Thursday, May 06, 2004
Southerners and Defensiveness
This article by Dorie Turner got me thinking.
Why is it that Southerners get so damn defensive about the South? This example is prime. It's Sewanee for God's sake! It's not just going to turn into some kind of (gasp) liberal Northern campus because they want to be sure people know what the hell Sewanee is!
I love the South, don't get me wrong, and nothing makes me more angry than when some moron tried to tell me it is full of backwards racists, etc. But I just don't get why so many people freak when we actually acknowledge that there was a time when the South was a truly awful place run by truly awful people. It was a bad time, it's over now. We should own up to it, and do our best to make it better than it was.
It seems that Southerners have a deep fear of losing what we love about the South. It's a valid fear, as anyone who has been to Atlanta recently can tell you. This Sewanee thing, however, is purely branding. The school goes by three names, and that gets confusing for people who may not have had 18 generations attend there. While many alums, I am sure, would love to see Sewanee kept open only to alums in some grand inbreeding scheme, it may help to at least have a consistent name. The way I see it, it will put a stronger reputation on the University of the South, and that is not a bad thing for Sewanee grads, students, or Southerners in general.
Now about those silly robes...
Why is it that Southerners get so damn defensive about the South? This example is prime. It's Sewanee for God's sake! It's not just going to turn into some kind of (gasp) liberal Northern campus because they want to be sure people know what the hell Sewanee is!
I love the South, don't get me wrong, and nothing makes me more angry than when some moron tried to tell me it is full of backwards racists, etc. But I just don't get why so many people freak when we actually acknowledge that there was a time when the South was a truly awful place run by truly awful people. It was a bad time, it's over now. We should own up to it, and do our best to make it better than it was.
It seems that Southerners have a deep fear of losing what we love about the South. It's a valid fear, as anyone who has been to Atlanta recently can tell you. This Sewanee thing, however, is purely branding. The school goes by three names, and that gets confusing for people who may not have had 18 generations attend there. While many alums, I am sure, would love to see Sewanee kept open only to alums in some grand inbreeding scheme, it may help to at least have a consistent name. The way I see it, it will put a stronger reputation on the University of the South, and that is not a bad thing for Sewanee grads, students, or Southerners in general.
Now about those silly robes...
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