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Im guessing you live in NC, or SC where growth is out of control. Im sorry you are dealing with that and I dont blame you for resenting it. I wouldnt like it either. I would like to point out however that the north you describe is nothing like where Im from. That north sounds more like the northeast than here in Michigan. The whole thing about money is definately not true out here, as you have read in the papers, we have no money as we are broke. Most of us are not obsessed with the civil war, although I admit that I am. (im a history nerd) It may suprise you however to find out that I believe it was the south that was constitutionally correct, not the north.I believe every good conservative should see the southern point of view regarding "the war". I even fly a first national on my porch. Your also right regarding the reconstruction era, and the race blame game. If you want someone to blame for the souths bad rap on race relations then blame Hollywierd. They have been pushing out movies, tv and news shows depicting the south as a backward haven of KKK rallies for the last 100 years. You have a right to be upset about it, but those of us in the midwest are not responsible for it, please do not blame us. As far as us being pushy nosey know it alls, I will again refer you to our friends to the east. Those are the qualities the yankee northeast is known for, we in the midwest do not live that way. I think you should plan a vacation up here sometime in August when its miserable hot down there. Come see our cool lakes, farm towns, northwoods campgrounds and our midwestern hospitality. Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota all would be good choices, and you will see OUR version of northern living. Everywhere has a few idiots, but I bet you dont find the pushy rude know it alls that you think you will find. The northern states from Ohio west are a whole different world from those in the northeast. I know southerners are taught that anyone north of mason-dixon is a yankee and that they are all the same, but that is just not true. I would say we are more different from the northeast than we are from the south if you ask me. If you ask me we shouldnt have helped them in the war they started in 1861 either. The war and its results only enriched the northeast further, and gave them more control over the nation. The era of liberal big goverment began at Appomatix in April 1865, at the expense of state soverignty (10th amendment)
Not necessarily true for all of the Northeast either.
Also, let's make the distinction within the Northeast between the Bos-Wash corridor and the Interior Northeast, which actually has some similarities to the eastern portion of the Midwest. I grew up in the Interior Northeast, but went to college in Michigan for a few years and outside of landscape and little things here and there, there wasn't that much of a difference.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 03-15-2012 at 07:43 AM..
I can counter that with my wife who just took a job Monday in southern Delaware and brought in a bunch of food today to break the ice because since she got there, all she has been called is a Yank and northerner. So today she left her lights on and her car battery was dead and since she has jumper cables she asked 5 of the women that she works with for help and they told her "tough **** yank" and "too bad".
So don't freakin tell me how nice all southerners are, cause they're NOT.
The best part is these nitwits don't even know that southerners, real southerners consider them to Yanks as well.
And you believe southern delaware is in the South?
Im guessing you live in NC, or SC where growth is out of control. Im sorry you are dealing with that and I dont blame you for resenting it. I wouldnt like it either. I would like to point out however that the north you describe is nothing like where Im from. That north sounds more like the northeast than here in Michigan. The whole thing about money is definately not true out here, as you have read in the papers, we have no money as we are broke. Most of us are not obsessed with the civil war, although I admit that I am. (im a history nerd) It may suprise you however to find out that I believe it was the south that was constitutionally correct, not the north.I believe every good conservative should see the southern point of view regarding "the war". I even fly a first national on my porch. Your also right regarding the reconstruction era, and the race blame game. If you want someone to blame for the souths bad rap on race relations then blame Hollywierd. They have been pushing out movies, tv and news shows depicting the south as a backward haven of KKK rallies for the last 100 years. You have a right to be upset about it, but those of us in the midwest are not responsible for it, please do not blame us. As far as us being pushy nosey know it alls, I will again refer you to our friends to the east. Those are the qualities the yankee northeast is known for, we in the midwest do not live that way. I think you should plan a vacation up here sometime in August when its miserable hot down there. Come see our cool lakes, farm towns, northwoods campgrounds and our midwestern hospitality. Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota all would be good choices, and you will see OUR version of northern living. Everywhere has a few idiots, but I bet you dont find the pushy rude know it alls that you think you will find. The northern states from Ohio west are a whole different world from those in the northeast. I know southerners are taught that anyone north of mason-dixon is a yankee and that they are all the same, but that is just not true. I would say we are more different from the northeast than we are from the south if you ask me. If you ask me we shouldnt have helped them in the war they started in 1861 either. The war and its results only enriched the northeast further, and gave them more control over the nation. The era of liberal big goverment began at Appomatix in April 1865, at the expense of state soverignty (10th amendment)
I am a Southerner, and we are often asked what it means to be Southern. Our culture is the most debated in the United States, praised and condemned with equal passion. I would like to turn this around and ask what it means to be a Northerner. What "Northern" values are praised or condemned? God bless.
