bananaphone

well i've been to nashville tennesse and its the only area of the country I've been to where if Harvard or MIT or Stanford was located there and I got in, I'd have to reject the opportunity The area is so unbelievably backwards, the pervasion of racism even if not explicitly stated is saddening, and the accents of the people are unbearable. Now that's not to say every southern city is like that, or that even Nashville is like that. My point is that to really consider attending a school in the south, you should probably just visit a school or two down there and see what you think.

briansteffy

I've been to Vandy and did not like the area off campus. You cannot judge the south from Nashville. It's like judging the northeast after visiting Atlantic City (not a perfect analogy, but the best that I could think of).

jessiehl

I grew up in the South (both deep and upper), and moved to New England for college and post-college life. I agree with this. I also agree that the extent to which the stereotypes are true depends on locale. I have been to places where I would say that yes, unfortunately, the stereotypes were largely true (same with stereotypes for other areas of the country), and to many where they were largely not. College towns, which get people from all over the state and often all over the country or world, are unlikely to fit the stereotype.

It *is* a generally more conservative region, politically and culturally, though you will find little liberal pockets (e.g. Little Five Points in Atlanta, the Highlands in Louisville). That does not mean, though, that blacks get crosses burned on their yards or that a gays are constantly getting beat up in the streets, any more than living in Cambridge, MA means that you'll end up living conservatives' worst fears of extreme liberalism.

One thing that I've observed, and that I've heard from many others as well...in the South, there is more institutionalized racism, but there's a pretty high level of friendliness between individuals of different races. In the North, it seems as though there is less institutionalized racism, but also less friendliness/more hostility between the individuals.

barrons

I don't think there are any problems living anywhere down there unless you go looking for it. People will be nice but don't expect to be best friends immediately. Just like in Seattle. You can get great food for cheap. I think jessiehl has it about right.

foolishpleasure

"That does not mean, though, that blacks get crosses burned on their yards or that a gays are constantly getting beat up in the streets, any more than living in Cambridge, MA means that you'll end up living conservatives' worst fears of extreme liberalism."

Interesting to cite Cambridge, MA as the bastion of liberal thought. Many black students report that the first time they were called n****r was attending college or grad sch in an alarmingly parochial and intolerant town we still refer to as Boston, Massasippi!

jessiehl

Boston != Cambridge, even if they do border each other. Boston has a rather bad history on the ethnic tension front. Which goes back to what I and several other people have been saying...the North is not free from stereotypically Southern problems like racism (far from it), and the South is not entirely overrun with them.

I cited Cambridge because it's where I went to college, and because a lot of my classmates from more conservative areas (even when the classmates were liberal themselves) were unnerved by the level of liberalism in the town. There's a reason it's know as the People's Republic of Cambridge!

briansteffy

foolishpleasure: and one only has to recall the tension between Yale and New Haven in the 60-70s; not what one would call progressive. And Princeton? Well, not what I would call 'America'. Many of the to-ranked northeastern LACs are whiter than the southern LACs. They, however, know how to talk the talk up here.

Tarhunt

I recommend reading "Confederates in the Attic." That should give you a pretty good answer to your question, and I think you'll find that it gives color, flavor, and reality to what many people have been saying here.

And it's a darn good read.

janieblue

I live in the South and am from the South, though not the Deep South. I have lived in the Deep South (Alabama) and visited quite a lot, and I've also lived in the Northeast.

Parts of the Deep South (and even as far North as SC), have somewhat of a 1950's feel to me, but mostly in a good way. That is, I felt like I was stepping back in time; the pace seemed slower, though that could be because the heat is so oppressive in the summer; people seemed friendlier and less concerned with outward appearances. The women over 50 could still make facial expressions (no regular botox injections), and people generally seemed to care more about each other, or at least got to know their neighbors. I didn't notice any racial tensions at all, but that's not to say they didn't exist. I just never saw it. On the other hand, when I lived up North (in cities), I thought the racial divide was much more evident, something I noticed on a day-to-day basis. And people are much, much less friendly.

Frankly, I think the South (deep and mid-South) has a lot more personality, far better food, generally more interesting people (ie., more "characters"), and just has a slower pace that I prefer. I love, too, that Southerners can carry on wonderful non-linear conversations-- makes conversing a whole lot more interesting and really keeps one's mind alert. If you can't follow a Southerner telling a story, it's all over for you. I actually find most people boring, because my family (immediate and extended) were all Southerners, born and bred. The nightly dinner table, as well as family get togethers, were quite something. Since I've grown up, I've never had any meal with anyone as enjoyable as the ones I shared with my very Southern parents and siblings.

In the larger Southern cities where there's been a bigger influx of people moving in from elsewhere (mostly the NE), the character of those places has definitely changed-- and not for the better.

briansteffy

janieblue: born in PA, but spent two decades in south. Thanks for that post. I miss the dry, indirect, witty humor. After living in the south, then Minnesota, I found it a culture shock to come back to the northeast - tense, irritated, predictable intellects. Nothing more boring than sitting in a comittee with a group of Ivy-educated northeasterners. Over time, you will have heard so much about their ivy experience that you feel like you'd 'been there, done that'.

janieblue

briansteffy: Haha. Yes, thanks; that was my experience, too. ^ Definitely more tense up North. Maybe it's the density? I used to live in Pa, too, and by the time I left, the Toll Brothers had paved over nearly every piece of farmland in Bucks County with their subdivisions. They've now finally made their way down South, sad to say. I really think living in the South for a few years would be good for everybody.

illinois187

So you guys are saying that my friend and I (we're asian) were walking down the street in birmingham, mobile or w/e, we're not going to get dirty looks? Would we get cold treatment by a clerk in a shop? How llikely will we encounter someone who will openly taunt and intimidate us?

I have visited vanderbilt in october last year. Nashville is okay I suppose, feels sort closed up though--not very diverse. Nor is the vanderbilt campus, just mostly white and black kids, pretty quiet place. It wasn't hostile, but wasn't friendly/warm to me either.

noobcake

AR here

So you guys are saying that my friend and I (we're asian) were walking down the street in birmingham, mobile or w/e, we're not going to get dirty looks? Not likely, but you should not walk in the ghettos.
Would we get cold treatment by a clerk in a shop? As likely as you could find anywhere in the US as an Asian.
How llikely will we encounter someone who will openly taunt and intimidate us? Not likely at all.

Small towns are worse than larger towns in general.

It is hard to be politically correct, but if you avoid certain people, your experience in the south should be fine. As you probably realize there is a huge sense of Asian animosity toward African Americans/Africans (in US and even worse in Asia)

Btw, m'am and sir is really annoying but you will appreciate the mannerisms.

ibtelling

"As you probably realize there is a huge sense of Asian animosity toward African Americans/Africans (in US and even worse in Asia)"

Um... I've been to a lot of places and I haven't noticed this much... In fact, at my school, blacks and asians get along the most well.

mom3boys

I am in GA and have not seen any of this "Asian animosity" of which you speak. Small rural towns might be different; but you will find pockets of ignorance wherever you go.