Southern DU'ers: Tell me about the South

[socialist_n_TN]

23. What do you want to know? The south is a complex place......

I was born here and have lived in the south all my life. As a child in a small town, as a teenager and young adult in a mid size city, and for the last 35 years or so in a pretty big city. In addition, my ancestors have been in the south since they came over from Europe. And yes, Scotland, Ireland, England primarily. I've also traveled all over the country, spending a few weeks at a time in various small towns, medium cities, and larger cities all over, so I've got something of a comparison data base.

Being a Marxist in a VERY conservative region is pretty interesting, but it also informs me quite a bit about my region. This is the most obviously class based region of the country. It's a holdover from the antebellum past, but in some ways, it's almost feudal. The cities are, mostly, like other big cities. It takes a certain amount of tolerance to get along in a city, so even if you're the most racist bastard out there, in a city you're going to have to rely at one time or another, on people of different races for SOMETHING. So even racists learn to cope with cultural and racial differences to a greater or lesser degree. The mid size and smaller towns are a little more obvious in the class differences. The money in these places is usually old (several generations) and they do control the power politically and socially to a certain extent.

It's a little more laid back than almost any other area of the country, which is good. But it's also home of more hypocrisy. The working class here has been beaten down for generations and acceptance of your place is pretty much the norm. That said, some of the most radical and revolutionary socialists around are southern. It seems like when you face this type of classism for all of your life, IF you're NOT beaten down, you're ready to make a BIG change and not just incrementally.

What else do you want to know?