General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "American by birth southern by the grace of God" [View all]BellaKos
(318 posts)I wrote this on another thread:
"But this gentile and hospitable manner is a facade. And beneath that facade is a strain of bigotry and prejudice that is as deeply embedded in the white southerner's identity as reverence for grandmother's recipe for pecan pie. It's a mentality that comes from ancestral roots, going back generations; from the historical, agrarian environment where strangers might be a threat; from the sense of "superiority" that is the prerequisite for a society based on slavery; and from the resentment passed on from the great-great grandmother who experienced Reconstruction. In short, bigotry, prejudice, and resentment are facets of the tribal instinct into which a Southerner is born. And it is an all-encompassing sense of Tribal Identity that whites in other parts of the country have never experienced."
In order to understand the all-encompassing sense of Tribal Identity that I wrote about, one must first acknowledge that whites in other parts of the country have never experienced it. Key words: "never experienced."
Get it? And yes, the South is changing over time, but the basic social construct is still there -- usually expressed in private gatherings among trusted allies. And yes, a whole region should not be assessed -- much less judged -- by people who have *never experienced* the true southern culture. (By the way, if you "talk funny," you're regarded as a stranger and would never hear what people say when they're off guard.)
In the ol' days -- say the 1960s -- if a woman were seen walking down Broad Street in Augusta, Georgia, for instance, with a black, she would be glared at and shunned immediately. How do I know this? Because that happened to me. And if that black were male, he risked being beat up. Just sayin'.
So, no one has the right to judge individuals who happen to live in the South -- especially those of us who have worked to combat its limitations.. And it would be judgmental and narrow-minded if one were to dismiss the region as a whole. But by all means, judge the antiquated ideas that some southerners rigidly cling to, honor, and preach -- even today.
But if a few decades of multi-cultural exposure and diversity education -- not to mention Reconstruction itself -- haven't changed the hearts and minds of some who live in the South, whining from liberal idealists isn't going to either.
(I have to add, by the way, that, at least, southerners don't whine -- like Yankee Puritans do. Incessantly, it seems.)