Topic of the Week - Holdovers from Years Past

In the past weeks, we have discussed a number of social and societal characteristics of the South, some of which are historical holdovers still in existence in one form or another today. For example, Southern hospitality is still with us, whether it be through daily life in the South or through representations in advertisements or magazines, such as Southern Living.

Other properties of the South, such as slavery and associated Jim Crow laws, have largely been eradicated in the South, as well as the rest of the United States. Additionally, stereotypes of the South exist, many of which stem around racism and ideas of “dumb rednecks” and are oftentimes either outdated or grounded entirely in fiction, rather than reality. A good example of this would be the inbred backwoods rednecks depicted in the movie, Deliverance. Having been born and raised in south Georgia, I have seen my fair share of ignorance and signs of inbreeding, but nothing coming anywhere near the depictions illustrated in Deliverance. A good example of pitiful stereotyping can be taken from our readings during the first week of class - the AJC article on Senator Voinovich and Mencken’s analysis of the South in Sahara of the Bozart.

One very interesting, controversial, and thought-provoking holdover from Jim Crow laws of old actually involves gun laws in Georgia. I considered omitting this, as gun laws are always a controversial topic, but being an avid firearms enthusiast, I always find it amusing (reads: annoying and exasperating) when people refer to the “loose” gun laws of the South. In this report, the history of how Georgia’s gun laws are rooted in racism and why they are surprisingly strict still today is explained in sufficient detail, including an objective explanation of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riots. For anyone interested, it is a good read.

For this week’s blog discussion, I would like for each of you to try and find some property or characteristic of the South - either good or bad - which exists today as a holdover from the past. Feel free to elaborate on any of the broad topics I have brought up, but try and find a few specific examples to reinforce your argument.