In response to this story from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/rweb/top/what-the-us-would-be-like-without-the-south/2015/07/08/4efd3599fe0f31f24a9c4577e7360d05_story.html?tid=kindle-app
The South gets a lot of bad press. Here’s a brief list of things I’ve heard casually and by more formal media outlets:
- The hotbed for a “destructive” Greek system
- Racial conflict that hasn’t really changed in 50 years
- Extreme Poverty
- A joke of public education
- And I’m sure a bunch of other things
This story by the Post was was fascinating because it proved the relative consistency of American culture across the country. While some things are certainly regional (like the South’s food and football scene) others are not. For example, if the South were to no longer be part of the U.S., then the country’s 4th grade literacy rate would actually go down by 1% (from 65 to 66%). That seems pretty remarkable to always blast us on public education. We also have over 60% of America’s Fortune 500 companies. That seems to speak pretty well for the South’s future economy.
Other fun facts. Non-Christians in the U.S. barely changes if you take out the South. Non-whites in the U.S. goes down. And you would lose 7 of the top 10 BBQ restaurant in the country (probably written by someone from Calli or New York who had to make their own towns feel good about themselves and their inferior BBQ).
We’re not an independent monolith from another planet. While the South may have its issues (higher violent crime and higher obesity rates) which sometime get featured heavily we’re not alone in the U.S.. Violent crime is a national issue. As is systemic racism, obesity, poverty, and struggling public schools, not to mention that most of these issues are interrelated. Thanks Washington Post for moderately disproving the media’s usual misrepresentation.
Reflections of an Urbanist 