Myths Uncovered about Southern Stereotypes

This has become a pet peeve of mine. In movies and television shows, who are the dumb characters and the butt of most jokes? Invariably it's someone with a southern accent. If it's a man, he's a stupid bubba. If the character is a woman, she's portrayed as a weak, simpering southern belle.

Why do Southerners get such a bad rap? Personally, I think the South's negative stereotype has a threefold driving force behind it.

First, we have to go back over 150 years to the Civil War, a deep wound that impacted both the North and the South dramatically. In the years leading up to the war, those in the North vilified the South and its inhabitants because of slavery.

That disdain for the South and everything and everyone associated with it never really went away after the war ended. Through the last 150-plus years, the general sentiment in the rest of the country towards the South has gone from hatred to dislike to mockery.

Shoot forward in time 100 years to the 1960's. The South again came under fire because of the Civil Rights movement. Although the entire country, including the North, denied black Americans rights and was segregated up to that time in history, the fact that protests and riots were held in the Southern states only perpetuated the ill feelings against the South and its inhabitants. 

As a southern native, I've experienced these negative stereotypes firsthand. Some people from other parts of the country think my accent is cute, others assume I'm ignorant. I've even been asked where I was from originally. I'm from Florida, but the man mistakenly believed I was from Australia. Yeah, I haven't quite figured that one out either.

As a court reporter, I deal with attorneys from all over the country. Invariably the topic of where I'm from and how thick my accent is comes up. I've even been told by some that they'll be sure to talk slower so I can understand what they're saying.

I have a college degree. I'm not dumb. I do a job that only a fraction of the population is able to do. But because of my accent, outsiders automatically assume that I only function with half my brain cells.

Even though we here in the South deal with unfair labeling, we've still managed to birth some of the best and brightest that the rest of the country, and even the world, has been privy to.

The number of literary giants that hail from the South are just as impressive. One man that stands above the rest is Nobel Prize recipient William Faulkner, who authored classics such as The Sound and the Fury, A Fable, and As I Lay Dying just to name a few.

Eudora Welty, a Mississippi native, penned the iconic short story that nearly everyone reads in high school: The Death of a Traveling Salesman. Her most famous novel was The Optimist's Daughter.

Mark Twain, Harper Lee, Margaret Mitchell, Fannie Flagg, Tennessee Williams, John Grisham, and Charles Frazier are just a fraction of famous authors that have called the South home.

Some of the most successful entrepreneurs in business were from the South as well. Sam Walton, who hailed from Arkansas, founded what is now the biggest retailer in the world: Wal-Mart.

Before Ted Turner, the idea of an around the clock news station seemed preposterous. Now we couldn't imagine not being able to watch world events unfold in real time on CNN.

These individuals, all Southerners, have given the world so much. Still, the stupid Southerner myth prevails in collective thinking.

Meanwhile, the rest of America gladly accepts this version of Southern reality that is being spoonfed to them by the entertainment industry.

The United States is becoming a divided country politically. To liberals, the South represents everything they despise:  Pro-religion, gun freedom, anti-abortion, anti-LBGT, racism, and much more. Because of this, we Southerners will continue to be vilified to promote their political agenda.

Even though the majority of Southerners have a "live, and let live" mentality, they are lumped in with what politicians see as gun-clinging, homophobic bigots trying to push Jesus on everyone.

Unfortunately, it's a vicious cycle. If repeated enough times, an idea, even if untrue, soon becomes reality. The illusion of bubba and the southern belle will last as long as people see from Hollywood and hear from Washington about the ignorance of the South.