My viewpoint is that a "Northerner" is a term of exclusion more than a term of commonality. Basically, a "Northerner" is an American who is not a Southerner (and possibly doesn't live too far west.) I think that the South has forged their own common culture to some extent, but that simply hasn't happened in northern states. It's a little like, in my opinion, claiming that "Not Hispanic or Latino" is an ethnic group.
That brings me to my other point - the "differences" between the Northeast, Midwest, and South that people talk about so much. People make it sound like the Northeast is all super fast paced, rude, and ultra-liberal, the South is all slow as molasses, super fake friendly, and ultra-conservative, and the Midwest is somewhere in-between. Those are stereotypes. The reality is there are a lot of complex intricacies that make up a local culture, and we're a lot more alike than different. But since we generally interact with people from our own areas, the prevailing patterns become "normal" and patterns of other locations are looked down upon. For example, I'm from Michigan. To me, calling soft drinks "pop," driving a car/truck/SUV from GM/Ford/Chrysler, and taking all your vacations Up North, to Cedar Point, or Florida, is normal. But that's only true where I'm from. I lived in the Northeast for a few years (well PA), and met a bunch of people from there, and guess what - finding common ground wasn't an issue in the least. I didn't start calling it "soda" or anything, but meeting people from the Northeast dispelled any myths about all New Jersey residents acting like "Jersey" shore, or for them, that all Midwesterners are dumb flyover state hicks or something. So for me, regional identity has its place, but shouldn't come to define us.
I can counter that with my wife who just took a job Monday in southern Delaware and brought in a bunch of food today to break the ice because since she got there, all she has been called is a Yank and northerner. So today she left her lights on and her car battery was dead and since she has jumper cables she asked 5 of the women that she works with for help and they told her "tough **** yank" and "too bad".
So don't freakin tell me how nice all southerners are, cause they're NOT.
The best part is these nitwits don't even know that southerners, real southerners consider them to Yanks as well.
My viewpoint is that a "Northerner" is a term of exclusion more than a term of commonality. Basically, a "Northerner" is an American who is not a Southerner (and possibly doesn't live too far west.) I think that the South has forged their own common culture to some extent, but that simply hasn't happened in northern states. It's a little like, in my opinion, claiming that "Not Hispanic or Latino" is an ethnic group.
That brings me to my other point - the "differences" between the Northeast, Midwest, and South that people talk about so much. People make it sound like the Northeast is all super fast paced, rude, and ultra-liberal, the South is all slow as molasses, super fake friendly, and ultra-conservative, and the Midwest is somewhere in-between. Those are stereotypes. The reality is there are a lot of complex intricacies that make up a local culture, and we're a lot more alike than different. But since we generally interact with people from our own areas, the prevailing patterns become "normal" and patterns of other locations are looked down upon. For example, I'm from Michigan. To me, calling soft drinks "pop," driving a car/truck/SUV from GM/Ford/Chrysler, and taking all your vacations Up North, to Cedar Point, or Florida, is normal. But that's only true where I'm from. I lived in the Northeast for a few years (well PA), and met a bunch of people from there, and guess what - finding common ground wasn't an issue in the least. I didn't start calling it "soda" or anything, but meeting people from the Northeast dispelled any myths about all New Jersey residents acting like "Jersey" shore, or for them, that all Midwesterners are dumb flyover state hicks or something. So for me, regional identity has its place, but shouldn't come to define us.
Then people on here overreacted. Usually hearing the word Yankee or Northerner seems like its a really bad thing coming from a Southerner that can make people feel defensive. When Southerners come visit here I am always very polite and view them as fellow Americans not Southerners. Although regional differences are interesting its the feeling that Northerners get when they live in the South that they can never truly assimilate that leads to this tension.
I am going to take definite issue with this point...even though I understand what you are saying.
It has been my experience in the vast majority of cases that the reason for non-assimiliation is not because the northerner encounters hostility, but their own disdain and contempt for the South and Southern ways. It often manifests in the common complaint of northerners constantly harping on how they did it "Up North"...as if that matters.
Now, break here. I realize that -- other than humor and speech -- mannerisms can be very hard to translate across regional lines. For instance, what might be seen as admirable frankness in the northeast often comes across as tacky rudeness in the South. Or what we Southerners might view as easy-going friendliness here can be taken by a northerner as being backwards and slow.
And so on...
On a related tangent, the term "yankee" is just part of the historical Southern vernacular...it doesn't necessarily mean anything derogatory...amymore than an Englishman applying the term to Americans is intended as a insult.
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