Posted on 07/14/2005 6:10:21 AM PDT by robowombat
Bias against Southerners misses the mark By RICHARD COX Published July 11, 2005
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Does prejudice exist in Pasco County, an area with a very diverse population and seemingly very progressive?
I am certain that African-Americans, Hispanics and people from other countries, the poor and homeless, as well as members of certain religious faiths, experience treatment different from the mainstream populace. However, I am a member of a minority who has experienced attitudes and reactions from many individuals who assume that I am intellectually and socially challenged.
A very large percentage of the population of New Port Richey in particular is from the Northeast. I personally like the outspokenness, mince-no-words attitude, the ability to criticize as well as accept criticism without being offended, that seems to represent the culture in which Northerners grew up.
My family members seem to have the disadvantage of being born and living most of our lives in the South, in our case, Tennessee. I grew up in Knoxville, a city that many people seem to associate only with the fanatical behavior of our college football fans, and my wife is from a small city near Chattanooga.
There still seems to be a stereotype that some people associate with Tennesseans. When those individuals heard the distinct accent of my wife, my stepdaughter, and myself, it seemed to conjure up that redneck image one might associate with the humor of Jeff Foxworthy and other Southern comedians. That image is of a culture of ignorant hillbillies (certainly due to inbreeding!), barefoot, living in a shack with no indoor plumbing (but certainly an outhouse in back), having a dog living under the front porch, and owning an overgrown lawn populated with broken-down, dilapidated automobiles. And, yes, we all chew tobacco and sit on the front porch swing playing the banjo. Everyone also flies a Confederate flag and reminisces about the War Between the States.
I first noticed this attitude when my stepdaughter, an honor student, came home from middle school several days in tears because several other students harassed her daily, calling her an ignorant redneck and hillbilly among other derogatory terms. My wife and I have experienced the sudden change in facial expressions from many when they hear our accent. They seem to associate our accent with ignorance, and speak in simpler terms so that we can understand what they are saying. Telephone conversations often produce the same reaction.
I beg to differ. Tennessee is the home of several major universities, four major metropolitan areas with all the drug and gang problems associated with other large cities, and the most visited national park in the United States. Oak Ridge, in the Knoxville area, probably has as high a percentage of residents with doctorate degrees as any city in the United States. Tennessee has a musical heritage equal to none, and it is not exclusively country or bluegrass genres. Many nationally prominent politicians are from my home state, including three former presidents.
Tennessee has produced many famous musicians, actors, scientists and other intellectual and talented natives.
Well, to set the story straight, rural areas of most states have their own populace and dwellings that approach this stereotype.
My wife and I grew up in your average suburban neighborhoods, we both graduated from major universities and had successful professional careers, and, to risk seeming boastful, are probably as intelligent and knowledgeable, if not more so, than the average American. Believe it or not, East Tennessee, the section of the state we are from, fervently supported the Union during the Civil War.
I have noticed in the Pasco Times notices of meetings for various groups from areas of the Northeast and from other countries. Perhaps Southerners in our area should form a similar group. With apologies to an African-American group with a similar title, we could call our group the NAASF, the National Association for the Advancement of Southern Folks, Pasco County Branch. I hope there are enough local Southern residents available to attract to our organization.
--Richard Cox, a retired middle school science teacher and department head, lives in New Port Richey
for some reason the link goes to the wrong article. Look for "In Praise of Rednecks" in the left scroll bar.
This may not be the best thread on which to have this discussion, but I am not one of those conservatives who thinks that credentialism or its supporting structures is the last bastion of academic rigor or a properly conceived liberal education.
Now, back to the article that started this thread...
Did anyone notice the author's doubly-phallic name Richard (Dick, I presume?) Cox?
LOL! I wonder if his middle name is Peter?
And of course the people who discriminate against Southerners aren't racists. Not at all...
my stepdaughter, an honor student, came home from middle school several days in tears because several other students harassed her daily, calling her an ignorant redneck and hillbilly among other derogatory term
Never too late to change y'all's minds.
...and if I had to move out of state, I hope it would be to TN!
"God bless Texas!"
too funny....you are too observant
And, then there's Dat Nguyen the LB from the Cowboys, who sounds like he grew up on the TX Gulf Coast (which he did).
I wonder why ole E spin ola never answered me???
He's found another be smug about folks outside of NYC thread I reckon.
'Indistinguishable accents' is absolutely correct. So the viewers/listeners exclusively pay attention to the news being reported. The broader the 'news' audience the more applicable this unwritten rule is followed.
Fortunately for me I was in Bahstun well Hansom Field in my early 20s and unmarried. I did a lot of drinking, saw snow for the first time (Boy were the contractors surprised that I had no idea how to shovel snow and it was still not done by 10am! They bought me a snowblower :) )
Fenway Park was fun in the right field section for students and military cheap rates. I rode my first subway and was glad I escaped most of the taxes there! Since I wasnt politically aware yet (see above about drinking etc) I was blissfully unaware of what dangerous country I was in! Bahstun reminded me in a lot of ways of New Orleans, except for the FRIGGING COLD ASS WINTER!!!!
My kids were lucky enough to be born in Gulfport, MS, elementary school in Warner Robins, GA and then a couple of years in Oklahoma City, now enjoying the Catholic School route in New Orleans. My daughter sounds more southern than I do!
Haha, Texas is, well Texas :) The South doesnt really claim except people on the western side of Louisina who actually think they are Texans! I like to visit Texas though and I am planning a long weekend in Galveston soon. I sure hope that the damn hurricanes calm down soon!
In addition to the norm, 'The Civil War', maybe the term 'War of Southern Aggression' would be historically appropriate, considering which side really started the American Civil War.
They are so upset, and are under the impression N.Y. has absolutely no fine restaurants because refried mosquitoes on grits is never displayed on any menu of the multitude of Manhattan's finest dinning locations.
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