Having grown up in the south, I can safely say you are really overstating your case. I literally can't tell for sure whether this article is a joke or not. The south is full of rednecks who do tend to be more racist, do drive around with confederate flags on their trucks, and are intensely religious. While it isn't as extreme as stereotypes might indicate, the patterns are definitely there. Anyway this article is very odd.

I have spent minimal time in the south but I am not going to make claims about an entire region as you are. You are simply promoting the positive stereotypes of the south while brushing aside the negative ones. The south is full of alot of different people with alot of different lifestyles. I would argue that people who live in places like Marietta GA are more like northereners (or the way that northerners are perceived) than they are like people in rural south carolina.

Additionally, you are referencing negative stereotypes about Northerners. Not everyone is from the North Shore of Long Island, and not everyone went to Exeter. The North is a diverse place full of many different ways of life, and for you to pigeonhole the north while lambasting us (northerners) for stereotyping the south is not only ignorant, but undermines your point.

Seybert:

"The South is full of rednecks (And? They are some of the best people you will ever be fortunate enough to meet) who do tend to be more racist, (Really? Than who/whom?) do drive around with Confederate flags (And? Does that make them all bigoted or ?) on their trucks, and are intensely religious." (Sounds as though you believe there is something wrong with this.)

Ben:

"You are simply promoting the positive stereotypes of the South while brushing aside the negative ones."

How would you know if you have spent minimal time in the South?

"The North is a diverse place full of many different ways of life......"

Yes, very diverse as MLK found out.

“I’ve been in many demonstrations all across the South, but I can say that I have never seen---even in Mississippi and Alabama---mobs as hostile and hate-filled as I’ve seen in Chicago,” a shaken King said later. “I think the people from Mississippi ought to come to Chicago to learn how to hate.”

Carl Menzel's column was on the money about the incorrect stereotypes about The South. When I visit New York state I marvel at the audacity of the state's politicians (particularly reverse carpetbagger Senator Hillary Clinton) who condemn our flying the Confederate battle flag down South while proudly displaying the New York state flag. Do you New Yorkers not realize your state flag features two slave ships? The state flag, based on the state seal, has been glorifying slavery since 1798, when imported slaves were the most important commodity brought into the port of New York City. Until the New York State flag comes down, we will fly our Confederate flags. Study your own history, New Yorkers, before condeming The South's.

This article was terrible. I find it amusing how this columnist entitles his article “Shattering the Southern Stereotype” but then seeks to propagate stereotypes about others. For example, let us examine this passage: “Contrarily, I have met many elitist Ivy Leaguers who not only discriminate on color of skin but also color and style of clothes, cars, wealth, etc. Cornell is the most polarized and segregated place I have ever inhabited. Case in point is our beloved North Campus, where Native-American and African-American students have the choice to segregate themselves. In addition, the much-heralded Greek system exists in some cases to serve as ethnic enclaves for religious and cultural sects.” Have you applied to these program houses or “ethnic enclaves” masquerading as fraternities? I doubt it. Stop rehashing an opinion that other conservative publications like the Cornell Review have frequently made already. It should be noted that while the columnist bemoans discrimination in the North, he says nothing about how his home state of South Carolina had a long-serving senator named Strom Thurmond, who was a segregationist and opposed civil rights legislation.

This article is useless. Anyone with some sense of decency knows that bigotry exists everywhere, North and South, urban and rural, etc. For instance, Mississippi was propelled into the national spotlight during the civil rights movement, but to suggest that Mississippi made no contributions to America [William Faulkner, BB King] or to condemn it to be constrained to the historical straitjacket of racism is insane.

Carl Menzel should be ousted from the Daily Sun’s staff because his presence represents a mockery to our university.

