Two questions for Southerners (homes, to buy, movies)

[renault]

I am new here and after shifting through an awful lot of negative posts about the south (from northerners and others who had to move there and then quickly moved out) I have two pertinent questions for the southerners here:

- is "yankee" considered an insult? I've been called yankee many times by southerners but I still can't figure out if this is meant as an insult (as in damn yankee) or is it secret code for "you don't belong here"? Or is it an endearing nickname for enemies of the state?

- why are southerners obsessed with the civil war?

I mean really obsessed. Here in the northeast, nobody talks about the civil war. It's ancient history and we don't hold any ill will towards the Confederacy. But it's a different story down south where people endlessly discuss it and still consider us "yankees" as traitors. I don't get it.

One of the first wars we are taught up here is the Revolutionary War but you don't see us talking about it as if it happened last night and still hold a grudge against those damn redcoats.

In many ways, visiting the south is like seeing my sixth grade history textbook come to life.

[cassy1]

Hi
I don't have any answers to your questions because I have only lived in NC for a short time, but I can come up with a few "observations" that I have had since relocating.
#1. I have never been called a "yankee". This may or may not have come from someone who has possibly been banned from this site, or from someone who is just a bitter person. My thoughts about most native NC/southerners is that they are just like people all over our beautiful country. Some take the negative side of the situation and some the positive side. I don't think that this has anything to do with a northern vs southern thing.
#2. Have you looked at the amount of people relocating without a job, or a clue as to where they are moving? If I moved that way I would be upset also.
#3. Some people are relocating without researching an area, or don't give the move a serious chance. I relocated with the attitude that I would give it a year, and see from there how I felt. I have been here for 13 months and am finally looking to buy a house.
#4. Look at other states and the amount of negative things being said. I am from Michigan and I often search their forum, some people move there and say they hate it and move away.
I hope I have not offended anyone here, I just prefer to look at the upside to a situation. Best Regards.

[Nea1]

I lived in NC for two years, I was only called Yankee a couple of times. Civil war, they like to talk about it. We moved, we couldnt handle the church issue. We didnt go and our kids were treated badly and my husband was told to cover the tattoo and go to church and he would get more work. It wasnt what we were used to. In Oregon weither you go to church or have a tattoo did'nt matter. We were fish out of water for sure.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by renault

- why are southerners obsessed with the civil war?

I mean really obsessed. Here in the northeast, nobody talks about the civil war. It's ancient history and we don't hold any ill will towards the Confederacy. But it's a different story down south where people endlessly discuss it and still consider us "yankees" as traitors. I don't get it.

One of the first wars we are taught up here is the Revolutionary War but you don't see us talking about it as if it happened last night and still hold a grudge against those damn redcoats.

In many ways, visiting the south is like seeing my sixth grade history textbook come to life.

Renault--Yes, it's true, many Southerners will not forget about the Civil War. If you want to get along better with these people, start by not referring to it as "the Civil War". They like to call it "The War Between the States". My brother-in law, whose family has lived in the South since the 1700s, never lets this Yankee Boy forget it! Years ago, he told us that his family had a conference when they learned he planned to marry my sister, who's not just a Yankee, but a New York Catholic Yankee! (They've been together for 38 years now!)

[Dd714]

Originally Posted by renault

In many ways, visiting the south is like seeing my sixth grade history textbook come to life.

I think you been watching too many reruns of "Dukes of Hazard". No we are not obssesed with the civil war, no we don't classify everyone by yankee or rebel, yes we have paved roads and plumbing in the south, no everyone does not look like extra's from the set of "Deliverance". I look at the Tennessee and Mississippi forum's regularly and you can't imagine how sick I am of these type of questions - "is a Yankee welcome in the south".

The problem is your own prejudices and misconceptions, not with the south.

[Mississippienne]

1. Yankees seem a little overly concerned with being called a Yankee! It's mostly just a teasing nickname. We'll probably make fun of you a bit, but it's not generally meant in a bad way (unless you make an a$$ of yourself and deserve it). And yes, you may get called a Yankee even if you're from California. It means "American, non-Southern" to us.

2. Another thing the Yankees seem more concerned with than the Southerners. No one I know is obsessed with the Civil War. There are Civil War reenactors, but I don't personally know any. One of my uncles likes to renovate old Confederate tombstones (removing vandalism and such) but that's about that. I wonder if the Yankees don't get this impression because Southerners like to rib them about it. That, and the stupid Hollywood movies.

[Muhnay]

THE SOUTH SHALL RISE AGAIN..

dont forget Texas was one of the CSA states.. we backed the loosing side.

I have not heard anyone call anyone a yankee at all.. Gringo as well as some nasty words in spanish I hear daily.. but never yankee.

[Carolina_native]

The Civil War is diiferent for Southerners because of the effect it has carried forward for generations.

Much of the war was fought in the South, Shermans March to the Sea while his army torched Southern cities and homes for no reason, simply to break peoples will to fight, and Reconstruction.

The South after the war was devastated. The economy, agriculture, infrastructure was gone. The North was not nearly as affected as the South. The North could pretty much move on, the South could not.

Reconstruction saw the occupation by Union troops, who commonly mistreated Southerners and the Southerners who never had a voice or a representative in their own state for years after the war.

"Carpetbaggers", who were named that were Northerners that came South and took advantage of Southern citizens.

The South was largely ignored after Reconstruction and denied federal aid and assistance up to The Depression and WWII.

So many were affected by the war years after it ended.

The winners of wars write the history books. Its pretty much written like this: South bad, North good. Fact. The South took the blame for the whole war. Anything 'bad' that could be brought up about the South has been. Whether its who fired the first shot (look into that story, interesting) and Andersonville ( POW camp ).

In the words of Jefferson Davis of his view of the Confederacy, "all we want, is to be left alone."

[Nea1]

I think the southerners are just as touchy about a few things as we Yankees are.

[Blue Grass Fever]

You'd never have to worry about "reconquista" when it comes to the south, heck, i'd dare Al Qaeda to come and invade the south!