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Discussion Boards => Off-Topic => Topic started by: mlbevins on June 09, 2009, 07:08:47 pm
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I have always wondered why those in the north have always look down on those that live in the south. Anyone have any comments?
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I did not know that was true,
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i'm gonna try not to write a book, but i've thought
a lot about this so i'd like to share. i think its a common
misconception that us southerners run barefoot through the
mountains with one tooth in our otherwise empty heads...
(and being from kentucky, i can't really say that i haven't
seen something similar to this :P)
if you wanna dig into it, i think it goes all the way back to nature.
i mean, if you compare things such as the climate and the land
to eachother, you'll see similarities in the people that live in them.
north = cold, hard, fast, keep to yourself.
south = warm, slow, laid back, friendly.
and before i'm quoted with an argument, i'm speaking in GENERAL :)
no, nancy loo from wyoming isn't a cold hearted bleep compared
to peggy sue with a heart of gold from georgia. not what i'm saying.
it might even seem like i'm biased considering i'm speaking from this
side of the fence, but this is how i've come to understand it, because
i really have asked myself the same thing, bevins!
i have family in michigan and i've never really known how to "talk" to them,
if that makes sense? southerners kinda have a sing-song way of talking.
and i think we almost talk in stories, you know? northerners are more
straight forward and to the point.
of course, this is generalizing the whole thing, but from my point of view,
this is the root of why the north "looks down" on the south.
but remember, we don't exactly let people from the north off easy, do we?
i think southern people can be just as judgemental.
actually, that goes for ALL people.
but since we're on the subject...
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There are hillbillies to hate everywhere. They are just much more highly concentrated in the south!
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I moved from Indianapolis (kinda north) to a small town in KY. I never really believed there would be a huge difference but I was Wrong.
I was never asked where I go to church before I moved here but now it's the first question people ask when they meet me. Including 2 job interviews. ( I'm an Atheist btw)
I never had problems with people over religion, as I don't really care what others believe. But my son has 1 friend and I have 1 neighbor who will even talk to me because we don't believe.
So the talk about the south being overly religious is definitely true.
I was honestly shocked at the rampant racism here too. They throw the N word around like its nothing. And you hardly ever see a black and white person hanging out.
Of course we are only about 20 minutes from the KKKs national headquarters.
If you get farther out in the county you will see the typical "redneck" lawn decorations too. like trucks without an engine, toilets, skids etc.
All religious differences and racism aside, people are nicer to your face. They say hello, hold the door for you, etc. Other parents will come and let you know if your kid is hurt, or in trouble. In Indy they would watch a small child wonder the streets without saying a word.
In Indy it was like "it's none of my business" In KY. it seems like "everything is my business".
So more rednecks, yeah I think so. But the cities have more Meth Heads, burglars etc.
It's all about which extreme you want to deal with. Personally, I hope to move to New England.
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I was never asked where I go to church before I moved here but now it's the first question people ask when they meet me. Including 2 job interviews. ( I'm an Atheist btw)
What? Now that's just plain illegal.
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we had this discussion in a sociology class and listening to the responses...this is what i have gathered: southerners hold on to traditional ways and values/not too progressive/live inside the box.
i agree and disagree...i have lived in a small town in the south and this was SO the case but, have also lived in a larger southern city and it was just like any other city
the churches in the small town...they scared me! a lot of yelling and condemning...not the feeling of peace and tranquility i am used to. never went back there again.-
pop instead of soda
buggy instead of shopping cart
sack instead of bag
writing stick...self-explanatory
tennis shoes describes any pair of sneakers
things i would have never learned had i not lived in the south
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I was never asked where I go to church before I moved here but now it's the first question people ask when they meet me. Including 2 job interviews. (I'm an Atheist btw)
What? Now that's just plain illegal.
i doubt that it was meant to seem like interrogation though.. southern people are generally very religious, which has been stated ;p ..i'd say it was more a means of making conversation/getting to know the person. some southerners are worse than others when it comes to things like that, obviously.
the churches in the small town...they scared me! a lot of yelling and condemning...not the feeling of peace and tranquility i am used to. never went back there again.
pop instead of soda
buggy instead of shopping cart
sack instead of bag
writing stick...self-explanatory
tennis shoes describes any pair of sneakers
things i would have never learned had i not lived in the south
haha, i've been to churches like that.. but not all are as bad.. i've always preferred quiet, peaceful surroundings for my worship as well ;p and i've never heard anyone say 'writing stick' ;p that's quite amusing..
