The Sense of “Southernizing”

 

For as long as people have been writing about Southern character—and that’s getting to be a pretty long time now—they’ve been inclined to mention Southern individualism. From Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Mar­quis de Chastellux to Charlie Daniels’ “Long-haired Coun­try Boy,” Southerners have been inclined to mention or exemplify this trait themselves. W.J. Cash has probably discussed it most thoroughly, in The Mind of the South. He did not entirely (or even mostly) approve, but his descrip­tion, strikes me as right on the money.

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