What Is A Southerner?

When one is asked the question “What defines the South?” I am sure that there would be more answers to that question than Carter’s got liver pills. Here is my opinion as to what makes a Southerner a Southerner. I am in no way saying that all of these aspects are exclusive to the South, nor does every Southerner exhibit all of them. But together, they have created the unique Southern culture that the area is known for.

1) Slow-paced life. This aspect is seen in numerous ways throughout the South, i.e. people enjoying a porch swing or rocking chair, sipping afternoon tea or lemonade on a hot summer day, or checking out the scenery while driving slowly down a two-lane road. Balms for the soul.

2) Outgoing dispositions. Southerners actually take time to talk to their neighbors and find out how they are doing. Other people brush through the day without so much as looking at their neighbor, let alone having a conversation with them.

3) Unusually descriptive language. Have you ever been as “nervous as a whore in church”? What about as “busy as a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest”? The way Southerners use words and phrases can bring about startling mental pictures that lend humor to any situation.

4) Tender, slow-cooked food. There have been many people of Northern persuasion that I have heard say that Southern food is cooked to death. Well, that may be true, but it sure is good going down! There’s nothing better than barbecue (pork here in NC) cooked over charcoal for several hours, ham hock-smothered black-eyed peas, chicken pastry, and collards. There is also no one way to prepare many Southern favorites. Each region of the South has its own method of fixing its slow-cooked goodness.

5) Hospitality. Southerners tend to show genuine concern for their fellow man and will help anyone that has a need. They are very welcoming to strangers and do their best to make them feel as comfortable as possible and even provide them with the best of their provisions while doing without. They are also very polite and maintain their composure even under the most trying of circumstances.

The South has undergone a lot of changes, especially recently. More and more people are moving here everyday and try to change it into something "new and improved". I completely understand why they come. But I hope that the above facets of Southern culture will remain strong and forever.

I am proud to be a Southerner. I have traveled enough to realize that no where else in the world holds a candle to it. No, the South isn’t perfect and it has some dark, dark periods of history, but I wouldn’t live anywhere else. It’s my home.

Now, pass the cornbread, please!

Have a blessed day!