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That is TERRIBLE!
I too am an atheist and live in the South but have never been asked if I went to chuch during a job interview.
And I even worked at a church daycare!
Of course, I kept my non-beliefs to myself while there.
Also, I do not live in the DEEP South- I live in Virginia.
Many people try to tell me that Virginia is not in the South.
But whenever I fill out polls online that ask you to select your region, Virginia is included in the South.
Virginia was also DEFINITELY part of the South in the Civil War!
The CAPITAL of the confederacy was originially in Richmond, VA before it burnt...
So, yes, Virginia counts as part of the South in many ways and according to many sources.
At the same time our culture is probably not as stereotypically southern as those states further South.
Sorry for the tangent, I am appalled that interviewers have asked you that in your search for employment. If they ask that, you probably do not want to work for them anyway (at least this atheist would not want to).
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It depends on what part of the south you are located. Some say racism/stupidity run rampant in the south, but I have found it is an epidemic in the cities.
You find "rednecks" no matter where you are located. You are always going to find morons in all forms making inane statements about people from the south.
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<i>"i think its a common misconception that us southerners run barefoot through the mountains with one tooth in our otherwise empty heads..."</i>
Growing up my sister and I were ALWAYS running around barefoot, something my grandfather used to remark upon.
Then I went through a phase where I would not be caught DEAD without shoes on, and all of my shoes were platforms of very high-heeled. This was after I topped out at 5'2'' and did not want people to see me without those added inches.
Then I came to accept my height and I am barefoot almost all of the time (in and outdoors) fulfilling the stereptype of Southerners and becoming one-third of the expression of how a woman should be (pregnant, barefoot and in the kitchen).
However, when I do put on shoes... they still are always platforms. All or nothing!
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I can't speak as to why northerners look down on southerners, but I can tell you how people from the West coast (Los Angeles, CA to be exact) reacted to meeting someone from the South.
I grew up in Richmond, VA. Not the deep south, but still technically the south. Richmond is a major metropolitan city (though nothing compared to LA).
People asked, sometimes joking, if we had running water, electricty, outhouses....
I would joke back and say that I lived on a plantation w big white columns but I left my hoop skirts back in VA.
Richmonders generally do not have very strong southern accents, and I never really thought I had an accent- until I went to UCLA. Oh boy. Then I became fully aware of it.
Now, I know it is VERY southern to say yall but it is just SUCH a convenient word! Still whenever it escaped by lips at UCLA people reacted w such amusement and surprise. I was lucky that they liked me and thought being from the South was cute and as far as I know they did not think I was a backwoods in-bred uneducated hick. Afterall, I had gotten into the same university they were attending. (Which btw, is MUCH harder for out-of-staters to get accepted into. The statistic at the time was something like, only 6% of UCLA's accepted applicants were from out of state).
I tried to stop saying yall. I said "you guys" or "any of you" etc etc. Finally I decided not to fight it, yall is the simplest and most natural word in many given situations.
Many years later in life I have friends from various states, all of whom remark that my southern accent only really emerges in full force when I am DRUNK!
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:wave: I was born and raised in California, and I find southerners very charming. I LOVE the accent, and the people are real, down to earth, honest, good people. God bless you, and please don't think people look down on you , something is just wrong with those people who insult you.
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we had this discussion in a sociology class and listening to the responses...this is what i have gathered: southerners hold on to traditional ways and values/not too progressive/live inside the box.
i agree and disagree...i have lived in a small town in the south and this was SO the case but, have also lived in a larger southern city and it was just like any other city
the churches in the small town...they scared me! a lot of yelling and condemning...not the feeling of peace and tranquility i am used to. never went back there again.-
pop instead of soda
buggy instead of shopping cart
sack instead of bag
writing stick...self-explanatory
tennis shoes describes any pair of sneakers
things i would have never learned had i not lived in the south
I'm from Texas...everything is "coke" Root beer=coke Sunkist=coke Big Red=Coke Coka Cola=Coke lol
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I live in the Southwest which is pretty much a melting pot of people from everywhere else. ;)
I think part of the reason could be how friendly Southern people are. Friendly is suspicious many times and very friendly is creepy. To me at least but in my defensive during my formative teen years there was more than one serial rapist in my area and so I learned to be very careful and to be suspicious of people that seemed more friendly than the situation called for. Or people lurking in the shadows...
