Posted on 06/20/2014 8:53:03 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
I don’t believe it’s a stretch to say that the South is the most misunderstood region in the United States. Everywhere I go (even sometimes here in the South!) I run into misconceptions about this area. I’m proud of the region I call home, and I wish everybody could know the South that I’ve experienced my whole life. So I’m glad to get the chance to clear up some of the stereotypes and generalizations. Here are the ten things that everybody gets wrong about the South.
There’s a notion that we Southerners still carry a grudge over having lost the Civil War. It’s a fascinating historical era and a huge part of our heritage (like it or not), but we’re not all sitting on our porch swings with sour grapes lamenting that it didn’t go our way.
We do tend to lionize our Robert E. Lees and Stonewall Jacksons – let’s face it, there’s a certain romanticism about that gallant and gentrified culture, the ugliness of slavery notwithstanding. And yes, you’ll see folks flying the Stars & Bars from time to time down here, along with the “heritage not hate” arguments that go along with that emblem, but those people are increasingly in the minority.
Even though we’ll never forget the Civil War — and Reconstruction — we Southerners have moved on. The South truly has risen again, and modern Southerners are vastly more interested in improving the present and creating a better future for our beloved region.
Some people outside the South seem to have the impression that after the Civil War, we freed the slaves and haven’t grown technologically since. I don’t know why people view the South as a technological backwater, but somehow that perception sticks.
It’s true that we have our areas that lack modern conveniences, but most of the South has moved past the agrarian era. Massive amounts of commerce and innovation flow through large cities like Miami and Atlanta. North Carolina and Texas host large technological sectors, and the aerospace industry has a huge foothold in Dixie as well. The entertainment industry has also made the South a home. We’re clearly more than just backwards little farm towns down here.
Another common misconception about the South is that our people engage solely in redneck pastimes — things like hunting, NASCAR, and strange events celebrating possums and kudzu. While these ideas are pretty much true, they’re not the only ways we like to spend our time.
Lots of men, women, and children throughout the South hunt and fish every chance they get, but today’s hunters and fishers tend to do so responsibly, rather than wantonly killing animals for the thrill of it. Besides, hunting and fishing are just a couple of the many great ways to get outside and enjoy God’s creation – Southerners also love rafting, hiking, and camping!
And sure, we have plenty of oddly named festivals dedicated to various forms of wildlife, but for every Deer Festival or Rattlesnake Roundup, there’s an AthFest (a music and arts festival that takes over downtown Athens, GA, every summer) and a Twilight Criterium (a bicycle race through the downtown streets of Athens in the spring). All over the South you’ll find arts events, historic homes tours, music festivals, and tons of other cultural celebrations that aren’t redneck in the least. And we’re more than just NASCAR fans – don’t forget that the South is where college football reigns supreme.
Southerners love to get outside, and we love any excuse to hang out together in our communities –- there’s nothing redneck about either of those.
Southern cuisine has had a bad reputation for a long time. The prevailing stereotype is that of a bunch of overfed yokels slobbering over fatty, greasy fried chicken. Though Southern food hasn’t always been the most nutritious and our obesity rates are high, those rates aren’t that much different from those of our northern neighbors. And our food has undergone some changes over the years.
Chefs like Nathalie Dupree and Alton Brown have developed elegant Southern recipes for many years. Cities like Atlanta, New Orleans, and Birmingham play host to cutting edge restaurants. Even the Butter Queen herself, Paula Deen, has spent time developing healthier, modern twists on Southern classic cuisine, as have her sons Jamie and Bobby Deen. Though we haven’t always eaten the healthiest of foods, our cuisine is far from monolithic and is more sophisticated than outsiders would credit us.
This is one that we Southerners get wrong most of the time too. We all tend to think of Florida as one big Yankee enclave, largely because of the snowbirds all over the beach towns, as well as the population growth due to the tourism and aerospace industries. While it’s tough to find a Southern accent in the bigger cities like Orlando and Miami, the smaller towns and rural areas have more of a Southern feel.
