“The Curse of Southern Culture, Part V”

I am infuriated and deeply saddened by how rural and small town southern refuse to see how harmful many of their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are to themselves and to others. They are their own worst enemies. I grew up with these people. They were my friends and neighbors. I truly wish that I could respect them again.

The culture and economy were built around agriculture. Much of the farm land was not rich soil to begin with. The fertility that it did have was greatly depleted by a century or more of growing the cash crops of cotton and tobacco, That depleted the soil of much of the fertility it did have. And, most of them did nothing to conserve or enhance the fertility of the soil they depended on. . They were locking themselves into and intergenerational struggle for mere subsistence, and losing ground. little by little.

By the mid 19409s cotton farming had crashed and most of the local cotton gins were gone. That left tobacco as the only real cash crop. And, the acreage that a small farmer could plant in tobacco was severely limited by the USDA.I knew a lot of small farmers would cash in on their tobacco crop but, tobacco, by itself, was not enough to prosper. I knee more than a few farmers who had to get loans in the spring just to get seeds, plants, ad fertilizer to plant the spring crop.

And, now tobacco is gone as the cash crop. Many, many small farmers have stopped farming. Instead they have leased their land to paper companies who planted the land with slash pine for pulpwood, gone into specialty farming, or sold their land. The small towns and rural areas continue to decline in population and in economic opportunity.

They know that they were not among the people who really “matter” in the social order, but they had their pride. They resent being told what to do. And, because few who are not among them rally care about them. They knew that they were on their own and that caused them to see that they are largely o their own. That – and reality -- lead them to feel independent. When I was growing up, many of them greatly supplemented their nourishment by hunting and fish and by hunting. But, the necessary of survival meant that when you needed food, you got it any way that you could. Fishing and game laws did not matter. When they needed food, they needed food.

You did what you needed to do to ensure that hunting and fishing cost you less in ammunition or fishing licenses, tackle, and bait cost. As a teenager, I hunted out of season if necessary. In fishing I occasionally gigged (speared) fish in fresh water, caught more fish than the allowed limit, and used illegal fish traps. Some even used nets in fresh water or even used dynamite to kill fish.

Living near poverty, many rural southerners chaffed at any restrictions because those restrictions often limited their means of getting by. Some made moonshine or were bootleggers. Others deliberately planted more cotton or tobacco than allowed by the USDA. In dry (no-alcohol-sales allowed) counties there were always illegal places to buy booze and unlicensed juke joints. Almost everybody did home repairs or modifications without permits. I could go on and on.

Yet, on the other hand they listened closely to charlatan demagogic preachers and tried to do exactly as they were told to do. More than a few of them genuinely enjoyed being stirred up by corrupt politicians railing against socialists, communists, fellow travelers, Jews, carpetbaggers, homosexuals, Blacks, immigrants, Moslems. Huey Long really understood the psyche of poor rural white southerners when he said “Everyone once in a while, you gotta stir up their bowels and let ‘em know they are alive.”

And, they believe the local power structure and the parasitic politicians who told them that they had to live on their own two feet and not depend on any kind of group to gain more money or leverage. They are taught that labor unions are bad and “pinko” and that any kind of collective action by farmers is not proper. So, lacking any leverage, those who work as employees continue to have lower wages than in any other part of the country.

So, you can see why I am deeply saddened by how rural southerners are used and abused to the point that they don’t trust most authorities, yet look to the people who use and abuse them for countenance. They deserve a chance, but – due to their own behavior – are unlikely to ever get that opportunity. I also cannot keep myself from feeling anger at them and those who exploit and use them.