Southern Music

Music in the South can mean anything from country to hip-hop, but they all basically have the same roots. This week I think it would be interesting for each of us to pick a type of southern music and do some research about it (where it started, who sings/plays it, who listens to it, what part of the South is famous for it, etc.).

For some reason I've always been a fan of bluegrass. I grew up around family members that played and listened to it. Bluegrass is almost a mixture of all southern music. It has roots in Scottish, English, Welsh, and Irish traditional music, and it also contains some jazz and blues. It mostly uses acoustic stringed instruments and occasionally vocals. There are a few different types of bluegrass that have developed over the years: traditional, progressive ("newgrass"), and gospel. I'm sure most of you have seen O Brother, Where Art Thou? It's a really good example of bluegrass in modern media.
[1]

Fun fact: Many people think that the Bluegrass Region in northern Kentucky is named for bluegrass music. It is actually named for the type of grass in the area.

Response to Southern Comics: Scott Horvath

The comic pictured here is about what makes a “Good ol’ Boy”. This is a very southern ideal and term and my interpretation of it is that it is used to describe southern men or boys who are great “southerners”. In other words, a man or boy who represents everything that is southern would be considered a “Good ol’ Boy”. The comic outlines a bunch of southern generalities that would make someone a qualify to be called a “Good ol’ Boy”. The middle pane that lists a bunch of characteristics is probably the best of the four panes. The other three aren’t as big but the addition one is quite comical.

This southern comic depicts what some people envision the entire south to be like. Contrary to popular belief there are very few southern men that would qualify as a “Good ol’ Boy” if all of these standards must be met. The fact of the matter is this side of the south is not nearly as prevalent as many people think. It has died slowly as the world has become more modernized.

Southern Comics

I've always been a fan of comic strips so I completely agree that they are just more than a form of fleeting amusement. Cartoons have been used as a form of satire for many years now, and have been an been an effective way of getting a particular point of view across about a certain issue, even if the specific manner is exaggerated. Of course, not all comics are satirical, but comics are amazing not because of the influence they always have, but because of the potential for influence they carry. I frequent a few webcomics in my spare time and one of the ones that I like to read is called Married to the Sea. While it doesn't always pertain specifically to southern stereotypes, and isn't always satirical in its jokes, I always seem to find that each of the comics are a deeper meaning underneath the surface joke. Then again, perhaps I find this meaning because I'm looking for meaning, and a meaning you derive from something, even if it wasn't the author's intention, can be just as influential, because intent on meaning doesn't belittle the meaning derived. As for the picture I posted here, while I don't know it's origins I did find it quite funny. It displays a generic hate-mongering redneck, one who believe's that he has 'birthright' to the land and that those who aren't white should go. He obviously faces the fallacy in his reasoning when he is faced with the Native American, who by name alone is suggested to have been inhabiting his land much longer than he has.

Response to Southern Cartoons: Alexis Noel

Cartoon strips are a form of art. Some people may disagree, saying they're merely for entertainment purposes only, with no deeper meaning, but I disagree. They tell a story through images and words, allowing the reader to visualize easier. Southern representations can be told through comic strips, much like southern poetry, southern novels and southern films. While they typically aim to amuse or even "poke fun" at politics or stereotypes, they still present a post southern identity. After searching online for southern cartoons, I ran across a site called Down South Comics [1]. Here was the comic that I found:The full size comic can be found here. This comic strip reminded me of Bastard out of Carolina, with Anney working at the local restaurant and encountering all sorts of truckers, hicks and eventually Glen. The stereotypes are apparent through attire, language and interactions.

The south through comics

Well we've all grown up reading comic books and cartoons. I feel that a cartoonist is a person who puts the truth out there in such a way that it appears almost comical. A cartoonist is a person who takes a look into a stereotype and present it in a way that it has the most impact. On looking up about different comics or cartoonists about the south, I came upon the website about the Levine Museum of the New South. Even a museum found comic strips about the south important and presented them as an exhibit. The comic strip I would like you all to see is on the website whose link I have provided. For this week's blog let's all find a comic strip that somehow denotes a specific southern stereotype and also give it's explanation. It would be fun to look into and present.
[link to blog image]

Response to southern superstitions

So I'm at my friend's place during Spring Break in North Carolina. I am looking at his library collection and I run into the book "Weird Carolinas" mentioned in the blog earlier by Alexis. I was excited and so I looked it up. The first section I looked up was "fabled people and places". I came across many stories one of them being a story about how there were many places in both North and South Carolina that were named after the devil. Each place along with its Satanic name also carried with it a story explaining its name. For eg. there is a broken jumble of huge rocks behind Caesar's head in Greenville County, SC that is named the Devil's Kitchen and it is said to emit smoke when Mr. S is cooking his meal. Apparently, people also get the smell of brimstone when this happens. Thinking about why a place known to be filled with religious people would be filled with places named after the Devil I could only reach to the conclusion that what the people want is to instill fear. The impact of a superstition or a story for that matter, is on how believable it seems. Here, the only thing that people truly believe is the Bible and so many other people are able to take advantage of this and thus come up with various superstitions that the other people are not able to question. That was the main difference that I found between other superstitions and southern superstitions. While the other superstitions of ghosts and monsters instilled their fear through death, the southern superstitions instilled this fear through religion and afterlives.

Response to superstitions

When I was growing up, I was always told to never kill a cricket because they were good luck, especially if you found one in your house. I was always curious as to why and if it was only a southern superstition, but never really questioned it. So, I did a little research. Turns out there's a lot of folklore surrounding the cricket. In China, many people keep crickets in cages for good luck. I'm sure most of you remember in the Disney movie Mulan they were given a cricket in a cage named Cri-kee by the grandmother for good luck. Believe it or not, cricket fighting is actually a common gambling pastime in Southeast Asia. Of course we've all heard different stories about the sounds a cricket makes. The chirping of a cricket is recognized as a way to "humorously indicate a dead silence," a sign that a night scene is taking place (movies, tv, radio), and money is coming (Barbados).[1] In Barbados, a cricket must not be killed if it chirps in a house because it is said to bring money. This is obviously the most similar superstition to the one I grew up with, but its very interesting how this came to the South. With a little more research I found that in the 1600s, many Barbadians migrated to the Carolinas becoming some of the first settlers there.[2] Its fascinating to think that this superstition about a little cricket has survived about 400 years and still remained in the South.

