The same holds true in our country.  The culture of New York is not the same as California, which is not the same as the South.  It was one of the first things I noticed when moving down here.  Its not so different as to be another country, but sometimes feels as such.  People are more religious, more conservative, and generally in less of a hurry than where I’m from.   Their priorities are different.  The inhabitants of the Mississippi Delta are big on SEC football, barbecue, and hunting, but not so much on dancing or doing much of anything on Sunday.  It took time to get used it all.

Then there is the whole Southern Hospitality thing.  I wrote about it before.   There is a format one is supposed to follow when talking in public.  You stop and chat asking how the other person’s family is doing and how they are doing.  If some one is in need to help, you offer assistance.  People make eye contact and smile.  No one simply asks “how you are doing?” and walks on by.  More over there are some things one does not discuss in public.  The list includes politics, religion, or anything upsetting.  There is a lot of theatricality in the way people interact.  Above all, one does not simply give one’s honest opinion on anything.  Politeness is not just a nice touch its a way of life.

Probably no culture in America causes more confusion than Southern culture.  Just google “Southern Hospitality” to see what I mean.  Most people elsewhere consider the standard way of interacting in the Deep South to be full of hypocrisy.  Southerners in turn consider everyone else – especially Northerners such as myself – to be rude.   As far as I’m concerned Southern Hospitality is genuine in the sense that people really do consider its dictates to be the way someone is supposed to interact with others in public.   Its nice really.  Everyone feels so welcoming.  Unfortunately several people, and some experience, has told me those feelings are more complex.  Here in lies the real difficulty and what makes getting along so hard with people down here.  Some times people really are hiding their true feelings.  You see it when you’re the last to know when a new shop opens up or when people invite everyone but you to a party.  Personally I actually like being ignored.  If you don’t like me so be it.  Only the genuine and honest may apply to be friends with me.  However its easy to see why some people feel mislead or betrayed.

Then there is the ubiquity of Southern culture.  As the name implies, Southern culture is the culture of the region.  Everyone here shares its values to one degree or another.  And part of that culture are family, church, SEC football, and often the Republican party.  Its hard to reject any of those and still be considered a part of the culture.  So when outsiders come who question the primacy of what people hold dear around here, it doesn’t go over well.  Hence why transplants to Cleveland tend to stick together and not mingle with the natives.  The locals don’t seem to be entirely at ease with us outsiders.

Part of the problem may come from one essential fact about the Deep South: its shrinking.  Certainly not all parts of the region have always been identical.  Yet in the past few decades, parts of the South have changed dramatically.  One can see it in the big cities such as Atlanta, Charlotte and New Orleans.   People moving down from the North have altered the character of those areas.  The change is reflected in the way people speak and interact, but also in the politics.  Its not too long ago that the idea of a state such as North Carolina voting for a black president (as it did in 2008 and nearly did so in 2012) was unthinkable. Even here in Mississippi things feel different.  The Delta is changing with the influx of TFA corps members, the opening of the Grammy Museum, and other developments around Cleveland.   Some new (or relatively new) establishments – Hey Joe’s, Delta Meat Market, Delta Dairy – have changed the character of the town a bit.  Its hard to put my finger on it, but things don’t feel exactly the same as they did two years ago.

It helps to keep in mind how the South fits into the rest of the country.  Its always been the poorest part of America along with Appalachia.  There are a lot of negative stereotypes about the people who live here.  Being from the South or even sounding so, can be a real handicap in other parts of the country for those reasons.  Its not hard to see why Southerners would be defensive about their culture given its uniqueness and retreat in recent years.

Unfortunately my experience of the South is limited to Mississippi and a few other areas.  Most of my time here is spent around Cleveland.  I’ve been to Atlanta, Vicksburg, Memphis, Jackson, and Northeast Alabama.  Its hardly enough to truly understand this part of the country.  However I’ve seen enough to get a sense of how things are.   Its not quite as cut and dry as outsiders imagine.  Most people seem genuinely friendly.  Yet there are always bad apples, people who prove the stereotypes correct.  So its important to be patient and listen to people.  You can’t understand a place without living there.  By the same token one cannot understand a people without talking to them.  Therefore its important to keep an open mind and be willing to experience new things.

