It can be downright stressful for weekly columnists to find opinionated topics to write about each week. I was lamenting to myself just yesterday that the fountain of conviction which carried me though a term and a half of weekly columns had run dry. Luckily, the Thursday edition of The Dartmouth saved me.
While reading Sander Schlicter's column ["Carolina On My Mind", Feb. 6, 1997 The Dartmouth], I became incensed. What was clearly an attempt at humorous insightful commentary, instead struck me as an offensive attack on Northerners in general, a move which does a disservice to anyone who truly hopes to educate the Northern public about Southern culture.
Hi, I'm from Pennsylvania, and I don't think that says anything about the opinions that I hold.
In what I can only assume is an attempt at humor, Schlicter's arguments plunge into the realm of absurd insult. The "culinary desert" of DDS is "an affront to Southern students?" If I went to the dining hall of a Southern school, would collard greens be an affront to my Northern culture? And Southerners should get a "GPA dispensation" for enduring New Hampshire winters? Anyone gets cold when it's negative nine degrees outside, regardless of where they come from. Human body temperature is still universally 98.6 degrees. (Though if a GPA dispensation is what you want, try studying.)
Why must we point to "discrimination" for a lack of knowledge or comprehension? I might not be able to pick a hush puppy out of a food line-up, but I wouldn't make fun of someone for eating one, and I certainly wouldn't draw negative conclusions about Southern culture simply because it's different. I resent that I and a great number of open-minded Northerners became the target of Schlicter's lecture.
I spent the summer at Duke University in North Carolina, living in a dorm with mainly Southerners. I wouldn't deny that I noticed Southern cultural differences from day one, but rather than being offended, I was intrigued. I'd never experienced immersion in a different regional culture before, and I happily did food shopping at Kroger and Food Lion, noted the difference between a North Carolina and Georgia accent, and met my first resident of Kentucky. I didn't go there with the idea that I could take a little island of Pennsylvania with me, nor did I expect to need a translator and a hairdryer adapter.
Ignorance exists in both North and South. While I was in North Carolina, a young man asked me if I was "a Yankee." Replying that I was, I asked him if that was a bad thing. "It sure is," came the indignant retort. Was that an expression of universal Southern hatred? Absolutely not! That was one person's narrow-minded opinion, and I would be absolutely unjustified in condemning more than that single individual. Schlicter's complaints are expressly directed at "you Yankees." Despite his claim that "you could get shot for asking a Texan if she's from Georgia," it seems perfectly appropriate for Schlicter to lump together everyone north of the Mason-Dixon line?
I must agree that everyone has the right to complain, but I do not agree that everyone has the right to blame broad cultural groups for widespread ignorance. No, I do not fully know what it's like to be Southern, any more than I know what it's like to be African-American, Latina, or a host of other groups, but I would love to be enlightened. I could tell you what it is like to be Jewish in a predominantly Christian environment, but I couldn't imagine lashing out at someone who wished me a Merry Christmas. During December, it happens a lot.
It doesn't surprise me to hear that a sizable number of Northerners are uninformed about Southern culture. But instead of blaming Northerners at Dartmouth for "rampant discrimination," it would have been much more effective and more humorous for Schlicter to discuss and correct the misconceptions that some non-Southerners have. During the "Bear Bones controversy" several weeks ago, the outrage expressed by some members of the Asian-American community was appropriately directed at David Berenson, the cartoonist, and not at all of us who fall into the same ethnic and cultural group.
Unfortunately, discrimination exists. But it is wrong to accuse a large population of discrimination simply because a small number of individuals among them, as blatantly ignorant as they may be, have racist or sexist opinions. It is much more effective to educate and inform in a positive light. One of the greatest attributes of our country is regional diversity, and in choosing to come to Dartmouth, we chose both to live four years in northern New England, and to bring our individual experiences to this varied community. Dartmouth is filled with amazing people, and it is a shame that we don't hear more about people's interesting backgrounds. I do not begrudge Schlicter his point, but berating a large population with accusations for their lack of understanding is not a viable means to communicate tolerance.
