# "The South's Gonna Do It Again!!" What exactly does that mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 29, 2002, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039 "2002-09-29T00:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/41 "2002-09-30T04:10:26Z")
Not peeved at **Antracite**. It is a pet peeve of mine that the flag most commonly seen today as the symbol of the South/racism/rednecks/etc… is called the Confederate Flag, or the Confederate Battle Flag, when it is neither. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/42 "2002-09-30T04:26:17Z")
“The South” has ceased to have any meaning in an antebellum, slavery kinda way. My brother is a ‘Southern Rebel’ type, and we live in freaking Canada. You guys may have missed an entire cultural moment if you don’t get this reference. There has been a whole subculture of people that seem to think the South embodied their values - patriotic, hard-drinkin’, honorable folk who live outside of society. Their cultural lineage comes out of Rock N’ Roll, not Virginia. Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers, Willie Nelson, Charlie Daniels, Neil Young, and other artists of that type are their musical heroes. I think you’ll find it’s quite a large culture among young blue collar workers. I certainly knew oodles of them here in Canada. BTW, these guys aren’t racist. They’re the radical south, liberal in outlook but ass-kickin’ patriots to boot. In that context, “The South’s Gonna Do It Again” is more of a general stake in the ground than anything else. This is who we are, and you’re going to learn to respect us and value the things we value. It’s kind of like their version of “The Times They Are A-Changin’”. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/43 "2002-09-30T04:38:21Z")
Well, I think that if these liberal yet patriotic hard-drinkin’ rebels are going to try to symbolize their patriotically hard-drinking non-racist rebellious liberal counter-culturalism by appropriating the emblems of a regime which was founded for the perpetuation of white supremacy and black slavery, they’re gonna have to expect to be misunderstood from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/44 "2002-09-30T04:48:43Z")
On an episode of MST3K, there’s this dumb redneck guy running to the outhouse, already pulling his overalls down, and Mike yells, “Oh no, the South is gonna do it again!” It was _Boggy Creek II: and the Legend continues…_ ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/45 "2002-09-30T05:19:11Z")
MEBuckner: Hey, I did say it was internally consistent. I’m just describing what I see. Hell, half the guys running around yelling “The South’s Gonna Do It Again!” probably don’t even know the history of the south, other than in the vaguest terms. It’s just a label they stuck on their particular way of living. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/46 "2002-09-30T07:01:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*Plus, the phrase “Stars and Bars” sounds so freaking cool. I like the way it sounds. \*\* Further nitpick: The flag in question is the Battle Flag, not the Stars and Bars - the latter, the Confederate National Flag for the first year or so of the war, was based on the Stars and Stripes - only it had just 2 red stripes and one white, and the blue field only had one star. It was switched out, as I understand it, because it was too close to the Stars and Stripes, and thus confederate units were attacking their own positions. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/47 "2002-09-30T09:44:48Z")
The South is finished. People down here eat “dinner” in the evening now. ---
**Author:** ![manwithaplan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@manwithaplan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manwithaplan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/48 "2002-09-30T09:58:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*Their cultural lineage comes out of Rock N’ Roll, not Virginia. Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers, Willie Nelson, Charlie Daniels, Neil Young, and other artists of that type are their musical heroes. \*\* Given the Neil Young/Lynyrd Skynyrd, Southern Man/Sweet Home Alabama thing, is it a bit odd for flyers of the southern cross to regard them both as musical heroes? Just asking - I’m a know-nuthin’ Irishman when it comes to these matters. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/49 "2002-09-30T10:03:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spoke- \* > **It means the South is going to have sex again.** It’s about damned time. Maybe Florida will finally stop sticking out so much now. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/50 "2002-09-30T11:34:02Z")
Posted by **Libertarian** : " People down here eat “dinner” in the evening now." What the hell gave you that weird idea, **Lib**? It’s still supper as far as I can tell. Dinner is usually eaten around the noon hour. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/51 "2002-09-30T12:18:56Z")
You want to read about the grip the war still has on our (I say ‘our’ without reservation…I’m a rural Virginian) souls? [Confederates in the Attic](http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/read/confederates/) That’s the best book I’ve read on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/52 "2002-09-30T14:12:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BlackKnight \* > \*\* > It’s about damned time. Maybe Florida will finally stop sticking out so much now. \*\* Which reminds me of a cartoon by B. Kliban entitled “Map Filth.” It’s a cartoon drawing of the Western Hemisphere, and North America is yelling across the Atlantic Ocean: “Hey Europe! Eat my Florida!” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/53 "2002-10-01T21:41:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > **The CSA was a bad joke perpetrated by rich plantation owners on lower-class whites so those rich plantation owners wouldn’t have to accept the rightful rule of Washington. The lower-class whites were fed a line of bull about how the federal government had deprived them of their ‘rights’ and that only through the feudal plantation system could they retain their place above Negro slaves and as citizens of smaller states instead of the USA.** Word. I agree with your astute analysis, and so did Bob Dylan: > [@](#): > > \*A South politician preaches to the poor white man, > “You got more than the blacks, don’t complain. > You’re better than them, you been born with white skin,” they explain. > And the Negro’s name > Is used it is plain > For the politician’s gain > As he rises to fame > And the poor white remains > On the caboose of the train > But it ain’t him to blame > He’s only a pawn in their game. > > ``` > The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid, > And the marshals and cops get the same, > But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool. > He's taught in his school > From the start by the rule > That the laws are with him > To protect his white skin > To keep up his hate > So he never thinks straight > 'Bout the shape that he's in > But it ain't him to blame > He's only a pawn in their game.* > > ``` The modern industrial age may have given the lie to the Confederacy’s premise, but as late as the Civil Rights era in the 1960s, the fact still hadn’t sunk in, as the song shows. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/54 "2002-10-02T19:43:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rossarian \* > \*\* > > Lose, I guess. Good luck getting enough people to field an army though, since state pride ain’t what it used to be. \*\* The South contributes a disproportionate share of out Nations military already. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039/55 "2002-10-02T19:44:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rossarian \* > \*\* > > Lose, I guess. Good luck getting enough people to field an army though, since state pride ain’t what it used to be. \*\* The South contributes a disproportionate share of our Nations military already. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-souths-gonna-do-it-again-what-exactly-does-that-mean/130039.md?page=2)