Response to Southern Superstitions: Scott Horvath

I grew up around a couple of southern superstitions. The main difference between southern superstitions and more general superstitions is in the religious aspect. Southern superstitions tend to be more religious than others. They will contain beliefs about the devil or the afterlife of some kind. For example, back in my home town there was a belief that if you stepped on a certain grave you would be consumed by the devil himself. The person buried in the grave was hung long ago because they were believed to be possessed by the devil and still to this day the superstition that this is true still exists.

Most other superstitions deal with bad luck or other negative aspects of life but they never deal with religion like southern ones. This difference is what makes southern superstitions more fearsome than others. From my perspective, superstitions that go into the afterlife or the devil have a bigger overtone than bad luck for 7 years or something of those sorts.

Southern Superstitions: Alexis Noel

I was walking through Barnes and Noble the other day and I ran across a book called "Weird Carolinas". In this book, stories and folklore of the Carolinas were written down, as well as "haunted areas". Recorded in the book was a place called the Devil's Tramping Ground (located not too far from where I live). The story goes that the devil comes up to earth every night and walks in this circle, not allowing anything to grow. Strangely enough, no animals will venture near the circle, nor will anything grow on the circle. Is this a hoax made by locals to entice tourists to this location, or is it truly a North Carolinian phenomenon? In an area that is overflowing in religion, it is hard not to believe that these locals try to convince curious onlookers that the devil himself walks the circle.

On this blog, we have talked about a variety of things, including southern image, southern cooking, southern sports and southern tradition. But we haven't quite talked about engrained southern beliefs; that is, beliefs passed down through generations. I'm talking about superstitions and folklore. While there may be a wide variety of popular superstitions, such as black cats, breaking mirrors and walking under ladders, there are some superstitions that are native to the south. For example, in Tennessee: "If you hear two screech owls calling out to each other in the night, lay a broom lengthwise across the threshold or bad luck (or death) will follow."[1].

What type of folklore and/or superstitions have you heard southerners talk about? If you have no knowledge of this folklore, look up a southern folklore story/superstition. What makes this story different from normal folklore/superstitions?

Welcome to the south. As you cross the border, pull off I-95 to pick up your Bible, Budweiser and Confederate flag. Shed your Lacoste, educated vocabulary and BMW for a wife beater, southern drawl and pick-up truck. And forget about tinted windows and nice rims because all your new truck needs are over-sized tires and a shotgun rack. After all, these are your specious stereotypes for the southern United States. While Yankees are the first to ridicule southern gentlemen, they are simultaneously the frontrunners to sell their homes in the Hamptons for trendier, more climatically benevolent locations in Florida.
Though it is true that the North and South have storied and drastically different histories, to claim that the South is echelons below is not only erroneous but ignorant as well. The past decade alone has seen the growth of metropolises such as Charlotte and Atlanta, the latter being the latest American city to land the summer Olympics, a feat that New York has failed to accomplish after multiple subsequent attempts. Education-wise, while the South may not have the Ivy League, it has many prominent universities such as Georgia Tech, Emory and Duke.
So hop back in your car and merge onto I-95. Remove your Chanel shades and pejorative stereotypes to observe a lifestyle that the rest of America is still discovering and grappling to understand. As you accelerate into traffic, take a deep breath and embrace an experience outside your suburban mansion. Just don’t forget to apply sunscreen to the back of your neck :)

Response to Southern Stereotypes: Alexis Noel

Due to the fact that I live in a true southern county in North Carolina, I often get entangled with these stereotypes from day to day. I have a great example for this blog topic:
In North Carolina, fireworks are banned (except for the dinky sparklers). The good fireworks you have to buy down in South Carolina. So, earlier I had traveled down to Myrtle Beach in SC and on the way back I got a good amount of fireworks for fourth of July (the kind that shoot up in the air and go boom). Fourth of July night, I went out to a local soccer field. There were a few people burning off snakes and tiny little things. After I ran out of my fireworks, I started to walk back to my car when a pick up truck blasting country music skids up next to the field. Out pops this pot-bellied man in jeans and a white t-shirt, carrying an enormous firework (at least 2 or 3 feet wide and 2 or 3 feet tall). He pulls up a beach chair, takes a beer out of a cooler and lights his firework. His show lasted a good 3 or 4 minutes, then he finished off his beer, packed up his beach chair and drove off.
I agree that this stereotype fits a good many people in the south. You may see them at NASCAR, or at a local barbeque pit, or even lighting off an illegal firework on fourth of July.

Red Belly Day

I think I received my highest ratio dosage of Southern stereotypes at an event I attended once near my family's property on the Suwanee River. About a ten minute walk or forty second boat ride from our place and you end up in Fanning Springs, sporting a good amount of stereotypes on any given day. This event however, is the creme of the crop so to speak. Red Belly Day, as it's been coined, is held every year in Fanning Springs; an event that involves an innumerable amount of belly flops to so who can get, as you may have guessed, the reddest belly. It is organized and ran by the Dixie County Chamber of Commerce , and is the biggest annual event in all of Dixie County, so often times the turn out is quite enormous.

When I attended Red Belly Day three years ago, I was bombarded with near every redneck stereotype I can imagine. A large portion of the parking lot was filled with a pickup of some persuasion, most often of American build. There were, that I could see, at least three televisions set up around the park with a NASCAR event on it, and any number of t-shirts with some sort of NASCAR portrayal. Many were those missing teeth here and there, there were a few pots littered across the park either boiling or frying something. If you can think of a stereotype, you could probably find an example there. But that isn't to say that everyone there fit into these categories, and in fact a good number of them didn't, on the surface at least, but there were enough to solidify my belief that Southern stereotypes are not founded on nothing.

