Technically NM isn't part of the south, but growing up there basically my whole life, I can confidently say most of this applies to NM.
I remember going to school and being like, one of five "white" kids in my grade (granted it was a grade that consisted of maybe 30 students max in a fairly small town, and when I say "white" I'm only talking in skin tone as I am both Pueblo and Hispanic and so were two out of the other four white kids) and for the most part it was all really great, up until middle school when our art teacher and history teacher were both swapped out with two White As Fuck dudes from out of state.
Now its important to note that most of the students in this school spoke either some form of Spanglish (Spanish English, or "New Mexico Spanish" as we call it) or AAVE mixed with what I can only really call "fast texan", including the "white" kids. These teachers both treated the entire class either like idiots or criminals, however because the school was so short staffed and underfunded, no one really did anything about it despite the multiple reports kids made about being singled out and discriminated against.
It was so bad that I specifically call one time when (we'll call him Mr. Wartime as he was really into the civil war and, literally didn't do anything but rant about it the entire year) had told one of my classmates (who was very clearly Mexican and also known to be on the autism spectrum (not enough for special needs classes but enough that it showed)) that he should, quote, "go back to your country because filthy people like you don't belong in America."
Now, there's a lot I could say about Mr. Wartime, such as how he was VERY proudly white, favored the kids who looked white (until they spoke Spanish), and was an AWFUL teacher both because he didn't teach any actual history but also because he would give you an automatic F if you even so much as sneezed during one of his lectures on the war, however I want to move on to talking about Mr. Muppet.
Now, Mr. Muppet, our art teacher, was a very proud "Irish American" and had apparently taught college art classes and had made "award winning art". He was, clearly a narcissist. However, not only was he a narcissist, but he was also a pedophile.
Our art class was mixed in with the first and second year highschool students art class as well, so it was a mix of like, 14-17 year olds, and a fair few of these students were girls. It was within the second week of Mr. Muppet being there that we all started to notice how he would treat the girls differently from how he would treat the guys. Now here's where it's important to note that I am FTM and was not out during this time, so I was very much treated like the girls.
So, how was this treatment different? Well, this guy would stand next to the boys while they worked, however any time a girl asked for help, he -- in his late 50's or so -- would come up behind the girls, press his big ass beat belly to their backs, wrap his arms around their shoulders and grab their hands to "show them the proper way."
Several girls -- closeted me included -- had repeatedly reported him for inappropriate and uncomfortable behavior, and the school responded by telling him not only that these reports had been made, but *who* had made them, as it wasn't even three days later when he pulled me and my best friend out of class and asked us "did you file this report against me? These are very serious accusations. I apologize if I ever made you feel that way," blah blah blah. This however, had scared us into never speaking up against him again, because if he was just going to single us out for it then, we didn't feel safe doing so.
I also feel it's important to mention he made all the girls follow the "may I, not can I" rule, and after telling one girl "I don't know, can you? Does your vagina work?" When she asked him to use the bathroom, we ended up choosing instead to just hold it until class was over. Though while the sexual harassment may have been the most egregious of his actions, his racism was also very present, as he would always make a big show of "I'm Irish and amazing at art, you're Black/Mexican/ect. Your people aren't good at making art."
Aside from teachers, another thing that the schools lack of funding reflected heavily in was our school lunches. Pizza day was the highlight of the day because we got cardboard stale pizza that we could at least make edible by drenching in ranch, however both Pigs in a Blanket and Tater tot Casserole day were known as "skipping days" by the students, because these foods violated several health codes.
Not only were the Pigs in a Blanket often moldy inside, but they were also soggy and we were often served a cup of rubbery bell pepper slices. And the casserole? Well, folks, when I tell you that one kid was daring enough to try it and ended up picking up a fork-full of casserole covered hair, I'm not even joking. I really, REALLY wish I was. I had gone so many days without food because the ONLY food worth eating was their pizza and dry spaghetti. Most days, most of us kids just powered through the day on a small carton of chocolate milk and, if we were lucky, a very bruised apple.
I know there's gonna be someone who calls BS on that, but it wasn't until a year after I dropped out (during the end of 7th grade) that they got proper funding to actually serve better food there. But by then, most kids who'd already been there a year or more, knew that eating lunch meant potential food poisoning that we would just have to suffer through unless we had health insurance.
I know this is a lot of talking about school and not a lot about community, but it's because the lack of funding and how people from other states viewed us was the most prevalent during those times (and I'm also kind of a shut in so I don't really go out, but that's more of a "my mental health" than a "this town" kind of thing). I wanted to share this because I think its important to understand, when That Orange decided to cut funding for schools, and people actually AGREED with that decision, I was HORRIFIED, because I know first hand what it is like to go to an underfunded school in a heavily racially diverse state, and I cannot stress how much I hate the idea of kids growing up in this environment.
The impact that decisions like that have are so, SO detrimental, not only to the health and well-being of children, but also to their ability to learn and socialize.
We do have Christmas chilli though. I do love me somma that red n' green on some good fries. Yum.
