:idea: I'm not convinced that anyone knows what "The South" is or who the "Southerners" really are. I was listening to a historian tonight who spoke about the written observations of Arthur Freemantle, Great Britain's royal observer to the Confederate High Command. He wrote that Robert E. Lee and other Confederate commanders did NOT speak with what we would call a "Southern accent." Freemantle wrote that he was amazed that the Southerner's speech was EXACTLY like the upper class British dialect which he spoke and also said that he could not tell the difference between the Southerners and native English speakers from his home area. Other things that I've heard or read were similar about the way George Washington sounded. The "Southern" way of speaking and acting that we know came about after the Civil War...
Phantom, here's what we do know about the South. The region is growing in population much faster than the national average and within the next 30 or so years Florida, North Carolina and Georgia will all be in the top 6-7 states population wise. Meanwhile the Norhteast continues to either not grow or to even decline. Meanwhile papers like the NYT and Boston Globe still live under the illusion that they are far superior to us southerners who are so dumb. Dumb like a fox I might add.
Bill, that attitude is not reserved for the south. For years I dealt with eastern bankers who thought they were superior to us midwesterners. Yes, that attitude is reflected in the NY and Boston media, but it includes pretty much the entire country west and south of the Allegheny Mountains.
I know Sid, and personally the NY and Boston Media can shove it from my perspective. They are becomming more and more irrelevant even though the still seem to think, incorrectly, that the world revolves around them.
My experiences in the South lead to me to beleive that many there are from the north. I don't think there is much bias any more from northerners... many of us already or plan to own homes in the south. The northeast is experiencing a migration.... many are heading south because of the high cost of living and outrageous property taxes. But we are being replaced by Mexicans, Cubans and Indians. :cry:
I can tell you for sure that Southern Dentists are much better than those hacks in the North East! Terry