Southern Generalities: True or False

We just talked about NASCAR but I want to go back to it. I went to the Kobalt Tools 500 this Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). I went because I had heard it was a really cool experience. I also was looking forward to finding a couple of extremely drunk fans to laugh at. NASCAR fans are generally perceived as the backwards redneck type such as in Talladega Nights. I never really believed this generality though because all the NASCAR and racing fans I have ever met are normal every day people.

I got to AMS early in the morning so I could tailgate with some friends. As I was tailgating I noticed a couple of events that could lead to people perceiving NASCAR fans as rednecks. One of my favorites was a scruffy farmer looking man riding around the parking lot on his motorized cooler scooter. I wasn’t fortunate enough to get a picture of him but I did find a picture of the motorized cooler I’m talking about.

When I got to my seats I looked around and noticed that about half of the people sitting around me fit the stereotype and the other half did not. One guy sitting in front of me decided it was a good idea to wear extreme short “jorts” and no shirt (seen above). Through a series of events I eventually came to the conclusion that the fans at this particular NASCAR race fit the stereotype almost perfectly. My question is have you ever had a southern generality or stereotype confirmed or dispelled by and event in your life? If not, pick your favorite southern stereotype and do a little research and try and figure out whether it’s true or not.

Response to NASCAR and the South

Growing up in a family that loves racing and NASCAR, I never really considered it a lifestyle. Although, looking back, it actually may have been. My dad went to many races; I played with only NASCAR hot wheels; I had more Dale Earnhardt t-shirts than anything else; my family came together on Sundays to watch races; I could go on all day. But, my favorite thing of all was going to dirt track races on Saturday nights. A lot of people don't realize how dirt track racing is almost the backbone of NASCAR. It's where the best drivers grow up and learn. "Dirt track racing is the single most common form of auto racing in the United States." [1] It is also very popular across the world. I think that I consider it a Southern sport because that’s the only place I’ve really seen it. The same with NASCAR. Because I grew up going to races in the South and seeing only Southern people at those races, I only considered it a Southern sport. Over the past decade, my family’s interest in NASCAR has significantly decreased. Was it because of the influx of non-southerners to the sport? Or the nationalization of it? I personally feel that because of the spread of NASCAR across the nation, it became just another sport. It no longer had that Southern identity. The true excitement and understanding of the sport were lost in translation. I found this journal that talks about Southern geography and has a great paragraph that perfectly describes what the expansion of NASCAR really means to Southerners.

I think NASCAR is definitely a southern sport. Although I agree that it has grown and has a broader audience than it used it I would still consider it a primarily “Southern Sport”. The majority of the true NASCAR fans still act and look like southerners. There are NASCAR followers from the north who aren’t the stereotypical southern man/woman but these are just fans, not the heart of NASCAR. The heart of NASCAR is still in the Deep South. This is where NASCAR originated and until it changes so much that it no longer resembles southern racing, it will always be a southern sport. Akshay said it well, even though hockey has gone global, it’s still associated with Canada. Although noodles are used around the world they are still associated with Asia. I would disagree about the pizza though. Pizza has changed so much since it left Italy that is losing its resemblance to its original form. When this happens you begin to lose the association. At this stage I would associate pizza more with America and New York than Italy.

Nascar: A sport or a lifestyle? Alexis Noel

Why does it seem that southerners have such a large attraction towards cars zooming around a track at 160 miles an hour? Is it because the sport originated in the south, and just kind of stayed there through the generations as a pleasurable thing to watch, or is it more a lifestyle that people carry around day to day? If it is indeed the latter, what would constitute a "NASCAR lifestyle"? Is it just the "white trash" apparel seen on TV (such as in "Talladega Nights"), the family gathering and the tailgating? Or is it something more? I searched online to see what exactly a NASCAR lifestyle would be, and came up with "NASCAR Illustrated" (sort of like Sports illustrated except solely devoted to the cars). [1]
NASCAR Illustrated is very similar to the magazine Southern Living, where it portrays how true NASCAR racers and fans should act, dress and fashion their home. It interviews NASCAR stars on their day to day hobbies and apparel.
I also referenced another blog that talked about a NASCAR lifestyle [2]. In this blog, the writer interviews his friend on what constitutes a NASCAR lifestyle. His friend states that you have to "live in a small town, drive a pickup truck, have a NASCAR plate on the front on my truck have a “14” sticker on my back bumper, I enjoy drinking beer versus wine, listen to and enjoy country music – mostly “old school” country, get to races on a Thursday and generally on leave on Mondays and enjoy the parties / atmosphere of a race weekend a great deal. "
It seems that this lifestyle plays off of rather general stereotypes of "redneck" southerners. Perhaps those two stereotypes intertwine with each other, some stuff being truth and some stuff being fiction.

NASCAR representing the south??

Well Mike in response to your question I would like to pose you a question. Do you or do you not associate Canada with Hockey or England with Cricket? Further, do you not associate Italy with Pizza or China with Noodles? I would be highly surprised if you said no. Every sport, food , dance, in fact any form of entertainment always carries with it a piece of history. Not only does it remind one of the place where it came from but also where it was most cherished. Coming down to NASCAR. NASCAR started fifty years ago in the South. It gained popularity there first and that's where people started associating it to. In fact it became a sport so addicting that people made it their lifestyle. Then came the best part. They made it their own. It became so famous that is started being counted with the Gone with the Wind houses, White trash and all other stereotypes. How can one then not associate it with the South. Like every other field nowadays, entertainment grows in all directions. This is how it got to all around the country. It is now the largest sanctioning body of stock car racing in the US. Everybody knows about it, just like your article said people not even from the South have actually started enjoying it, but it always carries with it it's history. It's reference, it's representation, the South.
Also attached with this blog I give an article in the Washington Post on how people are accepting to be an all country sport but still associating with the South.[1]

NASCAR and the South

For most of its history, NASCAR as been considered a Southern sport, with all the best race tracks and all the best racers coming from the South, not to mention that most of its fan base was southerns. When I was looking around however, I saw that NASCAR has changed over the past decade. While reading this article I started to think of how many places had race tracks, and how many of them weren't actually in what most would qualify as the South. I wonder, although these races weren't always taking place in the South, nor that every driver was Southern, is NASCAR still considered a Southern sport because its audience base is still in the South, or does it make it a more national sport? Has NASCAR every truly been just a southern sport? What are your thoughts?

