 I was recently asked about the ways that Appalachian culture, with a Scots-Irish foundation, is different from lowland Southern culture, which has a more English foundation with African-American influences. I'd love to share my answer. First, the entire South has a few things in common. Unlike the industrial North that was established to be Puritan and to center around shops, factories and the sale of goods, the South was set up like English and French baronial estates. Most of the South was created to be an all-encompassing, self-sustaining series of micro-communities. There were the Lord and Lady of the manor house, and then the indoor servants, grounds keepers, farm labor, etc. They had their own church onsite, as well as their own school. They produced their own entertainment as well. This led to a very self-sustaining community view in the South, which helped give us our well-known good manners and kindness. We are used to working together, but not needing anyone or anything outside our own community. In contrast, the North needed trade and harsher manners towards others (who were your competitors instead of your community) to sustain their system. Northerners had rules that applied to everyone instead of respecting how individuals choose to run their own materials and time. The culture of each area in the South (the art, music, stories, etc.) were heavily influenced by their founding population: Scot-Irish for the Appalachias, French for the Louisiana area, English for Virginia and coastal Carolinas, Spanish and German in Texas, Spanish and Greek in Florida, etc. Geography played a role too. Most notably, in the Appalachias we did have baronial estates, but we were limited in our amount of flat land. So over the generations, families spread into the hollers and settled in more mountainous areas. This meant we became more clan-like as in Scotland. Small communities formed, mostly closely-linked family groups, living in one holler. So we became more feisty and independent than other folks in the South. Our diet changed to be what we could grow on a mountain side which was mostly corn and apples. Both crops were hard to carry down a mountain so we quickly learned it was easier and made more money to make the corn into moonshine. Selling moonshine made us more anti-authoritarian than the average Southerner. It pitted us against lawmen and drew us closer to our families than average. It also led to us developing car racing as we learning to outrun the law men while trafficking liquor. Our isolation in the Appalachias also meant we were poorer than the average Southerners and we were less dependent on slave labor - and less slaves meant less influence from slave culture. For example; think of how voodoo or rock-and-roll came from Haitian and African traditions in places like Memphis and New Orleans. We didn’t have that. We clung closer to churches, and therefore our music, until only a few decades ago, was primarily hymn-based. We had less material goods and relied more heavily on faith and family. We made our own instruments, our own crafts, and spent a long time becoming master craftsmen. (For example, some of the best furniture ever crafted came out of Southwest Virginia.) This isolation led to a very unique culture which only existed in these mountains.
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 Sit down here with Granny. I want to honestly share with you why Southern culture is more than just “voting red,” and why outsiders who move here without understanding that are often accused of destroying our way of life. I was born a mere geographical stone’s toss from where my ancestors first settled in this country in 1605. Growing up in both the Southeast as well as the Southwest, I was surrounded by a culture of rebel mascots, Dixie and grits. As an adult I realized the culture I accepted as “normal” was not the culture or values shared by everyone in America, and so my husband and I returned to my birth place to raise our children. Unfortunately, years later, our little slice of paradise was invaded. Post-lockdowns, folks wanted to move somewhere freer that represented their values. However all conservatism is not the same. We can all agree that we don’t want the government shutting down private businesses, but how do you unload a truck? Think I’m joking? I’m not... First came the track housing. It was built, in some cases, where we locals used to throw garbage back in the day. Then, our old farm houses became hipster breweries. Annoying, but not yet encroaching. Then Yankees came for our homeschool groups. Suddenly our social outlets were filled with people telling me my grandmother’s pancake recipe was full of carbs, and turning their nose up at my Orthodox faith because it wasn’t their brand of Yankee Protestant Puritanism. And when I mean turning their nose up I mean total shunning. Over and over again, “What church do you attend?” I name my Orthodox church. They actually turn their back (sometimes in unison!) and stop speaking to me. Excuse me, Jeanie-come-lately, but the oldest church in my hometown is Catholic. My granny lived next door and until very recently you could still hear the Latin mass being sung. Next they destroyed the public pools. Non-locals (of a different race and class from the Puritan homeschoolers) flooded (pun!) our public pool. They thought displaying their bulging bosoms and their gay pride tattoos were appropriate. Their sons started grabbing local girls on the butt to the giggling delight or outright denial of their parents. Our local lake faired no better. We encountered those same characters, as well as drug users and loudly blasted rap music. So we lost that. But hey, they claim to vote for Trump, right? After this was the back biting and rumor mills in social groups. I was totally thrown for a loop! I’m sorry but in the South we either treat everyone politely in public or we plainly state