Southern DU'ers: Tell me about the South

[cbrer]

14. Southern culture, as you're no doubt aware...

Is one of many sub-cultures in America. Some of the common clichés about the old south are true. Such as a perceived gentility, social grace, and extreme racism.

Having said that though, we've been fully enveloped by the rest of American culture. Now, in order to find evidence of those former, more positive traits, you have to move down to smaller communities. People where I live (Savannah) still wave when passing on the road about 50% of the time. Our architecture survives through preservation, and our formerly grand industries, i.e. cotton, tobacco, the 5 "P"s (pine, peanut, peach, poultry and pecan). are still cultivated, but now have historically accurate, tourist type presentations to romanticize and profit from our past.

In order to find the continuing racism, one needs to travel no further than the Governors office. It's a fact of life. Pervading the sub cultures here so thoroughly, that stepping outside of this paradigm yields an almost immediate cultural shock. "Those damn Liberals"... This is, thankfully, less widespread than formerly true. But it is still very real.

I suppose it's neither fair, nor accurate to say that many Georgians can be manipulated emotionally. Not only is this true for many people, but for Georgians, it requires a specific set of hot buttons. Well known by politicians, and used at every opportunity.

Our natural resources weigh heavily in our culture. Hunting, fishing, boating, camping are all quite prevalent here. Our climate of course, plays into these activities too.

I suppose it's unnecessary to point out that using these observations to make generalizations about Georgians isn't fair on an individual basis. One of the things I love about our shared political philosophy is that I probably don't need to say that.

Hope this helps. Peace out.