My trip to Charleston, South Carolina made me think: Wow, what a pluralistic nation we are. It’s comforting to know that America isn’t entirely culturally homogenous because of retail chains with standardized business practices and products that have people from Maine to Texas to California drinking Frappuccino, wearing Crocs, and one-stop shopping at Target.
There are subtle differences. For example, we went to a bakery called “Atlanta Bread” that was exactly like “Panera Bread” except with less emphasis on salad. And there are not-so-subtle differences. For example:
Rock-solid Republican! Proud to be in the party of Bush and Cheney! Red States rule! It’s your fault that you’re poor and have no social welfare net! Yee-haw!
I imagined that branding oneself a staunch Republican would be slightly taboo given the party’s dismal approval ratings these days. But when it comes to Southern politics, rational logic does not apply. In fact, I bet the national backlash against Republicans only increases the party’s appeal in South Carolina. They’re rebels, after all. They’ll rebel against funding for public health and education, and be damn proud when they’re ranked near-bottom on nearly every social well-being index. Yee-haw!
I was interested to explore this bizarre psychology of having pride in spectacular defeat. We visited Fort Sumter, which is where the opening shots of the Civil War were fired in 1861, when Confederate soldiers lay siege on the fort until the Union surrendered it. On the ferry ride to Fort Sumter, I toyed with the idea of marching through the aisles of Southerners, singing “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” But that could have been dangerous. There was no smoking allowed on the boat, so half of the passengers were in the throes of a nicotine fit. And I know someone had a gun. Yee-haw!
The South seems especially obsessed with flags. Pictured below are the flags at Fort Sumter. Note the flag on the right – one of numerous flag iterations for the Confederacy. This short-lived design of the Southern Cross in a field of white was often mistaken for a white flag of surrender. Yee-haw!
