Pride or Prejudice?
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- Опубликовано: 21 сен 2023
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Everyone wants to be proud of where they come from, but for Southerners, that's not really a straightforward feeling. In this episode, @TraeCrowderLiberalRedneck explores the duality of the southern thing.
The American South is a complicated place, and we know a lot less about it than we think we do. And many things about the South that seem to make no sense are less confounding in context. The reality is the history of many Southern things has been manipulated, hidden, or just plain ignored. Trae Crowder guides us through the pride points, failures, and contradictions in "Southin' Off."
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Here's a little nugget of knowledge. My grandmother was born in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee in 1901. After being more or less sold into marriage at the age of 14 to a neighbor, who abandoned her less than 2 years later after the birth of their first child, and enduring abuse at the hands of his father, she fled to Nashville and with the help of the suffragettes managed to successfully divorce her husband on the grounds of abandonment, obtain custody of her daughter, and get a small settlement from her father-in-law, most of which you never paid. She herself became a suffragette. She was in Nashville on the day when the Tennessee legislature voted to give American women the right to vote.
BE PROUD TENNESSEE!
And I love you Mamaw. You've left some big shoes to fill. But I do my best.
Amazing story, thanks for sharing! LGBT Georgian here, Southern on Southern on Southern …is my ancestry. 😂 We have a lot of “confirmed bachelors” and women working+wearing pants stories from the early 1900’s.
That brought tears to my eyes. You have a right to be proud of your Rich family heritage!
And how many Black people did she get Lynched...
@@michaelodonnell824 you're obviously on the wrong page because that comment doesn't even fit here
@@michaelodonnell824 There's always someone who wants to 'shit in the pool' just to be edgy.
I'm proud and ashamed of being German.
There is a word for it: Vergangenheitsbewältigung.
That's not "a" word. That's the alphabet.
As a quietly proud Southerner, I think it applies. I'm glad Trae addressed this & our German friend gave us a word for our pain, shame, pride and quandary 😆
People should not be proud of things they have no control over just like they are not responsible for things they have no control over. You want a reason to be proud then accomplish something.
@@allanwilmath8226you don't get invited to many parties, do you?
Love my people, if there's no word, just put 5 little words together!
I was stationed in Arkansas for several years. I remember openly bigoted grandfathers doting on their mixed-race grandchildren. I remember Little Rock having one hell of a big, popular gay cabaret club. I remember business owners openly embarrassed while they assured me their Black employee was trustworthy in my home while knowing my west-coast self was judging them for thinking they had to make that sort of statement. I remember hydroplaning on the freeway, ending up in the ditch, and having a couple carloads of strangers stop so they could get all muddy pushing my car back onto the road. I remember little restaurants that wrote their menu on a chalkboard, and if you didn't like meatloaf and wax beans you ate somewhere else that day (I love meatloaf and wax beans). I remember my disabled son's classroom being a glorified storage closet because a combination of underfunding and not giving a damn about students who needed a little extra help.
I'm still trying to figure out if I loved or hated the place.
That was very nice to read. Thanks
Lotsa interesting imagery. Thank you. 👍
Both. You both loved _and_ hated it. This is how it is. 🤷
You had me at meat loaf and wax beans for today.
There's a lot to be said for meatloaf and wax beans.@@sagehiker
Trae, your intelligence continues to inform us all
Incredibly well said.
Twenty-eight years living in what passed for a liberal part of Dallas, and the next forty-one in Northeast Texas, and still a proud liberal, I can certainly relate to a sense of ambivalence about my home state, as well as the rest of the South.
I’ve seen some incredibly vile displays of bigotry and racism in both places, but I have also seen many beautiful acts of kindness and compassion, sometimes coming from very unexpected sources.
I think that an excellent way to maintain a sense of perspective is to read the works of the late Molly Ivins, a political commentator and a brilliant humorist, who had an incredible knack for finding humor in the absurdities of Texas politics and culture, as well as on the national stage.
Keep fighting the good fight, Trae. You’re on the right side… or maybe I should say you’re on the left side, which is the right side to be on.
Oh, heck, you probably know what I’m trying to say.
