Outside Inside Part 2

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| Greenville, Ala. — It was just one incident… in one small town in lower Alabama. But by
the response it got, you would’ve thought a terrible scandal had
befallen a socialite or the mafia had whacked a city councilman.

It seems everybody in Greenville — population 8,000 — was
talking about Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold’s golf trip. Well not
necessarily the trip — or even the fact that he came to Greenville to
play golf, but the comments Senator Feingold wrote about the town
after he left.

“…wondering why people in that area would vote Democrat at the local level
and Bush at the national level. Including the fact that obviously people there had some difficulties in terms of jobs and healthcare issues like many people do in Wisconsin. And I was just trying to understand what had happened in terms of the Democratic Party and our ability to connect with
people in places like Greenville.”

But in the piece published by Salon.com, Senator Feingold — who is
pondering a presidential run in 2008 — used terms like “abject trailer
parks” and “check-cashing stores” to describe what he and his wife
saw in Greenville when they visited. He said Greenville very well may
be the –quote– “reddest spot on the whole map.” But many residents
heard “red” as in “red neck,” not “red state/blue state.”

Needless to say most people in Greenville didn’t like the piece.

“It upset me to read the article. I don’t like anybody to talk about a town
that I love — and I’ve lived here all my life — and, talking to him on the phone, I told him it was sort of like talking about my children… and I don’t appreciate it.”

That’s Greenville Mayor Dexter McClendon. He says after the Salon
piece made its way across the world-wide-web, the floodgate of
opinions opened up.

“Oh man, I got e-mails from out of state, I got a lot of calls from friends of
mine, we had articles in the paper. A lot of people – and most of them Republicans – were real upset with Mr. Feingold’s response.”

And that’s how Mayor McClendon summarized the winter in
Greenville’s discontent…it was mainly a political debate. But others
didn’t see it that way.

And at lunch at the Court Square Cafe, they didn’t hold back.

“If you don’t know the town, how can you make an opinion about them?
That’s judging something that you know nothing about. You know what I’m saying? Yeah, I’ve heard people talking about it at church and stuff and they have the same kind of attitude that I do about it. ” – “(He) pretty much needs to go back to where he come from. That’s true. We from the south and we’re proud of it. If you don’t like it…get out. I think they need to come and stay for a while and see the place. Once you come and see the place you get used to it. And it’s a real good environment.” – “He can also go back to his own state. Just because we’re a small town that might not be as big as his. I’m sure t hey got these places
up where he come from. Don’t you think? Probably so.”

Get the idea? People got angry about the comments.

“I think it’s true. There was a reaction.”

Again, Senator Feingold.

“And I think there may be a suspicion of people who come from the outside
and even want to talk about what’s going on in Alabama. But I did it in the spirit of talking about
what’s going on throughout the country. And to not have Wisconsin and Alabama be treated as if
they’re from different countries. They’re not. We’re one country.”

But it’s certainly not the first time residents of a small Alabama town
were thrust into this ‘one country’ debate. Think Wedowee and the
principal of the local high school who wouldn’t allow interracial
couples to the prom. Think of the judge in Andalusia who wears the
Ten Commandments on his robe. Think George Wallace and Bull
Connor. Whatever your opinion on whatever controversial issue — right or wrong — Alabama is often ground zero of the debate. And the
response from locals often mimics the ones you just heard from the
Court Square Cafe.

“If you don’t like it…get out. ” – “He can also go back to his own
state.”

According to one expert, it’s a classic human response.

“The love it-or-leave it mentality I think is a fairly natural response to
basically having low self-esteem, or unstable self-esteem at least (do you think Alabama has a
self-esteem problem?) I think it does, yes.”

That’s Dr. Rick McCallum, a professor of Psychology at Birmingham-
Southern College � who, incidentally is NOT diagnosing anyone as
having low self-esteem. He’s talking about the state of Alabama,
collectively, and how residents interpret criticism about the state.

Having been in the spotlight over the years, with the national media
focusing on a host of socio-political issues, Dr. McCallum says it
starts to take a psychological toll.

“A person has a need to think well of themselves. They can’t function unless
really if they don’t have some degree of positive self-regard. So, they tend to engage in various
sorts of strategies to enhance their self-regard, or maintain it, or protect it. So, for example they
might look around for people they can compare with that are worse off or less competent, or less
successful…which is called ‘downward social comparison’ and that’s one strategy you might
use to protect your self-esteem when you feel like you’re being criticized or put down in some sort
of way. (So that could be like a ‘Thank God for Mississippi’) Thank God for Mississippi, yes.”

That’s a phrase used in Alabama — and other states that rank close to
the bottom in certain ratings — education, infant mortality, poverty.
And it may or may not be true. Mississippians could be saying,
“Thank God for Alabama,” or “Thank God for Arkansas!”

Historically, the idea — this low self-esteem mentality that Dr.
McCallum speaks of — is rooted in the early 19th Century south:
before the Civil War and complete with an early American chip on its
shoulder when the issue of slavery divided the country.

“So much so that southerners kind of circled the wagons and got very defensive
about what was being said about them. And created kind of a defensive temper.”

Sam Webb is a history professor at UAB.

“And I think that carried on… I don’t think there’s any question that that carried
over to the Civil War period. And then of course, after the Civil War, because there was this
feeling that somehow the north looks down on us… the north thinks we’re immoral. And
Southerners were very defensive — and still are very defensive — to criticism from the outside.
And if you come up and criticize Birmingham or criticize the state of Alabama, and you’re an
outsider — then as far as you’re concerned — they’re concerned, you can just leave.”

But economic developers in Alabama don’t necessarily want that to
happen. Because when people leave, they take jobs and money with
them.

Dr. Joe Sumners is Director of the Economic Development Institute at
Auburn University.

“I think a problem comes with that kind of attitude, ‘we’re Alabama, we’re as
good as anybody.’ The problem is in the cases where we’re not. And we’re not in some areas like
investment in education and in our schools. Those kind of things really need work. And if you say,
we’re as good as anybody we don’t need to make any kind of changes, then that can be a
problem.”

Dr. Sumners says instead of focusing on deep-seeded defense
mechanisms of the past, Alabama needs to look at what drives the
economy of the future and adjust where needed. He says the state’s
education system is a good place to start. And he says the
technology infrastructure could use some attention too. In both
categories, he says, Alabama lags behind most other states —
northern and southern.

Green — as in greenbacks — he says, trumps red and blue state
America.

But in GreenVILLE, the wounds of a tattered town ego or Senatorial
snafu are healing quickly. Senator Feingold was invited back to Butler
County for some golf and dinner with Mayor McClendon. He showed
up with his wife again … But this time, it was just smiles and gratitude
for the opportunity to come back.