Though I am not involved in the movement as anything more than a supporter, a few points jive with my experience.  First of all, there is the perception of backwardness.  Really this needs no explaining. People both inside and outside of Mississippi are well aware of its perception around the country. Within the state, the Delta is seen as a rough land of poverty and desolation, forgotten by time. Certainly the facts do not look good, but as I will mention below they are not the full picture. Second, Mississippi is more diverse than most outsiders realize.  A lot of folks, particularly up North, think that everyone down here is all about God, guns, and the SEC and really not much else.  But I’ve found that not everyone is religious or a football fan or deeply conservative.  Just like much of the rest of the country is not monolithic, neither is the South.

Some of that the perception is shaped by a few people.  Politics in Mississippi tends to be dominated by a few people who pass policies which, at best, are unhelpful to the rest of the state. Likewise businesses and money are concentrated in a few places such as the Jackson area.  Not everyone agrees with this state of affairs, but there does not seem to anyway to change it.  So people shuffle on as best they can.

But its more than that.  Take, for example, this article from the BBC from a few years ago.  It talks about poverty in the Mississippi Delta and what progress has been made since the 1960s.  The answer the give is: very little.  Yet articles such as that one tend not to mention Cleveland.  Admittedly there are better known Clevelands (such as that one up in Ohio).  But I’ve seen folks come right through town and not even mention it.   Anthony Bourdain even went to the Senator’s Place which is in Cleveland and did not so much as mention the name of the town.  We manage to attract people from all over the world and yet the media hardly mentions us.  It’s frustrating enough that I can see the point the authors of the Advocate article were trying to make.  A little recognition might do some good for projects like the Grammy Museum which will be opening next year or for Delta State itself.

Then again it may not.  In regards to poverty, there are a lot of macroeconomic factors at work. The Delta has decline in part due to white flight, but there have been changes in the nation as a whole. Cotton is grown in many places other than Mississippi.  The Delta has other crops too, but farming can only employ so many people.  Then there are the politics.  Those are not so easily changed. People vote the way they do for a variety of complex reasons.  Its hard to see outside influence having much of an impact on state politics.  Just look at what happened to the Affordable Care Act down here. And on the issue of LGBT rights you run into the power that religion holds on the culture of the state. The fact is this is a very religious state and its hard, for me anyway, to imagine that changing just because of increased funding for some groups. You can certainly change laws, as may happen this week, but cultural attitudes are a whole different ballgame.

However people are fighting all the same.  As a progressive it can be difficult to see the bright side of things in a year like this which is exacerbated by my tendency to not follow local politics.  But there is opposition to the status quo in this state as embodied by groups such as Mississippians United Against Personhood, The Campaign for Southern Equality, and Mississippi First and people such as Congressman Bennie Thompson who is a member of the House Progressive Caucus.  These folks tend not to make national headlines which makes their fight harder.

So we need to be careful about self-fulfilling prophecies.  Politicians have a way of staying in power whether or not they have any true support.  By buying into stereotypes about places like Mississippi, people end up glossing over the complexities of the situation.  Just because a situation is bad doesn’t mean it has to be so.   People in this country often live in bubbles and its important to examine our assumptions about places we’ve never been to.

I am something of an exception.  Given the choice, my preference is to walk into downtown.  I also walk to work (unless it’s pouring rain), to the DSU basketball games, and even to the football games which requires traipsing over a grassy field behind the arena.  A friend of mine also enjoys walking and reports getting strange looks as if the very idea was a foreign concept.  Bike riders also get the same reaction.

At first I thought it was the heat.  Nobody wants to be walking around mid-day in the summer, especially if work requires wearing long sleeves.  But it hasn’t been hot in months. Yet people still don’t walk much. In fact during the winter,  Clevelanders don’t seem to want to go out at all.  As it turns out, most Southerners are fans of warm weather.

So what gives?  Well part of the problem may be that there aren’t enough sidewalks.  A local paper even commented on this recently.  Outside of Court street and downtown, sidewalks are a scarce commodity rendering Cleveland rather unfriendly to pedestrians.  Now I happen to live near Court street, but those who don’t will have a harder time walking.  However even around downtown it’s not always easy.  The other day I was walking to Hey Joe’s and found a pile of wood left blocking the sidewalk.  Clearly someone had not thought anyone would actually set foot on concrete.  Thus there may be a bias against walking.  Plus with parking easy and gas cheap (among the least expensive in the nation according to AAA) most people don’t have an incentive to walk the way they do in New York. There is also significantly less traffic by which I mean almost none at all.  Driving is thus often pleasant.  And above all this is a rural area.  Outside of Cleveland walking is not an option.

