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Being originally from the midwest, Indiana/Illinois to be exact and having spent the last 3 years of my life living in the Deep South, Mississippi, I have come to realize the vast differences in people that are separated by only a few hundred miles.
One common thing I have noticed with people from both areas is their unwillingness to travel or venture into the others' area. Very few people in the Midwest or north will travel or vacation to the south unless it's Florida, New Orleans, or sometimes the Appalachian Mountains on the rare occasion. Having spoken with many southerners now I have found that most of them have not been farther north than Kentucky or Virginia, some haven't gone farther north than Tennessee.
Anyway, the question I'm getting at here is what do southern people think of the north? Do they hold the north in contempt or distrust?
I feel many of the stereotypes northerners have about the south are often reversed with southerners. They may believe that large masses of people don't attend church regularly, may believe people are rude or aren't as friendly, may believe it gets too cold or snowy, may believe that people are too liberal or accepting of gays. Flip these upside down and it's the same stereotypes many northerners hold against the south.
I have found most of these stereotypes to be vastly exaggerated in today's day and age. The south plays an integral part of our country and economy. There are 90 million people living in the south-eastern United States, I have a hard time believing all of them would fall into the same stereotypical belief and value system. Mississippi is number 1 in Timber exports, Louisiana and Texas play a large role in our oil refineries and shipments as they both have major ports at New Orleans and Houston, Alabama has a huge amount of federal dollars flowing into it for the space industry and other high tech ventures, Georgia has Atlanta, which is unofficially the capital of the south and home to the busiest airport in the world, Florida speaks for itself, I could go on, but you get the idea.
Any southern people care to share their experiences on the north and how they feel about northern people in general?
Anyway, any southern people care to chime in on their experience with the north and what they think of it?
I feel many of the stereotypes northerners have about the south are often reversed with southerners. They may believe that large masses of people don't attend church regularly, may believe people are rude or aren't as friendly, may believe it gets too cold or snowy, may believe that people are too liberal or accepting of gays. Flip these upside down and it's the same stereotypes many northerners hold against the south.
That sentence alone is one stereotype I have of the south: that the locals are very public about their religious beliefs and tend toward evangelical / fundamentalist Protestant (I know they're not quite the same). I'm more used to people keeping their religion more private, and not paying attention to others' churchgoing habits. Not embarrassed about their religion, just keep it a bit more themselves.
Some northerners have family that moved to the south (usually the coastal states) for jobs, cheaper cost of living or retirement. Those do visit the south that's not Florida, New Orleans or the Smokies. Other than that, no.
Hm... Well, I imagine that such opinions are more radicalized depending on the level of exposure or variance of interactions people have had with Northerners. I live in an area that has just as many transplanted Northerners in it as born and bred Southerners, so I don't think of them as being all that different in most cases. I actually find the contrasts between the Upper South-Deep South to be more striking than Upper South-Midwest or even Upper South-Northeast in many cases.
I suppose one thing I have an impression of is that many Northerners tend to believe they are more worldly or better informed than they truly are. I don't really know how to explain it better than that... I just know there have been several times where I've corrected one about some random factoid and they were so stunned that they didn't know such a thing, yet somehow someone like me did, that it's almost offensive. They mean well, though... On a more positive note, I do like that in some respects they have higher standards on certain things than many Southerners do. I mean, a sad truth is that some Southerners tend to have an attitude like "I'm not being blatantly exploited on a plantation, lumber mill or in a coal mine--I'm doing awesome! " even if their standard of living is still pretty low by national standards. It's always refreshing when someone with a different perspective wants to raise the bar a little... so long as they don't try to totally uproot the local culture/population in the process. Which is something a lot of Southerners seem convinced the North has been trying to do since forever.
Hm... Well, I imagine that such opinions are more radicalized depending on the level of exposure or variance of interactions people have had with Northerners. I live in an area that has just as many transplanted Northerners in it as born and bred Southerners, so I don't think of them as being all that different in most cases. I actually find the contrasts between the Upper South-Deep South to be more striking than Upper South-Midwest or even Upper South-Northeast in many cases.
I suppose one thing I have an impression of is that many Northerners tend to believe they are more worldly or better informed than they truly are. I don't really know how to explain it better than that... I just know there have been several times where I've corrected one about some random factoid and they were so stunned that they didn't know such a thing, yet somehow someone like me did, that it's almost offensive. They mean well, though... On a more positive note, I do like that in some respects they have higher standards on certain things than many Southerners do. I mean, a sad truth is that some Southerners tend to have an attitude like "I'm not being blatantly exploited on a plantation, lumber mill or in a coal mine--I'm doing awesome! " even if their standard of living is still pretty low by national standards. It's always refreshing when someone with a different perspective wants to raise the bar a little... so long as they don't try to totally uproot the local culture/population in the process. Which is something a lot of Southerners seem convinced the North has been trying to do since forever.
