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10 , ,and southern belles The languagerebels

OneVirginian who wentto Harvardin the early1980s fantasized about putting a signaround his neckto foreclosesome of the questionshe repeatedlyfaced, or imaginedhe faced:"Yes, I amfrom the south.No, I do not knowyour uncle in Mobile.... Both of my parentsare, in fact,literate. ... No, I do not watch '' No, I do not own slaves.No, I do not want any." "What Quotedby EdwardAyers, in we talk aboutwhen we talk aboutthe South"(1996)

Northerners tend to think of the south as a homogenousand somewhat "twang" mysterious monolith, where English has an indiscriminate or a "drawl" and is peppered with funny, pan-regional idioms; nevertheless, when pressednortherners will divide the south into distinct parts. Geog- raphers have noted a consistent identification of a "core" south or Southern Trough, which cuts across and , embracing parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, and at the edges. This trough appears to most Americansas the least desirableplace in the United Statesto live. Other Southern states cannot take too much grim comfort from such disparagement of their Deep South neighbors, for the sides of the trough riseonly graduallyuntil they reachthe usualboundaries of what Americanstake to be the North. the Midwest.and the West.The whole South appearsto be a vast saucer of unpleasant associations. (Ayers 1996:62-63) The conceptualizationof an undesirablesouth moves in concentric rings outward from this core Deep South or "Southern Tiough," as seen in a composite "mental map" constructedfrom a study of environmental pref- erencesvoiced by studentsat the University of Minnesota (Gould and White 1974:97) (Figure 10.1).These students found the most desirable areas of the country to be their own native Minnesota and California, with other high points in the ColoradoHigh region.In contrast,they see the Southern Tioush as the least desirable place to live. Hillbillies. rednecks,and southern belles 203

Figure10.1 Negative evaluation of the "SouthernTrough" as a placeto live by Universityof Minnesotastudents Source:Reproduced by permissionof theauthors from P Gouldand R. White(1974) MentalMaps Baltimore, MD: Penguin, p. 98

The composite map of environmental preferencesof Alabama students looks much like a mirror image of the Minnesota map, although these southernerEtoo, tend to see California as highly desirable (Figure 10.2). In a range of studiesfocusing on linguistic perceptions,Preston (1986a, b, and c, 1989aand b, 1993,and elsewhere)found that northerners tend to draw rough distinctionsbetween the Southern Tiough and other south- ern states:Tennessee and are the "outer south"; Texasis its own kind of south, whereasFlorida is hardly south at all in the minds of most northerners. The "southwest" may include ,but may also exclude and Arizona, which are often grouped with those states which are perceived as prototypically west. In spite of these perceived differentiations, northerners remain very unaware of what differentiates one southern variety of English from another, thus producing the one- size-fits-allaccent when attempting to "sound southern." The perceptionsof studentsin Hawai'i about the distribution of main- land varieties makes very clear the schism between mental maps and linguistic evaluation (Figure 10.3). Here, Preston compares a traditional composite construction of southern (roughly the Tiough) first to the Hawai'ian perceptualboundary of the south (which addsTexas, Kentucky, Tennessee,North Carolina, and the Virginias). The students were then asked to evaluate tape-recorded samplesof speech from a much wider geographical range, resulting in the third boundary seen on the map.

i r.t 204 Consentmanufactured

160

"Southern Fisure 10.2 Positiveevaluation of the Tiough" as a place to live by Universityof Alabamastudents Soarce:Reproduced by permissionof the authorsfrom P Gould and R. White (1974) Mental Maps. Baltimore,MD: Penguin,p. 101

Clearly,what the Hawai'ianshear as a southernaccent moves far beyond the boundary of what they identify as the south. Thus, if we isolate those states which seem consistentlyto be marked as some kind of southern in cultural and linguistic terms (Thble 10. 1), we are then talking about some79 million people,or about 30 percentof the total population of the .This figure might be seen as too small, becauseit excludesthose parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and the southwest where English is perceived as clearly southern in accent. On the other hand, the figure is clearly too large becauseit assumesthat all 79 million people in the twelve named states are natives and speakers of the indiginous variety of English, which is clearly an assumptionthat cannot bear closeexamination. Finally, it does not take into accountracial and ethnic diversity in the south which results in another dimension of language variation, particularly the presence of indiginous language communitieswhere the core languagemay not be English at all (Spanish' Louisiana Creole, Native American languages),not to mention the large population of and the ways that southern AAVE differ from other geographicalversions of AAVE. Thus it is only a very rough estimate to say that somewhere around 30 percent of the population speaks US English with an accent which is geographically marked "southern." There seemsto be a strong urge to synthesizethe south into a single population united primarily in the fact that it is distinct from the north. Hiltbillies, rednecks,and southern belles 205

