Welcome to life in a small town. Welcome to Oden, Arkansas. Allow me to depict a picture of this country town where I was raised. Oden is a unique microscopic town located dead center in the heart of the Quachita National Forest that has a whopping 220 people who thrive there. On any given day in this small town it is not uncommon to see people riding horses, ATVs, or even a riding lawn mower down Highway 88. To put this into perspective, the entire county which consists of six towns does not have a single stop light, and the few stop signs there might as well be optional. This is the definition of country. Many individuals are under the impression that people from the south are “redneck”, toothless, and illiterate. Being from the country does not automatically make a person a dimwit; this is the biggest stereotype that I have had to battle my entire life.
The perception that individuals have developed of “country people” or “Southerners” is extremely aggravating. I was born in Arkansas and I spent 19 years of my life there. I am considered a southern bell, which is yet again another stereotype, but I am not stupid. I am currently in the last semester of my associate’s degree and I am also working on my bachelor’s degree. Almost every person that lives in this tiny town has received some sort of college education. The individuals there do wear cowboy boots, wrangler jeans, and possibly even a flannel shirt or two. Please do not let this be misleading dressing simple does not make them simple-minded, they just enjoy being comfortable. I cannot argue with the fact that the individuals living in the country differ a great deal from people who live in the city. City life compared to country life would best be compared to the differe...
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...here are unintelligent. I am from this town, I spent 19 years of my life there. I am considered a southern bell, but I know that I am not stupid for the simple reason that I am from the country. This stereotype is ludicrous and the individuals that believe this are absurd. The idea is hurtful to say the least. It is unfair for everyone that lives in the south for this senseless label to exist. However, “southerns” allow this stereotype to remain in existence; the blame can placed on many different things. I blame the media, southern extremist, and I blame myself. As person from the south I should stand proud of where I came from. I should not allow people to stereotype someone including myself because they are from the south. Being from the country does not automatically make a person a dimwit. I am from country, but I am not a dimwit. Please do not stereotype me.
In “Antebellum Southern Exceptionalism: A New Look at an Old Question” James McPherson argues that the North and the South are two very different parts of the country in which have different ideologies, interests, and values. Mcpherson writes this to show the differences between the north and the south. He gives perspectives from other historians to show how the differently the differences were viewed. These differences included the north being more industrialized while the south was more agricultural. He gives evidence to how the differences between the north and south came together as the south produced tobacoo, rice, sugar and cotton, which was then sent to the north to be made into clothing or other fabrics. Mcpherson analyzes the differences
John Shelton Reed says that the South embodies three different regions. Do all of these regions still exist? Or have they become incorporated into what is considered the South today? “The Three Souths,” by Reed, divides the South into three categories: Dixie, Southeast, and Cultural South. Southern agriculture and the growth of cotton established Dixie. The Southeast region is a metropolitan region that relies on commerce and communication to grow. The valued qualities, such as religion, sports, and manners are characteristic ways that set apart the Cultural South. According to Reed, Atlanta is the only place one can be in all three “Souths” at once. The daily life of a person in the South is very similar to the daily life of a person in another part of the country. Each work a normal workday but their use of free time sets them apart (Reed 17-27). The South of the past still exists today through traditional Southern values passed down in families and carried throughout the nation, yet the division of the South no longer exists as a three part entity, but as a growing, changing region.
What is the most common perception held in this country concerning the people and the way they live in the South? The perception most of the country has about life down here in the South is one of slow-paced living, simple-minded people, and stubborn, unwarranted pride. One of the best ways to combat this perception is through the use of humor; Lewis Grizzard was one of the best at this, because he could take the experiences from his own life as well as the lives of others in the South and turn them into humorous semi-fictional stories. He was one of the preeminent fictional authors this country has ever seen because of his ability to connect with people and joke about everyday life in the south, without offending the subjects of those jokes, despite the popular opinion the rest of the country held.
Imagine a historian, author of an award-winning dissertation and several books. He is an experienced lecturer and respected scholar; he is at the forefront of his field. His research methodology sets the bar for other academicians. He is so highly esteemed, in fact, that an article he has prepared is to be presented to and discussed by the United States’ oldest and largest society of professional historians. These are precisely the circumstances in which Ulrich B. Phillips wrote his 1928 essay, “The Central Theme of Southern History.” In this treatise he set forth a thesis which on its face is not revolutionary: that the cause behind which the South stood unified was not slavery, as such, but white supremacy. Over the course of fourteen elegantly written pages, Phillips advances his thesis with evidence from a variety of primary sources gleaned from his years of research. All of his reasoning and experience add weight to his distillation of Southern history into this one fairly simple idea, an idea so deceptively simple that it invites further study.
So what is Appalachia? Appalachia is no different from any other person in this world. The people had to struggle just as bad as some of us did, but were criticized because they lived in the mountains or away from other people. They didn’t know that once they sold their land for the oil miners that they would loose everything and eventually be run out from their own homes. They couldn’t help being poor or not being able to go to school and get the proper education like most of us got. So why do we still have these same stereotypes now as they had before? One description was that they walked barefoot and I guess I’m part of the Appalachian region because I walk outside almost everyday barefoot even though I had my thoughts about which Appalachian people were. Appalachia is part of our history that people don’t know much about or they wouldn’t have these stereotypes.