Beautifully said❤
Thank you for your truth
In the mid 90's up here in about middle Kentucky there was a resurgence of Rebel flag symbols popping up everywhere. My dad had a metal one nailed to a big tree stump at the edge of the yard. Wave 3 news stopped by to interview him on their road trip after some controversies and racial violence that had recently happened. My Dad realized that the symbol really did represent something he didn't wanna be proud of and it hurt his neighbor's and even some personal friends so he took them all down. Pride doesn't have to exist in a binary, I'm proud of him for changing his mind and over time we've all become more accepting of other people round here. Of course the great depression of Trumpism brought a resurgence of straight ignorance back around but it was mostly internet in fighting and most people where I live would help out anyone they saw in peril even if they didn't understand them or thought they hated them for some odd reason. Thanks Trae, it's good to know we ain't alone in the woods in believing in a better south. PS eat mushrooms!!
Can relate. I'm a Latina. Half of my ancestors enslaved and subjugated the other half. My mother tongue and the religion I was born into are stark reminders of that conquest.
Conquered and conqueror on two feet, so history can step forward.
Wow !! I never thought of that ! Like the other poster said, use your two feet to keep moving forward.
My son is half native Mexican and during his Texas History class I had to give him a more balanced view of Texas Rangers who hung the brown half of his ancestors for no reason. I look Irish but have more Chiricahua Apache in me. He is too brown to cross over like my family did with me. He abandoned the Catholic Church.
@@glowormrdr6183the whole of Europe is like that, between the Romans and the various non-Roman peoples migrating around the place over the centuries between -100 and +1400 CE.
As a Southerner and half german, bring me grief of my ancestors and I will release a blitzkrieg of Jerry rigged shock and awe the likes of which you'd never imagine. Got enough struggles, and one of my kids is mOff. African American, and her best friend is jewish, both queer reparations paid F off.
I think that’s the attitude to have no matter where you’re from. My mom is from Buffalo NY. My dad is from southern Louisiana. My dad was an anti racist during the civil rights movement, and far more aware of institutional racism than my mom (though she is vocally opposed to racism). I live near NYC, one of the most segregated cities in the country and I can tell you which towns near me growing up had KKK enclaves, and which are still seriously problematic. I’m proud of where I’m from, but part of that pride is knowing we could do a lot better and fighting for that.
As a long since moved Cajun from Acadiana who grew up there in the 70’s , I agree with this paradox.
We were never given a fraction of the truth of how brutal Louisiana was to African Americans. But it’s out now. You just have to look for the books.
I love my memories of growing up in the countryside of my hometown, almost Tom Sawyerish with adventures in the woods, swamps and rivers.
I hope someday that we southerners as well as the rest of America come to accept that part of our history that is horrible. We are not alone…. Every country past and present has its bad history as well. We are not exceptional. We have our freedoms and our constitution, which definitely sets us apart.
Fun fact : Artimus Pyle, the drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd is a MARINE who hates guns. A self acclaimed almost liberal 😃
Lynard Skynard sucks
Louisiana is a unique place with a very brutal history. Not only towards blacks but also poor whites and native Americans as well. From its very first settlement in 1718, Louisiana started out as brutal and corrupt. Both New Orleans and Baton Rouge were corrupt rowdy places from the very beginning. I lived in Louisiana for about three years and I familiarized myself with both its political and geographical flora and fauna. Louisianans used to complain endlessly about their corruption but they damned well know that their state was corrupt and brutal from the very beginning and whole knows how the original native Americans were before 1718. The brutality and corruption could go back even further into history.
@@r.pres.4121 Louisiana is the 10th circle of hell.
You lost me at the typical American "we have a constitution and freedoms". To whom are you comparing yourself? Yours is not the only country to have a constitution and freedoms, and atm, you have less freedoms than most industrialized countries. Americans... smh
Hey man, I’m a Northerner descendant of Swiss and German immigrants. I know all about being proud of the good and rejecting the bad. Keep being proud of your southern heritage. It’s good to be happy with the positive aspects of our culture and to acknowledge the horrible things so they don’t happen again.
I'm a metalhead born and raised in Ca and after my discharge from the service I decided to hitchhike across the country to see everything I felt was worth seeing which included the caverns in KY, you know... the turtle state. With my long hair which I let grow back out and the band shirts I wore I got a lot of nasty looks from people in the southern states who just saw a long haired liberal hippie they didn't want in their town. That experience along with my disdain for the long history of slavery (which yes we liberals know it was dems during the civil war that started it) and all the civil rights violations gave me a negative attitude towards people from the south for many years. Yet I began meeting people from the south who were open about the things they weren't proud of but still had things they loved about it, it was then being older and a bit tempered by time I saw that my judgments of the south as a whole was a far more ambiguous thing then I had initially realized. I've since visited the south several more times enjoying the beauty, food, and music it has to offer as well as making many new friends who live there.
