Rebel against the South’s stereotypes
By Jason Husser
“Why do so many people think the South is so bad?” one of my international students asked me this winter on the first day of a class I taught about Southern history and culture. “I think it’s pretty great here.”
Lacking a good reply, “me too” was all I could muster.
Husser, an assistant professor of political science at Elon University, is
a Louisiana native.
March 10, 2013 - 7:53 AM
The biggest problem that Southerners have with stereotypes about the South is that far too often far too many Southerners chase those stereotypes in an attempt to embody them.
That’s no different from any other region, but since we’re talking about the South, that’s where the discussion should reside. There are a thousand wonderful things about the South, yet far too often, we have politicians or just individuals that deliberately choose to reinforce the handful of negatives that are definitely NOT wonderful about the South. Maybe when folks can give up those faulty crusades, then some of the stereotypes will eventually die.
A good portion of the blame can be laid at the door of leftist Hollywood. You`ve seen the movies, you`ve seen the `stars`(?) come out and just smear the South, for some reason. I suppose it is because they haven`t been educated……properly. Teachers teaching, not what they know, but what they believe, creates a culture of hate. In fact, there is a fellow, Savage is his last name…a devout atheist who has come out and said that the South are just a bunch of `corn-pone Nazis`…..Its trash like this that pollutes.