"soulhern" Traditionalproduclion boundary of "southern" Hawai'iperceptual boundary of "southern" Sourceof voicesiudged

boundaries Fieure 10.3Comparison ot perceptual'production' and identification l"?-itt" "1", l.ouih".n," from the point of view of Hawai'i respondents Sonrce:Preston 1989a:129

and reject' This is a process southerners themselves both promote according to Ayers (and see Figure 10.4): of eyi! The South plays a key role in the nation's self-image:the role yet b-e made' terrden.ie. ou"..o.",- mistakes atoned for' proglels to- set apart as B"t-"'it .u" plaf thai iole effectively,the South has fo be As a result' a distinct ptace that has certain fundamentalcharacteristics' and reinforced' Southern difference is continually being recreated South is Am"ricu.ts, black and white, somehow need to know that the belief' This diffe."nt and so tend to look for differencesto confirm that insensr- is not somethingthat is only done to the Southby malevolent' tivenon-Southerners.TheNorthandtheSouthhaveconspiredtocre- eagerlydefines ate eachother's identity aswell astheir own' The South devoted itr"ft uguln.t the North, advertisingitself as more earthy' more turned to fu-ity values,more spiritual, and then is furious to have things The South u.ounO.'tohear itself called hick, phony,and superstitious' feedsthe senseof differenceand then resiststhe ""nt"Ou""?1t nU,UU, 206 Consentmanufactured

The Amerioan5ouIh ia ... dynamia,faotVaced and modern,,, oldtimey,charming and hoaVitable... ,,, and a wonderful place to vislt!

Figure 10.4 How the south seesitself Sourcz. http://www.webcom.com/-markplag/vs/

Table10. 1 Populationof the southern statesin comparisonto overall population figuresfor the US

Population Alabama 4,040,587 Arkansas 2,350,725 12,937,926 Georgia 6,478,276 Kentucky 3,685,296 Louisiana 4,2t9,9'73 Mississippi 2,573,276 North Carolina 6,628,637 Oklahoma 3,145,585 3,486,703 Tennessee 4,877,785 Texas 16,986,510 Virginia 6,187,358 1.,793,477 Southern states 79,39t,394 Total US 248,709,873 Percentsouthern 31.92 Source: l99O census ligures

How the south evaluatesits languageis an important part of this self- perception. In a survey of 798 adult residents of Georgia, individuals "have answeredquestions about what it meansto a southern accent,,,and were subsequently asked to evaluate their own language (the results "heavy" "no" presentedas southernor accentas seenin Figure 10.5).In any such direct inquiry, some people will underreport their own usage H illbillies. rednecks.and southern belles 207

Zl I haveno accent

I I havea strongaccent

Have readthe Bible in the last week Usually watch TV during dinner Think the Bible is literally true Were spankedas a child Have beento a beautypageant "very Find religion important" Drive an Americancar Have fired a gun on New Year's Often eat chitlins Often eat lox Often eat Moon Pies Have chewedtobacco

Figure 10.5 Responsesof adults residing in Georgia to the yes/noquestion "Being southernmeans that you . . ." Sorrrce:Survey conducted Ap 12-24,1995by the AppliedResearch Center, Georgia StateUniversity. Margin of error +/- 3.4points

