South of the Line

For a lot of years there have been jokes about Southerners. I suppose it goes back to the Civil War, that conflict of brother against brother that has, for nearly 150 years, defined to a degree the relationships of the "Northern" and "Southern" states. What a crying shame that war was, and what a shame that there are still people in the south - and in the north - who use it and its outcome to define themselves.

That conflict was not about slavery and the rights of all men. It was about economics, as have been virtually all wars throughout history. If slavery had not been available to whip up popular support for the war, then something else would have had to have been found as was, for example, the USS Maine issue a few years later. The outcome of the conflict, apart from hundreds of thousands dead and maimed, was simply to re-cement the economic interests of the eastern states. It did not materially improve the lot of people of color. That was and is a slow and ongoing process. What it did accomplish was the polarization of North and South into an "us vs. them" mindset that has poisoned the air ever since.

I grew up in the Deep South during the last days of segregation. I saw the plight of black people then, and I see it now. The Civil Rights Act has been in effect for forty years, and people are still arguing about the proper ways to implement its provisions. This is a function, again, of economics. An industrial society - perhaps any society - needs a class of people who are sufficiently depressed economically to be willing to work cheaply and do jobs that the so-called Upper Classes don’t want to do themselves. The Irish, the Polish, the Welsh, Jews, Eastern Europeans, Blacks, Hispanics and, now, Indios from Central America have all filled, or are presently filling, that niche. Inevitably, as one group improves its lot, another slides into the lower economic level and begins its struggle upward. This isn’t good. It just is. Thus. This, too, is about economics.

The rich mixture of the races in the South gave us a great deal to be proud of, and that needs looking at. The unusual combination of poor Europeans, blacks, native Americans and the varied national interests that controlled the South for three hundred years and more gave us jazz, Creole and Cajun cooking, Zora Neale Hurston, Tennessee Williams, NASCAR, soul food, bar-be-que...we could increase the list ad infinitum. The New South includes Atlanta, one of the most vibrant cities in the world, Miami - capital of Latin America, Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Birmingham, Tampa, Norfolk, New Orleans, Jacksonville, and other regional and national economic and cultural centers that rival any cities of their size, anywhere.

The South is also the home of Southern hospitality, good manners, folks who hold doors for each other and remove their hats when they come indoors. It’s a slower paced lifestyle that most outsiders find captivating, once they get used to it. It’s the place where (native) folks say, "Bless his heart," instead of, "That @$$%@**!! just cut me off! It’s cotillion and coon hunting, politics and paw-paws, growth and grits. It’s a rich mix of cultures, seasoned over centuries. It’s the home of the best college football teams in the country, Disney World and South Beach. It’s where Northern transplants complain about the drivers, forgetting that most of them learned to drive up north. It’s a place where you can find a Mayan, a Haitian, a Cuban, a German tourist, a Vietnamese and a redneck in (not "on") the same line at the supermarket...having conversations with each other.

It’s a lot of other things, too, but mostly it’s home. No way I’d change that.