Southern Conservatism: A Cyclical Plague

The South, a land filled with big trucks, sweet tea, confederate flags, and raging conservatives. I am a born and raised southern girl and growing up in the heart of the bible belt has definitely had its challenges. Most “misconceptions” people have of southerners are true. No, we do not wear cowboy hats and ride around on horses, but a lot of us are racist and are Trump supporters and are ignorant. 

My whole life my grandparents and older relatives tried to raise me under the influence of their conservative and republican beliefs, making sly comments here and there about people of color or people in the LGBTQ+ community, and for a while there I believed them. I walked around my elementary and middle schools spewing out the same fake claims they told me after they had heard it on Fox News. I am ashamed of that, and while I could make excuses about how I was young and uneducated, I truly believe that at this time and era of society, holding beliefs that demean and degrade someone for some part of their identity that is unchangeable is wrong and cannot be justified. 

I will never forget the day my aunt gave me my first anti-LGBTQ+ speech. We were in her car on the way to the mall and the topic of my at the time step sister came up. She was openly gay, and to my relatives that was in no way ok. She said to me, “ do not ever let her push her ways onto you, you are not like that. It is not that I am homophobic, I just do not think it is ok for gay people to try and force their ways of life onto people who do not want it.” That conversation never sat well with me. Her treating someone’s identity as if it was a disease left me questioning my family’s beliefs and whether they were truly moral. 

I believe it is a choice to not be racist and sexist and homophobic and hateful, it is not something that is innate or bred into people. While it is widely taught in the homes of white southerners, it is still something you can choose to resist, especially when privileged enough to have access to resources such as education and the secular exposure that comes with social media. Having such resources at your fingertips is definitely beneficial when it comes to the uneducation of southern conservatism. 

For me, social media and school played a large role in my political and worldly knowledge. I started high school in 2016, one of the more politically charged years of my existence, and I had no choice but to pay attention to what was going on in our country because it was one of the only things being talked about. My high school at the time was very culturally diverse, and I am so grateful for that as before that year I had only been exposed to white southern culture. Armed with this newfound exposure, I started looking into world issues and political news myself, taking my beliefs into my own hands. This was the catalyst for my love of politics. However, this is not the case for many. While I grew in my secular knowledge throughout high school, and became a proud member of the political left, most of my fellow southern peers moved in the opposite direction, becoming conservative with the help of their parents and grandparents’ influence. This is common for a lot of young people in the south, but I strongly believe this does not have to be the case for everyone. While it is definitely hard to go against the wishes and beliefs of one’s family, especially when it can involve such strong things such as politics and social issues, it is possible to educate yourself and stand strong in your views. 

With this, I strongly believe that education is key to breaking the cycle of southern conservatism. Taking the time to pay attention to multiple news outlets and both sides of the political argument can be helpful. When provided both sides of the issue, a person can then take a stance, but unlike before, it will be an educated and well thoughout stance. This and the willingness to listen to what others have to say can help halt the cyclical political belief system in southern America. 

Many southerners attribute their right wing standings to their strong religious beliefs, but that is in no way an excuse. While there may be aspects of different religious doctrines that seemingly justify acts of cruelty or discrimination against certain groups of people, in no religious word is hate encouraged, and that is what this Southern Conservatismis. It is a hatred for people who do not fit inside the expected mold. 

It was amazing to be immersed into this knowledgeable atmosphere, where young people could speak their minds freely and not be shamed for it. 

Religion is probably one of the biggest justifications people in the south provide when asked about their staunch right positions on political and social issues. It is hypocritical. In what religious work does it say to hate someone based on their skin color or socioeconmic status? 

This is another way I believe people can work to stop the southern conservative system. By correcting and educating our relatives, peers, and fellow southern citizens on things that are offensive or racist or homophobic, we can play a small role in this halt of a cyclical plague. I try to do this a lot when I am home on break visiting relatives. Most of the time they get upset, and some arguments start up, but when I keep persisting and correcting, they eventually begin to listen and take my comments and corrections into consideration. This is something so simple, that can eventually have such a large impact. 

It can sometimes be hard for people from predominantly blue areas to fully understand just how staunchly republican the south can be. It is, in a way, a cycle. Typically parents will raise their children under their own conservative beliefs, and those children will then grow into strong right wing voters who then raise their children the same way they were raised and the cycle continues like that for generations, and sadly, a lot of people never take the time or care to stop the cycle and educate themselves about making their own choice on where they actually fall on the political spectrum. 

I have spent my entire life watching this cycle, watching it take my friends, peers, and even my siblings. The south is toxic, politically. Having different opinions is looked down upon, and a lot of times, people will try to shame you about your beliefs and claim “you are just too young, you have no world experience” or “this is just a phase, when you get into the real world, you will realize how wrong you are.” I myself have been bullied by my older relatives for my political beliefs, having them tell me I’m just an “oversensitive libtard” or “a puppet for the left wing agenda.” 

It is truly sad when you cannot be in a room for more than 30 minutes with your family before politics are brought up and it is 10 against 1, or without one of your relatives letting the N word slip and making an offensively racist comment about someone they saw at the store that day. This is common in the south too, Southern Conservatism is mean and aggressive and does not tolerate dissenters. 

According to an article in Psychology Today, Trump supporters and conservative voters are strongly affected by a psychological phenomena called the fear factor. This article states, “science has shown that the conservative brain has an exaggerated fear response when faced with stimuli that may be perceived as threatening,” and that typically people who are self declared as right leaning politically tend to have a larger amygdala, which would biologically explain their over-stimulation when it comes to things that scare them. This clearly shows why many conservatives, especially southern ones, get so aggressive and angry when they are faced with someone who does not agree with them or who is not like them. 

The fact that a lot of southern behavior surrounding politics can be attributed to a pyshcological phenomenon shows that it can, in fact, be unlearned and disasembled. A pyscological state like this is not bred or innate, it is learned and observed, which means that it can be unlearned. 

There is also a large denial culture in the south. People tend to make offensive comments about others, but then deny that those comments are racist or homophobic or ignorant. One of the most common phrases in the southern language is “I am not racist, but…” I am not racist but what? Ostracizing someone for the color of their skin is ok? Wishing harm on someone because they are not like you is ok? No, these people are blatantly racist, but they do not believe it because they see what they believe and how that act as morally right, and that is how they justify their hate-filled, conservative, cyclical lives. 

When I finally left the deep south and came to college here in Missouri, it was a shock to be surrounded by so many liberal-thinking young people. I had never experienced that before, typically only knowing or befriending one to two left-leaning people throughout my youth. It was amazing to be immersed into this knowledgeable atmosphere, where young people could speak their minds freely and not be shamed for it, and I think it has furthered me greatly in not only my political and social views, but also my love for politics overall. 

With this, I also realized how sad it must be for anyone else who maybe at one time shared similar moral and social beliefs with me, but were victims to the southern conservative cycle. However, it is not too late. My purpose in writing this piece is not to hate on the south and complain about southern conservatism, even though it is very pernicious. I however want to show to others, especially those who may share the same experiences that I have, that it is possible to not be sexist, or racist, or homophobic, or hateful when coming from a strictly conservative upbringing. It is possible, using your given resources, to educate yourself and form your own beliefs, no matter how wrong people may claim it is. It is also possible to play a role in the correction of other people by pointing out and educating them on what is right and wrong. With these attempts at breaking the conservative system will come an eventual halt of the overall cycle. This is how we, together, educate ourselves and the people around us in order to stop the corrupt plague that is southern conservatism.