Rural Florida has its share of charming small towns and quaint family farms. Some of the smaller tourist attractions (with apologies to my friend Lisa De Pasquale, who suggested this myth to debunk) play into the biggest Southern stereotypes – just look for your local alligator wrestler next time you’re down there.
I’m proud to claim Florida for the South – well, except for Gainesville. I’ll never claim the Gators.
For many people outside the South, Southern culture begins with Green Acres and ends with Honey Boo-Boo. Viewing Southern culture through the lens of lowest-common-denominator sitcoms and variety shows fits the narrative that Southerners are uncultured hicks. My aunt, who moved to Seattle from Atlanta in her mid-twenties, tells the story of a neighbor in the early ’80s who was surprised to hear that we have museums in Georgia!
Such ignorant views of Southern culture (whether intentional or not) overlook the South’s immense contributions to high culture and pop culture alike. The Southern literary tradition spans from Flannery O’Connor to William Faulkner to Alice Walker to Pat Conroy to Lee Smith and includes playwrights like Tennessee Williams. Southern music ranges from Elvis Presley to Al Green to Hank Williams (Sr., Jr., and III) to R.E.M. to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra — not to mention a thriving film and television industry based in the South.
Southern culture is so much more than the lowest common denominator, and thankfully plenty of us down here are working hard to prove it.
For some reason, there’s a prevailing belief that Southerners are hostile toward outsiders. I imagine that this particular misconception probably originated during Reconstruction, when “carpetbaggers” and other Northern busybodies saw fit to punish the defeated South for the sins of slavery.
The well-worn phrase “Southern hospitality” doesn’t merely apply to our neighbors. Throughout the South we’ve grown accustomed to making the most of the tourism business, from high profile destinations in and around bigger cities to smaller niche tours specializing in show business, historical homes, or the haunted South. Many areas around the South also actively court bigger businesses from all over the world.
Come visit us down here in the South. We’d love to see y’all!
Remember the idiotic Euro-techno hit song (and video) “Cotton Eye Joe” by Rednex? I was in college when that piece of trash came out, and I was appalled by the portrayal of hillbillies in overalls and straw hats spitting tobacco juice all over the place. I remember thinking, “Is this what they really think of us?”
Sadly, there’s a certain misperception of Southerners, especially those in rural areas, that’s not too far from that these days. Bill Maher referred to the 2012 presidential primaries in Alabama and Mississippi as “Toothless Tuesday.”
So it’s true that we have our hillbillies down here – and they all seem to have reality shows – but the South is a vibrant region full of professionals, artists, entrepreneurs, and hipsters – boy, do we have a lot of hipsters. Those who look down on us as a bunch of hicks don’t know what they’re talking about.
I could write so much on this subject — in fact, I already have. We can place the blame for Hollywood Southern accents at the feet of lazy casting directors and clueless dialect coaches. The fact of the matter is that there are more than one or two Southern accents, and they’re as varied as the people who speak them.
Interestingly enough, many linguists argue that the accents in the South most closely resemble the accents of their ancestral homelands — English, Celtic, and even Canadian French, in the case of the Cajun accents — than any other American dialects. Check out the video above featuring professor and former dialect coach David Stern (Hollywood must have fired him because his accents were too good), and listen to the audio clip at this link to get an idea of the origins of our beautiful Southern accents.
Oh, and brace yourself, because — to paraphrase the late, great Southern treasure Lewis Grizzard: “God talks like we do.”
We Southerners have traveled a long, difficult road when it comes to race relations, and we’ve had to atone for a multitude of sins when it comes to the specter of racism. But the truth is, the acts of racism that occur in the South these days are isolated and rare.
In many ways, much of the South has grown to fit the melting pot ideal the Founding Fathers set. As Glen Browder wrote in 2012, “…the southern people generally live their lives without constant, dominating thoughts about white supremacy.” It says a lot about how far the South has come since the days of segregation that the Supreme Court struck down the sections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that stood to punish the South the most.
Don’t get me wrong – race is still a touchy subject all over the country, but I’m proud to say that we’re not a region of backward, racist hicks.