As a black person born in the early 70s, i can assure you that the north,east, midwest, southwest, and west were racist during jim crow also. Those regions are hypocrites that blame all of the racism on the south...
When I moved to Oregon I was shocked to see more confederate battle flags on houses and trucks than I ever did in Texas. I was appalled at the lack of friendly hospitality and manners. And they don't have good fried chicken. Now when I visit Texas, I take an Uber straight from the airport to the nearest Church's. I know fried chicken grew out of Black culture and oppression, and that it is one of the greatest foods on Earth.
LOL I live in Portland dude I've never seen a confederate flag and there are endless soul food restaurants in the town, microbrews and micro bourbons, and the people are not outright friendly but they aren't fake like you get in the south either.
There is more to Oregon than the three liberal cities of Portland, Salem, and Eugene along with the laid back scenic Pacific coastline. The rest of Oregon is as racist, xenophobic, homophobic, anti Semitic, and misogynist as any other isolated rural area in the USA and that is no bullshit.
I went through something similar but I went to a Whataburger.
Thank you Trae, I am a proud Southern that enjoys the wonderful people here, it is complicated to anyone raised outside of the South, but you did a great job in describing it in all our sweet tea goodness.
Every culture has their shame. Just embrace the good, and remember the bad so that it'll never happen again. As someone who lives north of the mason dixen line I've always only focused on southern folk and their famous hospitality. I choose to amplify what is good in people.
Preach it Trae! Love your history shorts, please keep it coming. I'm waiting for you to hit the mainstream - folks won't know what's coming! Hugs, lib grandma in Tx.❤😂
Keep it up. My family is from Oregon...we are not perfect world also. We have a dark chapters in our history too. Keep shinning the light in the truth, we can only do better by knowing the truth of the past.
Hi. I'm from the north.
And we have plenty to be ashamed of ourselves.
My ancestors screwed over the Indians. Not only that, but we have our very own form of racism up here. And it dates to before the Civil War.
I think that, to be a good citizen or even a decent human being, one must accept contradiction.
As much as I was brought up to hate the racism of the south (while ignoring our own version), I was also taught to admire the incredible bravery and ferocious fight of the Confederate soldiers.
We must love our ancestors and forgive their sins. But we must not forget them.
Well stated!
I'm from California. As much as I'm proud to be in a state that tries to make progressive policies, I'm also ashamed of the past (and current) policies we have. Eugenics was a thing, when marginalized populations were chemically sterilized before it was abolished. The current housing crisis we have has compounded factors that not only makes it impossible to address, it's very nuanced and complicated (and I have my suspicions some of those who are homeless were shipped from other states that refused to take care of their own citizens and migrants, similar to the stunts Abbott and DeathSentence pulled). Various organizations are working hard to demand a sweeping change through election campaigns and legislation from changing zoning laws, implementing rent control, taxing vacant houses owned by foreign wealthy investors, affordable housing for low-income/homeless families and individuals, etc. It's a helluva undertaking, but it's a human right we need to fight for.
Well said
Pretty sure the South screwed over Native Americans too
Obviously you missed the black history lesson about slavery in the North.
I think a lot of southerners confuse pride with arrogance. You can be proud of you heritage and not treat others like 💩. It is possible.
A lot of southerners are ignorant and if they become defensive about it, they seem to be arrogant
Tell people from other areas about THAT when they mock the way people talk in the South!
My ideal South is that we all would be poor, financially. But so rich in many other ways. Have modest homes where you can talk to your neighbors over the fence. Where children of all colors run around together riding bicycles and playing tag. It becomes second nature to watch out and care for each other, even those with personalities that you may not particularly like. Allow, actually encourage, all good faiths. Although from the Old Testament, Micah 6:8 tells us the basic principles that we all should do: "O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you. But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."
Amen Brother !!