(claim to have no accent when in fact they do) and others will claim an accent when they are not local to an area and have not successfully acquired a new phonology.Thus this poll is not one which can tell us who "heavy" actually has a southern accent, or how accentsreally are, but it can tell us !!ra! pqqp.lg attach bundles of social differencesto degreesof southernaccent. For that reason, the poll is useful in ways perhaps not anticipated by the personswho constructedit. In the selection of questionsto be asked, the pollsters reveal much of the preconceivednotions about connections "accent." between certain ways of life and languagemarkers embodied in But do these questionsconstitute a set of sociocultural distinctions truly "north" "south"? relevant to the construction of definitions of and Between real southern and half-hearted southern? In this questionnaire,most stereotypesabout the south are represented one or more times. The pollster is looking for southern/non-southern distinctionsbased on religiousand cultural practicesand beliefs,so that "strong" real southerners- thosewho will admit to having accents- are the ones who eat chitlins and Moon Pies, and drive an American car to church on Sunday mornings while other, less southern types are at home eatins lox. 208 Consentmanufactured ; heart.of much of anyone'scon- The fact that a southernaccent lies at the variety of ways'[n an opinion I of the south can tl Jo"u*""t"a in a "State struction sample the-attempt is made to- construct piece for a small paper' on stateshave o-fficialflowers and mottos' Questions" in the sameway that in New Mexico'l In this column' the basisof legislation'"t"'niry t'ttoauced humorous' every state included has which is meant to be lighthearted and brrt the southern statesare u q,r"rtion which draws strongly"a-specific on ' way, as seenin this excerpt: distinct from the northern in -Is Vermont: it completelyorganic?", ^.. "So. her'f Florida: how much did he leave "You that',buddy?" New York: got a problem with "You buster" California: got a greencard' "You Montana, from the government?" "Yuh it concealeoj Texas: shure ah cain't carry 'Ain't Bob?"-. Alubu.u, that right' Jimmy "Mty;f;;yo licenseand registration?" South Carolina' irin"r't "Hunh?" Mississippi: (Beckerman1996)

.\ItseemsnecessalytoesrablishSouthernvarietiesofEnglishonthebasis fashions' or as well as on local history' culture' of phonology and syntax and'linguistic The ef{ec! ilt " '" t4, reputation. 9t. 9:1:-t:: fr-qm:b^t-"*t$a4qqld-accqpted differencqs, arr-addliion the departure' lv-ith important way' Northern raises educatro;i;;t in a suLtle but soellinss * somehowcroser to thewritten iffi;:';l"ol il E;;ii#;o1""t"4 The it'"i" is no need to use phonetic cues' representationanO tt'"'"tot" - kinds of languaue correctly spelled contrast in the presentatlon-oi t*o -ani "illiterate" "literary" spelled southern and no.tt'"'n u"noln"o""tiry strategiesof also an excellent "*u*pt" of Bouidieu's 'condescenston is individual - someone qSi, O8-7f1.This is a tactic whereby an empowered if and language other with social legittmacy ln terms of employment -and subordinatedlanguage u:h:t' kinds of authonty - "p;t;;;i;1tt the 1ol the opinion piece is in fact a period of time. In trtrs iase, the author of not onlv with traditional .i'"",itt"ptrtgv' wtrich prouideshim iltis;; and speakerof the mainstream authoriryas a highly toi"tut"J academic studied human culture' and there- language,but also u"oti"ln" *tto has degree of understandingof the way fore is expecteato nuu"'un^"nusual has outer-trappingswhich autlo.r- human beingsintefact. Thus this author j"giiitate and subordinated language'and to ize him to chooseu"t*""t a point' Bourdieupoints out that publicallyappropriate;;'ililt;ake of fact i part of a larger strategy ihis strategy of condesclnsion is in set up for this study' part subversion (ibid.), or' *itftit 'tt" frameworli model' of the overall languagesubordination differences between north and Are there cultural' iiti"tit"f' linguistic consideration of these differ- south? Of "ou,t", uno to;"tilt iopulut Hillbillies, rednecks,and southern helles 209

U Non-southerners

I Southerners

Gonewith the Wind

Black-eyedpeas at New Year'sDaY

Revival meetings

GrandOl'Opry

The

Wal-Mart

Football

Southernhospitality '10 l0 20 30 40 50 60 80 m "very" "somewhat" Percentageanswering or important

