ten hole diatonic

I have lived my entire life in Georgia, while my father's entire family is either straight from Italy or New "Joisey" and my mother grew up in Michigan, but has had family roots in America for hundreds of years, which, as far as I'm concerned, makes me a...nonperson. I don't have an accent (of any sort), and don't consider myself "Southern" culturally. Yes, I grew up here geographically, but I was raised in the comfortable bubble of suburbia, sheltered from the polarized mindset of those from overcrowded cities or sparse countrysides. I went to school with Blacks, whites, asians, weird European kids, etc, so I was exposed to a little of everything. I feel like this has made me more adaptable, as opposed to someone who grew up in either extreme. And while I feel inclined to be proud of this "cultural homogenization," I am simultaneously sad that I am a nonperson, that I don't associate with a unique culture.
Recently, a good, long-time friend and I were in quite the discourse about how much we hated visiting our northern cousins, who seem to take joy in poking fun at us "Southerners" and how racist and stupid we are. They have this delusional image in their heads about how we all sit on our front porches with shotguns, adorned in dirty suspenders, chatting about the weather and talkin' all slow like. This upset me, not because I associate with the South, but because I don't associate with the South. I don't know much about it's varied and dynamic cultures.
Another good friend of mine goes to LSU and was telling me about the culture there, and it just seemed so fascinating to me. For some reason I conjured up the image of some blues musician playing the harmonica in front of a seafood restaurant serving gumbo (which, apparently, is more or less accurate). And for whatever reason, I became really interested in the Harmonica and Blues musicians.
This year for Christmas I didn't ask for Modern Warfare 2, or the shiniest new iPod, I asked for a harmonica. A cheap, little ten hole diatonic harmonica. My musical abilities, which rival that of a deaf hamster, would typically persuade me otherwise from an endeavor, but I couldn't resist. The pocket-sized instrument holds so many cultural implications, and has so much history. The harmonica found its way over to the US through Austrian immigrants in the 19th century. It exploded in popularity and before anyone knew it, Abe Lincoln had one in his pocket, soldiers carried them during the Civil War, even Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid played them. Because the harmonica was cheap to manufacture and was relatively new (compare it to a violin for example) it was associated with the lower class. The harmonica then found its way up to black blues musicians in St. Louis and Chicago, and even further north. "Little Walter" revolutionized the instrument by amplifying it through a microphone, and other blues musicians began to experiment with its effects and abilities, further ingraining the little reed instrument more and more of as an icon for that style of music.
The harmonica really does offer a good representation of the South. The harmonica is linked to the Blues, which is linked to the South. Culturally, the music derives from people of African American descent in the Deep South, and is expressive of their struggles and adversity they faced in early American history. The harmonica is such a simple, cheap instrument, making it appealing to poor Blacks growing up in the post-civil was era. It inevitably found its way into the Blues culture and has rooted itself in the history and culture here; and is nigh impossible to separate. The harmonica is a perfect representation of southern culture because it espouses a rich history and dynamic influences which persevere today.