“But I still do believe that there are useful things to say about Elvis Presley, including what his own ordinariness as a poor Southerner says about 20th-century hero-making.” BelieveStillsPoorCenturyHeroIncluding20th CenturySouthernerOrdinarinessUseful Things Author:John Shelton Reed
“I can see why many Southerners, black ones in particular, don't like the implication that Southernness and the Confederate heritage are one and the same, because they're not. On the other hand, there are people who want to extirpate that completely and want folks to spit on the graves of their ancestors.” PeopleWantI CanHandsBlackParticularFolksGravesHeritageAncestorImplicationsSpitConfederateSoutherner Author:John Shelton Reed
“If you care to define the South as a poor, rural region with lousy race relations, that South survives only in geographical shreds and patches and most Southerners don't live there any more.” IfsCarePoorRaceRelationSouthRegionsPatchesRace RelationsSouthernerIf You Care Author:John Shelton Reed
“We could say that people who eat grits, listen to country music, follow stock-car racing, support corporal punishment in the schools, hunt 'possum, go to Baptist churches and prefer bourbon to Scotch are likely to be Southerners.” PeopleCountrySchoolChurchSupportCarPunishmentRacingHuntsGritBaptistsScotchSouthernerBourbonCar RacingCorporal PunishmentPossumsStock Car Racing Book:My Tears Spoiled My Aim, and Other Reflections on Southern Culture Source: My Tears Spoiled My Aim, and Other Reflections on Southern Culture
“Every Southerner, I think, knows people like Bill Clinton, maybe not quite as smart and maybe not quite as liberal, but kind of a glad-handing, country-club yuppie Southerner. The problem is we don't have labels for middle-class Southerners.” PeopleThinkingKnowsKindCountryProblemClassMiddleSmartBillsClintonClubsGladLabelsMiddle ClassSouthernerCountry ClubsYuppies Author:John Shelton Reed
