The South will rise again? It’s already risen!

As an outsider – a Brit – visiting the Southern states I’m always perplexed by the widespread held belief expressed in the mantra that ‘the south will rise again’ as this seems somehow to imply that this part of the US is somehow downtrodden, second rate or inferior.

Although there might be parts of the South that fit the stereotypical trailer park, redneck image, cities such as Atlanta, Houston and Nashville are more representative of the real economic standing of the region and the gap between their northern or Californian rivals has either closed or completely disappeared in recent years. Houston and Atlanta are now second and third – behind New York - in terms of housing Fortune 500 company headquarters.  Nashville is rapidly becoming the centre of the medical industry in the US with over 250 companies now based in the city or surrounding suburbs. A new found all-round confidence in the future of the region has seen Honda move their HQ to Nashville from California and 2009 will see the start of the Signature Tower – the seventh tallest building in the country and the tallest outside of Chicago and New York.

Although there are those in the Beltway who believe that they dominate US politics, it doesn’t take much analysis to conclude that at least as far as the ‘leader of the free world’ is concerned it is necessary that either the candidate comes from the south or can carry the south.  There is little doubt also that a combination of religion and greater conservatism from the south has moved the centre of political influence more to the right and away from the northern intelligentsia over the last couple of decades. Although this may be checked a little as a reaction to the unpopularity of the second Bush administration southern values still look set to dominate through the first quarter of the 21st century.

The south clearly does not need to ‘rise again’ in respect of music. Everyone knows that everything that’s good in modern music originated from the south – jazz from New Orleans, country from Memphis, rock and roll from Memphis and blues from the Mississippi delta.  This proud tradition continues on through events such as the innovative ‘South by Southwest’ music festival in Austin and the recognition that acts such as the excellent Drive by Truckers are now beginning to receive in the mainstream.

The south also has a long and proud history of literary excellence from Twain, through Faulkner and Tennessee Williams to Capote and Harper Lee. As a fan of crime fiction however, I feel that in recent years the fertile ground to be found in the darker side of cities such as New Orleans and Savannah has allowed southern authors to excel. John Berendt’s  ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’ not only proved a best seller but has provided a guide to Savannah through which tourists trace the characters footsteps.  As well as providing top quality crime novels, James Lee Burke’s ‘Dave Robicheaux’ series of novels similarly evoke the character and spirit of New Orleans and the Louisiana bayou. Why no one has taken these novels and made them into films or a TV series is beyond me – the characters of Robicheaux and Clete Purcell have the potential to make anyone out of the Sopranos look one dimensional.

Add natural beauty, wide open space and the hospitable nature of the people to everything else that the south has to offer and you have a region that everyone should visit. In my view the south does not need to rise again, it already has. Forget LA, the Big Apple and the Beltway and head south!