Is the South becoming more like America or just the opposite?
Sometimes I wonder if the Southland will lose its traditions and culture with the influx of newcomers. I shudder to think so, but evidence seems to indicate that rather than the South becoming more like America – the nation is becoming more like the South.
After the War Between the States and the ensuing so-called “Reconstruction” every attempt was made to bring the Southland into alignment with the rest of the nation. We were kept in abject poverty as punishment for our role in the war. Unlike Europe and Japan after World War II, we didn’t have a “Marshal Plan” or “Foreign Aid” to help us recover. During the 1930s, President Roosevelt was led to opine that the South was America’s foremost economic problem. But we prevailed.
It took several generations and during the last World War, the South experienced recovery, slowly at first, but it didn’t take long for things to kick into high gear. The so called Sun Belt became the darling of industry, banking and tourists.
The process was accelerated by Interstate highways, a more mobile society and air conditioning causing more folks from more northern climes to march our way. Much has been beneficial but there always remained the threat that Dixie would lose its uniqueness – its special flavor. But, in recent years, it has become apparent that America is adopting Southern Ways.
We can see the fingerprints of Southern culture on just about every facet of American life.
Let’s look at a few examples:
JOBS AND PEOPLE - Over half of the new jobs in recent decades have been created south of the Mason/Dixon Line. The population of the original Confederate states has grown twice as fast as the rest of the nation since 1970. Starting in the 1980s more black Americans moved back south than moved north — reversing a more than one-hundred-year trend.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS - Four of the last five US presidents have been Southerners. No president since 1932, with rare exception, was elected without carrying the Southland, or at least most of it. The national political leadership in both major parties has been disproportionably dominated by Southerners.
MUSIC – Country Music which boasts Dixie as its birthplace has become America’s music of choice. The Blues created by Southern blacks also claims Dixie as home. Place a dot on the hometown of country music stars on a map of America and the southern tail of Appalachia will be almost completely covered.
RELIGION – The South is home to the “Bible Belt” dubbed so because of the intense influence of religion in the Southern states. Most Southern protestant churches are growing while churches in many other portions of the nation are struggling. One of the fasted growing is the Southern Baptist denomination with 16 million members and they don’t even count children and others who have not been baptized. Neither does it account for the multitude of other “Baptist” denominations. Include additional Calvinistic branches to the mix, and, there can be little doubt that Southern Evangelicals have changed the face of national politics for decades.
NASCAR – Let’s not forget stockcar racing which had its origins in Southern moonshine running and has become a $3 billion American past-time – termed by some as the nation’s premier sport. Once considered a redneck enterprise, stockcar racing has become the sports darling for folks from every walk of life in every corner of America.
These are just a few examples of Southern influence on American life. Many others abound.
For the past fifty years or so, America has taken on the persona of the South, according to New York Times writer and editor, Peter Applebome, in his book, “Dixie Rising – How the South is Shaping American Values, Politics and Culture.” The New York City born writer moved south to cover the news for the Times and became entranced with Dixie – as do many others transplanted to the Southland.
In his book, he provides some of the views expressed above and poses the question: Why does the South wield such influence over the rest of the nation? He answers his own question, “…the South offers a sense of history, roots, place and community while the rest of the nation desperately searches for all four.”
He adds that the South has managed to maintain most of the old virtues while resisting new vices and, thusly, has imprinted the rest of the American society.
There are many reasons that America has taken on the countenance of the South but none more important than the basic aspects of Southern Culture formulated in our traditions of conservatism, religion and images of time and place.
The struggle to hold on to the basic facets of our Southern way of life is not over. With the influx of newcomers expected in the ensuing decades, will the Southland maintain it preeminence?
Only time will tell.
We have prevailed in the past. Let’s hope the future will be as kind.