[luvbach1]

Also ironic that the "dim-witted" South is the only region of the USA with a distinctive contribution to the arts, i.e. music (jazz, blues, bluegrass, country, rock and roll - all born in the South), literature (Welty, Faulkner) etc., folk art, and so on......I only took issue because of your statement "the....South is only region of the USA with a distinctive contribution to the arts" That statement was just too sweeping and, upon reflection, I trust you will agree. I am not one to knock the South, whose contributions to American culture are manifest. But giving short shrift to the rest of country does not prove the South's contributions. Negro jazz did originate in the South; however, there were other contributors outside the South, not all being black. Rock and Roll, too, had early practitioners outside the South; Bill Haley and the Comets come to mind. As for literature, while the South is well represented (you didn't even mention the greatest American author in the opinion of many, Mark Twain, from the border state of Missouri); finally, the multitude of fine authors outside the South is too numerous to mention.

[lugsoul]

I agree that other parts of the country have fine authors - but there is such a thing as "Southern literature," distinctive in style and manner. I can't really tell you what the characteristics are of northeastern lit, or west coast lit - even though those regions have produced great literature, it is not unique to the particular region. That was the intent of my comment

As far as music goes, all American music is southern. Certainly, others picked up on it and furthered it - Chicago blues is a notable example: it is almost a genre of its own, now, but without what came out of the Mississippi Delta, it wouldn't exist - but it originated in the South. And its foundations are in uniquely Southern musical forms.