I love this. I particularly love that you brought in the drive-by truckers. I love them and I love Southern rock opera and for some reason I’ve never been able to quite figure out I always tear up a little bit when listening to, “outfit.“ weird. I anyway being southern myself and mentioning good things about the south off and gets me uncomfortable luxe from people I know or straight up accusations of beliefs I don’t hold. I am absolutely positively fully aware that we’ve got issues, but I am also absolutely positively fully aware that the solutions to those issues are only going to be found here. So I too, am proud to be southern, even if I am frequently annoyed, and/or pissed off at some of us. Because I honestly believe that if we ever get our shit together, the good that we can do vastly outweighs the bad that we have done. It won’t undo the bad stuff that has been done. Of course, you can’t ever unscramble eggs, but I really do feel like we have the ability to contribute so much more than we have taken. If we can ever get our shit together.
Thank you Trae Crowder.
This is especially true when you're mixed race black and white.
And Latino, conquered and conqueror on two feet, so history can step forward.
Lived in FL, AL, MS, TX and LA. New Orleans will always be home, even though I live in wine country now. (People really appreciate some Eatin’ and drinking’ here too.) Proudly celebrating my upbringing every day. And nobody… I mean nobody says anything negative about the South when I pick up a guitar or cook a pot of Gumbo.
Well said. Too bad "the South" keeps doing things that only serve to perpetuate the worst stereotypes of "Southern culture." Thing is, almost everyone loves and appreciates all of the "good" aspects of that culture, but cannot abide the deplorable aspects of it, which many southerners seem to embrace wholeheartedly, oftentimes for the worst possible reasons.
Very proud southerner here. I have entertained ppl from all over the world and they all say there is no place so inviting as the south. When disaster strikes, we all help and take ppl in. If your house burns we all pitch in to help.
What has been going on for the last few years is not a southern thing, it’s a game rich ppl are playing to stay in power. Just because you see the interviews with “ the dumb southerner” don’t think everyone is like that. There are white supremest groups all over the US, not just the south. It is very conservative down here, but it wasn’t hateful. You don’t hear many progressive southerners because we pick our battles, and aren’t loud. I do believe come election day they will speak and I hope they are loud as hell. This hate spurred by ppl like limbaugh, all of faux news, and greedy billionaires needs snuffing out. Laws protecting their corruption need to be changed and they need to be taxed fairly. Also existing laws to protect us need to be enforced upon anyone who dares to malign them. Stay strong America we can do this.
@martin2289 as someone born and raised in the South I agree one thousand percent. It’s unfortunate, but true and it makes it impossible to move forward. I moved away 21 years ago, but I still pay attention to the goings on there.
@ktmac7610 I agree there are many good people in the South who hate racism, but as you alluded to, the other side is louder.
@@lewstone5430 And prouder! (For reasons that only psychologists are qualified to answer.)
@@martin2289 Bigots have Zero reason to be proud. People who embrace hatred confuse bullying for strength. It takes great strength to be Fair, as well as Kind, esp in hard times, when both suffering & greed increase. Of course, any of history's many deposed dictators would point out the drawbacks of being a failed bully, IF they could still speak (which they can't, unless it's from beyond the grave). Autocrats rarely die of old age.
Most bigots i've known were just lazy weaklings, tbh. Total followers, not leaders. And dumb as rocks. Too lazy to open a book or apply themselves to any form of study. Full of (often fake & performative) hospitality towards those just like themselves, but Deeply Unkind to anyone at all different. Just walking hammers, looking for human nails, b/c they never developed the gumption to dig deep inside themselves, figure out their issues, and work on making the needed improvements.
What on earth do bigots have to be proud of, really? Having ancestors who thought they had any "right" to own other humans, and to profit from their imposed misery? That's only a reason to feel Quite Ashamed. That's exactly how I feel about the Southern branch of my family tree...
My mother's family is from the South. When her well-off parents died, she & her 3 siblings squabbled over the estate so terribly that lawyers got the bulk of it. My own uncle threatened to have my face sliced up, so that I "wouldn't be so pretty anymore". (I'd stayed completely Out of the family free-for-all, as I was in my early 20's & lived states away, just minding my own biz & living my life). As a "joke", when my bro & I were little (just 7 & 3) that same uncle had tried to convince us that my dad had just died in a plane crash (he had not, Dad just had to work late that night). Uncle's always been a Total psycho.
