Response to Dixie

After reading the Dying for Dixie chapter, I was shocked at how intense the racial problem is in Guthrie. The people that the author encounters are very extreme in their beliefs. Like the people with literature road-blocks that were dressed up and sharing their pamphlets trying to recruit members that were on their way out of church. They were bragging about the positions their kids were in in the group and showed how important this type of life was for them. I also found it crazy that a man was murdered becasue his truck had a confederate flag on it. I would have to believe that something more than just the flag provoked the shooters to follow and shoot at the man. This chapter also showed that some of the extremists just didn't like anybody that didn't have the same beliefs as them. Like the guy in the bar that ripped the authors sleeve just because he was asking questions about their views.
This chapter also brought to view the extreme importance of the confederate flag for many southerners, or atleast many southerners in the Guthrie area. Parents were threatening to withold their tax money and withdraw their children from school because the school board was going to change the mascot from two cartoons holding confederate flags to just an outline of the county. Also, the death of the young man brought many people to the area from many different groups such as SVC and NAACP to record what happens, help to family, and make him a martyr. They buried him with soldiers who died in the world wars and gave him the same type gravestone to symbol that the war hasn't ended, but just subsided a little and suggesting that they think it will rise again.
I found this chapter much more racists than the first, but it was interesting to read how people take the confederacy to the extreme.

Me and the south

I was born and raised in the south as I grew up in eastern north carolina. I have gone to private school since second grade that have been pre-dominantly white. Many of the people I went to high school with would fall under the stereotype of red-necks, but none of them act in racist manners. By red-neck stereotype: I mean they hunt, have trucks with tires and loud exhaust, wear jeans and boots, and have a southern accent. None of my friends worship the confederacy and praise the confederate cause. Even though I have lived in thes outh my whole life I don't hunt, but that doesn't make me any less southern.

Since I've been to college I have met all different kinds of people incluing different kinds of southerners. I don't have a problem with any of these different people, but I have grouped myself with other southerners from eatern north caroilina in the selection of my fraternity. Since I'm not a minority in the south I don't know what that would be like, but I know it would be unpleasant and so I make sure that I don't treat anyone different because of the color of their skin, since after all color is only skin deep. Overall, I'm very pleased with my experience living in the south, obviously i can't compare it to living anywhere else because this is the only place I've lived, but I can't imagine living anywhere else.

Response to reading

After reading the chapter from Confederates in the Attic I was shocked to believe that people devote their lives and all spare time to learning and praising the Confederates and their ancestors who participated in the Civil War. I have live in the South my whole life, I have played sports in the town of Salisbury, I went to a high-school that was predominantly southern heritage whites, but I have never met anyone as obsessed with the war as the people in this chapter. I don't doubt that these types of people do exist, but i think the chapter doesn't do a good job making it known that they only make up a small portion of the population. I don't have a problem with people having celebrations and meetings to honor the confederates as long as they don't make it a public event and interupt the lives of people not involved in that kind of society. I like the fact that the writer got the opinion of the other side of the spectrum to help keep his opinion unbiased. It seems as though the writer gave more consideration to the confederate people, but if you think about it the chapter was on the confedrates and the last few pages were just to see what the other side thought about how they acted.
Many people in this chapter are too focused on their history rather than their future. For instance the guy who was dying lof leukemia, he was using his last few months to learn more about the confederacy. If I was on my last few months, I would be enjoying life with my family not spitting tobacco in an old gun shop talking about the Civil War. I'm not saying its unimportant for students and people to learn and know about the civil war, I just think the people in this chapter are taking it a little too far, I know they don't feel the same way, but agree to disagree.

Observation Hour 3

I went back to the study lounge at nine thirty on thursday night to see if more or less people were using it. When I arrived only four people were studying. These four people didn't seem like the party type as they were all, except one, down there with no distractions. The one had his lap top with him, but was not using it. He was the only guy among three other girls. All the girls were in pajama lookin clothes that were more comfortable and symboled that they were not plannin on goin out as soon as they finished their work. The four students were dispersed evenly throughout the room as two were sitting on the window side and the other two were opposite the window. One key thing I saw was that two of the students had food with them. This is because the Agora serves late night from 8:30 - 11:00 so these students grabbed their food and went to continue studying. By looking at what the students were studying, it appears as though two of them had tests the next day because they were reading from a notebook making it seem like they were going over past lecture notes for review. The other two students just seemed to be doing their homework as they were constantly writing and looking at their books. These observations are very similar to my hypothesis because it suggests that less people are studying on niights that are popular for going out, bsecasue the students finishe their work earlier.