In her book, A Voice from the South, Anna J. Cooper expressly addresses two issues: the participation of women in American society and America’s race problem. These are two issues very close to Cooper as an African American woman herself and she claims to speak for all African American women on these points. She argues that for America to be a truly democratic country that has freedoms for all people, it must have participation by women and blacks.
The South is known for its hospitality, kindness, and its ability to ignore the odd
Southern culture is based upon three main things. The south is known for its hospitality, language, and food. Here is a bit of an overview on the history and background of the Cajun culture and language. Cajun culture began with the arrival of French Acadians who migrated to and settled in what is now Louisiana mainly between 1765 and 1785 (Cajuns, 1996). Cajun French is a variety of the French language spoken primarily in Louisiana, specifically in the southern parishes (Cajun French, 2016). The Cajuns spoke French almost exclusively until the 20th century. Many would learn English get along in an increasingly Anglo society as the 19th century progressed, but their main language was Cajun French. The basics of the language is their Acadian
Network news appears to convey more stereotyped impressions, a narrower range of positive roles for blacks than for whites. Representations of whites in network news are more varied and more positive than of blacks, not because of conscious bias, but because of the way conventional journalistic norms and practices interact with political and social reality. The findings raise questions about the journalist ability to represent the reality of black America while adhering to the professional practices that currently shape network news. Mainstream news portrayed African American as criminals, homeless beggars, welfare queens, ghetto-dwelling gang members, or drug addicts in American Society. Perpetuation of young black men as dangerous has been planted in the mind of American society not only by words and images projected by journalists but also in the mainstream news especially. Television particularly the news has the least positive representation of African Americans especially young males. When television became a house-hold item in the early 1950, this was a dark time in American History because there were huge racial tensions brewing in the south. The news show African American mostly young males getting abuse, hosed by police and attack by police dogs during a peaceful protest. It gives the negative images that African American was unlawful people and need to be dealt with swift action. Most of the time African Americans weren’t resisting but the news media depicted the images that they were and police were just doing their job to keep the peace.
Slavery has existed in one form or another for centuries and in some places in the world it still exists today. In most places slavery is a way of life and there is nothing that can be done about it, and in southern America that was the case too for over three hundred years. During that period many people fought against slavery and tried to get it abolished from the country, but little did they know how long and how brutal the fight would be. Even after slavery was abolished by the thirteenth amendment in 1865, the African American and some European people suffered even harder times than they did during the years of slavery. After slavery was abolished a few years later the Jim Crow laws were introduced in the south, making it nearly impossible for African Americans to live a free life, and these laws would eventually shape the race relations in the south for several years to come. The Jim Crow laws made African Americans second class citizens to the white people of the south. Even though slavery was abolished in the south, these laws made sure that African Americans were not able to enjoy their new found freedom. These laws were implemented by white community to make sure that they kept the power that they once had over the African Americans, because they were afraid of what might happen if they gain power. The white people in the south were successful in doing so for almost eighty years.
This conversation actually took place during my first semester of college. However, being quite accustomed to the questions that I am frequently asked about the place I call home, this conversation somehow made me more upset than usual. This conversation made me realize just how blind society can be towards other groups in society. Different stereotypes are placed on groups for various reasons-race, sex, occupations, and geographical locations-just to name a few. The last of these four different classifications is the one that distinguishes me from most of society. Growing up in Appalachia has made me a minority (different from the rest of society), and also plagued me with many stereotypes. Everyone in society has heard the stereotypes. However, I would like to focus on the how's and why's of them. How they came to be. Why society does perceive...
Southern hospitality is the best in the world. People that live in the South are very nice and are always willing to help another person in any way they can. If someone is from out of town and needs directions to a certain place southerners will make sure he or she knows how to get there before he or she leaves them. Southerners are very polite. Every time we pass someone on the rode, we are going to wave at him or her. Towns in the South have fewer people and everyone knows everyone. The people in the South are nicer than anywhere else in the United States.
Social stratification as defined by Brinkerhoff et al. is “an institutionalized pattern of inequality in which social statuses are ranked on the basis of their access to scarce resources” (Brinkerhoff et al. 152). By scarce resources, many people have to deal with poverty and having a lack of money to buy the things they need in their lives. Social class is defined as “a category of people who share roughly the same class, status, and power and who have a sense of identification with each other” (Brinkerhoff et al. 155). Your social class has to do with your socioeconomic status along with the power and connections you have. Social mobility on the other hand is “the process of changing one’s social class” (Brinkerhoff et al. 153).
Living and growing up in a small town is better than doing so in a big city.
Imagine having to choose to reside in one place for the rest of your life. Which would you opt for? Some people would argue that the hyperactive lifestyle that a big city has to offer has more benefits than living in the country. However, others would contend that the calm and peaceful environment of the countryside is much more rewarding. Several people move from the city to a farm to get away from the hustle and bustle. Likewise, some farmers have traded in their tractors and animals to live a fast paced city life. Of course, not all large cities are the same nor are all of the places in the country identical. Realizing this, ten years ago, I decided to hang up the city life in Indiana to pursue a more laid back approach to life in rural Tennessee. Certainly, city life and life in the country have their benefits, but they also have distinguishable differences.