Up North, Southern accent carries high cost

“One way to handle stereotypes about Southerners was to stop acting Southern….Sociologist Lewis Killian interviewed a young woman in the late 1940s who had successfully dropped her Southern accent and spoke Northern, at least most of the time.

” ‘When I went to Columbus, Ohio, from North Carolina, they called me … hillbilly, stumpjumper and all that stuff. Right then I decided to get rid of my accent. The only time I talk like a Southerner now is when I get schnapps under my belt.’ ‘

— From “The Southern Diaspora: How the Great Migrations of Black and White Southerners Transformed America” by James N. Gregory (2007)

One thought on “Up North, Southern accent carries high cost”

  1. Reminds me of asking directions in Bainbridge, MA. I know the woman was speaking English, of a sort, but I could not understand a word she said. It made for a silly and unsatisfactory conversation.

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