re: Does anyone really have "Southern Pride"?

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Well, the South is constantly, and often untruthfully, shite on by the North.

Scruffy believes it has become a defensive response more than anything.

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This. I remember when I was a freshman in high school and went to the National Scout Jamboree in Virginia. There were people there from all over the world. I didn't realize how bad the kids from outside the south treated me until I took off my hat that read "Istrouma Area Council, Baton Rouge, LA" and put on one that said "Connecticut Rivers Council". Suddenly, everyone was so much more friendly. Kids stopped treating me as if they assumed I was just some ignorant, dumb, hick. Black kids from up north were suddenly friendly. The ones from the South still treated me the same besides them stopping from asking me for the mini Tabasco bottles we often handed out.

The next day, I took that hat off and put the Baton Rouge one back on, and the switch flipped. Everyone outside of the north either avoided eye-contact or just outwardly hated me. I even had a kid from bumf*^k Utah call me a redneck hick. It was absolutely eye-opening. I never realized that people really hated the South until that moment. Most of the people involved in that incident are now in their mid 20's. These are your millennials. It would have been one thing if these were isolated incidents, but it was widespread, damn near every random person I met. That's when I learned that although my southern accent isn't very thick, when I go north of Richmond, it's best to dial it back.