In general though I have no problem with people from the South. :)
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pop instead of soda
buggy instead of shopping cart
sack instead of bag
writing stick...self-explanatory
tennis shoes describes any pair of sneakers
things i would have never learned had i not lived in the south
I have many friends from the South and they always yell at me for saying pop instead of soda, are you sure this is a southern thing because everyone always tells me it's strictly a Pittsburgh word? I also say tennis shoes and buggy and I have lived in the north my entire life.
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I thought saying Pop instead of Soda was a Canadian thing... However, I have lived both in the South (Texas) and North (Washington state) and have heard both terms equaly. :dontknow:
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Im pretty far north up here in NYS, I can see the canadian border/bridge from my backyard and to tell ya the truth im jealous of southerners, yall got that nice tan skin n the cute accents =]
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The same reason southerners used to stereotype northerners as greedy, snobby, rich douchebags?
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There are hillbillies to hate everywhere. They are just much more highly concentrated in the south!
Why do you hate hillbillies? Are you afraid of us. You know I do live in the capital of Hillbilly where they hold Hillbilly Days every year.
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The same reason southerners used to stereotype northerners as greedy, snobby, rich douchebags?
I would have to agree with that because I feel that those sterotypes are our come back from what was started against us.
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:wave: I was born and raised in California, and I find southerners very charming. I LOVE the accent, and the people are real, down to earth, honest, good people. God bless you, and please don't think people look down on you , something is just wrong with those people who insult you.
I was born and raised in Tennessee and I want to thank you very much for what you posted. That was very, very sweet of you to say those things. I'm glad there are a few people out there (who are not from the south) that truly appreciate us.
A lot of us just like the simple life. I'm sorry a lot of people don't like us, but that's just to bad for them because all of us southerners are not the same.
I didn't know I had an accent until I ended up with a Yankee friend and all he talks about is my accent. I think it's sweet when he kids me about it and I'm proud to have one. The reason people make fun of our accent is because they have nothing better to do. ;D :wave:
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I think it's because Northerners and all other people in general still have negative conotations about the South. Even though the institution of slavery has long since been dispelled, the South is still associated with the idea of such things. Also, sectionalism has always been very strong in the North and northerners feel that they are superior to all others due to the fact that their economy is mostly commercially based, rather than agriculturally.
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I was born farther south than anyone on both side of my famly had ever been born - Connecticut. In the second grade my parents movd to Richmond Va ( VERY southern ) and I grew up there. I now live near University of Ga in a small town / rural area. I am 66 years old and people still call me a Northerner, even though my children and grandchildren were born and raised in the south and we all still live here. My ex husband was a southerner too. Can we say southerners are set in their ways. I wouldn't live anywhere else. I really like raising my granddaughter in a "safe" area where people look out for each other, but I do see why people from other areas may look down on southerners. It is the traditional values and goals. It's all in what is important to you in life.
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Okay...without making too many people mad, I am going to have to say it is the combination of stereotypes and the lack of education of the supposed majority of southerners. My family is from Cleveland, OH, but I have lived in Kentucky for 14 years of my life, Indiana for 6, and I am not going to lie, I HATE it. Politics and religion should not be discussed, especially in reference to this question, so I am leaving that argument completely out. That being said, I really do not like rednecks, because I do not enjoy NASCAR, country, hunting, camo and trucks at all, as it seems most rednecks adore. However, I have noticed a massive lack of education - not just further education but primary as well, which does not help the cause in the fight against the misunderstood south. There is also the relentless reference to the civil war that many "northerners" believe "southerners" will never leave in the very distant past.
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I'm from utah, but I'm actually closer to idaho and wyoming then I am to most of utah. Personally I don't know what your saying about 'people from the north not understanding people from the south' however maybe that's because I'm too far west to be north. I've wanted to move to Kansas or Tennessee my whole life, and I don't hear people talking down the south anywhere around here.