I agree completely with your statements. As a person who lives in downtown Beaufort, South Carolina all of these stereotypes are present. Us "Beaufortonian's" are known for our simple minded conservative views. I live in a 200 year old historic home as well as my grandmother who lives right beside my house. Beaufort is paradice for all those who live hear to the most extent, we have beaches, marsh, sandbars to party at, and since there is nothing to do at night as a High Schooler we get togeather by the hundreds and party untill we passout from too much alcohol or the sun comes up. We all have totalled a car atleast once, we like shrimp and grits. As children we all crabbed, shrimped, fished, and know how to cast the cast-net perfectly. For the most party during the summer every one knows the place to be in out on the boat "booze-cruizin" with a couple of your best friends. Wearing "Costa's" (Costa del mar sunglasses), sperries, and all are tan. My family originated from Charleston, and my whole family has the same accent as do the people in "The Prince of Tides" as it was filled her in beaufort, as well as Forrest Gump and many other movies including "Forces of Nature" of which i was an actor in :).. notice the little kid under the table in the wedding scene. That house is in my neighborhood.

Dear lord, you people act as if this article is a personal insult!

I've lived in many different places around the United States, both North and South, and I can easily agree with Mr. Menzel. Are there racists in the South? Yes, but there are racists everywhere in this country! There are rednecks in the North, just as there are in the South. I've seen more "rednecks" in central Indiana than I ever did in Texas! Mr. Menzel is, as I see it, only trying to show people that the South is not just full of Larry the Cable Guy wannabes, but also full of kind, hospitable, and intelligent people.

I live in New Jersey, and I can tell you that I don't judge people from the South based on stupid, inaccurate, ignorant stereotypes like the ones listed above. Personally, I think whoever wrote this article is too sensitive to stereotypes. Everyone gets judged based on something. If it's not where you come from, it's what you wear or how you look or how much money your family has. I get labeled as an overachiever just because I'm Asian. It's also very hypocritical of the writer to be saying how rude and unwanted a sterotype is, while stereotyping people from the North at the same time. Not everything up here is as tightly wound as people think it is.

I think he wrote this article simply because he could. I mean, why NOT? It's good to see how both the North and South are still on uneasy grounds with, and the stereotypes of eachother. The article was probably comparing and contrasting the stereotypical uppety New Yorkers (which isn't the ENTIRE population but it IS a large portion) against people from small "one-horse town's" where most people are religious (more prominantly than most folks), and they drive big, dirty trucks because they HAVE to, hauling all the crops to make the food we ALL eat everyday. It is just a necessity for that line of work. Rural=farms=crops=needing big vehicles to load an haul it all=economic valuses/food for us, food for livestock for more food.

This is like-wise in the city. Everything happens fast-fast-fast because it is an ever evolving system, and to lag behind is costly. That's why there is no wasting precious time in the rough Big City, but mainly for the wealthier, big-time business leaders. Others are just there because it's an (almost) economicly stable city; just a place to live. Without the big-headed, hot-shot CEO's and entrepeneurs, our economy would suffer more than it is already.

Each side critisizes and mocks the other because most people typicaly don't know anything about, much less understand, the other side. It's the natural human aversion to things that are differant than the "norm". No way around it.

Honestly though, I think most of these reviewers are just reading too much into this thing. It's an article for crying out loud! Chill out.

The reason why I am on this article is because I am trying to understand the troubles we are encountering now that we (Yankees) moved to rural Virginia. Prices are different for locals verses outsiders, I've been called a foreigner even though my family has fought for this country with historically noted distinction in the Civil War and all the way back to the French and Indian Wars in what is now Pittsburg, Penna. But what I learned this weekend while visiting in-laws outside of Smith Mountain Lake shook me to my core. I thought I heard every horrid racist statement, but I learned, and I quote, "a Yankee ain't nothin more that a n****r turned inside out." I also learned that I will never be accepted, just tollerated, and this depends on how well I "act". Uniquely enough, those from northern Virginia are called Northern S.O.B.'s because they deal with and partially embody the Yankee mindset.... I know this because my new Uncle was born in Northern Virgina, and even though he worked for 30 years in Va, he now resides outside Smith Mountain Lake and is an outsider because he's not "kin". Now, I was raised in Pennsylvania and I heard so many stereotypes of Southerners that I tried to dismiss. Sadly, now that I live here, the locals are proving all those stereotypes I heard as a child to be true.