Bartram
Brand HBCUbian
I was riding home the other day and was listening to the Sec of Defense talking about the "allies" in Afganastan. He made a comment that if the NA didn't prosecute the Taliban supporters that relations between them and the U.S. would "quickly go south".
This is a saying that is a common part of American slang. I thought about it and thought to myself, are southerners offended by such a phrase? I mean, to me, something "going south" implies something getting worse, going from a good situation to a bad situation, misery, hopelessness,,, etc. I think the phrase originated from the civil war when the South was utterly destroyed and life became so miserable.
There are many other stereo-types that are common in our society about the South, like poor, backwards, poverty stricken, on and on and on. Then there are all the negative sayings associated with the world "black"; black cats, black sabbath, black Tuesday, a dark day, the villian is always dressed in black/dark and hero white,,, you've heard them all.
What I find interesting, though, is the parallels between the perception of the South and the same types of stereo-typing applied to the American Negro. Negros in America have historically been ridiculed and stereo-typed just like the South.
In effect, I'd say the South is like "the black folks" of America's regions if you really think about it. What's funny is how the South is ideologically and historically seen as the most nortorious and most prejudice entity against black folk, black folk despise the South more so than any other region of the country,,,, yet the Ideological South and blacks both are victums of virtually the same stereo-types and scorn by other entities/groups! How ironic.
This is a saying that is a common part of American slang. I thought about it and thought to myself, are southerners offended by such a phrase? I mean, to me, something "going south" implies something getting worse, going from a good situation to a bad situation, misery, hopelessness,,, etc. I think the phrase originated from the civil war when the South was utterly destroyed and life became so miserable.
There are many other stereo-types that are common in our society about the South, like poor, backwards, poverty stricken, on and on and on. Then there are all the negative sayings associated with the world "black"; black cats, black sabbath, black Tuesday, a dark day, the villian is always dressed in black/dark and hero white,,, you've heard them all.
What I find interesting, though, is the parallels between the perception of the South and the same types of stereo-typing applied to the American Negro. Negros in America have historically been ridiculed and stereo-typed just like the South.
In effect, I'd say the South is like "the black folks" of America's regions if you really think about it. What's funny is how the South is ideologically and historically seen as the most nortorious and most prejudice entity against black folk, black folk despise the South more so than any other region of the country,,,, yet the Ideological South and blacks both are victums of virtually the same stereo-types and scorn by other entities/groups! How ironic.