Posted on 09/04/2015 10:29:23 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
The elephant in the room is the ones that cannot speak any English and speak only Spanish.
Sure wish I affected one.
BTW, for all you Yankees planning to retire to the South one day (I mean, who the hell retires and goes North!?), I strongly advise that you buy a copy of Southern Ladies and Gentlemen by Florence King. This book dissects the Southern mindset like a surgeon’s scalpel, both the good and the bad. I’ve owned several copies and have given each to new friends from the North who needed the help. A bit dated, but still worth the read...
P.S. The first chapter is entitled “Build a fence around the South and you’ll have the world’s biggest madhouse”.
As a "poor Southern white", I can assure you that while similar sounding and often mutually intelligible, Ebonics and the various Southern dialects are not the same.
Mrs BN is from New England. After our first year or so of married life in Chicagoland area (1971-72), we moved to Middle Georgia (like Middle Earth, but more of us wear shoes than do Hobbits). One day while driving in the country, we stopped to ask directions of a young black boy. I got out of the car and talked a while with him. When I returned, my Yankee wife asked, "What language were you speaking?"
"English"
"Both of you?"
"Yes"
I did not understand a word either of you said!"
(We won't even get into Geechee!)
She was a well-spoken lady of class and grace, who had a beautiful gentle voice with no trace of any discernible accent.
The thing is, she was born in Knoxville, TN, and told me that she grew up speaking with what she called a "Tennessee Twang."
She told me that in her late teens, she came up north to New York to study at a summer chamber music program, and that everybody made fun of her accent. She told me how bad that made her feel, and how ashamed and defensive she was because of her Appalachian roots. So she resolved to get rid of her "twang" and, as I've indicated, was completely successful in doing so. And she remained too embarrassed to speak about or acknowledge her own Appalachian heritage.
Personally, being a lifelong Yankee myself, I always had a kind of romantic fascination with southern culture, which I had never actually experienced.
So I kept telling her how cool I found it that she was from (what was for me) an exotic place like Tennessee. I told her about the role that the Appalachian "Mountain Men" played in the American Revolution.
Naturally, being a university professor, she had bought into all the "liberal" PC crap and stereotypes about conservatives, although at heart she really was pretty apolitical. So I pointed out the absolute hypocritical intolerance of all those northern classical music-loving liberals in stereotyping her and looking down on her because of her Appalachian heritage.
During the two and a half years we had together before her passing, she did a 180 degree turn and became very comfortable and supportive of my conservatism, although at heart she remained all about the music and stayed pretty apolitical. But I used to tell her that given her core values (which I greatly admired), she was really a conservative at heart. She would smile and say: "I guess so."
She said that being with me was the first time anyone ever gave her a reason to feel proud of her southern heritage, and it was my great privilege before she went into the final phase of her illness that I got to accompany her and her quartet to their performance in Oak Ridge, TN.
She and I spent the following four days touring east Tennessee, while she introduced me to her roots, which included a wonderful visit to the Museum of Appalachia as well as a two-day sojourn that took us to Pigeon Forge and Smokey Mountains National Park.
I am saddened to see that now, these southern students are still so ashamed of their southern accents. Colleges are all about "diversity" accept when it comes to any aspect of white American culture that makes leftist feel superior.
Be gay, be a transexual, flaunt your minority race -- but be ashamed of your white cultural heritage, especially if you're from the south.
It's just sickening. Honestly, I hate the thought of my high-school age daughter actually attending one of these bastions of leftist bigotry known as college.
Fortunately, though, I've prepared her well. She has an admiral appreciation of her American heritage and the principles of freedom, limited government and the Constitution. And she also has a wonderful disrespect for the totalitarian leftist doctrines of so-called "social justice" and the appalling bigotry of Leftist GroupThink (otherwise known as Political Correctness), although there is nothing correct about it."
I’m gonna admit something I’ve never uttered before.
I went from S Fla to a college in Ga.
Hearing Southern dialect at every turn I got the idea I was likely smarter than the locals.
WRONG ! Had a rude awakening .
Don’t worry professor
College demographic southern kids especially girls work overtime to talk bland
I hate that shite
It’s pretentious and weak of heart and mind
As a Texan living in Canada, working full time, and going to York University in the evenings, I stood out among my classmates not by accent alone.
On the evening just before going to take my final exam in economics, my wife asked over dinner how economics was derived. I began a long exposition on the laws of supply and demand, diminishing returns and all that.
When I got to class, the major question on the exam was to explain the derivation of economics. Since it was so fresh in my mind, the words spilled out onto the paper like a gusher.
The next week, the professor handed back our graded exams and said loudly to me in front of the class, “You know, you talk real slow. But you sure do write fast!”
I aced the exam and the course.
Cary, NC
From what I could discern during my trips there, you can’t live there unless you drive a Lexus or something pricier. It’s almost impossible to find a restaurant as the signs are only 2-3 feet high (city ordinance or something) and are hidden by hedges and trees. If you can see through the flora, there might be a shopping center in there somewhere. I suppose it has its charm, not being like every other suburban commercial strip, but it does make it difficult for someone not familiar with the area.
Back in the sixties, I used to love calling our branch plant in Georgia. You had to go through an AT&T operator at the switching facility in Atlanta, and these gals always had the drawl of a Southern belle. Totally charming.
The ugliest accent to my ears
is that of New Jersey, especially
that spoken around Newark.
Most humorous accents? Chinese and Indian for me.
Rotsa Ruck to you!
I can’t read the word “disarray” without
envisioning an oriental usher at the
movie theater saying, “Disarray, prease.”
And here, I thought all that annoying smugness on the part of the tourists was just because they had prevailed in the War Between the States. (We just smiled, said "Bless your heart.", and took their money.)
For many it is not a question of shame, it is one of survival. Not only is there a communication barrier, but one must reestablish academic credibility at every turn because the default mode of the listener is to NOT listen, presuming ignorance.
When I realized the prejudice existed--and it is even stronger in some circles than any against ebonics--I watched Johnny Carson and learned a 'neutral' accent to use as a working language. It made a significant difference.
Is that an unfair situation? Certainly.
Life isn't fair.
My reception in Canada depended on how I answered the question, “Where are you from?” It was always asked when they heard my accent.
If I said, “I’m from the States,” the Canadians would give me a cold shoulder. But if I said, “I’m from Texas,” their faces would light up as they asked if I was a cowboy and if I ever saw any indians. It was hilarious. You think Texas wasn’t a part of the US.
She encourages students to embrace diversity and respect every voice
Underestimate me all you want... we had a little ol gal from North Chicago as an intern this summer...what a priv
ledged pretty white girl...as naive as could be..college grad (same as me)but she made sure to tell all of us hicks how misinformed and simple minded we were...us being southerners...we excused her IGNORANCE and treated her quite well...it was a laugh....global warming, diversity...you name it...she bought into it....sad in a way for most of us.....many people are truly sheeple....no matter their education level.....smartest guy in my life ever knew was a guy from East Texas...Joe Bob Bradley...had a photographic memory....talked like Ernest T. Bass....I learned to not underestimate him.
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