southern Life poll_inwhich 1,078 Figure 10.6Results of a Joumal-Constitution "How southernersand 507 non-southernersanswered the question important are the followingto your definitionof today'sSouth?" Soarce:PollconductedinFebruaryandMarchlgg5bythelnstitutefolResealchin points Social Science, University of Nortli Carolina at Chapel Hill' Margin of error +/- 3 for southerners and 5 points for non-southerners ences does come close to identifying some of them, independentof languageissues (Figure 10.6). In this secondpoll, the distinctionsbetween northernand southerncenter primarily in thoseareas which are not widely advertised:the tradition of eating black-eyedpeas on New Year's Day, for example,is little known in the north. In contrast,perceptions differ very little in mattershaving to do with stereotype.One notes especially thai about 50 percent of both groups find Gone with the Wind relevant to a definition bf the south. This is a clear demonstration of the strength and durability of stereotypesin delining both self and other' In real-lifeterms we seewhat instinctuallyand objectivelywe know to be true: there is a great deal of diversityin the south' Thosesoutherners who are or havebeen most prominentin the public eye make this evident: SenatorsStrom Thurmon and Al Gore; writers William Styron and Dorothy Allison; journalistsDan Rather and Cokie Roberts;actors Julia Robertsand .But the southernerswho seemto come most quickly to the minds of northernersare the fictionalones, and more than that, the stereotypicalfictional ones:Andy Griffith and Gomer; Pa and Ellie Mae and the rest of ; the horrific backwoods- men and the banjo player from the film ;' 210 Consentmanufactured go over Niagara Falls portrayal of the benighted southernerdetermined to and her Mammy' in t ls pictup truck instead of a barrel; Scarlett' southerner is :vO".' .t tire primary characteristicsof the stereotypical - one disassociatedfrom isnorance, but it is a specifickind of ignorance education and literacy: of the House of Representativesfrom ..' IWilliam Natcher, a member ii;;;ilyi ;;;;i.; in a Mississippidrawl nobodv understands'. (NationalPublic Radio' tn'tut"tt'Z:'1994' Reporter: Cokie Roberts) with an extremelyelite undergraduate college in the I got an interview in They conductedthe first substantialpart of the interview nJrtn"urt. a questron languageland it went well' When they switchedto i;;;ih;. the interview ' ' ' in English,my htit answercompletely interrupted what waswrong and t^rt"yu?.t" oui laughi.,gfor quite'a while'.I.asked "never havesuch an accent' they saidthey wouldhave expected" me to accentin ff,JV -ua" a Uig Oeatabout me having a [prestigious .the Of course'I had ,".JnJr"tgu"geiand sucha strongSouihern accent' -UtanO got a numberof ui-ln'g tJr standardEngfisn' After- that' I L"ln "be institution' qt"r,.". about whetherl'd comfortable"at their dubtle,but to me it was not ambiguous' (universrtyiottign-rung"uuge professor' native of the south) newscan be For 37 years,Charles Kuralt hasshown us what network North Carolina - calm,thoughtful, perceptive' Beneath that deceptive there'sa crisp intelligence' drawl, 7) ("Dailv Guide," Lansing StateJournal, APril 3, 1994: between language' intelli- * Together, these comments on the relationship in which language gence, and communlcation demo;rstrate the ways case'the reporter (notably barriers are built and rationalizedln ttt" first politicians and a featured herself from New orleans, itre crr a of lifelong "southern Wo-ett in Public Service") speaker at an annual "oni"'"n"" to. understand tl" p'.o;"",, to her listeners an unwillingness ::IL"^11 in a position to ascertaln l""int in question. Although she is clearly is content to misrepresent n"f."r"ntuiiu" Natcher's pl-aceof origin' she, southernerstogether into iiii f"-pitg all drawling and incomprlhensible pointed out and ridiculed' ;;;"6 ot ion-"onfo,rn'"t' who d"se'ue to be demonstratesan iriitability which, is at odds While the first example - second.-.this one anecdotal demon- *ltt lournatisticobjectivity, the drawn between intellectual strates northert Olr"o-foii when a link is about this exchangeis the u.rit o.ity und tt " south' What is so interesting loTrgas he usesa socially fact that a person may Ue take" seriouslyon!1- 12 it is not English'once thisperson begins ;:t;ifu;'i;;;;ii,Lu""though to the linguistic 1o ,pJar r-,i.oi.t Lnguug",*oiki"g hard to iccommodate the samep"Iltl: "-p!"*,i.". of his a'udiince'he is rejected'He remains but his currency ts expressingthe same range and quality of ideas' -

Hillbillies, rednecks,and southern belles 2ll devaluedby a languagewhich links him to the anti-intellectualsouth. While the reporterin the first instancewas irritable about the accentwhich she found out of place and inappropriate (and hence worthy of rejection); the searchcommittee members in the secondexample have nothing to do with their discomfort but to externalize it as humor. This they find sociallyacceptable, regardless of the way it affectedthe job candidate. In the third example,the author does not deny that a southernerhas usedlanguage in a clear and perceptiveway. Instead,she specificallydraws attention to the way that Kuralt's language confounds expectations. Humor, which can be loosely defined in just this way - the reaction when reality confounds expectation - often focuseson the juxtaposition of a certain kind of intelligence with southern language:

