A lot of people have asked me why I moved to the South, and especially since I’m from so far away. My reason was simple – I was looking for better opportunities. As it turns out, I am not alone.
Why do people like the South? The weather is balmy, the cost of living is low, and quite frankly, I think people like the idea of the South. The traditional view of the region is a romanticized, idealized, old-fashioned, morality-driven, rural living type of place and it’s appealing to many people from all areas of origin.
Or, at least people like that version of the South.
The idealized version that persists in the minds of non-Southerners exists as a part of a dichotomy, the other half consisting of poor, uneducated people in rural settings wearing trucker hats and denim overalls who spend their days hunting, fishing, riding tractors and drinking beer down by the river.
Despite that negative and often overriding image, more and more people move to the region every year.
The huge influx of people from other parts of the country (and other countries) into the South in the past several decades has created a dramatic change in the demographic and consequently the culture. There is a wider variety of people, sparking new demands and new businesses, increasing commerce, creating new jobs and expanding cities.
So why, knowing that, does the rest of the country and the world, for that matter, still view the South as poor and podunk? The same reason outsiders think the West is still chock-full of gold miners and gun-slinging outlaws.
North Carolina Public Radio‘s ‘The State of Things‘ is airing a two-part series called ‘Meet the New New South‘ in which they explore this phenomenon.
The first segment aired Monday on WUNC, in which host Frank Stasio discusses the change with several experts, including Historian Tom Hatchett of the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, N.C. Hatchett explains the reason why he believes the South has progressed without breaking free of its stereotypes.
“I think that there are two parts of the country that have really strong images around the world – one is the West, where everyone is a cowboy, of course, except for the Indians . . . and the other is the South – the gracious, the old, (the) mint juleps, the backward-looking world of traditional food and traditional literature . . . and those stereotypes die hard.”
The idea of the ‘New South’ is not itself an new concept. As Stasio says in the program, historians argue that this is perhaps the great-great-great-great-grandchild of the original New South, the first being the post-Civil War era.
The South (like the West) has made great strides, taking it far from its early beginnings. Urbanization, migration, immigration and corporate industry are the main factors lending to the most recent reinvention of the South, says Hatchett, but despite all that negative images of an impoverished, rural resident population prevails.
Can the South reinvent its reputation or is its ‘redneck’ label stuck with Super Glue strength? I’m interested to see what insight Part Two of ‘Meet the New New South’ will bring.
Also, while we’re at it, let’s have some sympathy for the new ‘Wild West’.
Listen to Part 1 of ‘Meet the New New South’ here:
Grits & Greens 