Of course it’s not accurate to say that Mississippi has such high rates of obesity simply because people don’t walk enough.  There are other factors such as poverty and the type of food (fried) they eat down here.   And of course Mississippi is hardly the only place where people never walk anywhere,  The suburbs where I grew up where even less friendly to pedestrians than Cleveland is.  So this is not really a uniquely Southern problem.  But people are very traditional around here and traditionally Americans drive not walk.  So as with many things, the Delta reflects things which are not as visible elsewhere.

But when you’re dealing with a locally owned business in a small town things are different.  In a place like Cleveland people tend to know each other.  Sometimes a friend or coworker happens to be friends with the owner of the place you’ve been dealing with.  Thus it is possible to put in a phone call to the right person.

And in a place like the Delta that can be a real life saver.  Somethings are hard to find around here.  Chain restaurants are an example.  Car dealerships are another, though most towns have either a Ford or a Chevy dealership. So if you can’t find a product or service you may have to go far out of your way.  Usually that means a trip to either a Memphis or Jackson.

It’s just one of the prices one pays for living in the Delta.  But this is Mississippi, not the Moon.  There is a stronger sense of community around here than where I’m from.  If you fit in that can make some things, such as dealing with businesses, easier.  If you don’t well sad day for you.  Fortunately I get along well with my neighbors and coworkers.

I’m torn over whether or not everything above makes life easier or harder.  Back in Rockland you’re not as likely to happen to know the owner of the place you’re having an issue with.   But usually it’s possible to find a competing business.  The New York City area has basically everything a person could ever need so a savvy customer can learn how the game is played and maneuver through the tricky waters of the free market to a great deal.  Down in the Delta the business owner has more leverage unless your willing to drive.  But that same person is also just as likely to be a friend of a friend and maybe not see you as just another mark.  And as I’ve said before people are nicer down here. So perhaps this one aspect of life in the Delta isn’t any better or worse than life up North.  It’s just different. 

That is one of the perks of living in a small town.  In a community of only 13,000 people, folks tend to get to know each other.  That is especially true in Cleveland.  The Delta is the sort of place people tend not to enter unless they have a reason to and so those who live here seem to stick close to one another.  That is doubly true since Delta State’s presence here sets us apart from the rest of the area so people don’t really leave town much unless they are going on a trip.

Coming from the New York City area, all of the above has taken some getting used to.  Just knowing my neighbors is a bit of a change and a largely welcome one.  The sort of faceless anonymity that marks much larger communities is mostly absent from Cleveland.  People talk face to face and information spreads by word of mouth.  They tend not to do much online social networking around here and instead stick to the in person kind.   Thus in a small town you are far more likely to here about community events from friends than from Facebook.

The flipside is that small towns don’t have the same level of diversity as larger places.  Now Cleveland is an exception to this in many ways because of Delta State.  Most of the people who teach here are from elsewhere and there is a small international student population.  But other towns on the Delta are not so lucky.  The “bubble effect” I mentioned several weeks ago stems as much from the small size of the communities as from the relative isolation of the region.

Yet for all its diversity there are somethings that are true of a lot of people, at least those who have settled here.  They tend to be older and often share similar worldviews.  Younger folks such as myself often leave for other places.  Sometimes they come back, as in the case of Delta State President William LaForge, who grew up in Cleveland and lived elsewhere before coming home for his current job.  But there are others who haven’t returned.  Those Teach for America Corps members who have not stayed in their positions come to mind. It seems that while outsiders pass through, only a certain few stay. 

Some of you might be wondering which category I will fall in to.  Unfortunately there is no answer to that question.  Cleveland is a nice place to live.  But someone who is just starting out in their career can’t really afford to settle down too much if they want to advance.  While I have been pondering those questions from time to time it is for too early for me to come to any conclusions.  For now, Cleveland is home and for the time being it will remain so.