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Monday, August 21, 2006

Thoughts for Northerners:

I consider myself a Southerner first and foremost. It is a term I wear with pride, while realizing that our history is every bit as ugly as those from the North would like to pretend they don't have. I'm proud to be a Southerner, and I'm proud of the food and culture I grew up with, especially the food. When I'm talking about Southern food, I'm not talking about this "everything deep fried" crap, though that is an important part of it. I'm talking about gumbo, and collard greens with ham hock, and biscuits, and good buttermilk cornbread. I'm talking about, yes, fried chicken, and sweet potato casserole, biscuits and gravy, and chicken and dumplings. For a more convenient example, just go to your nearest Cracker Barrell restaurant. Though locations outside of the South may not get it right, at least they'll have the right idea.

We're often portrayed in popular culture as dumb hicks, or inbred rednecks, or as racist troglodites. Just for fun, why don't I list a few such people from my native beloved/hated Alabama: Harper Lee, W. C. Handy (one of the grandfathers of Jazz), George Washington Carver, Truman Capote, Rosa Parks, Helen Keller, Condoleeza Rice, Booker T. Washington, William Edward Campbell, Hank Aaron, Courtney Cox, and Jim Nabors. Also, the University of Alabama-Birmingham School of Medicine is one of the most highly respected medical schools in the United States. But we're all just hicks. To my friends outside of the South, if you happen to come across a Southerner who seems slow, or stupid, or clumsy, or just apparently has trouble understanding what you want, there are a few people who fit that description, but more likely, it's just our way of politely telling you that you're an asshole. Toodles.

2 comments:

Mandelbrot's Chaos said...

As much as I hate to admit it, I think it does have a lot to do with the Civil War, though not necessarily for the obvious reasons. Racism will never be fully eradicated, because hatred is a part of the human condition and some people, sadly, have yet to realize there are much more valid reasons than skin color or religion to hate people. That said, it's a very small issue compared to the current problems of the day. Mobile, which isn't too far from where I live (as if anything in Mobile or Baldwin Counties are too far from each other), has a highly-respected mayor who happens to be African-American. Already, Mayor Sam Jones is better liked in their City Hall than his predecessor, who happened to be Caucasian. From what I've seen in the less than year he's been in office, I can't think of a better person to be at the helm of the largest city in Southwest Alabama. But I digress.

I think the reason the South has such a strong common cultural identity is because we are the only part of the United States to have suffered a wartime defeat on our own soil. And, for better or worse (mostly worse), the South was its own nation for about 4 years. I'm sure you'll find such strong regionalism as well from Texans, as the same was true of them during a different point in our nation's history. We do have a common culture, one that is still evolving and will continue to do so. On the whole, I think the evolution has been positive in the last several years, though the lack of discipline and courtesy of the young people today is something I find alarming. If the spawn who are the children of today are the future of tomorrow, we are well and truly beyond fucked. Or maybe I'm just getting old.

1138 said...

Or both MC

You've got a bit of your history wrong in places, but it's too late in the night to quibble about it.