*Gov. Clinton, you attended Oxford University in England and Yale Law School in the Ivy League,two of the finest institutions of learning in the world. So how come you still talk like a ? "Opinion," (Mike Royko, Tribune, October ll, 1992) 'Federal law requirescommercial airliners to carry infants trained to squall at altitudesabove two hundred feet. This keepsthe passengers "I calm,because they're all thinking, wishsomebody would stuff a towel into that infant's mouth," which preventsthem from thinking, "I am thirty-five thousand feet up in the air riding in an extremely sophisti- cated and complex piece of machinery controlled by a person with a southernaccent." X (The Dave Barry 1995Calendar, Tuesday, April 4, 1995)

In contrast to the northern construction of intelliqence which is closelv linked to a high level of education.there is a stereolypicalsouthern intei- ligence which follows from common senseand life experience.Typified by the characterof Sheriff Andy Thylor in the popular televisionseries Mayberry RFD and The Andy Griffith Show, this is the southerner whose intelligenceiS native rather than acquired.Many plotsand comicsituations in ltrfu:yberrydepended on the construction of southern mother-wit and its contrast to the less instinctual, acquired northern intelligence. As was the casewith Disney animatedstories, in this situationcomedy southernaccents are restrictedto thosewho fit the stereotype:while Andy has a North Carolina accent,his son. aunt. and cousinsdo not. Nor do the philosophizingbarber or the mild-manneredtown accountant,or the teacher(a seriouslove interestof the main character,and - in line with the patternsnoted earlier in the Disney films - a speakerof mainstream English),or the pharmacist.The only southernaccents in this southern town are the deceptivelyclever Andy, the dimwittedbut good-heartedcar mechanics(Gomer and Goober),and the occasionalrural characterswho come into town to make musicor straightenout legal problemsresulting from clan feuds,illegal stills,or excessiveviolence (e.g. Ernest T. Bass). 212 Consentmanufactured American characters in this There are no regularly appearing African particularcorner of the south.2 ' to education that north- It is primarily on-ttre basis of intellect linked their languageis deficient' erners try hardest to convincesoutherners that some sixty million people in ioeotogicatterms, this is the process,by-which they speak naturally ,." ttppSt"O to accept the faci that the language -is stereotypeswhich underlie subordinateto its neighbors.The fact that the irrelevant;their power is still itri, ,.uroning are imaginaryformations is successfulwhen the targets of r.uf, unOthe! are effective.The process-is process' these---Of efforts become complicit in the subordination However'what is so .ou.r", this processis not limited to the south' this caseis that the particularly int"r"iting about subordination tactics in unitedin termsof il;;;iil;toi."ii5" is a wholenation of people' or ethnicity - more usually ttiJaty "ta culture rather than in terms of race attacked as a tool in main- the case when language is systematically of the,strategiesand processes ,*u.ing ru"rics.ItIs fa'irly easyto conceive of the population living in ;;;;f Afri.un Ameri'cans'- 12 percent. - susceptibleto language c|mmunities through the country ire rendered propagate a languageideology subordination, and come to embrace and processis a bigger chal- which works to therr own disadvantage'But the as.jnternally diverse as the i"'n'g" *fr.n ,ft" targeted group is as lirge and. in the south have no desire southern US. Many pers;ns born and raised that threats of exclusion to live anywhere else' and thus it w9u*ld.1eem someone living in the heart "ri- g","tl"pitg would be less effectivb''To idea that they need to "ii;?"rgi" or Soutft Carolina or Tennessee'the "accentless" English to succeedmight u.qui.. in variety of midwestern indicate that northern ,""- tuOi"rour. Nevertheless,iersonal anecdotes increasingly long reach: bias and standard languageideology have an is from the Lone Star State' "It's ironic," says[Judith] Ivey [actor]'who the most exposure [a "that probably tn" one it";eti tttut *itt give me my Texas accent' movie set in the south] " ' it ont that requires get rid of it' I would have Particularly since I was iold that if I didn't v a very limited career. (Liebman 1993)

course began when she School official [X] said the [accent reductionl interfered with business' tt"urO p"opt" iomplain ttrat ttreir accents passingthe phone ..Insteadof listeningto what you're saying,they're 'Li"tn littte honey from South around the ottice saying, to this It's self-defeatilnglt's annoying'It's humiliattit*r.Or" Carolina.' ,rn'