Response to Southern Beauty: Alexis Noel

It is true that the south is becoming more and more industrialized and city-like. In North Carolina, highways are popping up all over, trees are being mowed down for apartment complexes and old schools and brick building are being demolished for new mall outlets. What is happening to our southern history and beauty with all this new development?

Take for example Durham, North Carolina. Durham is home to many things, such as Duke University, Research Triangle Park, Bull Durham (the movie) and many other things [1]. However, if you were to take a walk down downtown, you would find yourself surrounded by tall, brick tobacco factories (long shut down), an art school and cute little motif shops, all surrounded by lush greenery from Duke forest. That is what I consider southern beauty: Durham is a place. Durham has history (many civil rights monuments around town). It contains a people proud to live in Durham. It has local artists, college students and small, individually owned shops. Duke gardens, well known across the state, is home to acres of beautiful flowers and decorative scenery.
The sad part about Durham is that it is slowly being consumed by the need for consumers. The tobacco factories are being demolished for a new outlet mall. New Targets, Walmarts and TJ Maxx's are being put up as I speak.
While "Gone With the Wind" images may be long gone, a new southern beauty is being shown through cities rich with history. Let's hope we can still maintain that history without the world being overrun with consumerism.

Southern beauty: Is it even there anymore?

I am from India, lived there all my life and now am here in a Southern state studying in a southern school amidst people who have so much more idea about the southern culture than I do. Everybody has a different perception of the South, even people based in different regions of the same country. I myself gained all the information or may I call it my understanding of the south from the movies that I watched, from the music I heard and the news that I watched on my television back home. I remember sitting at home watching movies like Gone With the Wind and thinking if that's how beautiful that place really is. I got to see Georgia from that perspective of a movie. But then I came over here and living here in the middle of the city I was disappointed. Disappointed at how my thoughts and all my dreams were overshadowed with Atlanta's skyline. Where are those beautiful houses with the lush green lawns in the front. Where are the beautiful crystal clear streams flowing on the side of the roads? Years of movies such as O Brother Where Art Thou, Forrest Gump and Green Mile were being questioned by my mind. If really there was the southern beauty, where is it now? Some of my fellow peers here, lucky enough to have been living here have talked about how they have still encountered the true "southern beauty". But how much of that is in areas that you would want to live today? Would it even be possible to live in a beautiful house in the suburbs at the cost of you not being able to get a job? I feel that the whole beauty of the south has been crushed by the industrialization. The south has truly progressed but i must say at a loss of it's known identity for beauty.

I grew up in Marietta Georgia which is the site of a few Civil War battles. We have a state park just outside “downtown” Marietta called the Kennesaw Battlefields. There are a couple historic streets in Marietta that have existed since the 1800s. Whitlock road is probably the main street. It’s a busy street now but they refuse to expand it beyond 2 lanes because of the history that surrounds it. As you drive down Whitlock you are surrounded by homes that were built in the 1800s. One of the most famous is a large house that was once a civil war hospital. The architecture of these buildings is both astonishing and beautiful.

I agree that the overarching “redneck” perception of the south is a negative one and it really overshadows that old south beauty that still exists within certain parts of the world. I’m not sure if all the homes off of West Paces Ferry were built in the civil war era or if they were built afterwards to model that but these homes are excellent examples of the Tara-esque architecture.

Response: Southern Depictions

To be completely honest, growing up in Florida, and one of the major cities in Florida, I can't exactly claim to have grown up in the South, culturally, at any rate. But having owned property on the Suwanee River in a county with less than 13,000 people for the last fifteen years or so, I suppose I can claim a bit to that.

To start off with, I've found that a good number of rednecks don't laugh hardest at redneck jokes because of how untrue they are, but because they are thinking about someone they know who's done something like that, or would in that particular situation. A good portion of those jokes aren't made up, just to state. At least, not the iconic 'You might be a redneck if...' jokes.

I will agree, however, that for the most part the South is overall depicted as a redneck/hillbilly society. The movie Deliverance plays a huge role in how people view backwoods parts of the United States, but the South in particular. Nowadays, you'd be hard pressed to find an area of the United States that was a backwards as the area in Deliverance that you could get away with the things they did, but the stigma still holds. Other than that, with my mom being from Texas and my dad from Alabama, I was taught growing up to be polite and civil with everyone, and for the most part every Southern I have met has been brought up the same way.

Southern Beauty

If you haven’t noticed so far this semester, most people relate southern identity to being ignorant rednecks. Don’t get me wrong; rednecks laugh the hardest at redneck jokes. But I wish more people saw the beauty, hospitality, and charm that the South and southern culture have to offer. I’ve always been curious about how people truly saw southern culture from the outside. Considering how and where you were raised, what were you taught about the South and southern culture? Did you make your own observations and opinions, did media persuade you to believe certain stereotypes, or did your family interpret it for you?

I’ve lived in the middle of nowhere in the South my whole life and have seen first hand the glamour it presents. I’ll admit I’m kind of stuck in a Gone With the Wind fairytale land that I wish the South really was. I am fascinated with big, beautiful plantation homes, farmlands, barns, etc. Have you seen communities or homes that are Gone With the Wind Tara-esque and weren’t destroyed by the Civil War? Have you seen buildings, homes, etc. that try to bring back that southern plantation feel and design, and why do you think the designers chose to make it that way?

I found this website for Tara- A Country Inn in Pennsylvania. I thought it was strange but also interesting that there is such an extravagant “country inn” mirroring the Tara Plantation with “an embodiment of the Old South” located in the North. If you look around the site, they show their different room styles available, each cleverly named after something very southern or from Gone With the Wind.

Response to Food Blog: Alexis Noel

Food! What a wonderful, delicious topic that is! If the south knows one thing, it's definitely food. I live on the edge of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, right in-between the college town of UNC and the true country living of Chatham County. Right in that area can be found some wonderful, true southern restaurants.