Ahh, too much to agree with here.
I have also noticed a striking difference in the deep south vs the upper-south. You won't find any cities as progressive or well to do as Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Nashville, Louisville, etc.
I also get what you mean by southerners often settling for less. A lot seem to set their goals lower, they don't really look beyond the work that they're doing today, and if it gets them by without much trouble then why try harder or dig deeper?
So far I'm pretty convinced that even some of the deep south states are moving forward, though much more slowly than a lot of other areas. Only Mississippi lags behind, even behind its neighbors. I don't see a whole lot of promise here, just a lot of the same old mentality, same old ideals that never improve the area.
You are throwing a huge net over the south and using Mississippi as a reference point? People in other parts of the south make fun of and would outright refuse to live in Mississippi, right? Yes, it's not that great of a state. It's kind of like saying the whole midwest/north sucks and you've spent the last few years in the middle of Nebraska or East St Louis.
You realize Atlanta is in the deep south and more progressive and successful than any of those places you listed right?
You are throwing a huge net over the south and using Mississippi as a reference point? People in other parts of the south make fun of and would outright refuse to live in Mississippi, right? Yes, it's not that great of a state. It's kind of like saying the whole midwest/north sucks and you've spent the last few years in the middle of Nebraska or East St Louis.
You realize Atlanta is in the deep south and more progressive and successful than any of those places you listed right?
I avoid Atlanta like the plague. That may be the South but it is not the South I live in. Last time we traveled South we added more than 100 miles to our trip to avoid Atlanta and probably got home faster than if we had gone through Atlanta.
We have a timeshare and can get really nice and really cheap condos so we are visiting every state. Last couple of trips we said, "Why didn't we just stay home? Life is better there." I saw many signs of depression and poverty going North. I am talking about roads that needed repair and empty buildings and older looking businesses. This may be normal for the area we were in. I couldn't know that because I had never been there before. We saw the same thing in New Orleans.
You are throwing a huge net over the south and using Mississippi as a reference point? People in other parts of the south make fun of and would outright refuse to live in Mississippi, right? Yes, it's not that great of a state. It's kind of like saying the whole midwest/north sucks and you've spent the last few years in the middle of Nebraska or East St Louis.
You realize Atlanta is in the deep south and more progressive and successful than any of those places you listed right?
I am not comparing the entire south to Mississippi. You are drawing your own conclusions here, and they have no basis. Read the opening statement and try again.
Virginian here... my Northern stereotypes go something like this. People don't talk with strangers as much up there, they drive like there is always an emergency and THEY are the most important people on the road, the Italian food is good, they've got wild accents and like to say "wicked" a lot, they think all Southerners are a crossover between a hillbilly and a televangelist, the winters are COOOOOLD, towns are more quaint, they're crazy about sports, they tend to be Liberal, there's less suburban sprawl... that's all I got for now.
Another Virginian here (born in Bristol, VA which shares a border with Tennessee).
My northern stereotypes as a kid are as follows: weird accents, rude, Italian (random I know but for some reason I associated all northerners with Italians), wealthy, democrats, condescending, in a hurry at all times, cold, and catholic. I assumed that they probably thought we are all bible thumping, slack jawed yokels, with learning disabilities and poor grammar.
These days I feel like the prejudices are not as pronounced, primarily because so many people have increased mobility. Even the most remote parts of the south have regional airports that make cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, Richmond, Birmingham, or New Orleans less than an hour flight away. Further, education quality has increased a lot. Virginia for example has some of the best high school test scores in the county. I'm fairly confident that North Carolina is exceptional as well. Same for the university systems. UVA and UNC are two of the best universities in the country and they are both plopped on the southern end of the Mason Dixon.
I'd be willing to wager within the next 25 years or so the often incorrect generalizations we have about one another will be a thing of the past.
Virginian here... my Northern stereotypes go something like this. People don't talk with strangers as much up there, they drive like there is always an emergency and THEY are the most important people on the road, the Italian food is good, they've got wild accents and like to say "wicked" a lot, they think all Southerners are a crossover between a hillbilly and a televangelist, the winters are COOOOOLD, towns are more quaint, they're crazy about sports, they tend to be Liberal, there's less suburban sprawl... that's all I got for now.
I thought it was Southerners who drive insane.
Driving through Atlanta and Nashville i can people there watch too much Nascar.
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" even if their standard of living is still pretty low by national standards. It's always refreshing when someone with a different perspective wants to raise the bar a little... so long as they don't try to totally uproot the local culture/population in the process. Which is something a lot of Southerners seem convinced the North has been trying to do since forever.
