Just
south of the Mason-Dixon line there is a place cemented in time; welcome to
Mississippi. This is where folks wave as they pass by on the road, laws protect
the majestic magnolia trees, and sweet tea is the house wine. Pull up a chair and enjoy its allure
with a dollop of mashed potatoes, black-eyed peas, and greens, fresh from the
garden. Here in this neck of the woods, everything, including the vocabulary,
moves a little slower. Down here people take pride in their heritage, which
includes, but is not limited to, their “young’uns,” their pick-up trucks, and
their biscuits. Although living in the Deep South has its charms, it can have
some negative effects as well, effects such as health problems, bad grammar,
and close mindedness.
Cook
it and they will come is the idea that has become the backdrop of every
occasion here in the South. Men gather in the back yard to smoke and grill the
wild game, which they themselves hunted and killed, while the women gather in
the kitchen and gossip over a deep fryer; if it can be battered, it can be fried.
Plates are piled high with Southern cuisine and passed down the table to every
generation. As each Momma places a plate in front of her own child, she almost
melodically tells them about the starving children in China, as she guilts them
into cleaning their plate. The end result, unfortunately, is the highest
obesity rate in the country, with heart disease and strokes being commonplace,
as well.
One
other commonplace occurrence is to hear words that are, almost exclusively,
Southern. In these parts, grammar goes out the window and words seem to lump
together to form specially sculpted isms, such as, “fixin-to,” “whalla-go,” and
“ova-yonder.” Unfortunately, Hollywood has marketed the music that is the
Southern vernacular negatively. Each time a village idiot, psychotic hillbilly,
or just down right dumb character finds their way to the screen, they invariably
have a Southern drawl. Which has, in turn, created a stereotype that is
difficult for Southerners to overcome. 
Words
are not the only thing created here in the South, but traditions are as well.
These traditions are woven into the tapestry of Southern living. Traditions
such as going to church before the sun rises on Easter morning, a gentleman
asking Daddy for his daughter’s hand in marriage, and saying ma’am and sir
while addressing elders are partly responsible for the South’s reputation of
hospitality. These customs have raised many Southern gents and belles, and there
are other traditions, more unpleasant traditions, which still linger in the
guise of heritage. As pride goes, some people in the South are very proud of
that heritage known as the “Old South.” Unfortunately, an icon of this
heritage, the Confederate flag, still flies over the Capital as the cornerstone
of the State flag. It also adorns the bumper of the occasional pick-up truck,
which showcases the South’s state of close-mindedness to the world. This
mindset still haunts the Deep South like a ghost from the past. After all, it
wasn’t that long ago that the thirteenth amendment was ratified, and slavery
was finally completely abolished here in Mississippi.
Although
the South is known as a place to deep fry everything but their first born,
creatively annihilate the English language, and burn a cross on a hot summer
night, it is, after all, a beautiful place where the magnolias grow tall, hospitality
is abundant, and family is second only to God. As with any place, there are
positive and negative effects of living in Mississippi, but as things go here
in the South, slowly and surely as the biscuits are rising in the oven on
Sunday morning, the positive is overcoming the negative. As goes the Southern
mantra, “the South shall rise again,” only this time she’s going to rise
healthy, educated, and enlightened, because times, well, “they are a changing.”
“Y’all come back now, ya hear?”
Just Bb.....