SoonafterAtlantawasawardedthelgg6Olympicsayearago'acolumn"get exhortingpeople to "pp"-"d in the BusinessChronicle the expectedvisitors' The the South out of our -outtt" to impress all Hillbillies. rednecks,arul southern belles 213 "By author,[X], a communicationsconsultant from New Jersey,wrote: cleaningup our speech,maybe we can finally convincethe world that we're not just a bunch of cow+ippingmorons down here." (Pearl 1991)

s [X], a human resourcesworker at SouthernBell, is trying her bestnot to sound like a Southernbelle . . . she is up for a promotion,and she is worried the decisionwill be made by Northerners.. . . She is also taking night speechclasses at KennesawState College. Unless she can drop the accent,she fears, the promotion committee "might not think I'm so sharp." (ibid.)

In all of these cases,sgrltherners -exhibit. insecurty abo.uttheir language and a willingnessto accept responsibility for poor communication or bad language,but they do so only when in contact with the direct criticism of the northerner. In the third case above, the person voicing the criticism and calling for acceptanceof responsibilityand changetoward northern norms is in fact, from New Jersey.But she still claimsthe right to speak for all the peoplein that region whereshe livesand works:she wantsthe world to seeher as somethingother than a "cow{ipping moron" in spite of the fact that she lives in the south. It is unclearwhether she rejects "cow the tipping moron" stereotypeas unfair and untrue, or subscribes to it and wishes not to be included in that group. In either case, she believesthat the way to accomplishsuch a goal is to convincethe rest of the south to talk as she does.But here she takes on a Herculean task, for the south provides,more than any singleethnic, racial, or nationalorigin group,strong resistance to languagesubordination. The newsmedia has beenshown to be particularlyenamored of stories having to do with accentreduction, and those reports alwaysinclude a discussionof suchefforts in the south."Hush mah mouth! Somein South try to lose the drawl!" (Pearl 1991)is not an unusualheadline or intro- ductory comment in these kinds of reportsoThey often contain some small commentaryfrom dissentingsoutherners:''"Somebody was going to judge me on the way I spoke,then I would judge him as being close-minded" (ABC EveningNews. December 15. l99l). F The news media does not often report on southern resistanceto the language-mainstreamingprocess. In doing so, however,journalists still manage to put a decidedly ideological spin on the rejection of subordination. In a newspaper report on the death of an accent- reductioncourse in SouthCarolina owing to lack of interest.the reoorter summarizes:

So why did interest die out? With tongue firmly in cheek, [the instructor] offered three possiblereasons: Everybody's cured. Every- body thinks the rest of the world talks funny.Or, in a countrythat now

I & 2I4 Consentmanufactured hasa SouthernPresident and vicepresident, maybe nobody much cares an'more' (Riddle 1993)

Clearly it is difficult for northerners and mainstream languagespeakers to take seriouslythe idea that the south could be content with itself in terms of language.It is equally difficult to imagine, in spite of professed wishesto this effect, that southernerswould somehowmagically lose their "cured" accents,and could be of this disability which is so uniquely their own. The author's final thought touches on some complex underlying issues of power and its distribution. In a new and unusual situation (both presidentand vice president from the south), in which the south has political dominance (at least in symbolic terms), can the illusion of northern linguistic superiority survive? The wish or compulsion to assimi- late linguistically to a more dominant languagenecessarily presupposes a recognition of the social dominance of that language.If there is a shift in the traditional distribution of power, the traditionally subordinated may no longer be content to be complicit in a process which disadvantages them. Riddle raisesthis complex issue,but does not seem to be aware that she has done so, for she then dismissesit with an appeal to boredom or laziness. "Pro-Drawl Another reporter writes of a Movement" in which the resist- ance is trivialized, and once again the strategy of condescensionextends to the representationof southern US English in quasi-phoneticterms:

