People cutting down southerners

I was born and raised in NC and claim I am from Mayberry. lol! I went to New York on a vacation with friends a few years ago and all the 'natives' kept wanting me to say something so they could hear my southern accent. lol! Probably everything they know about the south they learned from tv shows like 'Andy Griffth', 'The Beverly Hillbillies', 'The Dukes of Hazard', 'Hee Haw'... you get my drift. But we have some of the best universities (Duke, UNC, NCSU, Wake Forest) and high tech areas such as Research Triangle Park. An excellent toll-free highway system, great vacation spots from the ocean to the mountains. We just need more parking spaces for our donkeys! roflmao!

Well bickielady I am not American but one of my dream places to visit is the south of the us! I love the accent, the relaxed pace and the idea of that good old southern hospitality! I wouldn't take to heart what people say it is most probably tongue in cheek! Here in the uk we have generalisations about different people like the welsh really 'love' their sheep, the irish are thick, the scots are drunk and mean with money (well the drunk part might be true sometimes!) and the english are arrogant! None of them are true it is just the way people talk - I would love to visit that area so I wouldn't worry that this is a widespread attitude!

People always say mean things about stuff they are clueless about, apprently it makes them feel smarter and trust me people are pretty dumb up here. As for why people are moving to the south, it is cheaper than living up here. A carton of smokes is half as much where you live compared to where I live.

Ok, I've shared it here before but it fits this discussion. My parents divorced when I was 1 year old and for the first 7 years of my life I lived with my mother, a northerner. I many times in those early years heard my mother time and time again refer to my father as "the hillbilly" my father having been born and raised in the back hills of Kentucky. As I got older whenever someone talked about "nationality" I would say, "I'm German, Irish, Hillbilly" I did not realize that the later was not actually an official "nation". I still refer to myself as "a hillbilly" and do in fact have some of the traits that others tend to "use against" us such as the bare feet thing. Hey I was born in the north but I hate wearing shoes, but I call myself a hillbilly. I do not however appreciate it when others refer to people from the south as "hillbillies" how stupid are they, don't they know that the whole south doesn't have hills?

Well I'm originally from the south so I absolutely love it!!! Of course it's like anywhere else...there will always be an unlikable person or two...but over all I think us "folk from the south" are pretty wonderful...and when people refer to us as hillbillies..I jokingly say..." we prefer to be called Bluegrass Americans"...( since I'm from Kentucky)..and most just laugh it off...I was raised with Southern Hospitality and I try to convey that to those I meet!!! Y'all come back now..:)

Wow, should I be insulted by this thread? I happen to live in hillbilly country. The Ozark region. Are you saying that hillbillies are unintelligent, unfriendly, and unworthy people? See, it is so easy to take innocent comments and make a tado over them - it is just as easy and a lot more fruitful to let it slide. I really am from the Ozarks though (and have traveled and lived in many many places), and I can tell you I have received a lot more kindness from these "backwards" folks than most anywhere I have been. I have lived in the south, and hospitality in my experience was superficial, all smiles and propriety on the outside - but a knife getting sharpened to stab you in the back as soon as it is turned. These "hillbillies" here in the Ozarks may not seem up to par to most folk, but they are the most gregarious people, and would give you the shirt off their back if you were in need of it. They often remind me of the "widows farthing" I am glad to live here amongst people who live a hard but good (as in goodness) life.

I wouldn't let it get you down my friend . I am Scottish and some people think we all still live in thatched roof houses and wear kilts and get our water from the stream, i think you are lovely xx

ya i agree to that

I certainly agree with you on that. Whenever I visite the south Im always amazed how friendly the people are in the south. I wouldnt let it bother you what people say they are just jeolous.LOL The people who live in the south are extremely friendly.

All this time I was thinking that when people talk about hillbillies they are referring to those persons who are living at the mountains. Like the cowboys and the farmers. This language barrier really works this way. I've often come across the term, mostly in movies and tv shows I watch. This information has dawned upon me only this and this time only. Don't be affected by it. By the way I take this subject, it's only a kind of an expression used to describe where people are from.

Hmmm... Obviously Hillybilly is not a nice word for you guys. I think it's easy to label people from where they are from or where they live. I get called a brummie because I live near Birmingham, when actually I am not a brummie at all, I live in Staffordshire and am a Staffordian! haha. Don't take offense... you probably have names and labels for them too! haha.

I understand your frustration and anger completely. Being born and raised in the Los Angeles area, I have to hear how Southern Californians are stupid airheads and everything is better in Chicago or New York, or wherever else they came from. People move out here, but they don't move back. I grew up with regional rivalries here, like Dodger fans vs Angel fans, UCLA fans vs USC fans, but when I moved to Washington DC for a few years, I became defender of all things LA - the bashing was just too much. As far as the South, most of my experiences have been with people who had moved out of the South, and based on the ones I've met, are a kind and friendly people, not to mention that three of the best minds of American political philosophy (as opposed to modern day politicians), Washington, Jefferson and Madison were from the South.

People can be so mean. I have realized that most of the time people who are ignorant, talk that way. So, the best solution is to educate them, or ignoring them.

I was born in Michigan but have lived in the south all of my life. My dad is a southern boy and my mom is korean. They married when he was in Korea and we settled in Tennessee and the Carolinas. They have since retired to Florida. I can't count how many times someone called my daddy a redneck and a hillbilly. I get teased by my friends about my thick southern accent. Be proud of your heritage, don't be worried about being called a hillbilly. I love the south and wouldn't give it up for anything. Because of my ethnicity I have had a little problem in some places in the south, but a few ignorant people won't make me love the south any less. So, my answer is I absolutely love southerners. Nobody can make biscuits and gravy like us!

you worry to much about what other people say stuff them lead your own life thats all you should worry about and bugger the lot of them.

i live in the midwest and recently a few years ago we were forced to vacation in arkansas. we were going to go to florida, but the hurricanes were going on, and so the travel company recommended arkansas because it was still 96 in september. so to make a long story short, we packed our bags and against our childrens wishes we went there for our vacation. never having been there, we had no idea what to expect! well we loved it-how beautiful the ozarks are, and the people (hillbillies, you call them),,,are the most friendly and nice people. so now we own 2 properties there, and hope to retire there someday. there is something to be said for the people in the south,, its where i want to be. up here, us yankees are not nearly as welcoming, and friendly!

I have noticed that also. I live in Oklahoma and have heard people call us hicks, hillbillies, and former NBA star Charles Barkley said Oklahoma was not a place for blacks, because we didn't even have any! People say things when they have never even been to the place they are bashing! Ignorance is NOT bliss.

the folks of the south are friendly people who are victems of stereotype and bigotry. just like black people, beople call them names and call them to type.

I am a Yankee transplanted to N.Carolina, and I find most of the people very nice. But I have had the opposite problem, some people, not all, like I said most are nice, some people have been very derogeratory towards me, referring to me as a 'd*mn yankee', this bothers me, like the term hillbilly bothers you. I take people at face value, I want to get to know them for who they are, not for where they are from, and it really hurts when someone looks down on me because I am from the North. I guess it goes both ways, and some people just resort to namecalling for no good reason.

In my opinion,we should not always believe what other people say.we should believe what we see.That is true.some people may not like those people,so they have a bad thinking of themselves.