common misconceptions about the south

LOL...honestly...I am from the south...Texas to be exact...and I am an educated southerner but you are right about the grouping that goes on...because everywhere you go you hear the people from texas are a bunch of rednecks that run around in tight jeans on thier horses on the range chasing cows...lol...yeah I wish...and then I hear all of the time about how people from the north are nothing but yankees...lol...I feel people are all people...doesn't matter where they are from or what they look like...just my feelings on the topic

I know you currently live in Oklahoma, where I grew up. I have checked your profile. They even look down on people further south, sometimes. The big deal, when I was in school, was that Oklahoma was so behind in the area of education. This family moved to our area, and the daughters, one older than me and one younger, constantly talked about the educational rankings of Oklahoma compared to California, where they were from. Sad thing is, both of them were poorly educated, and it showed daily. That is one misconception about the south that many people believed. The fact is that you will find learned people, and cultured people, and kind people anywhere you go.

Ah the stereotyping...now why on earth would a bunch of d*mnyankees think Southerners are ignorant? LOL! Here's a couple facts that knock holes in the stereotype. There are more horsesper capita in Minnesota than in TX. Temple University is in Tennessee. Not all Southerners have a southern accent, some sound like they grew up in Boston! On the other hand... People who live in the north don't dig tunnels to town in the winter, snow don't get that deep. Northerners do walk on water, they drive on it too, in the winter...then they drill holes in it and fish. Redneck is a state of mind not geography. Besides, what's wrong with being a redneck? Jeff Foxworthy made a good living out of 'being one'.

I'm from the south .I live in Florida that doesn't mean I am from hicksvillie.

yes, that is what i was saying in some previous discussions that we get to know about some thing from some sources and develop an image about that thing... but reality opens when we experience ourself... :)

I've lived both in the upper midwest and in the southwest, and frankly your find your share of idiots and well-cultured individuals wherever you go in this life. It's too easy to stereotype. I was brought up believing that Americans stood for this, and black people do that, and homosexuals are to blame for this,... Eventually, there a comes a time, when you start to think for yourself, and you realize how overindoctrinated with bull you are. (Some people unfortunately, never start to think for themselves.)The best philosophy, I feel, in terms of looking at other human beings is to realize we all have more in common than we have differences, and in many ways literal and metaphoric we are mirrors of one another.

I'm from the south and I know that lots of people think we are slow and stupid, but that simply isn't true. We are just as smart and well educated as everyone else. Things are just more laid back down here. We stop and chat, we are polite and friendly, but by no means stupid.

I lived in the South, and lived in the North for about 5 years. There a lot of people who thinks Southerners speaks funny. They also think most Southerners are racist.

News flash, there are more hicks in the north and midwest then here in the south, Ive lived in Jersey for most of my life and in Ill, Atlanta was a welcomed change

this sounds sad because its happening within your own country. if you have misconceptions about your countrymen, how much more about people from other countries or with other cultures? thus, it wont be a surprise to me if there cant really be world peace or understanding because people will always have misconceptions that will lead to misunderstandings and disunity

I am from the south and it amazes me how people assume you are uneducated just by you accent. It is a little fun to play with sometimes. It can be good to play dumb sometimes to really find fun to do at times. The face is that it is just sterotypes and stupid people are everywhere just turn on the news and you will have a min of 5 example in a days time.

When i travelled abroud people always think im from the mountians because im from NC which makes no scence to me, I live in a Big City, but the southerner;northerner thing will always be, Gray and blue , Reb and Yank....

I was born and raised in NYS, moved to NC when I was 22. I was amazed but for different reasons. I met my share of "hicks" but also my share of well educated people. Most were very friendly, then became distant when I opened my mouth to talk. A YANKEE, from NY no less. The amazing part is that everyone I met, I mean literally everyone though NY was NYC. They were amazed to find that there is more to NY than the city. Once folks got to know me they were very pleasant and many began to change their opinions of us New Yorkers. I guess for any of us the unkown can be whatever your imagination lets you believe it is.

I agree with you. I'm from Alabama and happen to be well educated. We all know "no educated folk come from these here parts". LOL

I've visited down south before and it's pretty much like any other place in the US. Of course the difference in dialect is obvious and I will say it's generally a much slower placed area then out west or up north but face it, we have hicks no matter where we go and that's the glory of our country! We mix together so well!!!!

There is a lesson for you! Don't believe in stereotypes of any kind! You can have hicks in the northern part of the country as well.

As someone who was born in the northern states and lived in both the southern and northern states I can say I have heard many more misconceptions about the south. And I stick up for the south as much as possible. As for what kind of misconceptions have I heard or believed? Believed I would have to say none that I can remember, I think this is due to my living in so many places and being brought up to know not to believe everything you hear until you experience it yourself. I have heard how backwards the south is and not up with the times, I live in the northern states now and I just visited the south for three weeks and I can tell you, I think the area I live in at least is more backwards and not up with the times then the south. As for hicks....I live in hicksville USA!!!

There are lots of stereo typing going on these days which lead to a lot of miscommunication. I'm glad you found out for youself that the people here are nice and friendly (for the most part).

I'm from southwest Virginia, and if you live there, you'll know that there are two definitely distinct views - if you're from Northern Virginia, it's almost as bad as being over the Mason-Dixon, but if you're from Southwest Virginia, you're stupid hick. I still get it - our particular position on the map is right between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains - history shows that there are a lot of Scotch-Irish and Cherokee (of which I am both) and the particular accent that we have is one that is similar to some of the words that can be found in Gaelic (I think scottish). But it's not your typical southern accent like you'd find in say, Tennessee. But my frustration is the stereotype I constantly get because I have an accent. People automatically doubt my intelligence, and it was particularly frustrating when people wouldn't let me live up to my potential simply because of prejudices. There were several instances I ran into with that when I was in college working in jobs. But that's just the prejudices I've seen...I've always found that people from Northern Virginia (excluding a few of my friends *grin*) have been extremely pushy and bossy, and downright rude in certain situations. But I refuse to stereotype EVERYONE up North...but that's the general view *grin*.

I agree, we visit arkansas quite often, and you can't really find more friendly people! Keep in mind we live close to chicago, so anyone that acknowledges you-we are happy. I think people from the south are very tolerant of us yankees. We speak to fast, want our shopping carts to move quickly, and want our food quickly when dining out-its all about slowing down. Thats why we love it there!