The LAWeekly recently posted a short article about the upcoming Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree with an outrageously inappropriate photo and caption ridiculing Southerners [details at GeneaBloggers]. I am very proud of my Southern heritage – especially my ancestors who lived in remote areas.
In this photo, the students of the Holland School in rural northwest Georgia pose for a photo in 1909. The woman in the center of the back row is my grandmother, Lois Link. She spent her life teaching children in rural communities. The class schedules often had to work around the many chores these children had to do on the family farms. These people were not wealthy, but they managed to find ways to build schools, hire and house teachers so their children could be educated.
I spent many a summer in this community playing with the children of these children and learned many things about their world. I still love to get away to the peace and beauty of the “old home place”. And, while they enjoy their gossip and practical jokes at the expense of others, I never saw anything like the vindictiveness of the LAWeekly photo. It seems to be a common occurrence in media circles to belittle those who don’t speak or act like they do.
So, tell me who – exactly – is suffering from inbreeding?
