The End of the Blog - Southern Stereotypes and Southern Identity

Karen introduced the idea of southern stereotypes in her blog post introduction one week. I responded to this topic by introducing the “y’all” southern stereotype. The stereotype is that people of the South speak in that slow drawl and say y’all all the time. I actually found a video that had a group doing a project demonstrating the variety of dialects that can be found in the South. This group showed the enriched cultural diversity that leant the various dialects to be formed in the South. I would like to follow up that post with this video.

This video has a man venting about how angry he got about a girl who said something rather ignorant in a college class. His teacher asked the class to explain why there was a lack of different languages in the major cities of the South. The girl quickly explained that it was due to the nature of the people in the cities, these people being inhospitable to outsiders and such. The teacher responds that the girl is wrong and it is due to the economic states of these cities. The man is rather upset that the continued negative stereotypes of the South exist when they are clearly outdated. He is quick to point out that racism or being inhospitable to outsiders is more relevant in Seattle where he is living now. In conclusion, southern stereotypes do still exist and are the common Southern identity according to people outside the South, but these stereotypes are out of date and no longer relevant.

In terms of Southern identity, I think it exists. The Southern identity has firm roots in its history but is ever changing like the people inside of the South. I found a history of the South as fits a timeline, but I think the actual history of the South is better found in the oral stories passed through generations.

The Unknown Facts about the South and Civil Rights

In the 1920s, the KKK used the Star and Stripes flag during their marches, not the Confederate flag.

I agree with Nick that the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement drastically changed the South and the southern beliefs of many people in the South. However, I think it is also interesting to consider some interesting facts examined by southern blogger JD Murrah in his blog post titled “A Southern Primer: Truths, Untruths and Stereotypes” that counteracts some common stereotypes about the South’s stand on civil rights.

The principal port for slave ships was actually in New York City. The second and third were Portland, Maine and Boston. The first anti-slavery groups were also formed in the South. Furthermore, there were more free blacks living in the South at the beginning of the Civil War compared to the North. Surprisingly, “the first black chaplain for an American military unit was for the Confederate Army” (Murrah). It is also interesting to note that the KKK that marched in Washington in 1925, 1928, and 1990 carried the Stars and Stripes flag, not the Confederate flag, and the first state in America to elect a black governor was the southern state Virginia. Lawrence Douglas Wilder was elected to the Virginia senate in 1989 and served from 1990 to 1994.

Although the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement countered the beliefs of many southerners, slavery was not part of the “Southern Identity” for all southerners. I think that these events did impact the South greatly but did not completely change what it means to be a southerner. Southern hospitality, religion, music, and food still play a large part in southern identity.

Southern Stereotypes

For our blog’s next topic, I would like to focus on stereotypes, particularly southern stereotypes. Southern stereotypes are often portrayed in movies, television, commercials, etc. Southerners are constantly compared to northerners. Northerners are shown to be progressive, intelligent, face-paced, but arrogant and rude while southerners are shown to be hospitable, patriotic, friendly, but slow and unintelligent. In this video (also embedded below), Craig Considine directed a discussion about northern and southern stereotypes and typical views that Americans have of their countrymen. Starting at 1:15, a few people list some common stereotypes. One southerner described northerners as rude, rich, fast-paced, arrogant, and jerks. One northerner described southerners as civilized, but backwards, not intelligent, and poor. Another northerner says he thinks of rednecks when he thinks about the South. Below the first video is a slideshow of redneck images. Most of these images show comical contraptions or people doing very unintelligent things. People associate these images, however, with rednecks and the south.





What are some common stereotypes you associate with the South? Have you seen anything lately that portrayed the common stereotypes of the South? Do you think southern stereotypes still provide an accurate representation of the post-modern south? Is there still a difference between northerners and southerners now? Is the division less or more defined?

I also found an interesting blog post about stereotypes from southern blogger J D Murrah. In his blog post titled, “A Southern Primer: Truths, Untruths and Stereotypes,” Murrah writes about where some stereotypes come from and describes their origin or completely refutes them based on history, southern traits, and outlooks.