However I come from a place where people say similar things, 'do you have electricity', 'I thought you didn't drive cars, I thought you were still doin' the horse and buggy thing'. Personally, I don't care. I think its kinda funny that people think utah is way behind the times. It wasn't til olympics in slc that people started to see that utah isn't some dump where indians are running through destroying villages. Kinda humorous, huh? :)
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Okay...without making too many people mad, I am going to have to say it is the combination of stereotypes and the lack of education of the supposed majority of southerners. My family is from Cleveland, OH, but I have lived in Kentucky for 14 years of my life, Indiana for 6, and I am not going to lie, I HATE it. Politics and religion should not be discussed, especially in reference to this question, so I am leaving that argument completely out. That being said, I really do not like rednecks, because I do not enjoy NASCAR, country, hunting, camo and trucks at all, as it seems most rednecks adore. However, I have noticed a massive lack of education - not just further education but primary as well, which does not help the cause in the fight against the misunderstood south. There is also the relentless reference to the civil war that many "northerners" believe "southerners" will never leave in the very distant past.
I don't understand where you get that there is a lack of education. My parents, my sister, and myself included all have college degree and we were all born in Eastern Kentucky, which has always been characterized as non-educated. Everyone in my family has gone to school. So please show me where the lack of education is?
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I'd also like to see some research on the current standings of education in north vs south. Frankly, the north has way more inner city people and inner cities are typically known for their bad education systems, so I'm reluctant to factually state the northern part of the country has a better education system (it very well may, but I have a feeling that education in the north is just as hit or miss as it is in the south).
Now, perhaps more educated people move to the north because jobs are higher paying and it's a more "luxurious" life to live somewhere like Long Island for instance, but that doesn't say much about the education systems themselves.
On another note, there are some people who would argue that the south is just now truly recovering from slavery/the Civil War. Perhaps that's something to consider.
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like my grand pappy used to say if you don't know what you are talkin bout don't talk. those not from the south i belive hate us cause we have no winter, but thats just my belief. i don't care for yankees but they still got a good team. anyway to the ones that understand that is all that matters.
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I understand the misconceptions and stereotypes to a point but really it gets ridiculous, I'm from the south (Texas to be more specific) and I'm soooo tired of going up north and hearing. . .
'Do you ride horses to school?'
'You have cell phones down there?! *gasp!* '
'So you live on a ranch rightt? With animals?'
. . . And I've been asked all this and more. . .with straight/serious faces.
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I understand the misconceptions and stereotypes to a point but really it gets ridiculous, I'm from the south (Texas to be more specific) and I'm soooo tired of going up north and hearing. . .
'Do you ride horses to school?'
'You have cell phones down there?! *gasp!* '
'So you live on a ranch rightt? With animals?'
. . . And I've been asked all this and more. . .with straight/serious faces.
lol my sister lives in texas (yes she does own a ranch) ... and I love it down there lol ... I find it much better then the "north".
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The South is Mis Understood because "SOME" people are ignorant and only believe what they see on T.V. You should never judge a book by it's cover. The Same With People...you may be pleasantly surprised.
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i think it is because the news always put bad things about the south in the news giving us a bad name...
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Yep i live in Texas and meet people from the north who say wow people down here are friendly and nice. Ive heard people up north can be mean
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I was born and raised in Southern Ga. Some of what your'e saying about southerners are true but all of us are not rednecks. Most of us are very friendly and NOT racist at all. I have been told by an employer i was too friendly. Why? you might ask. Because i was friendly to everyone no matter what color shape or size and she was racist. My nephew was born in Ga and raise most of his life in NY but to talk to him now you would think he was from Ga his whole life. It all depends on the person not where he is from.
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I'd also like to see some research on the current standings of education in north vs south.
well here they are......
http://www.morganquitno.com/edrank.htm
take it for what it's worth.....
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There are hillbillies to hate everywhere. They are just much more highly concentrated in the south!
I am in Alabama and truely do agree.To congested down here.And then in Alabama the KKK's got a dang rebel flag hanging on the side of the hwy.They leave it up because they have freedom of expression and speech and all that other non sense when all they are doing is saying that it's okay to be racist.That is also why the south is still segragated in 2009.Also why people are so narrow minded and feel liked they are trapped down here.I am muti racial-or i have more than 1 nationality because the truth is their is only one race and that is the human race.
So question for the hillbillies is how can you be racist with only one race?
I hate the south and can't wait to get away from this mess.I never had a problem with people from up north dissing the south.Alot of my friends and the people I 've dated were from New york,NJ,Michigan,etc.And if they did refer to the south sbout something it was probly true.
The SOUTH SUCKS!!!!!! :angry7: :BangHead: