It is getting dark in the South. The sun is dropping towards the horizon line like a giant blazing peach. Of course, it will be seen by easygoing, hospitable folks by porchlight, as they sip mostly sugar sweet tea with a spoonful of water.
This activity comes right in between musings from the Bible (pronounced like Ba-ble) . And once the pigs have been fed, the shotguns properly oiled and polished, and the right groups have been thoroughly hated for the day, there is a return to the trailer, where conversations about the natives, the government, and the sheriff are heard sandwiched between the ringing out of loogies against the spittoon, the frying of crispy fried chicken, the flatulence of grandma, the faint distant slaughtering of a cow, the howling of coonhounds and of course, Grandpa Pappy, cursing in the bathroom, wiping his ass with literature and fine art.
Besides the vision of fireflies blinking like free-floating Christmas lights, there is a distinct scent in the air - boiling fat, bacon on the skillet. But something else- the waft of sexism, racism, and homophobia, too swirls in the air, permeates the senses, and drones out the brain. It's no wonder how southern folks become tired , plum-tuckered they say!
And perhaps to lay crude portrait of my homeland in this way, the region of my birth, early life, family, and childhood friends is all that is needed. You can say anything you want about the South and you'll get little argument from them - anyway, they don't read.
When I see the United States in turmoil, the rage of racial divides, streets ablaze, Groundhog Day (as Steve QJ put it), and mass shootings - I think of that sleeping giant of an entity, that starting point of so much rage, that scapegoat of so much wrongdoing that are the American southern states. I can't help but think: that perhaps the ills of the "American Problem" have solutions contained within those same states.
The South. I had to get out of there myself. I hated rednecks - cultureless, toothless buffoons. And at the age of 37, I have developed an increasing sense of affection for my time spent there. I think of it as a character herself, the South. A slumbering beauty - a sleeping giant.
My prediction is that growing up in the 90s will gradually be seen more as a blessing - Bill Clinton was the president of America and whatever your thoughts on him, people were generally happy and the relationship between government and the people felt minimal. The economy was doing well and it was reflected in people's general attitudes about money and their daily lives.
The 90s are now what we would call simpler times. There were times growing up when most of my friends were black, and if I had looked around to notice, I would find I was the only white boy in the room - but the South was all good in that way, no black kid ever tried to make a deal of it or tried to embarrass me for being white. They would have looked foolish - almost nobody thought on that level.
Whether anybody ever said it or not, I could feel a type of local pride that went along with Martin Luther King Jr., born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. His birthplace just a few miles from where I was born- Fulton County Hospital. Perhaps one thing that helped - many of those who rightly fought for and who rightly won the many battles of the Civil Rights Movement were from the South - country as a corn-flavored ice cream bar. And perhaps that is the crux of it, and America's "solution" may be southern, in a sense. If not in geography, at least in spirit.
America is not as racist as some suggest, and many racial gaps can be explained, once certain variables are considered. America has gotten past much of its homophobia in the past decades as well. The battle of sexes seems crude, too - and perhaps mostly rhetorical.
But America is a nation in recovery from racism, and identity politic rhetoric has a firm grip on every conversation at the moment, in one way or another.
I feel what America could use is a heavy dose of humility - a sense of humor about itself and its citizens. Now, some things just aren't funny - school shootings, for instance. But in some ways, the death of humor is the death of self-expression. America won't get out of its own way by laughing all of it off - but it hasn't gotten anywhere good with nothing but shouting.
And what is it about the South that could serve a broader purpose? Well, there is a spirit of sweetness there. Yeah, laugh if you want to. But my experience was always one of kindness and respect amongst people. In the South, you typically know who your neighbors were - there is simplicity there, and the best definition for what is a "community".
The South is typically slow in its tempo as well. I am sure there are many Americans who wish things would just slow down. Culture cannot keep moving at this pace - this, too, is unsustainable it seems.
People in the South don't generally mince words - they are politically incorrect, flagrantly foul, opinionated, and unapologetic. Perhaps people should apologize less - feel free to speak their minds more. If we don't let it all out during those "uncomfortable conversations", then what good is having them?
The South is often pelted with crude renderings - ignorance, racism, illiteracy, xenophobia, and obesity abound. Well, I know rednecks, I do - and it isn't always pretty. But the South offers the other states something - a complexity there, a homegrown type of richness of flavors, authenticity, hospitality, music, and togetherness. The south-as-setting has seen the worst of racialized politics, and brutality - the people are not necessarily connected directly to them, but those events, those changes have had an impact on its distinct society, its way of life.
The South has the legacy of being on the wrong side of history. This is the long memory of the institutions in some sense, but is the stain permanent? Can it be fleshed out, scrubbed away, or at least put to good use? Nobody is going to forget, that is true enough, But can it be moved away from? Can the pack mule of moral outrage help drive us out of our own current divide?
I am not sure - I have no dog in it. I won't live in America again. I won't ever live in its southern states. It is long gone for me and so are the 90s.
Whatever the case, the South is often associated with hate. But there is also a heaping of love and understanding. America is lost without authenticity, without some sense of humor. America is searching for its heart, its soul - it is rehashing outdated arguments in some ways, creating new politics and new identities in others.
For a stable future, a sustainable rhetoric, and a more perfect union of values, perhaps the country may learn from looking at a place that seems backward, but it is more complicated than that, is it not? Anyway, it is just an instinct. Maybe I am right - maybe I am wrong. Or maybe I just have Georgia on my mind. Merry Christmas from Brazil.
JSV
2023
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
I think the stereotypes of Southerners, while there may be a kernel of truth in them, often veer towards the ludicrous Hollywood caricatures of your opening paragraph. I'm an Englishman who spent 14 years in Arkansas, and while I certainly met some obnoxious people there, the great majority were decent, good people, perhaps not always well educated, but that was hardly their fault. And while I probably won't return to the States to live either, if I did, it would certainly be in the South, because on the whole the people are more authentic there, more honest, friendlier, and the music's better and there's more sense of community. And to me there's nothing more 'deplorable' than a self-righteous Yankee like the one who so scornfully characterised a whole section of the country with that word.
People in Georgia have you on their mind too 😉