The great cultural divide…

Posted by High Priestess Kang as Observations

…is no more evident to me than election time.

Nothing seems to make me feel more like an outsider in The South than an election. It’s hard. It’s hard work being a Yankee in The South. And, don’t allow yourself to be fooled into complacency, you will *never* fit in.

Be it your nasal vowel sounds, be it the way you know how to properly cross a busy street or your lust for proper bread, good sandwiches and pizza - you will always be branded a Yankee. That is what the, “Southerners” want you to remember. Your ancestors came, saw and burned The South. Raped, pillaged and plundered the land. For that you must pay. You must pay by having people talk nicely to your face then speak venom behind your back. You must pay for not going to church. You must pay for not wanting the bible in your school. You must pay because you see something other than the great, white way.

This has been eating at me for quite a few weeks, when I happened across a blog piece about Yankees at Christmas.

Were you aware that Yankees are the only people in the world who like tacky Christmas decorations? That’s right. Yankees love them some tacky-ass Christmas decorations. All Yankees. It must remind us of when we set Georgia on fire and it brings back fond memories, I’m sure.

What I don’t get is this - why the hell does it matter?

After living in the South for eleven years, I no longer identify myself as being from anywhere in particular. I grew up in suburban Philadelphia, lived in western Pennsylvania and did a very brief stint in Sweden. I hated Philadelphia, which is why I left. In Western Pennsylvania, I was an outsider because of my white-collar ways (although, I hasten to add, there were enough Jews around that I never felt fully freakish). But in The South, a Yankee is still a scourge. A plague. Part of the never ending punishment inflicted upon these good, Southern folks for some cruel reason. A cruel twist of fate.

I may whinge about the things I miss from home. But, like anyone else, that’s my entitlement. I’m allowed to miss some of the creature comforts from my home. Southerners would certainly miss their barbecues, gardening and proper porches if they relocated elsewhere.

Unfortunately, Yankees (and you must say this with an odious amount of contempt) are not permitted to have any part of their roots. They must relinquish their entire identity in order to fit in.

Pah.

And…if you’re a super-shifty Yankee, you certainly will refrain from talking about anything remotely Liberal in public. You will do this so people will not challenge your, ‘liberalism.’ You will do this so you don’t have to hear the audacious commentary about someone praying for your condemned souls. You will do this so you just don’t have to deal with the bullshit and explain yourself.

I have been meaning to write about this for several weeks now. Not sure what erupted the ire today. Perhaps it is the incessant babble about the upcoming Primary in South Carolina. Where Yankee mettle and values are going to be pitted against good, ol’ Southern ways. A female and a black man are leading the Democrats. The usual mentality is going to be challenged and the pundits are going to make damn sure we understand the gravity of the situation.

I pine for the days of living up North at times. I pine for the days when people are just phucking people, not measured by which church they worship, how long the family has been in the area and other completely banal subcategories which really don’t mean jack-shit at the end of the day.

Sometimes, sometimes I wonder if I feel disenfranchised as an American because of general politics or based solely on geography.