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He missed one of the biggest ones of all — that Southern Republicans and conservatives are responsible for the KKK and repression of black voting rights. The Dems have spewed this propaganda so effectively that Goebbels would be proud.
I’ve found the north to be far more racist than my home state of North Carolina.
These are good points, but they really don’t need to be made. If you’re from the South you already know this.
If you aren’t from the South, you should still know this to be true. And if you don’t - then wallow in your ignorance someplace else.
Well, 6-10 are still mostly true! (born in Florida, lived in NC and now Alabama).
1A - Being the Bible Belt is a Bad Thing.
I have actually found that the gentility, respect, concern and politeness instilled in people by Christianity make being in the South a very enjoyable experience.
In the South, they don't care how close you are as long as you don't get too big. In the North, they don't care how big you are as long as you don't get too close.
I've heard far worse racist crap hurled about up here than I ever did when I lived in the south.
’ Southerners Are All Racists.’
I worked for a few months for Chrysler building engines when I was 18 and we stood across the line from each other. Not a day passed that I did not learn something about race relations.
I had to ask what a spic was one day. Each day I watched and listened as a Polock, as the Chink called him, traded racial insults back and forth. Went on the entire shift and I think the Chink would usually win when he launched into some Chinese dialect that described the close relationship that the Polock’s mother had with the family dog, least I think that is what he was saying.
Northern folks are the most racist people on earth, for my money.
I grew up in Panama City Fl. I could tell which state and which part of the state (AL, MS, TN, GA, SC) visitors came from based on their accent. But that was years ago. Much more difficult now.
I’ve found the north to be far more racist than my home state of North Carolina.
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Being born in the north and having spent my entire youth in a mostly northeastern culture, I was fortunate to move to the South after my spouse got out of the Navy.
What you have stated is ABSOLUTELY true!!!!!!
Number 4 is true. It’s called the High Wall. If you are not part of the good ole boys network, you will not find a job regardless of how qualified you are.
Both my wife and I dealt with that when we moved to Texas. Now the head hunters and companies that blew me off 6 years ago now send us Christmas gifts and call me once a week about a job.
I smile at them, thank them and say bless your heart.
Southerners are generally friendlier than yankees in my experience. My paternal grandfather’s middle name was Dixie and he was born in Tennessee, 1899. Sadly, he died before I was born.
MS Ping
This isn’t about Mississippi exactly or Thad or the Ole Miss Rebels in the College World Series. :-)
I'm getting mine soon.;-)
This guy isn’t the best defender of the South, with his underlying hint of inferiority he sounds like a young guy that is largely conditioned by modern media, and much of what he says implies that the South has overcome something that all used to be true, growth which can be attributed to modern media and TV, in other words, Yankee influence.
Why write like this? “Lots of men, women, and children throughout the South hunt and fish every chance they get, but today’s hunters and fishers tend to do so responsibly, rather than wantonly killing animals for the thrill of it.”
I’m a Yankee born and bred, and proud of it. But I have to say that the Southerners I’ve dealt with in my life have generally been decent, honorable people I’m equally proud to call my fellow Americans.
And to the degree the South stubbornly holds to the traditions of family, community, individuality, and liberty that echo our Founders, I find myself much more aligned with its values than the post-modern humanist North.
Or how racists in the South supposedly forsook the Democratic party after it radicalized in 1972 and transferred their bigotry to the Republican side.
Only in the fevered imagination of Morris Deas & Cynthia McKinney.
The “Solid South” was racist for as long as the region was absolutely dominated by Democrats. FDR himself never laid a glove on it (he let Eleanor do that), and kept their undisturbed support until his death.
The Republican party in the South is far more inclusive than the Dems ever were.
Thanks for sharing this. I’ve lived in Michigan all my life and love many things about my state. That said I love the south and am planning to retire there. We are vacationing in southern states to get a feel for different areas.
I’ve never really bought into any of the ten stereotypes listed (although I’ve certainly heard them all), except I admit my perception of Florida is a bit different than say GA or AL. Anyhow I have maybe ten years until retirement and welcome any suggestions for conservative southern areas to visit. Sorry for hijacking the thread a bit. MP
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