Northerners have a very negative view of southerners and they don’t hesitate to say it aloud. I’ve heard the following comments made to southerners and people who had moved south:
- “You must love the warm weather down there. And when you want culture you can come back for a visit.”
- “I suppose when you’re down there a while you’ll start hating blacks too.”
- “How can people down there wave that flag around. Don’t you realize it upsets people?”
- “ That college was ruined when they started admitting a lot of southerners. The southern kids couldn’t keep up academically. They didn’t have the background.”
I’ve heard every one of those comments. The last one was said with a straight face by a New Yorker to a (southern) Harvard post-doc. LOL He just sat there and I thought he was going to start laughing - but it didn’t. He was polite. I’m not sure she realized what she was saying.
My husband’s uncle is a mid level Democratic functionary in Buffalo. Hubby left NY at 12 and is thoroughly southern. He didn’t remember his family’s prejudices until this trip. His uncle made the statement to my face that all southerners hate black people. Hubby was stunned. Then hubby explained that I had a black roommate starting at age 14 in boarding school all the way thru college, who is still my best friend. Uncle didn’t ever apologize. Don’t think he believed it. Did’t fit his belief system.