For example, if you were to visit the campus of UNC, you could stop by a little place called 'Breadmans'. I have been going to this restaurant since I could first walk. As soon as you step into this restaurant, you are bombarded with UNC memorabilia, UNC flags, UNC everything. College students seat you to a table and you glance at a menu where you can order breakfast for dinner: fried eggs, hash browns, heaps of grits. However, I prefer to order my favorite steak sandwich with coleslaw on the side.

A few miles away from the campus, in the true 'farmville' of North Carolina, you can find a little shack called 'Allen and Son Barbecue'. Introduced on Food Network a few years ago, it still holds as one of the best barbecue joints in the entire state. You drive a few miles past some fields, country houses (and my home) and right on the side of the road sits this goldmine for barbecue lovers. You enter the shack and sit down at a table covered in a plastic UNC tablecloth. The waitress hands you a menu, which basically says "are you having barbecue, or are you having barbecue?" You order barbecue with a sweet tea, and in a few moments she hands you a steaming plate of barbecue on two buns. Absolutely delicious!

Southern Food

Like almost everything else that is American, southern food is definitely a mix of many other cultures. It’s really amazing to think that all of these different countries came together here in the South to blend their cultures to make our own unique culture. I feel that food really defines southern culture. Growing up in the South, you start to realize that everything revolves around food. And Akshay’s article was spot on describing what Southerners’ favorite foods are.

To show the importance of food in the South, or how important it is to my community, I’d like to introduce you all to a little thing called the Big Pig Jig. This BBQ festival in Vienna, Georgia, is one of the top 10 world’s best BBQ contests, not to mention one of the biggest parties in southern Georgia. If you ever get brave enough to travel this far south, I would suggest going and trying as many different kinds of pork as you can.

Also, if you’re interested in having some real southern food here in Atlanta, I suggest going to Mary Mac’s and Williamson Brothers BBQ. I’m sure some of you have heard about or been to one of these restaurants, but, if you haven’t, you should really try it out. Mary Mac’s has every southern vegetable you can think of. It reminds me of Sunday dinners that my grandma cooks back home. (And, yes, dinner is lunch. Supper is what you eat at night.) Williamson Brothers has some of the best BBQ I’ve ever eaten, and, trust me, i know good BBQ.

Southern Food

I completely agree, southern cuisine is a huge mixture of a number of different cultures and not traceable to any single culture. As I was reading this article, I noticed that a lot of southern cooking wasn't based so much on the what foods each culture used in their cooking, but how they cooked whatever type of food they could find. Multiple cultures, such as French, Indian, African, and Spanish, all cooked the same types of food in different manners, due to a lack of variety in ingredients. And depending on where you were in the South, the ratio of the cultures in that area could drastically change the style in which the same foods were cooked. I had always known that this was true to some extent, but I found it interesting to what extend these different cultural ratios could actually play a role in the style of food.

Response to History of Southern Foods

The interesting thing about American food lies in the fact that there are very few things are actually American in origin. Whether it be southern food or just food in general very few things are truely American in nature. This is because American from the beginning was a "melting pot" of cultures that joined together to create America. So where "southern cooking" comes into play is in the way the food is prepared. Sure none of the food was invented here in the south but we changed the process of preparing the food. Thats where the southern flare comes into play and thats what makes soutern food what it is in my opinion.

History of southern foods

I am a big fan of Southern food. I mean who can refuse a good barbecue place. In fact one of the first things i did on reaching Georgia Tech was go to the 'Ribs and Blues' restaurant at Tech Square.
Because of this interest in southern food, i always wondered about the history, about how it came into existence, was it actually started here or was it a mix of all the different recipes of the different cultural people who lived here. That's when i read this article about southern food and it's origins.
It contains not only the origins but also gives out some good recipes.
I wanted to share this to get an idea on how even "southern food" like southern culture is not actually southern but a mix of all other cultures.

Response to The Understudy

Being born and raised in the Deep South, this short story by David Sedaris came as no surprise to me. Although I didn’t live in a “big” city like Raleigh, my hometown has women just like the babysitters depicted in the story. He described the stereotypes of “poor white trash” and “grateful old black woman” very well. My family had two black maids when I was growing up. And I didn’t know many families that didn’t. Just to clarify, they were not slaves and no slavery was involved. It was their jobs to clean houses, keep children, etc. Sedaris’ illustration of the black babysitters was very close to true. I was raised by black women just like them.

As for the poor white trash, Sedaris couldn’t have given a more perfect representation. Not only were women like Mrs. Peacock around during his childhood, but also I unfortunately have to go home to a town full of them every couple of weekends. They behave, live, dress, and treat other people just like Mrs. Peacock did in the story. Spitting image pretty much. And the southern accents used are more than spot on. The only difference is, where I live, that accent is shared by poor white trash, middle class, blacks, everyone. I really enjoyed the short story. It’s always nice to read about something you can kind of relate to.

A Bit of Sanity?

As Akshay said, the story hit on every single stereotype society has a white trash and it created a perfect image of what that would be like. For me though, the most interesting part of the short story came when they went to Mrs. Peacock’s house. Despite all the terrible things Mrs. Peacock made the children do and despite how uncivilized she seemed, her half of the house was somewhat humane. When the narrator was describing the back yard and garden it actually sounded like something that was relatively civilized and sane. That was the biggest surprise for me was that after all Mrs. Peacock did and after all the horrific things she did to the children, we got to see that she has a somewhat compassionate side.

The narrator also spoke briefly on the baby dolls that Mrs. Peacock had all over her room. Again, I feel like this is an attempt by the author to make her seem a little less cruel but at the same time she is depicted as insane due to the volume of dolls. The narrator also notes that Mrs. Peacock calls the “doll babies” which I suspect was an attempt by the author to bring her back down to her white trash level before she started torturing the children again. Overall the visit to Mrs. Peacock’s house was extremely interesting for me, I was a short break from her shell, eventually however, it lead back into the same old lazy poor white trash ways.

