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PaperclipPerfector  8mo ago (text post)   28883 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 11, 2024

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To an extent conservative Red tribers would not be conservative Red tribers if they welcomed people unlike themselves with open arms no? Just as coastal Blue tribers wouldn't be them if they weren't more welcoming to the other. Having said that, having been a Brit moving to a Red American town, I found as long as I signaled the right way (went to Church, didn't mention i was an atheist, etc.), that while I was not regarded as local, no one treated me particularly badly. It was a little while before I was able to embed myself in the social fabric (particularly because I didn't work locally), but I was still invited to bbqs and functions out of politeness if nothing else, and within 6 months or so, I was much more embedded socially, so I don't think it is massively difficult. Just like with any society, you need to make an effort to fit in, if you want the locals to actually take to you.

having been a Brit moving to a Red American town

This is an unfair advantage in two ways:

  • As a Brit (or any other European or Asian immigrant), you are coming from a neutral position rather than the default hostility that would have faced OOP as a Blue Triber (even a Blue Tribe heretic).
  • A great many foreigners suspect that the British are still the master-race that invented the modern world and built the British Empire and have the Right Stuff in reserve somewhere in case it is needed. If you can plausibly LARP being a British traditional elite (RP accent, classical British style etc.) then you can play that to your advantage.

2 isn’t really true so much as British accents are just high status in America. Since Hart-Cellar the only British immigrants are highly skilled professionals and celebrities, and Brits are very overrepresented among Hollywood stars, popstars and TV presenters. This is mostly true without regard to class - people with a strong Geordie or Scouse accent might have to moderate it, but most Americans can barely distinguish between a posh / RP accent and, say, the way David Beckham speaks. Nuances of class are mostly something only Anglophiles or Americans who have lived in Britain would know about.

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