Is the North/South culture divide significant?

17 comments

1. Southern states generally do an abysmal job of teaching history, if that’s what you mean.

2. the north/south cultural divide is significant, but also not nearly as significant as the south probably imagines that it is

3. >When I was in the Midwestern United States, the locals would not have positive views on how people are instructed regarding certain histories in schools and other areas

   This is such vaguebooking that I don’t even know how to have an opinion on it.

4. It’s a mixture of many things. There are a lot of southerners who still refer to northerners as “Yankees” unironically and give really bad takes on the Civil War.

   There are also a lot of northerners who seem to make it their life’s goal to prove the phrase “Everybody has to have somebody to look down on” right and purposefully use any southern anecdote to confirm their existing biases.

5. In my experience, CA, NC, and Australia were about equally different from each other. Which is to say, they were extremely similar besides some minor differences that an outsider could get over in a few months at most. The anglosphere is full of societies that are noticeably distinct but definitely not enough to be foreign

6. I’ve lived a long time in each, the answer is not really. The real cultural divide is urban/rural.

7. In a way yes, but not as prominent as the rural/urban divide

8. And just how many conversations on this topic did you have?

9. In my opinion, many people in the North have a biased view of the south. Many may think that the south is much more racist than it actually is, and many may also think that the Midwest or other regions are far less racist than they actually are. The south is very diverse. Not only is a large percentage of our population people of color, but we are also close to the southern border of the US and we have a large immigrant population. In particular, newer immigrants who have not yet assimilated to US culture. We grow up with these people of color and new Americans as our neighbors, classmates and friends. Outside of a few outliers, most of us get along very well and form tight communities. I see and experience this daily. In contrast, other regions are much more homogenous, and the shock of newcomers and people that are different brings much more strife. It’s just my take, but southern regions of the US are much more experienced and capable of welcoming those that seem dissimilar to ourselves.

10. Having lived in both regions and having moving back and forth repeatedly…I can say I have never experienced a divide in the North and South. There are regional differences but there are no hard feelings between either.

11. Yes and no.

    Yes it’s notable and certainly exists in food, politics, etc.

    No it’s not that extreme and Southerners and Northerners almost always get along when interacting

12. I think this sentiment is very popular in the south. Lots of people have a “southern” identity (think “southern charm,” “southern hospitality” etc). Some will unironically call people from the north “Yankees” and think all those people are soft etc. If you are a northerner in the south people might actually hold that against you lol

    In the north it’s a bit different. People don’t really think about themselves as “northerners.” The closest thing would be people from New England, but even that isn’t the same. Most people align closest with their state or city. So it’s not really a north vs south thing for them, since they do not hold a cohesive “northern” identity

    Don’t get me wrong, many northerners have an inflated view of themselves and view the south as backwards, racist, and uneducated (despite never living there). But they don’t really view it as like, “north vs south” kinda way. At least not in the way southern do. For many southerners it really is still north vs south. But for northerners is more like, yeah my state/city is the best and there’s those backwards southern people who live in like, Alabama or something.

    So the divide is present in the south for sure. But for the north is more like, they occasionally remember the south exists and think “oh yeah that place is like racist right”

13. Back in the 70s and 80s (when I was growing up) we would joke about it, but nothing serious. If someone’s relative was visiting from up North, we would jokingly say, “Oh, you’re a Yankee.” Everyone would laugh. No differences culturally that I’ve ever seen.

    Only thing that I noticed was that people from the North sometimes talk faster.

14. i would venture to guess that my life/upbringing was probably more similar to someone from suburban atlanta or charlotte than someone from rural bumfuck nowhere areas of northern states. so what i’m saying is i think it’s more of an urban/rural divide. even if there are still cultural differences between north/south

15. It’s smaller things that add up to make a larger divide.

16. In my experience the rest of the country has a very biased and limited view of the south.

17. significant to the extent that it is noticeable. it’s not generally something that is a problem (social skills required)