by Carrington M. Nye

Created on: March 20, 2008

My Proud Southern Heritage & The Accent That Won't Go Away

Actors and Actresses from Europe absolutely astound me! They have this uncanny ability to speak in just about any accent that they need to in order to get that role. [Check out Jonathan Rhys Meyers, the Irish lad that did Elvis and won a Golden Globe in the process, he's not the only foreigner to speak perfect Americanism either!].

I must ask you Is this truly fair to me? No, I must say it certainly is not fair; I have been a resident of Ohio for ten years now and every single time I meet someone they invariably ask, "Where are you from" and when I answer, follow with "I knew I heard a Southern accent!"

Now for the reverse, when I go home for a visit my own family tells me how "funny" I talk and insult me with the words "You darn Yankee". Trust me, you don't want to be a Yank in the South; old wounds die hard, especially when half the South was burned to the ground!

Yes, we are over it, but it's as good a pastime any others to have!

Now, the Southern accent has always given me pause. I have wondered for at least one thousand times why on earth we [in the South] have such distinct twangy accents anyway? We've been here for as long as anyone has, we live in America, just as anyone else does, yet we talk kinda funny. It just doesn't make no sense attal!

I do recall in the sixth grade my English teacher trying as hard as he could to teach us hicks how to speak proper English, some of the students in the class did quite well; I remember one girl in particular talking garbage about the Southern accent and how she couldn't comprehend those of us who could not learn to lose it. I hated that girl.

No, I am a proud person; proud of my upbringing, proud of my Christian background, proud of my ethics and values, and yes, I am proud of my Southern heritage accent and all! So boo to you for making fun of me and the rest of my Southern brothers and sisters, and boo to you if you think that a funny accent defines us as a people; we are as smart as you, if not smarter, we are as kind as you, if not kinder, and we are as morally good as you, if not more so.

The reasons why the various accents exist in America is still a mystery to me; we in the South are just perhaps the best known; those Massachusetts natives talk extremely funny to me and who can forget the nasally voices of Wisconsin or the mob-like accents of New Yorkers or New Jersey residents. Louisiana? Forget about trying to understand some of those folks down on the Bayou!

What else is hard? Those hailing from India, the Middle East, Mexico, Spain, Cuba and other countries (other than Europe) seem to have as hard a time as some of us Natives of fitting into America. I do not begin to guess why. I imagine we Americans can be daft when it comes to their accents as well. Bottom line: It's a big world, let's just all get along as best as we can and be as patient as possible with the way one another speaks. I imagine eventually what we are trying to say will get across!

For those of you that can explain the accent phenomenon, I would love to hear your reasons. You can reach me here at Helium by going to my home page.

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