I have never understood what geography has to do with mental aptitude, but for some unknown and obviously far-fetched reason, people from the South - Alabama in particular - are considered to be made up of nothing but ignorant, uneducated, inbred hillbillies and Daisy May types. Now, being from Alabama, born, raised and happy to be so, I am not only thoroughly fed up but getting more and more aggravated by this blatant misconception. I consider my brain to be of normal size and skill, capable of logic and learning with equal competence as any person who wasn’t blessed enough the be born South of the Mason Dixon Line.
Since discovering the glories of the internet. I have encountered thousands, who, once they learn where I live, automatically assume that I am incapable of typing, much less carrying on a conversation with any rational level of intelligence. When one such person asked where I learned to type, I said I was self-taught and that just last week - I even amazed myself ……….. I taught myself to pull that little silver handle on the new outhouse they had just installed in my house! Next week, I will learn how to stop up that big old white washtub they brought the same day so the water won't run out so fast when I pour coffee cans of water over my head during my weekly bath. He left the conversation in a hurry after that ……….
I am proud to be Southern; thankful for the privilege of growing up in the Southern tradition of my ancestors; and grateful to be able to pass the morals and values I learned as a child on to my children and grandchildren. Every child in this country should have been so blessed. We, as a whole, are all offered the opportunity to learn, be it from the public school system or though the lessons life teaches us along the way. It is up to the individual what they make of themselves and the choices they make that decide who and what they will become.
In essence, intellect is a simple matter of the willingness to learn and absorb data, not a matter of geography. People should realize that and not have preconceived notions of someone they don’t know. Rant over.