Response to "The Understudy by David Sedaris" - Akshay Saxena

Reading this short story I really marveled on how the writer almost summed up all the stereotypes I've heard of. In the story, the writer pointed out the situation of black folk during the previous century, where they had nothing of their own and all they did was work for the white folks.For instance start with the first babysitter they got, Mrs. Byrd. She almost fainted with joy over the fact that if she worked there, she would be getting stuff that was her own. As if to make this point clearer the writer introduced their next babysitter, Mrs. Robbins, who would be down on her knees and thanking god for giving her "these wonderful white people and all they have given me this fine weekend". The writer also mentioned how both these babysitters were polite and humble all the time and served the children like their own.

But now in the picture comes Mrs. Peacock. The almost perfect, in fact, the perfect example of what can only be defined as "white trash". A woman (NOT a lady) who would not be taking showers, would lie in bed all day, would make other people work for her and would have no respect for the person she's working under. To add to that she is also shown to be always on the phone with people she has all different kinds of businesses with. The writer has so subtly used a child's explanation of this and how it is so difficult for them to even believe that a person like this could be a legitimate female.

He also talked about the house Mrs. Peacock lived in, describing the area to be trashy and filled with small houses. Responding to the question put up by Alexis in her blog, I would say i surely feel that there are many people like Mrs. Peacock still but that number has decreased as the people have started becoming literate now. I feel this image may still be persisting in parts where the people are still living in poverty and minimal education.

The most outrageous part of the whole story was how easily she was able to exploit the children into doing her own work. Also was the fact on how easily their mother did not believe them but believed the babysitter instead. In the writer said how their mother closed the door on their face and started conversing with the babysitter. I felt that this was new to the children, as they must have never seen that happen before with any other black babysitter. I think here also the writer kind of gave a hint of how discrimination over color was prevalent over that time.

Contemporary Southern Writers: Alexis Noel

"David Sedaris is a playwright and a regular commentator for National Public Radio. He is also the author of the bestselling Barrel Fever, Naked, Holidays on Ice, and Me Talk Pretty One Day." [1] Sedaris, a brilliant, humorous writer straight from the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, provides an interesting introspective into southern life through short stories of his life experiences. With his vivid use of imagery, Sedaris paints a picture of "how the south really was, and how it still is".

The best example of southern living and stereotypes can be seen through his short story called "The Understudy" in his book When You Are Engulfed In Flames. Witty and realistic, the story takes place during the childhood of Sedaris, where he relates his experience about a babysitter his parents hired for the week while they were out of town. What could be more transparent than a description by a kid? The hired woman is a stereotypical "trailer trash" southerner, with a thick accent and a desire to make children suffer. What kinds of stereotypes are presented in this short story and what makes the story so outrageous? Do you feel as though you could find this woman in the south today?

"The Understudy":

Religion and Politics - Akshay Saxena

Looking up at all the maps uploaded by my friends here, I think it is already very clear that Religion and Politics have a strong co-relation. They say that most of the religious people go towards being Conservative while the no -religious people tend to be Democratic and I totally agree with it now. But that's after i looked over the surveys myself. I mean however the maps may be like, the co-relation could have just been coincidental.
I researched up a lot of surveys given online which took the opinion of different voting citizens of America. The one I felt the best one was by "Gallup". It took a survey of over 30,000 people and came up with the fact that America's religious intensity still continues to be the major predictor of party identification. According to the survey,Republicans outnumbered the Democrats by 12 percent among Americans who are classified as highly religious, while Democrats outnumber Republicans by 30 percent among those who are religious.
I have also attached the survey with this post for you all to see. It talks not only about the religious voting people but also breaks it down according to the different races.

Another Response to Religion and Politics: Alexis Noel

If you were to think back to the "Gone with the Wind" era of the South and of the people living in it, what political affiliation would you think to tag on them? My first inclination was to see them as conservative, but why? What makes them seem to have more conservative ideology rather than a democratic mindset? I feel as though it all boils down to religion.

Stereotypically, the more religious you are (more Christian), the more likely you are to be a Republican. This may have sprouted from the environment, where if you lived on a large plantation in the south (where your neighbors were miles away from you), you were more likely to accept the ideologies of your mother and father rather than gathering information from others and formulating your own decision. However, if you were to live in a large, bustling city (such as up north), more ideas would be circulating and people would be more likely to think for themselves and break away from the traditional family ideals. Christian southerners may have thought that only the word of God should be directing them in life, rather than the Government. If a law is to be passed, they will fight their way to keep it from happening (the desire to keep things the same).

In an article comparing religion and politics, Neal Gabler comments on religious conservatives: "The fundamentalist political fanatics will always be more zealous than mainstream conservatives or liberals. They will always be louder, more adamant, more aggrieved, more threatening, more willing to do anything to win. Losing is inconceivable. For them, every battle is a crusade -- or a jihad -- a matter of good and evil." [1] In a way, religion puts the fire behind their beliefs. How could you not be passionate when you believe so deeply in an ideology?

However, times are changing. Not all Republicans are religious, and not all Democrats are unaffiliated. I, for example, believe in many of the conservative viewpoints but am not religious. Due to the explosion of connectivity in every day life (cell phones, internet, television etc.), people are more likely to form their own viewpoints from their own observations than follow old family ideologies.

Religion and Politics

The maps and the survey do give quite an interesting perspective on the potential voting trends, and while I wouldn't argue that they are the deciding factor for someone's vote to be for a conservative or liberal candidate, I believe it does play a major role. With almost three quarters of the population of the United States claiming to be Christian of some denomination, it stands that political view point, if it has any relation with religion, has to be determined by specific denomination and how religious the person is. Including the maps shown by the original poster, this denominational view found here, shows that the Southern Baptist church, which tends to be a more conservative denomination. On the other hand, Catholicism, which as been markedly liberal since Vatican II, and Methodism, which has been a more moderate to liberal denomination for many years as well. This separation, including the maps showing how important religion is to different regions and the voting trends throughout the states, shows that religion does play a role in the way people view the world and this in turn will affect the way they vote, as voting in a democratic nation is our only way of directly influencing how the higher roles of government can shape the world in ways that we prefer.

Response to Religion and Politics

I believe that religion and politics are very related. More religious areas tend to vote more conservative because the core ideas of this political view tie into religious beliefs. For example, it is widely known that conservatives are against gay marriage and abortion. Why? Because those who are very religious believe that marriage is between a man and a woman only. And no one has the right to murder a human being, especially when human life begins at conception.