My mother, despite being raised in a supposedly "good home" (b/c they had $$$ lived in a gorgeous home on a lake) had ran away at 17 b/c of some rather stark instances of child abuse (example: Grandma's fave form of punishment was slamming her daughters' heads on the beautiful tiled floor of their conservatory). My aunt (Mom's older sis) had moved to the opposite coast b/c of the same treatment as soon as she became a legal adult. Only their 2 brothers were treated lovingly, b/c their church taught them that the female half the planet "deserves" to suffer, all b/c of a fruit-related mistake *one* woman made 5K years ago. Insane.
Brutality, bigotry, misogeny, bullying, hate - those things have All been part of the Southern landscape since that region was stolen from native tribes. Sheer meanness, covered w/ a cheap veneer of "proper manners". Maybe it's an ancient, deserved curse from that long ago era? Or, perhaps the bulk of the South's population is simply a bag of sun-baked d*cks, raising their female offspring via a form of Stockholm Syndrome that normalizes child abuse for them? God will determine which is true.
That creepy uncle is now a badge-heavy sheriff in GA, undoubtedly abusing POC. I wish the South would have successfully seceded, w/o a need for Civil War. Then, we could have built a wall to keep the rest of our nation safe from the mind-poison so common amongst its inhabitants. But only *after* helping their targeted victims to ESCAPE that region. Bigots & Sexists Suck, as does any region infected by them.
Well said. As a white male cis straight politically-progressive humanist Texan who still loves barbecue, banjo music, football, and Civil War history, I can confirm that the cognitive struggle is real. I dressed up as Robert Lee for Halloween in the fifth grade. Yep, it's complicated.
As long as nobody grooms the kids, its okay with me. Also our firearms. Or its gonna get bloody. 🤤 Mmmm, blood.
This is brilliant.
I think there are many people all around the world who need to listen and hear what you’ve said.
Thank you for being a proud southerner - who is incredibly articulate about things that matter.
The food analogies made so much sense to me.
Thank you Trae, you speak the things I think and feel for me to the world!
Thank you. I'm from New York State but I have lived in many places including many in the South. I even married a Southerner. We have since divorced. It has been next to impossible for me to figure out what the South is about and now I see why. The South isn't just one type of person who all agree with each other. I suppose we have the same thing in the North but I grew up here. So, I understand the various types of people here.
Great rundown on those in your neck of the woods.
Gosh durn it, complexity is hard, Trae! Thank goodness we have you to help explain our proud and not-so-proud Southern heritage to our Yankee friends. I appreciate you, brother.
Thank you for stating it better than I have been able to. I love my southern family and the liberal, anti racist person they turned me in to.
I’m a liberal who’s a fiercely proud southerner too!!!
The south isn’t all as fiercely conservative and ultra religious like it is perceived to be even the small towns and rural areas have their pleasant progressive surprises.
Glad that this came across my radar. I’m an ex-Southerner (born and raised but left after high school), so I found this quite interesting. Looking forward to watching your other South-themed vids.
As a 70 year old Texan who used to be proud of my state, I'm not sure when or if I will ever be able to find that love again.
I have a whole pile of sayings I use to express my feelings on this subject. Things like, "I love the south, I just don't like a lot of the people that live here"(honestly I feel that way about the whole USA these days) and "the leaders of our past were marble men with feet of clay".
It is a strange feeling to be both ashamed of my ancestors and the place I was born and raised and also proud of them. I think it's important that we remember it's unrealistic to judge people that lived 50 or 100 or 200 or 400 years ago by the standards of morality of the 21st century. As Star Trek on more than one occasion described us as a primitive, savage culture it would be wise to remember that some day our descendants will probably find some of our behavior deeply embarrassing as well.
Bro, im right there with you. Born and raised in Hiawassee Georgia, i have lived in California for 20+ years and so glad i was able to see the world and learn tolerance. Southern pride for me translates into being proud of how i grew up in the hills poor, and was able to carry on as a well educated person.
Very worthwhile. Thank you, Trey. I'm a lifelong northerner...plenty of crap up here I could do without!
