An open letter to the rest of the USA from a Southerner.   

First of all, I am a proud Southerner.

I am by no means a stereotypical Southerner, but I am very proud of where I from. I was born and raised in Mississippi, and I believe with all my heart that the south is an amazing place. I would also like to say there is a HUGE difference between being proud of where you are from and being a racist nationalist for a country that doesn't even exist anymore, but we will get to those people later.

I wanted to start off by saying that the South is no different than anywhere else. I've travelled a lot all across the country and I have met all sorts of people. There are ignorant people everywhere, and there are also brilliant people everywhere. I doubt that is a unpopular opinion, but the popular one seems to be that there are a lot more ignorant people in the south than anywhere else....I can't disagree. As much as I would like to I just can't. That stereotype is 100% correct.

These people exist, and they are sadly allowed in public.

These types of people are very very real. I've met people like this. I am related to people like this. They exist and they are horrible. These sort of images are typically used to depict rednecks (a term not at all considered an insult to most southerners) but that isn't right. My father is a redneck, but he isn't ignorant. He is a tolerant, educated man who just so happens to love trucks, camo, and guns. His only flaw in my eyes is his attraction to the rebel flag, but we will get to that later.

These people are despised by every other living human down here. Typically we just call them white trash, and they are they WORST individuals. These are the people who perpetuate racism. These are the people that cause our test scores to be so low. These are the people who fuck their cousins. They are a very real problem, and they are the problem with the south.

Gun nuts. Gun nuts as far as the eye can see.

I love firearms. I collect revolvers and lever action rifles and I own probably 12 guns myself. I don't own them just to exercise my second amendment right or anything like that I just really like guns. I don't consider myself a gun nut because I don't particularly care about guns. If something ever happened to change the laws where I couldn't own a firearm I would be upset, but I would respect the law and that would be that.

I own one pistol for personal protection (had a scare about a year ago where I was almost mugged) and no more. I hate the people who behave like it is there god given right to own a AR15. It isn't. It is your constitutional right and that is it. I am not for gun banning, but I am for stricter gun control especially concerning mental health evaluations before owning a firearm.

There are without a doubt people down here who are crazy gun owning maniacs, and I whole heartedly believe they are dangerous. This is another stereotype that is without a doubt 100% correct.

Not everyone is like the people above

There is only stereotype I hate. It's that we are all ignorant knuckle dragging racist. This is a photograph of William Faulkner, an Oxford Mississippi native and one of the best known American writers.

Now I am not saying that a lot of Southerners are brilliant writers. Most of us art brilliant anythings, although most people aren't, but my point is we aren't all ignorant. Some of us are caring, good hearted individuals who would give anyone who asked the shirt off our back. Most of us are well educated, with pretty much 90% of the current generation getting their high school diplomas at least.

And religion, at least in my state, isn't a commanding factor in the schools. Creationism isn't taught and evolution is. Most of us really don't give two shits what your religion is. Just don't go on and on about it and we will not either.

Illiteracy isn't really a thing

Even the mouth breathers like I described above can most likely read. I am not sure where this super popular assumption that the south is full of illiterate people came from. Sure, a lot of people down here are not very well read. Most people struggle with correct grammar as well. However, pretty much everyone is able to read and write at length. In my whole life I have met three people who could not read, and all of them were in their eighties or nineties.

This flag is really popular.

First of all, this is not the flag of the Confederate States of America. It is technically the Army of Tennessee flag, and a similar perfectly square flag is known as the Army of Northern Virginia battle flag. The later flag was what was flown by General Robert E. Lee, which is why it is pretty much used throughout the south as the rebel flag.

Before I explain why this flag is such a huge deal down here I need to be clear. I fucking hate this god damn flag. I am not a citizen of the CSA and I never was. I am a US citizen and I am pretty fucking proud of that.

Anyways, this flag is popular in the south for one major reason. The North tries to tell us it shouldn't be. As long as I have been alive my dad has never flown a rebel or state flag outside our house, but in early 2016 a lot of places started taking down the state flag. So next to our large metal flag pole dad drove two pieces of PVC pipe into the ground and hung both a Army of Tennessee flag and a Mississippi state flag on them. Now he isn't really a racist guy and I really don't think he cares at all about the outcome of a war from 100 years before he was born, but he really really fucking hates being told what he can and can't do.

I think that is most likely how southerners have always been. Stubborn and rebellious. I believe two things about the civil war without question: One being that the politicians at play only had one thing on their mind, slavery. Two being that a lot of people who fought for the south didn't give a shit about slavery, but really fucking hated being told what to do.

This flag is way more popular

If you are ever in the south do me a favor. Find a house flying a rebel flag in their yard, and then see if an American flag is being flown as well. Chances are it is and it will ALWAYS be flying higher. I have only ever met one true CSA nationalist and he was a dangerously racist man, but in most cases Southerners are incredibly patriotic. To them the rebel flag is a sign of the rebellious southern attitude, but the American flag is a sign of the men and women who die every day for our freedoms.

There is one last thing I would like to say, and I imagine it will sound a little pompous but I'm saying it anyway.

I feel like everyone else in the country looks down on us and makes fun of us for no good reason. I've met a lot of people from all over the world who have moved to the southern US, and they all say we are some of the kindest people in the world.

So I just want to speak on behalf of the entire half of the country that is south of the Mason Dixon line for a minute.

Regardless of how all of you talk about us and how all of you criticize our culture, everyone will always be welcomed with open arms should you ever find yourself down south. No where else on earth will you be broken down on the side of the road and not only be helped getting to town, but be fed on our dollar if you will let us.

We really do love everyone, even the yankees.

Sincerely,

The South.