our beef with them, to their face, and then it’s done. We do not hide in the shadows gossiping or plotting. We aren’t trying to “catch” someone in a trap. We are straight forward or polite. We don’t have time for anything in between. Now, you can’t trust anyone. They don’t behave in a way normal to us. Social cohesion is gone. I don’t understand it, but people who move here seem to not always know how the police work. You cannot argue. If they tell you to do something, you have to do it. You cannot talk your way out of it or change their mind. Our police are STRICT. A lot of our Southern media has stories of our thinking about those in charge, but once caught, you must comply fully even if innocent. This one actually breaks my heart because folks accustom to negotiating find themselves in jail because they don’t understand our culture. Finally, I have arrived at how to unload a truck. Yes, there is a correct and chivalrous way to do this! My family used to order all our groceries from Azure Standard. It’s a small farm, organic grocer where you order your goods online and then they are delivered by truck. Everyone in our area shows up at the appointed time and place, once a month, and picks up their boxes. For YEARS this was a quick, simple & SOUTHERN process where I lived. The truck driver unloaded the pallet and the men in the group loaded everyone’s boxes into their cars. But about four years ago, all that changed. Now women and children needed to have an equal opportunity to unload the truck for whatever reason. Now the men wait in a line with people much weaker than them and are expected to watch them struggle. Chivalry is shamed. My husband, who comes from a line of Texas Rangers, can’t stand this not only because it’s incredibly rude but it also changed unloading the truck from a 20 minute job to a two hour long task! So he jumped the line and began quickly unloading the truck properly instead if watching women struggle, only to be chastised! These are all small things but they add up to taking over your whole life. You can’t enjoy school groups, church is a wreck, groceries are a nightmare, swimming requires an hour drive to a local hole the Yanks don’t know about yet. So if you feel like you REALLY need to move to the South PLEASE observe the community around you and respect their history and their way of doing things. You moved here because it’s better and it isn’t better because it’s colored red on the TV news.  Come walk with me a minute while I tell you a story that happened to me just this weekend. An interaction I had highlights the glaring misconceptions people have of the South. We’ll talk a little Southern history too. I was in a social situation recently where a European assumed I didn’t know what crepes are. Or perhaps she may have been trying to explain how crepes are like blinis, a similar Slavic dish. As I’ve sat thinking about this event this week, I’ve thought about the strong presence of French culture in the South, and how it’s awful that the media has convinced the world we are uncultured backwoods hicks.  The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile Alabama is said to be modeled after the 13th century Amiens Cathedral in France. It was dedicated on October 27, 1912 by Cardinal John Murphy. French culture influenced the southern United States in many ways, including language, food, music, and architecture. The most obvious examples are the Cajun French language, food like po-boys and pastries, the French Quarter, Mardi Gras celebrations. Even the legal system in Louisiana is based on the Napoleonic Code, which is rooted in French civil law.  The French Quarter, New Orleans LA But even outside of that, French culture is everywhere here and has been for hundreds of years. A wave of French pioneers came to America, mainly between 1790 and 1793. Besides Louisiana many settled in Savannah and Augusta, Georgia, and in Wilkes County. Some also settled on the barrier islands of Sapelo, Jekyll, and Cumberland. French immigrants, although not as numerous as other groups, helped settle Appalachia. In 1540, the first Immigrants to arrive in Western North Carolina were Europeans. From 1759-1771 the white population of Western North Carolina doubled. Joining the Cherokee were the English, Scots-Irish, Highland Scots, Welsh, Irish, Dutch, German, and French immigrants. The French tradition was present in many Antebellum schools.
 French was also part of the standard education in the Old South Dame schools. In the 18th and 19th centuries, dame schools offered French to wealthy boys and girls. Female academies provided a broad curriculum that included French, writing, arithmetic, and penmanship. Finishing schools for upper-class girls taught French and other subjects to prepare them for polite society. French was considered an important language for polite society and for attracting a good husband. Learning French helped girls develop their conversation skills and quote poetry. Learning French helped girls become well-read and cultivated, which prepared them for their roles as mothers and wives in aristocratic society.  The French Quarter in New Orleans receives over 15 million visitors each year. Many of those being their neighboring Southerners. Because of media stereotypes that Southerners are dumb and uncultured, it’s easy for someone to assume we would be unfamiliar with French foods. Movies such as Talladega Nights specifically portray Southerners as not knowing what crepes are so how can you blame folks for assuming that’s true? Now, obviously, a certain population of the South is unaware of what crepes are and would assume anything French is “g4y.” I’m not claiming those people don’t exist, however it’s unfair to stereotype an entire population based on one small segment especially when high educational standards and refined cultural attitudes have long been part of Southern culture for many of us. |
