Doesn’t it matter what they consider themselves- not what others call them?
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spuckie
Its a northern thing, poetsheart,
659
Wow, CA is low on the list for high school grads. Third from the bottom.
I don’t think one can call any of our states “ignorant and uneducated” based on that chart. Even the bottom ranked state has about 80% holding a high school diploma.
If Billy Bob Jeff Davis moved to NYC from Statesboro, Ga. and said he was all of a sudden a New Yorker I guess it wouldn’t matter what others called him…but he wouldn’t suddenly be a New Yorker to me. Takes time. 
But if he moved from Albany or Rome, GA to Albany or Rome, NY…
oh never mind. Besides, in GA its pronounced “All- BANNY”
“I am in the south but I identify as a Virginian first then as a southerner.”
I identify first as an American.
You know how to pronounce Albany correctly, so I guess you qualify as a Southerner. My family used to live not too far from Albany up in Dublin, Ga. where folks spoke with a sorta Irish lilt drawl. Albany, Ga. has it all over Albany, NY…bet there aren’t any decent catfish restaurants with valet parking service up in Albany, NY like down in Albany, Ga.
“I think for someone to be a real Southerner, they have to at least have been born and raised in the South and have grandparents or great grandparents who where in the South during the Great Depression or earlier. Being born in Atlanta or Charlotte after your parents moved down from North in 1970s or so doesn’t qualify as a true Southerner in my book.”
This attitude is part of the problem - all this ancestor / land focus and some “purity test” required to be a true Southerner. By that thinking, I guess I must not be a real American, because most of my grandparents and great grandparents were born elsewhere, not on American soil. And my Illinois-born-and-bred kids can’t be midwesterners, because 3 of their 4 grandparents were born on the east coast. Give me a break. Wasn’t this whole “veneration of ancestry and physical lands” part of why this country broke free in the first place? That who you are isn’t dependent on where you came from and who your momma was?
Who you are is influenced by where you came from and who raised you, though not entirely dependent on it.
Maybe it’s time to start focusing on our similarities rather than our differences if we ever want to solve this hate problem. I’m not saying that we should become homogenous, cookie cut society, just respect our differences and embrace our similarities.
IME, “who your Momma is and where you come from” is more a way to find a connection and make conversation than a judgment of who you are as a person.
In my town, a “test” might be how to pronounce “prioleau” or “Legare”.
Some things I love about Charleston: I drink my coffee while sitting in a rocker on my porch most mornings; everything is so green and lush (very strict tree protection laws), people are generally friendly and polite, the architecture, lots to do (festivals, arts, etc.), the water (I find the marshes even more captivating than the beach - watching an egret, or dolphins playing in a channel), the food (especially roasted oysters) and the pace of life.
Given that Charleston is one of the top tourist destinations in the country, I suspect many others like some of these things too.
“Who you are is influenced by where you came from and who raised you, though not entirely dependent on it.”
You don’t have to let it be that way. There’s nothing magical in the soil of any country or region. To build on Bay’s comment, if there is, for example, a “California mentality” (and I think there is - experimentation, reinvention, you can be anything you want) it’s open to anyone - they don’t have to prove that their great great great great grandparents lived anyplace in particular. Similarly, while there are native New Yorkers, anyone can move to New York and participate in the spirit of “if you can make it there, you’ll make it anywhere.” .
When I was growing up I remember hearing that New Englanders were famously unforgiving about truly accepting newcomers. With all the moving around people do today, I’m sure most of that regional tightness has loosened everywhere.
ETA - New York and California have been the most welcoming which makes sense considering their past history as destinations for immigrants.
Well if we want to get technical- as a Libertarian, I identify as an individual first and foremost but going forward from there Virginian does come before American on my list.
With the number of non-citizens living in this country, it is probably a microaggression to expect everyone to identify as American first.
On a courageous note, a woman took the South Carolina confederate flag down this morning. She climbed up the pole herself.
ThanksBree
Edit: The flag was replaced about an hour later.
Wow I’m on vacation in the Dominican Republic so I’ve had limited internet access, but this thread has gone way off topic. Of course i couldn’t help checking on CC while here.
Niquii, I was so pleased to see that. Am I allowed to say that she’s badass? Because she is. A lot of people have offered to pay for her bail and legal fees, etc.
Rather ironically, the state worker who was tasked with putting the flag back up is black. I wonder how he felt about being told to do that.
Oh, she’s badass, alright!
Should have phoned governor up and had her raise flag back up herself after her saying she couldn’t lower it because of South Carolina law.