Visitors ALWAYS Welcome

Since arriving in Mississippi nearly two months ago, both of us have been sending weekly (or sometimes daily) reports back home to our friends and families recounting our adventures in the south and this new culture we are slowly acclimating to. As the first members of both of our families to venture this far south within America for any extended time (in his youth, Rose’s father spent two weeks somewhere in Georgia learning the art of manufacturing elastic waistbands for women’s panties) our families are naturally curious about the people and lifestyles we encounter. Back home it seems, everyone has an opinion about this place, the south and Mississippi, that we are coming to love.

The reputation of the south, you could say, precedes it. Before leaving Alaska, over a dinner of pizza and breadsticks, Rose’s aunt left her some parting advice: “just don’t go down there and come back three times as big!” Rose laughed at her aunt’s words, but reflected that they really do represent the way in which many northerners view the south, and perhaps to a degree, how the south views itself.

Both of us have heard Mississippians jokingly proclaim themselves the poorest state, the fattest state, the state with the highest rates of infant mortality and the lowest rates of literacy. Whether these comments reflect a genuine sense of shame, joking indifference, or are a defense mechanism meant to keep criticism at bay, we are beginning to realize the way in which the south and southern identity exist in reaction to the view of the rest of the country- perhaps in the same way that we as Americans react to the stigma attached to our government and culture as judged and viewed from abroad.

The funny thing is, coming from Alaska, Rose could tell you a thing or two about how it feels living in the state overshadowed by the (beauty pageant winning!) figure of Sarah Palin; a state whose oil and coal saturated economy makes its living by exploiting the land of its resources.  In fact, upon reflection, Rose surmises that Alaska and Mississippi probably have more in common than one would initially think: vast tracts of rural, undeveloped land, a deep and abiding attachment to the second amendment; high rates of alcoholism, abuse and teenage parenthood. The list goes on.

When Rose’s sister, Paige, decided to spend a week of her school vacation visiting Mississippi, Rose was thrilled to introduce her to the world she was discovering. We made a list of things we wanted Paige to see and experience during her time here, including: a trip to Hattiesburg; the cemetery; southern fried EVERYTHING; excellent beer; a blues show; the Natchez Trace; the reservoir; a lazy afternoon fishing; Cool Al’s burgers; a walk through Jackson’s “urban” downtown; antebellum architecture; policemen riding horses?

We were not able to get through the entire list in one week, though we’d like to think we hit the most important things! Mostly we were happy to be able to share another side of the south: one including the positive aspects and giving at least a factual, rather than rumored, context for the negative.