Ludlow Porch'sradio talk show is at the center of Atlanta's Southern resistance.Mr. Porch, whose voice is as slow and sweet as molassesin "sweet January,gets a steady stream of female callers who call him "mah thang" and male callers who call him friend." When compli- "Well, "Bless mented,Mr. Porch is apt to say, ah'm tickled" or your heart." But even Mr. Porch concedesthat things are changing.He lives in a suburb where he goes for weeks without hearing a Southern accent. "doin' And he admits that, sometimes,he even catcheshimself silly 'g's." things-- like pronouncin'mah (Pearl 1991)

Resistancefiltered through the reporter's standard languageideology and condescensionis resistance stripped of much of its power. Here Mr. Porch's language, and his concern about the fate of his culture and language,are made into humorousobjects. He is then made to testify against himseli in that he admits that languagechanges, even as he watches.The journalist'sonly conclusioncan be that languageis changing away from southern norms, and toward northern ones. Thus once again' resistanceis demonstratedto be useless. Ilillbillies, rednecks,and southern belles 275 When southernvoices are heard uncensored,it almostalways appears within southern boundaries,as in this column from the Dallas Morning News:

The [SouthernLeague] encourages Southerners in the exerciseof their indefeasibleright to be Southern,never mind Northern reproachesand sneers. To this praiseworthy end, a certain JamesE. Kibler, Jr., of Whitmire, S.C.,exhorts Southerners to speak like Southernersrather than, well, non-Southerners.He'd rather we not just blend in but stand out. . .. Brother Kibler's linguisticpreferences fly in the faceof drasticchanges in Southernsociety since World War II. ... The languageof the older South is the languageof the small towns in which most Southerners grew up. Gone with the wind! The cultureof the towns,and sometimes the towns themselves,have disappeared. But Brother Kibler is right: The old way of speakinghas charm and value.Language is a part of being.To talk one way is to be something that people who talk differently are not. This means the lords of languagesometimes meet with defiancewhen they mandatechange. "ice "refrigerator," Brought up saying box" rather than I would not now dream of speaking otherwise. I am frozen in solidarity with the past, on this question anyway. Particular customs also can command defiant affirmation. A well- educatedTexas woman I know relateshow in the old daysher equally well-educatedmother, whenevera black cat crossedher path. would "damn." spit and say It's a good custom, the woman still insists - not for any theological purpose it servesbut rather as a tiny, feeble thread linking generations. The more such threads we break heedlessly,the more isolated we becomein a societyseemingly bent on annihilatingmemory itself. We're not supposedto love the past, we're supposedto hate it. Modernity drums this messageinto us relentlessly. (Murchison1996) There is no doubt that in the delineationof the nation. we use accentas a cultural shorthandto talk about bundlesof propertieswhich we would rather not mention directly. When a northerner appropriatesa pan- southernaccent to make a joke or a point, he or she is drawing on a strategyof condescensionand trivializationthat cues into those stereo- typesso carefullystructured and nurtured:southerners who do not assimi- late to northern norms are backward but friendly, racist but polite, obsessedwith the pastand unenamoredof the finer pointsof highereduca- tion. If they are women,they are sweet,pretty and not very bright.3 Focusing on language difference allows us to package the south this way,and to escapecriticism for what would otherwisebe seenas narrow- mindedness.Without accent,it would not be possibleto draw the nation's 216 Consentmanufactured attention to the south'sneed for redemptionwithout specificallyraising those topicswhich make us nervous.If white southernersare not distin- guishableby other ethnic markers,by characteristicphysical features, or religion, languageis one simple and effective way of distinguishing betweenself and other. Becausein this case differencesare historical and cultural,there is lessfooting for an ideologywhich subordinatesand trivializesthe languageand the culturesattached to it. Nevertheless,the processcontinues. Accent-reduction courses taught by northernersspring up, find some uneasyresponse in communitiesor individualswith strongnorthern ties, and then die away'Movies are made in which lhe lazy and narrow minded twang and drawl. Southern students who come north are taken aside and told that their native language phonology will be an impediment to true success.Job applicants are laughedat, and on the floor of Congress,reporters smirk and report not on the Representative'sposition, but on his or her language' The south has resourcesto call on, ways to deflect subordination tactics, but only so long as it keeps itself intact and separate'Thus the institu- tions which are most responsiblefor the subordinationprocess coax and wheedletoward the ultimate goal of cultural and linguisticassimilation, and are met with suspicionand defiance.