Myths About the South - Or, Why I Don't Give a Crap About the Civil War
Yes, I Have All My Teeth!
It's rare to hear anything positive about the South, and ok, there's not that much positive about it that can't be said about any region of the US. But the negative stereotypes are embedded far into the psyche of the typical American, and rarely does anyone try to chip away at any of them. But let's give it a try, shall we?
Sweet Tea
Ok, yes, most people drink that crap. It's just cold tea, with ice, that is highly sweetened. I refused to drink it for about 30 years just on principle, preferring just about anything else, just so that I didn't have to use the words 'sweet tea.' About three months ago, it was on sale, so I actually physically bought some and took it home. You know what? It's good. Really good. You ought to try it.
The Civil War
No one cares. Deal with it.
Ignorant Rednecks
I've seen people like that everywhere- the North, the South, the West, in Europe, South America- everywhere. This is not relegated to the South in any way. For some reason, though, anyone who ends up on the news is one of these people. I'm not going to call it a conspiracy, but the millions of engineers, doctors, rocket scientists, attorneys, college professors, research geneticists and CEOs never get hit by a tornado and interviewed on TV. Ever. But trust me, all of these people do exist, and in the same numbers as anywhere else.
Toothless People
I never see a toothless person over the age of 1. I have lived in the South for 30-something years, and the only place I have ever seen that is on Jerry Springer.
Trailer Parks
Ok, yeah, there are a lot of them. I don't really know why that is. And neither do you.
Everyone is Dirt Poor
No, everyone is not. Most people are middle class. It is true that our average incomes are noticeably less than the rest of the country. Guess why? Our cost of living is lower too. We live as well as the rest of the country, actually much better in some ways, and on less money. The economics are much different, which leads to many of the real differences that exist. We tend to get married and have children earlier- and that is related to the cost of living as well. When I was 25 I was able to buy a large, three bedroom home in the suburbs. Why would I not want to start a family at that point? I had a degree, a good job and a nice house at that age. On the West Coast or New England, you would probably not be in that position until you were 30 or older, and start a family at that age. It does not mean that we are less educated, just that we live a little better. At 28 I bought a brand new 3500 square foot, four bedroom house. Where else can you do that for 250K? Oh yeah, nowhere.
People in the South Are Ignorant! Ignorant I Tell You!
Nope. We iz smart. We gots all them schools and such.
Southerners are Racists!
Not anymore than anywhere else, and that's the truth. I've seen as much racism here as anywhere, and that's not much in all honesty. The playing field is largely leveled. People do not run around using the N word here at all, no matter what you have heard. I have literally heard it used by whites twice in my entire life.
There's Nothing To Do There, People Just Sit Around on Their Porches
We have beaches, mountains, parks, museums, theme parks, water parks, historical sites (even non-Civil War related!), zoos, Space Camp, NASA headquarters, and all kinds of cool stuff that has nothing to do with the Civil War. Fun day trips include Dollywood, Opryland, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Six Flags, Appamattox, Fort Sumtor, Shiloh and the Stonewall Jackson Shrine.
Oh. Crap.
Published by Shepherd
Shepherd is a former reporter now working as a freelance writer specializing in PR writing and Web content. View profile
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- The South is pretty much like the rest of the country- screwed up.
- We are mostly middle class, not dirt poor or plantation rich.
- Sweet tea is actually pretty good.
9 Comments
Post a CommentI thought Barney Frank was toothless- Is he not?
Thanks! The formatting is weird. They added all of the sidebar info onto the end of the article for some reason.
Thank you for this awesome article. Very well written. There are Confederate flags that fly in Tennessee, but they're not 'everywhere', and most people who have one (including myself) aren't racists or obsessed with the civil war. It's a Southern Pride thing, and I am sickened that some dipshits want to use it for their own personal swastika.
I have never seen a Confederate flag flying anywhere, and I have lived in the South for more than 30 years. It's exactly the same as saying everyone in NY is in a gang or that everyone in Cali has fake boobs.
The people active at Stormfront.org do not always post their locations, but they often display Confederate flags and other information that indicates that is where they reside. I sincerely doubt that you would find "Whites Only" signs on barber shops in 2006 and Barbers who say they would cut black people's hair except the white patrons would not allow it except in a place like Jena Lousiana. dreahwrites is lucky if she lived 37 years without hearing the N word from a white person, because that one is not limited to the South.
I wonder where you got the idea that people have those myths about the South. There is a bit of truth to the Civil War one, why else fly the Confederate flag and be proud of the heritage of buying and selling other humans and costing so many lives when the United States abolished slavery. Virginia Beach is not deep South, yet in 1998 the KKK burns crosses on a neighbors yard? Pennsylvania and New Jersey are not Southern either, but Oxford, NJ and surrounding area is active Klan territory as are many areas in the South.
It does happen, it's just not any more often than anywhere else. It's regrettable for that to happen anywhere, but I think most people have the idea that it is something that happens every day.
I moved from the North to the south some years ago. My first move was from New York to New Orleans. I am now in GA. Unfortunately, some of the stereotypes are painfully true... but not the ignorant part. However, I have run into these same problems in Binghamton and Albany NY. I did however, never hear the N word (from a white person) until I was 37 at a ski resort in the South Carolina Hills. The dude did not even care that I, a black person was standing right there!
Beautifully done. I wanted to write this same article as a rebuttal to "you know who," but couldn't without showing my...er...you know. I think the tornado interview was taped in 1972 and they just keep replaying it after every touchdown. 5 NASA centers, the CDC, the list of new Southern pride goes on and on. Well written.