Observation Hour 2

It's about five thirty on Thursday afternoon. The study lounge only has three people in it not including the observer. This is probably because the Carolina basketball team just finished playin and students aren't here yet. Of the three students studying, there are two I-pods and one lap top. The person with the lap top is not using it. Just like yesterday, all the students are sitting on the side away from the windows. It's now about five fifty and students are beginning to come in. There are now seven people studying. Most of these students seem to be coming from watching the game because they seem hyped up after watching a win. Over the next twenty minutes, the lounge began filling up. There are now twelve people studying. Some of these students are definately studying so that they can go out later because they are texting. These texts are most likely to their friends that they are going to meet up with after they finish their work.

Observation Hour 1

I did my first hour of observation at a little after five o'clock this afternoon. There were only five students not including myself. Three of the students had their lap tops with them and two students were using ipods. Only one student was using both. Two of the students with lap tops appear to be writing papers and the other one is not paying attention to his. Only two of the students were sitting near each other and they appeared to be friends studying together, but weren't talking and distracting one another. One of their phones rang and she told the other girl that she would be right back confirming that they were friends. Only one of the students is sitting at a cubicle. Only one of the students has a drink and it has been untouched since my arrival. All but one of the students is sitting on the side opposite the windows possibly because there is some construction going on outside that is making some noise. But, the one guy on the window side is wearing an i-pod so it doesn't effect him. I credit the fact that there are so few people studying because it's a wednesday which isn't a popular night to "go out" and so people don't feel pressured to get their work done which corresponds to my hypothesis.

Hypothesis revision

I believe that the students who use the study lounge the most are those that are trying to get their work done away from their friends so that they can use the night how they wish. I think the most people will be using the facility on tuesdays and thursdays because those are the nights that most people go out.

Microculture

It took me alot of time to think of a microculture that would be worth observing that someone else hasn't already thought of, so I began thinking about the microcultures of some of my friends which led me to Granville towers. The micro-culture I plan to observe is the group of people that study in the basement of South Granville Towers. For those of you who don't know what this is, it is the 24-hour quiet study lounge that many Granville residents use to study. I personally don't use the lounge very often, not because I don't study, but because I prefer to study in my room where there are distractions. The couple times I have been down there, there have been a good number of people studying and doing work, but I never really observed them to try and understand what kind of person they are. This will be a good group to observe, especially on tuesdays and thursdays, because it will allow me to observe what type of people are studying on the nights that people go out. Because the students living in Granville, especially Granville West, are considered to be the party people, I would like to see if these students balance their fun with their school. As a student who lives in Granville West, is in a fraternity, and manages to get his work done before deciding whether or not to go out, I believe there are more people that do just the same or even better. My hypothesis for this microculture is that many of the students studying will be in there getting their work done early so that they can go have fun with friends at night.

Disruption

On Friday I decided to test my hypothesis that people are walking faster because they are running late. So I decided to leave for class twenty minutes before it started to observe peoples' pace. My hypothesis proved correct for the most part, most people were walking leisurely and often times having a conversation with a friend. I noticed that most of these people seemed to enjoy their walk to class and the fresh air. A couple of times, people were just standing in the middle of the sidewalk talking to a friend they passed, something the speed walkers don't do except for the "wasup" and move on. Many of these people also looked like they didn't take the time to shower that morning. I'm not saying they are dirty, just that they wanted to make sure they got to class and besides, who are they trying to impress during lecture. Another thing i noticed was that there were alot less bikers out. I attributed this to the fact that bikers don't need to leave twenty minutes before class as it probably only takes them about five minutes. Its pretty apparent to me why everyone seemed to be speed walking to class on they day I observed, because they were LATE!