"The United States has a long tradition of separating church from state, yet a powerful inclination to mix religion and politics." We all know that the government tries to keep religion and politics separate. But, as we've seen throughout our nation's history, the actuality of keeping them separate is irrepressible. We still use God's name on our money, in our pledge, etc. We still use religious institutions to back up the morality of our political views, whether you're conservative or liberal. No matter what we do or say, religion still has a significant effect on politics.

I found a site that breaks down the differences between conservative and liberal and their views on different political issues. Under the topic of religion, it says that conservatives believe government should not interfere with religion. Liberals think religion should not interfere with government. Its obvious that no one wants religion and politics to be related. But, lets face it; they always have been and always will be.

Religion and politics, still bedfellows?

I was going to right about conservative views in the south when I stumbled upon an interesting article. Its relatively short but the authors took a survey to find out which ares of the United States were the most religious. They found that "the map reinforces some of the usual stereotypes about the religiosity of the Deep South and the lack of religiosity in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest." Based on the survey it does seem like the southern states are far more religious than those in the north/west. The interesting thing that the article points out this map and the presidential election map from the 2008 election share alot in common.

Its fairly obvious that the darker colored areas are those that seemed to vote Republican while the less religious northern states voted Democrat. The last line of the article is "Religion and politics, still bedfellows." which implies that the two go hand and hand. This means that more religious areas tend to vote Conservative and the less religious areas are Liberals.

Although there is a high correlation between the religion and political vote, I would argue that these two are not related. I can't wrap my head around how being more religious would cause a region to vote one way or the other. My belief is that the similarity is more of a coincidence. The south typically and especially in the 2008 election votes more Republican, not because of their religion but because of their political views. Any thoughts?

Discovering the "new South"

Reading up about the "new South" I found out that the term itself originated after the Civil War to describe the rise of the South. It was a contrast to the Old South of the plantation period. The new South emerged with an idea of not depending on banned slave labor or the predominant growing of cotton but rather be industrialized and be a part of the rapidly growing American economy. It was a representation of not only the economic boom in the southern US but was also a reminder of the new and emerging ideas of equality.

This New South creed became more of a slogan for various Southern towns and cities, but it wasn't exactly the public relations miracle many elite Southerners hoped it would be. While many Southern states did start to distance themselves from the prejudices and inequalities of the Old South, there were still a number of issues which continued to tarnish the perception of a truly New South. Segregation between blacks and whites was still an active practice, for example. During the tumultuous years of the Civil Rights movement, the claims of a successful New South conversion rang especially hollow. Only after the passage of the Civil Rights Act did many examples of sanctioned segregation fall by the wayside in some Southern states.

There were many people who helped give this idea shape. One of them was Terry Sanford. He was the president of Duke and he gave major new programs in education and economic investment. He also had a major part in influencing progressive southern politics. There is also a documentary called "Terry Sanford and the New South" dedicated to this great man.

The New South has since then taken the South from being farmers and slaves to one of the most happening hubs for industrialization.

A Response to the "New South": Alexis Noel

The image of the "old south" is regularly painted in popular movies, depicting slaves working on plantations and white men and women sipping minty beverages slowly growing fat. Yet, how often do we hear about the "new south"? I'm sure if we were to ask a foreigner the first image that pops in their mind when we say "Southern America", they will probably say "Scarlett O'Hara". What kind of reputation is our southern home getting?

The "new south" began its rise after the Civil War, pushing men of all ages and race to delve into manual labor: planting crops, fixing cotton machines etc. However, the south has changed drastically. Although it has its quirks you can not find anywhere else (like sweet tea), many of the populated areas have meshed into northern similarities.

While the media may still be portraying the south as "old-fashioned" and "outdated", the one topic that has grown and thrived among southerners is politics. The south has always been generally Republican, and passionately so. Did these political views sprout from the ideas of the "new south", of being independent from those of higher power?

Jon Meacham comments on southern politics during the 2008 election: "The American South, to borrow a phrase from the caricature cupboard, just ain't that different anymore. It was once, but the Civil War is the exception that proves the rule that the South tends not to contradict but to exemplify, if sometimes in an exaggerated way, what much of the nation thinks and feels. Understanding America's politics, then, requires understanding the South's—which is one reason why declaring the 2008 presidential election over is to make the same mistake the hotheads at the barbecue in "Gone With the Wind" did when they thought they could whip the Union forces in short order.." [1]

As viewed below, it is obvious that the south has conservative views [2]:


Is it possible that the ideas of manual labor gave rise to conservative ideas? To ride off of political stereotypes, the south wanted more power to the working man rather than socialist agendas? The "new south" ideologies certainly point in that direction.

Response to New South

The ideology of New South transformed the southern states more than we realize. The Old South was seen by some as plantations and slavery, while many viewed it as a very prosperous time of social order where Southern chivalry was at its best. These different aspects of the Old South helped make the New South what it is today. We went from a war-beaten South that knew only of agriculture to an industrial power.

The transformation of racial discrimination from Old to New South was one for the history books. What came along with the New South for those who had been enslaved and oppressed were new opportunities to grow individually and collectively. The development of technical schools throughout the South greatly contributed to this movement. People of all races, especially blacks and poor whites who had been put down for so long, could now get a practical education. This hands-on kind of education brought industries and companies to the New South for cheap and hardworking labor. Now southerners wouldn't have to rely only on their farms as sources of income.

The ideas of a New South proved to others that the Old South was trying to make a ''new'' name for itself. Calling itself the New South showed the willingness and need to reinvent what it represented. I believe that the ideology of the New South truly reclaimed the fate of what the South was becoming after the War. Although, who doesn't wish we still had a little Southern chivalry left around here?

