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
I'll never forget when I moved up to Cincinnati and told coworkers that I was from Alabama. I can't begin to count the number of times that I was asked if we still used outhouses!
LOL I dated two guys from Tennessee and they did the same thing. I have to admit that it took me awhile to get used to it.
"I was born and raised in Houston - still have a little accent. It is amazing to me that some people seem to associate stupidity with an accent :-)"
I am from Nashville originally and was always amazed at the number of people who came to Nashville to make it "BIG" in the music industry. My cousin and wife both worked in the music/advertising industry in Nashville and constantly told me stories of people who thought they could gull the slow talking Southerners but got taken to the cleaners themselves. "just sign right here darlin' and we'll make you famous".
Excellent posts, y'all.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, sounds more bloody ignorant than someone with a New Yawk accent, particularly if they're from Brooklyn.
"Hey Jo-ee, cum-awn ova heeya and grab some 'o dis, babeee!"
New Yawkers take classes to learn how to not talk like that.
In the business I'm in, I speak with folks all over the country, many of whom are extremely pompous. Some folks are quite nice about my southern accent, but some folks are so taken back, they can't mask their rudeness over it.
I've found that if I become quiet after an affront and let the silence fall like a rock, they get the hint.
Texas IS part of the south!
Southern by birth, Texan by the grace of God!
There is no excuse for being rude, especially over something like an accent.
I don't think I sound southern, but I've lived in VA for over 20 years so I guess I picked up the accent. When I visit my Dad in NJ, I always get weird looks from people when I talk to them. Especially if I say "ya'll".
There are many parts of the Northeast where air conditioning in summer is completely unnecessary. You don't get anything close to the 90 degree, 90% humidity days you get a lot of places south of the IHOP-Waffle Hut line (er, I mean, the Mason-Dixon line)
Well, I do not have a Brooklyn accent...but I always thought it sounded kinda kewel.
I live in CT. There are a bunch of different regional accents within 100 miles of here. There's a LLLOOONN GGGisland accent, Brooklyn accent, a Rhode Island accent, a central CT accent which differs from the accent from people living on the shore in FFLD county CT....then there's a southern Mass accent which differs greatly from the "Kennedy" Boston accent.
I am specifically talking about people who are native born to this area...and not accents from legal residents who are foreign born...which is a whole 'nother cup of tea. I did not even realize I had any accent at all until I was about 12 or so...and would hang out with a bunch of kids my age while on vacation at the shore in R.I. I've been told I do not pronounce the constanents at the end of words... like the "t" in boat. LOL...
Who knew!
oops..... spell check is our friend...
LOL
I have a/c but I can't afford to turn it on. I know a lot of people in that situation.
dixieping
Some poster on this thread used the phrase "clueless southerners." Clueless, huh? Here's a hypothetical for you. A rising young executive gets a big promotion and salary increase from his company, which is located in a Southern city. That same day he gets a job offer from a company in New York, offering him huge bucks, much more than he would make, even with the promotion. Sounds good, right?
If he takes the job in New York he will have to divest himself of most of his gun collection, since most of his guns have "ugly" features such as folding stocks, pistol grips, and bayonet lugs. And high-cap magazines? Fuggedaboudit!
If he wants a carry permit he will have to wade through a ton of bureaucratic paperwork, and before it's all over he will have to bribe at least three officials.
He will have to live in a multi-story building with no yard or front porch.
He will never meet his neighbors.
He will have to wear 25 pounds of clothes 11 months out of the year and wade through a ton of slush just to reach a cab.
The food in the restaurants will be something he wouldn't slop hogs with back home.
If he greets someone on the street he will run the risk of being knifed.
He will be subjected to an endless barrage of liberal propaganda.
It would take me all of five seconds to decide to stay in the South.
When I married into a Kah-lee-forn-ya family some of my in-laws had occasion to poke fun of my occasional "twang". I'd just switch to my "surfer boy" accent . . . detente.
I used the term "clueless southerners"...as a RETORT to a previuous poster who slammed Yankees.
Just doin' my best to have a "fair and balanced" thread....
heheheheh
You southerners SSSUUURRREEEEE are thin skinned!
heheheh you can dish it out....but ya can't take it.
Your hypothetical stinks.
Regarding property and firearms: I'm a Yankee who lives in a small town of 5200. I got a state forest for my back yard. I can drive 1 1/2 miles to my outdoor shooting range (free). I can join one of several rod / reel / rifle clubs.
If I was a lawbreaker I could poach all the deer / turkey I could stuff in my fridge right from the deck off the back of my house.
I can walk 1/4 miles into the woods behind my property and catch all the Brookies I can stuff into a bucket.
My neighbors: Awesome... we have block parties.... back yard bon-fires that the whole volunteer fire department goes too. :)
No one in my neighborhood even bothers to lock our doors to our houses or cars....
Our resident State Trooper and our two local cops handle everything with skill and professionalism.
I COULD hop on a train and commute to NYC if that were my choice.
Weather: I dress appropriately. I don't know what backwoods rat hole you come from but we do have 5-1/2 months of warm / hot weather here. We actually have a springtime...and a fall season.....and only have to suffer through about 4 to 5 weeks of the TYPICAL southern stifling humidity that you have to deal with for 4 to 5 months.
Food: I can drive 20 minutes into New Haven and eat at some of the best restaurants in the North East. The farther from NYC one travels... the worst the pizza is. Pan pizza?
HAHAHAH give me a break! You've never had pizza until you've eaten thin crust NY style pizza.....so don't even GO there....You want "ethnic" foods... New Haven has it all.
Bud, face it... you ARE a clueless Southerner.
You're view of "Yankees" is so myopic it's not even based on reality...... just hear-say.
"It would take me all of five seconds to decide to stay in the South."
Do me a big favor.... stay put....right where you are.
I've actually heard blue-state elitists say, "Beware of anyone with state pride."
Generally...they don't have much in the way of manners either, bless their hearts.
You've got my word! I will stay right here!
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