The only time I hear Sweet Home Alabama is in Everbank Stadium after the Jaguars win. The people in the stands, no matter their race, sing and dance along because they're happy about the vidtory. Lynyrd Skynyrd is from Jacksonville, they got together when they were in high school. Most of them went to Robert E Lee High School, where they had a teacher named Leonard Skinnard, who the band is named after (I might have spelled his last name wrong, can't remember). That high school is now Riverside High School, as it and a number of other schools that had been named after Confederate figures were renamed. We still have reminders of that past wrong, but we're trying to change them. Our greatest hero is James Weldon Johnson- author of Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing. It's a city that embodies the contradictions you talked about in the video, so it's something that's pretty much always in our consciousness. We're proud despite _______, we love our city but we hate _________, etc. We had a great part of downtown called Lavilla where most of the greats of the Harlem Renaissance got their start- but it's pretty much all gone now. We used to have a huge Gullah Geechee population- but it's pretty much all gone now. The city fathers in the post WWII era tried to erase all of that history, and we're now trying to build back from crumbs. Somehow, with all of these contradictions, singing a song about another state that was sung by a band from this city and sung and danced to by people who have benefited and been harmed by racism fits this city better than any other song I can think of.
Love ❤️ your excellent work, Trae. I grew up in West Tennessee. Music: please find the song 🎵 "Wildfire" with lyrics by Watchouse - formerly named Mandolin Orange 🍊 . The songwriter grew up in a small town in North Carolina named after the Revolutionary War hero Joseph Warren. Powerful lyrics and great music 🎶. Newgrass - Americana.
Healthy, positive and wonderful things often come out of negative, painful experiences, in regions, individuals, or anything with an identity.
I completely understand. Most of my dad’s ancestors have been in the south-well…since before the revolutionary war. Some kept slaves. Lots fought for the confederacy. Am I ashamed? Yes. Is there anything I can do to change any of that? No. But I can acknowledge the history. The good and bad.
right on brother, I’m a northerner, and appreciate your sharing the the lovely aspects of the South, and being southern
I am a southern Liberal.
Always fun to watch that mess up folks.
I'm from Nashville,TN and live in North Carolina and I battle with this very subject nearly every day.
I love this video. Thank you, Trae!
Helen Keller, Alabamian, not famous for being blind and deaf, actually famous for being a woke socialist. She's my personal hero.
Trae is a national treasure.
I am old southern white guy. Spent my whole life farming, hunting and fishing in the south. Florida, Georgia and Louisiana part Cajun and Irish. I think racial hatred is stupid. I live in a neighborhood with black, Latino and white people we all get along. I have worked with migrants on the farm for fifty years. I think migrant farm workers are salt of the earth. Great hardworking people and very family oriented. Been a Democrat all my life. I am not proud of many of my friends that have embraced Maga. In my life the south has made progress in education and opportunities for poor people. It seems some people want to go backwards. I will always be a progressive believe that everyone should have access to education and opportunity regardless of race , religion or sexual orientation.
Aretha was from Detroit! Although some of her biggest hits were recorded with the Swampers at Muscle Shoals!
She was original from the SOUTH. And when her father changed churches as a child, she moved to Detroit
Thank you for this, Trae. You Rock, Sir.
I've lived in Texas for 80% of my life, and southern pride is still an enigma to me. Honestly, having pride based on anything I didn't choose (like where I was born) doesn't make much sense to me. Tribal mentality is strange.
I have no idea what this channel is but I love Trae and I'm a proud southerner (despite the horrible things of course) so I'm here for this video! 🙏🏻✌🏻💚💙💜
That was a great reminder... thanks for that!😊
I'm not ashamed at all. What would I have to be ashamed of? I had nothing to do with that. That's not what I stand for, nor has it ever been. The south I associate with embraces our differences. We enjoy one another's culture, and share it for the benefit of all. Are there bad parts? Sure, but there's bad parts everywhere, and of everything. Doesn't mean you have to define yourself by them, you define yourself in spite of them.
You could say the same about any group. Men vs women. White vs black. Colonizers vs indigenous. Most histories are messy with good and bad mixed together. That's why I still think the best advice I ever heard was at a lecture by Jamie Sames, a Seneca woman and author. She said, "If you point your finger and someone, you're pointing three fingers back at yourself." Like Maya Agelou used to say - when you know better, DO better.
I grew up in eastern NC, and like so many other people, I feel ambivalent about being from the South. I will probably always be a work in progress on this issue.
Well spoken with deep honest meaning. Thank you Sir.
From the North and have very conflicting feelings also. The North, South and whole United States have a lot of shame. We can just keep trying to make better.
Proud black man here. Loved 'Souther Man' and 'Sweet Home Alabama '. Think more should see this video.
Do you know the Drive By Truckers music? That was the fella in the video
Isn’t it just like family: some flaws, some amazing? We love each other in spite of the flaws. Love people; side with ideas. People don’t need to be perfect; ideas do.
