OPINION: Southern Hospitality or Hostility?

Photo via: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Amelia Henson, a freshman studying Journalism, is from Tennessee and weighs in on politics in the South.

People in the South are generally seen as friendly and warm people. Community is extremely important to Southern culture as it is deeply rooted in tradition passed down through generations. Southern values consist of kindness, respect and the word of God. 

The “Southern belle” is characterized as a pretty and polite young woman living in the South. Young girls in the South are raised to uphold the long standing misogynistic values instilled in Southern culture. Girls are taught to never hurt a fly, don’t contest authority and to always put other people first. 

These harmful teachings only push women down to prevent them from opposing the systems of power that continuously punish them for their gender. Southern women have continued to suffer in silence for years. Rights are continually stripped away, harmful rhetoric is spewed from the mouths of authority and churches continuously support blatant sexism.

Gender inequality in the South is rampant and is only bound to get worse after the results of Tuesday's election. Throughout the voting season, women were reminded on social media and even sticky notes found in bathrooms, that their husbands do not need to know who they voted for. 

A study report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research showed that working Southern women suffer some of the worst inequities in the nation. Women not only receive less money than men but are also treated significantly worse. In Louisiana, women earn around 69 cents to every man's dollar. With that rate, women won’t receive equal pay until 2115. In Louisiana, 34.6% of women work in low-wage jobs and women experience depression 17 more days per year than men of similar age. 

Southern states have recently proven to care more about the Bible than the people. Around 73% of Evangelical Protestant members believe abortion should be illegal. Southern states with high populations of Evangelical Protestants are more likely to have total bans on abortion. The extinction of abortion in the majority of the South, with no exceptions for rape or incest, is only one example of this. 

Abortion rights come down to one thing: morality. Is it moral to have an abortion? The answer to that question is extremely subjective. One woman may say abortion is murder, whereas another woman would argue their right to privacy outweighs all. Women within states with abortion bans don’t have the privilege to ponder the question of morality.

The South has also shown to have more violence due to personal conflict. The Southern subculture of violence theory explains the high rates of violence in Southern states. The South has higher rates of homicides, specifically when speaking about interpersonal argument-based homicides. 

Many factors play into this, such as culture and religion. Southern culture revolves around hospitality, politeness, and respect. These factors are most commonly associated with kindness, and lots of Southern people are kind, but when the line of respect is crossed, the consequences can be detrimental. 

Examples of this date back to the Civil War, when two families, the Hatfields and McCoys, engaged in a decades-long feud, resulting in around 20 deaths. The feud began when one member of the McCoy family, Asa, fought in the Union rather than the Confederacy. While recovering from wounds sustained from the war, Asa was murdered by a rebel group led by Devil Anse Hatfield. 

After the murder, the families continued to fight over stolen pigs, star-crossed lovers, and politics, ending in brutal stabbings, kidnappings, and home invasions. The Hatfield and McCoys are just one of many examples of how Southern pride can quickly turn to grave violence.  Southerners aren’t inherently violent, Southern culture encourages retaliation against actions that are seen as “disrespectful.” 

Religion is another strong influence on this behavior. Around 76% of Southern adults identify under some branch of Christianity. Although Christianity is not a violent religion in nature, when the culture of the South mixes with the culture of religion, some may execute their beliefs violently. Examples of this consist of rampant homophobia, transphobia, racism, and sexism, which are most often rooted in religion. For instance, the main argument against the LGBTQ+ community is that the “lifestyle,” is against God's intended plan.

Religion is commonly weaponized to excuse homophobic and transphobic behavior, and with the South’s major religious population, these behaviors seem to be prevalent. Given the South’s history with racism (e.g. their creation of the Confederacy) and bloody fight to preserve slavery. The repercussions of this tragic history are very prevalent in the South as racism is engraved in the culture. 

Southerners are notorious for waving the Confederate flag with pride. The flag is plastered on shirts, hats, jewelry, cars and even homes. Many claim the flag is a representation of Southern heritage, rather than a symbol of racial hate. The flag may be a historical representation of the Civil War, but it should never be a source of pride. Southern culture teaches to never be ashamed of history, but rather prideful. When history is so brutal and violent, being prideful only creates a cycle of more brutality and violence.

In July of this year, members of Neo-Nazi groups gathered in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, wearing ski masks and shirts saying, “pro-white,” and “whites against replacement.” Group members were spotted on an interstate overpass, dropping a hateful Natzi banner over the side. As these members crowded the streets marching and hailing Hitler, panic began to pour over Tennessee. The South is so entrenched in bigoted ideologies that events such as these incite fear in the citizens, but not shock. Not to say the principles of these events aren’t shocking, but the setting in which they occurred is to be expected. 

For decades, the South has been a breeding ground for hate, prejudice and violence. Southern culture is built on a foundation of bigotry that only continues to thrive when pride is more important than accountability. Southerners aren’t born hateful. Hate is taught through generations of people who have been thrown into a cycle of violence.