Teaching Y'all Tolerance

     As a service to businesses, to public and private schools and anywhere else anti-Southern bigotry is taught or tolerated, the Southern Legal Resource Center is happy to announce that we have a program available to help remediate this kind of moral bankruptcy.

     Southerners are good natured, by and large, and they have put up with an inordinate amount of ridicule and stereotyping. The popular entertainment culture has dined out on the hayseed and the country bumpkin stereotypes since the time of Aeschylus. In America, the entertainment axis of L.A. and New York sees the entire region of the South as "the country."  Hence, all Southerners are country bumpkins by definition. Reinforcing this misperception, are the news media who often report incidents like the Pearl, Mississippi High School shooting as somehow typical of the South.  Added to this are these droll Redneck jokes and the popular novels which present over and again this "Tobacco Road" image of the South.

     However, as people have become more aware of the corrosive nature of ridicule, disrespect and false stereotypes, they have become more respectful of the feelings of victims of group discrimination. Publicly repeating a racial or ethnic joke can get one fired.

     This new milieu of universal tolerance encompasses every conceivable race, ethnicity, ability or preference . . . except Southerners.  Their history, heritage and traditions are seen as fair game.  It is open season with no bag limit and because Southerners are now the only game in town, this kind of abuse has only intensified.

Why call it "Teaching Y'all Tolerance"

     This program is called "Teaching Y'all Tolerance" because we have found that intolerance of Southerners extends even to the way they talk.  The word "y'all" is perhaps one of the most distinctively Southern words in the Southern vocabulary.  Therefore, "y'all tolerance" signifies a desire on our part to see respect for all things Southern, down to and including the way Southerners talk.

     In this era of open-mindedness where even "Ebonics" is treated with respect, it is amazing that Southern children are reproached by teachers for speaking with the accents of their ancestors.  No, we are not talking about slipshod grammar.  Southerners are criticized for the way they sound.  They are told that they sound too "country" and are made to feel ashamed.  This is a worse problem for Southerners who have relocated to other parts of the country.  Nevertheless, self-despising Southern teachers are also guilty of this misconduct.

     For adult Southerners, "y'all intolerance" often comes in the form of job discrimination.  Southerners with a pronounced Southern drawl are often seen as stupid due to pervasive anti-Southern stereotypes. Therefore, they will more often not be promoted or considered for choice positions or assignments based on a stereotypical assumption that someone who sounds "like that" is somehow inferior or less desirable.

     Many Southerners have even had the humiliating experience of being told to take elocution lessons to "fix" the way they talk. Southerners are told to change their "accent" so that they don't sound so Southern.  One's very ability to advance in his job is often tied, subtly or not so subtly, to that person's efforts to camouflage his natural speech. Can you imagine a black person today being told he looks "too black" and that his being so dark is hurting his job prospects?  What would happen if he were told that he needs to see if he can do something to make his skin lighter?  Outrage in such a case would seem natural.  We think Southerners have a just as much right to be outraged and to do something about it.  That is why we have established "Teaching Y'all Tolerance."

What will "Teaching Y'all Tolerance" do?

     We aim to provide resources for businesses and schools to combat anti-Southern intolerance.

School Programs

     Public schools are possibly the worst offenders in the area of excluding Southerners on the one hand and preaching inclusion and diversity on the other.  They now have no excuse for this disparate treatment.  We have programs to help them understand the Southern perspective and identity.  They will learn that Southerners and Southern heritage have just as much right to sit at the big table of tolerance as anyone else.

     We have implemented just such a program in Floyd County, Virginia.  Due to the ignorant misuse of the Confederate battle flag by two or three students, the local high school banned the display of the Confederate flag.  We met with the chairman of the school board and convinced him that the problem was not the flag.  The problem was ignorance of the history and heritage that the flag represents.

     We were able to get them to agree that the best solution to this problem was education.  Our essay contest for the Floyd County High School is one of the results of our efforts there.  Working with the Virginia Sons of Confederate Veterans we will be introducing more programs in the Fall.  Our aim is to change the climate of intolerance and fear through education.

     This false notion that the Confederate battle flag is a racist symbol is one of the most prevalent and derogatory stereotypes that we combat daily at the SLRC.  Anti-Southern bigots who tout this notion have no basis in fact for saying it.  They offer many excuses for their narrow-mindedness, but their arguments hold no water.  These flag detractors are anti-Southern, so they attack the South's most visible and recognizable symbol.

National Essay Contest

     Teaching Y'all Tolerance will also sponsor a Nation-wide essay contest next year.  We thus hope to stimulate thinking and raise awareness regarding Southerners and human rights by offering cash prizes for the best essays on various topics.  The topics will be announced on January 19th, Robert E. Lee's birthday, and the winner will be announced April 26th, Confederate Memorial Day.

     This contest will be open to all public, private and home schooled students. The prizes will be awarded based on grade level.

What to do

     Call us or write us and we will consult with you to design a program to meet your situation.