New South

Henry Grady, editor of the Atlanta Constitution in the 1880s, was a leading cause in the creation and accept of a new post-war ideology of the "New South"; focusing on education for the masses, a practical education that taught everyone, white or black, poor or rich, how to work with your hands and not shun manual labor. This was a step forward from the "Old South", an economy based on slavery and agriculture, where the idea of manual labor was frowned upon and seen as lower work. At the time, the idea, healthy and strong, was accepted and grew, but soon afterwards it became a facade for white elitists to hide behind as they further pursued now not only black oppression, but poor white oppression was well, though not as severely. Eventually, it even led to the Jim Crow laws, which held until the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. [1]

The "New South" was not all bad, however, as it led to the creation of many technical colleges throughout the southeast as a form of practical education for the masses. Most notable was the creation of a technical college in Atlanta, the industrial center of the South at the time. This college being Georgia Institute of Technology. [2][3]

I personally believe that this New South ideology has been a major proponent in the formation of the South as we know it today, being an underlying cause of not only known historical moments, such as the Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights movement, but also a basis for the formation of certain stereotypes, such as Southerns being more mechanical inclined and advocates of manual labor. Ideas, thoughts or disagreements?

For link [2], send me an email and I can bring the rest of the article to class on Tuesday if you'd like to read the rest.

Southern Representation

I chose this image as a representation of the South and southern culture. While I was unable to find the original artist, the source of the picture was Redneck Jokes at Knoxville FM. The picture was title Redneck Thanksgiving

This image covers many stereotypes that are related to rednecks more specifically than the South, but as rednecks and the South are often synonymous, I think it properly suits it. The most peculiar stereotype that this image touches upon is that southerns view fast food is something that can be eaten at any occasion. This goes along with the implications that southerns are just poor white trash, hardly able to afford a proper meal, let alone cook it. Thus, for Thanksgiving, an traditionally American holiday, second only to Independence Day in patriotic undertones, they are having KFC, McDonalds, Ruffles, and Budweiser. On top of that, the stereotype that southerns are drunks is covered here with every single member of the family, including the three boys, is drinking beer. Albeit a jovial yet respectful occasion, three of the members of the family, including the grandfather donning the white wife beater, are wearing hats, all of which are pertaining to automobiles in some respect. The grandfather with the Texaco hat, the eldest looking boy with the Hemi hat and the boy across from him wearing what seems to be a NASCAR hat. This gives the implication that southerns are fond of automobiles, going along with the stereotype that southerns are all adept auto mechanics, at least to some degree.

The stereotypes that are depicted in this picture are accurate and inaccurate at the same time. A majority of stereotypes come to be because they were or are in some respects true to a certain extent. This picture shows that this southern family is either too poor to cook a proper meal for Thanksgiving or more likely that they view this as a proper meal. While you could wander from trailer park to trailer park and probably find this occurring from time to time, the South as often been known for is great tasting, albeit unhealthy, cooking. So while this stereotype is wrong to some extent, it certainly isn't for the whole of the southern culture. Another stereotype shown is the automobile-pertaining apparel. This is false in respects to the entire south as well. Not everyone in the south, even those of the lower class, which are more often related to this car fanaticism, are interest or knowledgeable about automobiles. The drunk stereotype is also not applicable to the entirety of the south, though from my own personal experiences with southern families, this stereotype seems to hold more truth to it than the others do.

Southern Representation Super Club

By: Scott Horvath

I picked the image seen above. It is titled "Super Club" and depicts three men eating at a table.

This picture is full of southern stereotypes. Possibly the most obvious stereotype is the three men that are sitting at the table. All three are drawn to look unintelligent and uncivilized. The man on the left is holding what appears to be either a shotgun or a sniper rifle of some sort. Either way, holding a gun at the dinner table takes a stereotype of the south to the extreme. The man on the far right is wearing a plaid shirt along with a construction uniform. He is depicted as an oblivious member of society who works in a lower end job that requires little to no education. (i.e. construction of some kind) The man in the middle is dressed up as a priest and is a representation of southern religion. His black gown and necklace give off the aura that he is from the church which is another southern stereotype.

Along with the men, the table and back wall are covered in objects that are representations of the south. To name a few, the table is covered in a pocket knife, fried food, pie, a bottle of whiskey and even a bottle of coke. All of these are generally stereotypes of the south. The back wall contains two key images, the American flag and antlers. In my opinion, a confederate flag would have fit even better in this picture the but the American flag is a representation of the stereotype that all southerners are extremely patriotic. This pride is one of the more common southern stereotypes. The antlers on the back wall are the final image of the south that I picked up on in this image. Again, they embody the stereotype that all southern men are hunting rednecks who hang antlers all along their walls.

Southern Representation Artifact

This painting is by Butler Brown. Brown is from my hometown, Hawkinsville, Georgia, but he is known throughout the nation for his depictions of rural homes and scenes. Many of his works can be found in the White House. This particular painting is Jake's Gap. I think that the painting is a representation of what some southern plantations and farm lands have become since the Civil War. Everything is worn down and worn out. Fields have grown over. Barns and houses have been deserted. The land seems isolated and lonely, which is exactly how many regions in the South felt after the devastation of the War. Many people admire Brown's works because of their beauty and uniqueness. But I believe that his art is subtly reminding us and portraying our ravaged southland as it has been since the late 1800's.

Southern Representation Artifact: Picture

I chose this image as an artifact representing the south. I found this interesting as it was a great satirical interpretation of the stereotypes related to the south.

It was present in an article named "Reimagining the south". It also has a great article about this guy who is southern but his family was anti confederate.

The image is a satirical representation of all the common stereotypes of the south. Start with the old man for instance. Dressed in confederate clothing, he is carrying a gun which implies that all he cares about is war. The lady on the other hand is dressed in the farmer's outfit through which one feels that all the women in the south are either working in farms or are farmer's wives. The book she has in her hand says "Geneology of 'Muh" Family". Here the artist is making fun of the accent and also showing that lineage is all that the southerners care about. The big Gone with the wind house with the fields and trees in the background doesn't fail to gain the attention of the viewer as well. It gives these ideas about big homes in the middle of farms where all the southerners live.

I feel that even though some of the stuff is accurate in terms of stereotypes, it is not true at the same time. This is because the artist has taken the negative stereotypes from all over the south and has thrown them together in one single picture, which makes the viewer believe that the entire south is the same.