Southern Hospitality
posted by Shakenna Moore | September 18, 2023 | In Opinion“Here in the south we don’t hide our crazy…we parade it on the front porch, and hand you a sweet tea.” As a northerner, this sums up my thoughts on what was meant by the phrase “southern hospitality.”
When visiting the south, I always thought it was weird that random strangers would wave or talk to me like they’d known me my whole life. I would literally start having a whole conversation with myself on why these people would behave in such a manner.
My southern family and friends would see the light of concern on my face and say, “Hey, you’re in the south. That’s how we do; It’s called southern hospitality.”
“Really!?!” I thought. That’s interesting.
It didn’t seem genuine enough for me. I felt like it was a forced behavior that people did out of habit, not because they were just good people. Being the curious person that I am, I had to dig deeper into the why.
During my search, I learned that in the Antebellum Period (1815-1861), the term “southern hospitality” was synonymous with slavery. I read about how wealthy colonizers used that term to justify the need for slavery, and how it was a “positive good.”
So, what did that mean? To me that meant that this premise of being hospitable by showing kindness, feeding, clothing and housing your free laborers (enslaved people) was an excuse to stray from your superego and moral compass. This was about money, power and politics, and if in your mind you decide that the end outweighs the means, then it must be okay. I guess that’s what you have to say or do in order to make yourself feel better.
Ultimately, in my opinion, “southern hospitality” is a tradition passed down from generation to generation. It was a learned behavior that has been twisted and modified in order to draw people here, not because of what the south can offer, but for what the region can get you to do for it. Collectively, the south has this down to a science. So much so that the world believes that the entire southern region is full of good people.
Is it a case of wolves in sheep’s clothing? Most people probably have no idea what the concept truly means or where it actually originated. Does anyone actually care? Add that to the list of things that make you go ‘hmmm…’
Photo Courtesy of JR P.
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