The Triumph of the South

Growing up, I was pretty snobbish about the South. I assumed that southern people were uncultured ignoramuses and vowed I would never live any farther south than where I grew up. By the way, I grew up in south-eastern Virginia, where the line between North and South begin to blur. I also vowed I would never grow my hair out to my shoulders because it was either too girly or because it reminded me of stupid surfer types. Older and now wiser in my ways, I feel much differently. I often grow my hair out, though not as long as I want because it simply takes too long to get it to ponytail length. But I still don’t want to live in the South. Not because I consider southerners to be backward but for the simple reason that there isn’t a particular city that appeals to me.

I think in the North – whether consciously or not – there is a tendency to propagate the idea of the South teeming with yokels and racists. The reality is much different. While it’s always dangerous to generalize, I enjoy doing so. I believe that some of the most exclusionary people in this country reside in the Northeast. The North – especially New York and Boston – like to portray themselves as cultural centers. But they absorb as much culture as they generate, in the same way that imperial capitals did so in the past. Witness Rome during both the pagan empire and later Papal-ruled Italy; or Istanbul during the Ottoman Empire. The biggest cities like New York and the port cities like Boston attract a wide variety of peoples who bring their own cultures and thereby help nourish and exercise a greater culture.

There are two major realms of culture – perhaps the two most important to me – where the South trumps the folk on the other side of the Mason-Dixon line: food and music. Let’s start with food, nearest and dearest to my heart and stomach. When you think of American cuisine, almost every single iconic dish you think of has its roots in the South. Here’s a list I compiled: fried chicken, barbecue (America’s finest contribution to the world?), cornbread, pies (of the sweet potato and pecan variety), cobblers, grits, biscuits and greens (like collard and turnip greens). If we include Texas in the South, then add chili, Tex-Mex and maybe even steak to the mix. And, of course, there is that entire subculture of cuisine that probably deserves its own genre: Cajun/Creole. Now, when we look at the North we have only a few items: pizza, bagels, clam chowder and buffalo wings. As much as I like wings, I think Southern cuisine wins this one.

In terms of music, many of the most iconic forms of American music were born and still thrive in the south. Of course, the original American artform – jazz – is the one that springs to mind immediately. Then we have rock and/or roll (whose origins, I admit, are murky but we can safely say that it arose from the soul and jazz music of the South). Finally, there’s country music – which I can’t tolerate for some reason – which might be the most popular form of music in the country. Of course, New York can lay claim to the type of music that challenges country – hip-hop. Interestingly, though, in the current cycle, the South can count themselves as kings of hip-hop as most of the popular artists getting radio airtime are Southern folk.

As I read over what I wrote, it occurs to me that this may strike one as a simple-minded nah-nah-nah-boo-boo comparison. The intention was not as such but instead to help dispel the myth that Southern culture is unworthy of consideration as high culture. I by no means am an expert of either side – as noted, I grew up in the gray area – but I think I have spent enough time in both New York and Atlanta in the past year and change to make educated opinions. I also don’t mean to minimize the cultures of the Midwest (by which I mean the Great Plains and the Great Lakes areas) or the West (Pacific Coast and Rockies) but I’ve barely spend any time in that part of the country. Over on the East coast, the Midwest and West almost seem like different countries. Call that East coast bias but ask if I care.