mindset as much as many in the former CSA do. Some even take up a "drawl" very easily. The coastal states you discounted have large populations still of that culture as well.

[McAvoy]

I got that here where I live. White trash and redneck stereotypes everywhere.

[Mikey]

I got that here where I live. White trash and redneck stereotypes everywhere.

Yep. I'm all of 20 minutes north of true Piney country (McAvoy knows what I mean.) Martin Truex Jr. is from approx. 30 minutes down the Parkway... and if you have a NASCAR celebrity from your are, well...