As a Nashville boy who left I gotta say you’re absolutely on point.
I’m from the south and I can’t imagine not being proud of where I am from. I received an unbelievable education at UNC Chapel Hill with so many cultures there to share my experiences with and them to me.
Very insightful and inspiring. Thanks for your leadership. I am sharing this.
Best American food, food which is actually from America and not just brought here (like Italian or Mexican food), comes from the south. That's our best food. Best we have on offer.
"i'd rather have a messy picture that's Real instead of some Altered Reality."
Amen 💜🙏🏽🕊️
I love you and you make the world a better place ❤ thank you
Too many people focus on what is/has been bad and never remember the good things. Thank you for bringing this into the light. I am in Florida, and I am not happy with the politics taking place right now. There are a lot of things being done wrong in my opinion, but it IS just my opinion. I am proud to be a native Floridian. I love my state. I just don't like what is presently happening. The south has some of the greatest people living here and , despite the bad, it is something to be proud of.
I had to look up Drive-By Truckers, but I'm already glad I did. Thanks!
The music talked about reminds me of Born in the USA and how the message is now lost.
The message in Born in the USA isn't heard , all most people hear is "born in the USA" the rest might as well be mumbled gibberish.
BTW
I love the song and play it every Fourth of July , with lyrics for those that are deaf to everything but "born in the USA"
Thanks, I love this.
I feel this entire video could be talking about the US in general. We've done some horrible things, but we've also done some pretty incredible things too.
Brilliant essay!
"They didn't get what the song was saying at all...."
Is ANYONE surprised?!
Nope. People hear and believe what they want to hear and believe. Where I live ( southern Michigan ), they play "Born in the USA" at every fireworks show, and people think it's a great patriotic song, when it's not.
Trae Crowder! 😊
Bless you, Trae
I grew up in a small town in East Texas. My hometown's population is approximately 11,000 people. I have people there i have known and loved my entire life. That is, until the orange dude became the occupant of the white house. I almost resent him making it ok to forget their southern manners to let their true selves come out of the dark, as I despise what he has done to our government. Not all Southerners are bigots, but in my home town in East Texas, a lot of them are. It's shameful.
Wow...great a** video! I mean that in the nicest way. Awesome writing, dialog, production, every dang thing ! Wow!!
The South will only be made a better, more just place by people who care about it. Writing off the whole South only disheartens those who might have done their part, and I've known plenty of bright young minds who left at the first chance and made other places better with their presence as a result.
I'm from the south too, we got Hank 3, Grits, Dolly, and Aretha Franklin like you said, and where else can you fix a car with a paper clip, band aid, and a prayer to the broke down car gods
Well, Trae, I'm proud to be American. At the same time, I know the things America has done over the years and they've not always been pretty or even good. It's possible to recognize flaws and still appreciate the beauty where it exists. Thanks for pointing this out; as always, it's well said.
I get this. I think I’m more proud of what the south could be someday than of what it currently is.
Trae I'm from Louisiana and I'm with u I'm proud of our culture.
I have forsworn the use of the word proud. Proud to be from the north, proud to be from the south, proud to be ... I usually had nothing to do with it I was just born that way. I prefer to say I love the place I am from and let it go at that. Pride, especially over something you had nothing to do with, gets you into trouble.
Yes Trae. God bless.
My family lives within the tribal reservation of the Cherokee Nation in OK. I’ve never been to the south where our native homelands were. I can honestly say I get resentful when I hear and see how southerns act when it comes to the tribes and land. For me the land was stolen to make way for southern excess and greed.
Preach on, Brother
I am a Northerner. I love a Southern accent, Southern music, charm and culture. I know that there are people who are open-minded and forward-thinking. Look at what happened in Georgia.
I'm a Southerner of German heritage. In my life I have visited Dachau and Rosewood, FL. A double dose. My way to peace of mind is to try and help make sure things like that never happen again.
The Swampers are awesome!!! Their fine musicianship transcends race, local, nationality and politics. None better in the world and this is a Canadian telling you this.
