Southern Language Blog

When I think of the South, I think of a strong heritage that has lived strong for centuries. This heritage is tradition for many throughout the South, including me. People that consider themselves to be "southern" or having a "southern heritage" take pride in this matter and are oftentimes offended when someone makes a joke about the way they speak or about an aspect of being "Southern". There are many times where Southerners are portrayed as slow, incapable, or just plain stupid. But when you look at it, it is the individuals that are making these assumptions that are the slow ones. They look at the outside of things and people portray an image that "the role of evil tendencies overcome, mistakes attained for, and progress yet to be made" (Lippi-Green 205). These assumptions however, are not necessarily true. The South make up approximately one-fourth of the United States population. I believe it would be safe to say that this percentage is important considering how large of a percentage it is. Does this mean that one-fourth of our country is slow and has made no progress over the years?
As I was viewing the websites posted on the topic, it made me realize really how much of a joke some people think a Southern accent really is. In my opinion I found three of the four sites to be not an informational site but a site to downgrade a Southern accent. Only Wikipedia gave the facts about the "Southern American Language". With the Southern dialect being arguably the largest accent group in the United States you simply cannot degrade it to the degree that many do. This degree often goes as far as considering it a monolith and view it as a place full of complete nonsense when this judgment is truly a disgrace to the Southern Heritage.
Referring back to the question of is one-fourth of our country actually slow, I would like to present a few facts about the Southern United States. The South is home to America's largest electric distribution company, also know as Southern Company. The South is home to one of the largest broadcasting companies, Turner Broadcasting. According to U.S. News and World Report, ten of the top thirty public colleges in the nation reside in the South. Ten of our country's presidents have called the south home including Jefferson, Washington, Bush Jr. and Sr., and Cater. And last but not least, the South is home to the best conference in college football, the Southeastern Conference; holder of the national championship four of the previous ten years. Now ask yourself the same question, does this mean that one-fourth of our country is slow and has made no progress over the years? I believe not.