Bias against Southerners misses the mark

Pasco Times ^ | July 11, 2005 | RICHARD COX

[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

[talmand]

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.

Well, if you want to get into that aspect of it can I call it "The War of White Southern Rich Men Wanting to Leave the Party Early (Regardless of What Everybody Else in the Region Might Have Liked) but Some of the People Who Started the Party Said NO! You Can't Leave Yet Because We Don't Want You To and We're Willing to Go to War Over It."?

And then a Southerner fired the first shot. There, is that better?

[M. Espinola]

That is one picturesque description of how the party was surely disrupted. :)

[rustbucket]

I figured the roach was a regional specialty.

What NYC delis would you recommend? I might try one out the next time I'm up there.

[HostileTerritory]

We're acutely aware of manners, so if a Yankee insult is a bludgeon, a Southern insult is a stiletto.

Yes, John Rocker was a master of sophisticated wit and understated sarcasm.

Some of these Yankee-bashing threads read like transcripts from the Algonquin round table.

[HostileTerritory]

I strongly prefer "the War of Southern Treason" for succinctness and accuracy.

[WVNan]

That article made me angry. It sounds like the writer is apologizing for being Southern. He's trying to "fit in" with the liberal elites who probably make up the bulk of the professors who are his colleagues. He way too defensive. I guess he never figured out that having people think you are dumb is an advantage. Just like Dubya keeps people thinking he's a moron so he can outsmart them at every turn. It's stratagery that works every time because people misunderestimate you.

I've traveled and known people from every state and the Southern people are the nicest, friendliest, and "wisest" of all. I have no time for anyone who thinks that they have to change to be like all the other uppity elite liberals.

[gwhiz]

He's found another be smug about folks outside of NYC thread I reckon.





He posted twice here after my question.
I see the boy (??) is on the Huge Confederate Flag thread
this morning. Some "things" are better left alone I guess.

[rustbucket]

That article made me angry. It sounds like the writer is apologizing for being Southern. He's trying to "fit in" with the liberal elites who probably make up the bulk of the professors who are his colleagues. He way too defensive.

I think he is a retired middle school science teacher, not a professor. But your point is well taken.

I've been to all 50 states and lived in six of them, North, South, and West. I prefer the South, and Texas in particular, for overall quality of life.

[Leatherneck_MT]

Nobody says Yeehaw Massachusetts because most people wouldn't want to live in that screwed up state.

That's a Ted Kennedy thang and y'all can keep it.

Southernors to this day have a love of their state like no other citizen of any other state does. If you can't handle that, then I suggest you turn away and ignore them.

We ain't going away

[Da Bilge Troll]

Personally, I find Jeff Foxworthy's "humor" offensive.

[bwteim]

Within original shucks link there is link to article:
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/07/11/Pasco/Wise_up__Bias_against.shtml

[Colonel Kangaroo]

Many dirt poor, Confederate conscripts were bullied by those with clear economic interests in preserving the slave labour system, generating high profits for the cotton empire. While Southerners not favouring succession were branded as traitors & sellouts, confronted with abuse or far worse. It seems not much has changed in that respect.

Quotes from North Carolina wartime governor and Confederate supporter Zebulon Vance:

"Liberty and independence can only be gathered of blood and misery sustained and fostered by devoted patriotism and heroic manhood. This requires a deep hold on the popular heart, and our people will not pay this price."

"The great popular heart is not now and never has been in the war. It was a revolution of the politicians; not the people."

And you are right about the oppressive measures the Confederate authorities used against Southern Unionists. The neo-Confederates talk loud and long about the "oppressive" Lincoln's measures against the North, but never make a mention of the tyranny of Jefferson Davis's regime.

The truth is that there was never enough support for the Confederacy and Southern nationalism to sustain the rebellion against the hardship of winning independence. If the Southerners of the 1860s did not deem the cause worthy to continue the fight, how can so many today appear to wish to reverse the verdict of history?

Thankfully, we are one country and one people comprising numerous regions. Why would anyone wish to reject the greatest nation man has been blessed with?

[peacebaby]

good comment on Foxworthy and Georgia Tech. Smart.

[Non-Sequitur]

Southernors to this day have a love of their state like no other citizen of any other state does.

But not of their country.

[Non-Sequitur]

I've been to all 50 states and lived in six of them, North, South, and West. I prefer the South, and Texas in particular, for overall quality of life.

And we would prefer that you stay down there.

[peacebaby]

I've learned something by observing my mother-in-law - a nice lady but one who had to survive by scraping and fighting. She can tellyou to go to hell in a figurative sense but will say it by laughing and smiling, and you don't even realized that you've been insulted.

You are correct that polite Southerners are subtle in their approach of offending when they mean to offend.

I remember one man describing another man as "a shabby little man" which I thought was a wonderfully sly comment!

[Non-Sequitur]

Yes, John Rocker was a master of sophisticated wit and understated sarcasm.

But not of the fast ball or the slider. Hence his current occupation as a freak show act for a Long Island class A ball club.

[peacebaby]

I suppose if I had dogs under my porch and my aunt was my mother in law or some such thing, I wouldn't be able to laugh off his "humor."

I, personally, can be self-effacing and laugh at myself, and Jeff Foxworthy helps me do that.

Jeff Foxworthy's word of the month: sensuous

His usage: Hon, senz-u-was up, git me another beer, will ya?

Now that's funny.

[peacebaby]

In my book John Rocker would not qualify as a polite Southerner - And while it certainly wasn't wise of him to have the courage to tell it like it is, I appreciated his courage.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

Rocker was released in June at his own request. Just like the Confederacy, John may be deciding that his career is a "Lost Cause".

Still, Rocker's 0-2 record and 6.50 ERA was a better performance than the CSA had in April, 1865.