I wish i could agree with you Trae. I wish I believed it was appropriate to pretend in any way shape or form that the Good counters/overarches the bad. You show me a South where Black Americans are not constantly being Gerrymandered and abused by Law enforcement. Show me a South where higher education, facts and the truth hold sway and I will gladly embrace the positives of my Southern roots. But the sad truth is the South is not interested in Equality and using facts, science and the truth as guidance. If they were trumpet, maga and ignorance would not be the primary political forces there. I completely understand you not wanting to slam your entire cultural upbringing. Fortunately for me things really are simple. If people in general are not openly disowning the bigots hypocrites and racists they do not get a pass from me. Not being openly awful is not good enough in my opinion. One must be openly against the awful people. Bless your heart for trying Trae. Sadly I think your feelings are clouding your judgement. It is probably no help but my parents were from Arkansas and Kentucky. They moved to Arizona and unfortunately it is barely better than the South here. I freely admit that unlike yourself I am not dependent on others for my income so I do not have to pull punches or worry about people not liking being told the truth. For me this world has become very cut and dried. If I cannot reason with a person I am done with them. Facts the truth and reality are all I care about anymore. :)
With you, Trae.
100 per cent correct. You are great.
The thing is, the South is part of my heritage, too. I was born and bred in snow white New England. But we are one country. Slavery wasn't just part of Southern history. Neither was segregation. But the test of the quality of the people isn't about the past... it's about NOW. It's not the history of the place that I reject... it's that so many people now are still *choosing* willful ignorance. I also reject that up here. Refusing to learn about reality in order to uphold traditional stupidity or avoid learning from history is scorn-worthy behavior everywhere.
We, as a people, have done great things. We are still doing great things. We, as a people, have done great harm. We are still doing great harm. But we don't have excuses anymore.
Wonderful comment, ty for it. So true. Also true is the politicos who are purposefully distorting history, trying to throw it out in order to divide and conquer and distract us, and to do the will of the wealthy billionaires...bless Trae and all who check things out before running scared...❤❤❤...
Cajun here I hear ya and agree 100% well said ...
I am from the south and my state is probably one of the brightest red states in the country. I left this state for quite a while and as I was driving in to hometown with intentions of movie back it brought tears to my eyes missed Home so much I do appreciate all the good but I certainly disagree with all the bad and it makes living here sometimes difficult, but it is home.
I was born in the North, but lived in Texas and Tennessee. I never found much basic difference between northerners and southerners. If you focus on differences, you won’t see the big pictures. We are all Americans and have plenty to be proud of.
Ty
Phil Harris' "That's What I Like About the South": Huge hit in the 1940s (i.e., before the Civil Rights Movement shamed white people into cleaning up their acts), written by a white Tennessee native who strongly identified as a Southerner [1].
Fifteen verses, of which at least 9 were about Southern food, 4 were about romance (mostly unrequited) with Southern women, one was about a place called Doo-Wah-Diddy ("ain't no town and it ain't no city"), the rest were about local characters - and zero were about supporting the Civil War, slavery, etc.
If Phil Harris could assert his pride as a Southerner in the 40s without landing on the wrong side of history, surely others can do the same.
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[1] ruclips.net/video/A_dK0W0qfRo/видео.html
(If "That's What I Like About the South" doesn't seem like it should have been so popular, note that every week, Harris was on Jack Benny's show, which was easily the most listened-to program on radio for at least a decade, back when radio was THE medium.)
Thank you. I am Jewish and I won't go into details but I have had mixed feelings when I have attended high-school reunions in Montgomery. I truly liked many of the people but I was reminded how I was an outsider in their eyes:: Pale skin, blond hair, hazel eyes but not truly white. I also attended reunions in North Dakota and was quite surprised at the openness of the anti-Black bigotry I encountered there. So, yes, it's messy. In a running club in the District of Columbia, there were a few of us who were brought up in Alabama and all of us struggled to reconcile today's reality with what were generally good childhoods. I appreciate your going through some of the complicated feelings.
On another level, I often tell people that if they were brought up in 1950s Alabama and were not scarred by the experience then they were not paying attention. Some of my classmates were not scarred and I worry about the message they're giving their children and grandchildren. I once took it as a compliment when a Black coworker told me she had not realized I was brought up in Alabama - how sad is that.
I was born and raised in the northeast, New Jersey specifically. And although it was 100 years after the Civil War we still held very negative opinions about the south. And my father, a professional musician with many black friends, had been to the south playing with 30s and 40s bands and he really hated the south. This was instilled in me and my family to the point that I can't get over my dislike of the south. And I've been there a few times. The one place in the south I like is New Orleans.