New Yorkers opinion on the south

[NewYorkYankee]

I know this topic is probably getting old but Im curious. What are New Yorkers opinion on the south? What about the way southerners speak?

[NoyokA]

I don't dislike the south as a whole :wink:

[NewYorkYankee]

What do you guys that voted like/dislike about it?

[Deimos]

I like the south.... Massive amounts of open land and friendly people. Granted, you didn't state which part of the south we were talking about. Technically New Jersey is south of NYC.... I'm referring to the Carolinas in this view. I've been to Alabama and South Georgia, and it's a different world in the so called "Deep South"... in my opinion it's a lot more depressed there, and not much at all to see/do there. The Carolinas are a great place to visit (but I'll keep my city as a place to live)

[ryan]

In my experience, Southerners usually raise this conversation. I've never been in a group of New Yorkers who just started trashing the South - too New York-centric to think/care about it.

[NewYorkYankee]

Your right, I am (unfortunately) still trapped in this hell everyone calls TN.

[TLOZ Link5]

Remember, ILUVNYC: you can't get out of hell. I think the best metaphor for Tennessee would be purgatory. :lol:

[NewYorkYankee]

Remember, ILUVNYC: you can't get out of hell. I think the best metaphor for Tennessee would be purgatory. :lol:

I agree. I hate this place!

[TomAuch]

Politically I can't stand the south, but beyond that it's not a bad region...but it depends on where you go.

[muscle1313]

Anything west of Broadway is camping out.

[krulltime]

I don't like the south that much... I will try not to spend money in those towns... Maybe I will visit the cities... They are not as fundamentally and republican as those towns. Although I will visit outside the cities if there is something I must see. But I am super happy on the north.

[BrooklynRider]

Geographically, the south is beautiful. However, extremist religious views and hateful bigotry seem to pervade the society as a whole. I feel it is a place where I have to constantly keep my guard up - especiallly with my New Yawk accent. The big incongruity for me is the yahoo-born-again-religious grandiosity that goes hand-in-hand with the hatred.

Miami and Key West are the only places in the south I enjoy visiting. Overall, I think it is a bastion of armageddon ready fanatics, ignorant rednecks, sweet as pie churchgoers who posess zero tolerance, and self-righteous northerners who moved south to disavow their roots and deride their hometowns.

Obviously, there are exceptions and this is a broad, highly prejudicial statement of my own. Yet, it is my view. I think they are idiots.

[alex ballard]

That's funny. Because everyone I've talked to has rave reviews of the south's racial tolerance. Many African Americans are supposedly moving down there due to better oppertunites and equality. I guess I'll just have to visit to really see the real deal.

[ZippyTheChimp]

First of all, this topic is too broad.

As for racial tolerance, if you can make one distinction, rooted in history, between northern racism and southern racism, it mght be this:

Southern whites did not mind the presence of African Americans; the issue was their social and political standing. In the north, it was just the opposite.

Southern whites and blacks have been living together for hundreds of years. Slaves ran households, and did most of the menial work. The economy could not exist without them. The question was asked about the
way southerners speak. It is primarily Irish and Scottish English heavily influenced by African languages.

When blacks migrated to northern cities, mainly for industrial jobs, they settled in ethnic neighborhoods. Whites did not interact with them as much. Mixed marriages and voting rights would not be as much of a spark for trouble as a black family moving into a white neighborhood.

In the south, separate-but-equal had more to do with social denegration than a physical separation - sending a message of who had the power.

Of course, these are generalizations. These conditions have subsided considerably, but we are influenced by our past.

As a result, social taboos are much more prevalent in the south.

[NewYorkYankee]

BrooklynRider, I could'nt agree more.

[NewYorkYankee]

Northern or Southern states? (In your opinion and what may be correct, I dont know.)

West. Va?

Wash D.C.?

Maryland?

everything above these are easily considered "The North".

[212]

I've lived in Southwest Virginia (an hour outside Roanoke) and Jacksonville, Fla. Friendly people overall. And I love the accents.

On race matters, I think the North and South are about even now. A lot of progress made, and a lot of progress still to be made.

[NewYorkYankee]

Coming from someone who lives in the south now, the anti-"Anything but white" setiment still runs strong in TN. It is especially bad towards hispanics. A lot of people still use the N word often. :?

[NewYorkDoc]

The question was asked about the
way southerners speak. It is primarily Irish and Scottish English heavily influenced by African languages.

The African language influence came about from what? Slavery?

[justfabulouslyme]

Geographically speaking, the South is beautiful. Lots of open land, clean lakes, rolling hills, great weather. It's a pity it's wasted on Southerners, honestly. The only place I enjoy visiting in the South is Miami (haven't been to Key West but would love to).

Maybe I'm just generalizing, but I'm not too fond of the Southern mindset, or what the media portrays the Southern mindset to be as I personally don't know any. I don't go out of my way to hate them, I just think they're probably a lot less open-minded than we are up here. Again, that's a broad statement and I should probably feel bad for saying that, though.

[Meerkat]

Interesting to read some of these comments. I've often wondered how the northern / southern states of the US view each other.

[Radiohead]

I've lived in for SC several years and work there on assignments often. The stereotype of southerners as being ignorant, intolerant hicks is true....but only a certain percentage (say 15-20%).

Generally, this 15-20% are fundamentalist Protestants (mostly Southern Baptists). They take the Bible literally...i.e. every word. If it was up to them, there would be no alcohol sales, all stores would be closed on Sunday, and the bible would be taught in all public schools by fundamentalist ministers. These people are closed minded, self-righteous people.

I have been asked "are you saved" more times than I care to admit, followed by "what church do you go to" (the best reply to these busy-bodies is "why do you want to know", and if they persist, "it's none of your business"). To them, Catholics are going to hell, Jews are going to hell, Muslims, Buddists and anyone else is also going to burn in hell, even "unsaved" protestants".....everybody except them, of course. I try to avoid them, as do many other native Southerners, as they are unbearably preachy. And those fire and brimstone minsters you see with bad southern accents and bad hair, they really do exist, and many gullible people believe them and send them a lot of money.

That said, the majority in the South, whatever their religion or race, are friendly and helpful. Race relations overall are good, though worse in the cities than the rural areas. But still better than NY/NJ, by a mile. A gay couple will get stared at, as openly gay is not very common, but again, it comes down to the size of the city. In Columbia and Charleston, it's much more live and let live. Ironically, while the south is generally a red region, it is African Americans, who vote blue overwhelmingly, who are some of the most fervently fundamentalist, especially regarding gays and blue laws.

Finally, there are a percentage of southerners who wish that all "Yankees" would go back up north and stay there. From their general perspective, northerners are rude and intolerant of THEIR heritage (many have confederate flag stickers on their cars). They yearn for the south the way it was, and disdain outsiders moving in and saying "that's not how we did it there". While many of them are uneducated hicks, the perception of many northerners being rude is widespread among all classes and social groups. This latter point I will have to agree.