• theangryseal@lemmy.world
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    14 hours ago

    This is exactly what I’ve seen in Appalachian coal country. I once sat with a man who cried his eyes out because of the decision to call Florida for Bush. That same man died a Republican.

    In my own family, when I was a kid they were all democrats. Now they’re all republicans. Of course that also has to do with their religious views and the bigotry that comes with that.

    What you’re saying here is a big part of it though. “They called us hillbillies and inbred hicks all our lives, and now we can’t say anyone is a fairy? I learned to laugh at myself and now I have to hold my tongue for other people?!”

    I didn’t just make that up. I’ve heard several variations of that since the 2010s when the big switch kicked into overdrive.

    I’ll also say that racism had a big part in the shift. A man with the middle name Hussein was elected 7 years after 9/11 and that man was black. It caused a lot of white brains to short out.