I’ve grown up in Alabama, and there’s one thing I cannot fathom:
Why does everyone rag on the South?
In all seriousness, I’ve met all kinds of people from the North. There really doesn’t seem to be much of a difference.
I’ve met just as many stupid people in the North, just as many narrow-minded people, just as many backwoods people.
So what’s the deal?
You talk funny! 
I really find it hard to take anyone with a thick accent serious… im much too busy concentration on not cracking up… you people remind me of that guy Cletus from “the simpsons” sorry nothing personal but… you just sound dumb when you talk…
Ignoring the moron above this post, I’ve always been curious if this really something that happens, or does everyone just think it happens?
EXCUSE me?
So, basically, you’d better not move anywhere, you had just better stay right where you are, because every region has its own “accent”.
And personally, you sound the dumbest of all.
Actually, I think Skummet is right. The Alabama accent is representative of all things back-woods Southern, as opposed to the gentile coastal Georgia/South Carolina accents which just sound charming. I don’t know why this is, but there is a definate difference to this Yankee in the sound of the inland and coastal Southern accents. Coastal is more fluid and soft, inland is more nasally and twangy. Of course, judging someone by their accent is always a mistake (I don’t care if everything out of a Brit’s mouth SOUNDS classier…) but something about the accent of the deep south instantly makes me think uneducated redneck. Then again, I am instantly floored by the charming version of the Southern accent, where everyone seems more charming and helpful. ::shrug::
oh lighten the fuck up would u? god i cant belive how uptight you people are… STOP BEING SO SERIOUS! sheesh!
Im sure people from Michigan are just as stupid as people from Alabama… Im just saying, your accent doesnt sound too flattering… even here in Denmark theres people who by the “city folks” are considered less intelligent cause they got sort of a hillbilly accent… says nothing about intelligence, merely people sereotyping.
Maybe I don’t LIKE being told I sound stupid. Do YOU?! How the hell do you know what type of accent I have anyway? I’ve been told by people from the North that I don’t even HAVE a Southern accent.
that ofcourse was supposed to be “stereotyping”
Could someone please enlighten me on where you keep hearing these accents? I’ve been to 20+ states, and haven’t had one negative comment.
Wasnt talking about you specifically… i dont know you or your accent and has no wish to… im just generalizing… I cant belive you set up a topic like this about a subject this big and then start taking every hint of critizism personal…
(altho it just adds to the idea that them folks from down south aint too smart 
:p)
Dude, you asked why people think Southerns are “ragged on”. How exactly did you want us to respond?
Stereotypes are sterotypes, there will always be people who fit them, and there will always be people who don’t fit them.
Saint: turn on Jerry Springer. While traveling through the South, I’ve heard both versions, the gentile lovely version that I end up subconciously mimicing, and the twangy version that one hears on the Springer-esque shows.
People are going to have sterotypes. And for some reason people want to associate the worst quality of an area with the whole area. As we became more PC the only people it was okay to make fun of were whites. So if you want to imply ignorance, you use a backwoods southerner(or Canadian). If you want an obnoxious jerk you use a New Yorker. For pretensiousness you use a Bostonian. For stuffy asexuality You use a Brit. For a wormy little twerp, you use a Frenchy, For a flake you use a Californian or Boulderian(?)(my new town of employment). For a drunk you use an Irishman. For a womanizing sleazeball you use an Italian.
I think it really does have a lot to do with the accents. The southern accent is usually accompanied by a slow drawl, and slow speakers are just kind of associated with lazyness, which is associated with a lack of eductaion.
Well SaintZ maybe you just have a cute accent people find charming… who knows…
But you cant hear any accents you say? so youre saying a homie from brooklyn sounds just the same as a guy from… Fargo or something? Or a valleygurl from CA sounds like a farm girl from West Virginia? you gotta be kidding me!
People are always going to stereotype others by the way they sound. I am guilty of this as well. I mistakenly get automatically annoyed by women with a thick New York/Jersey accent, and I get the impression that a man with a Boston accent is always being pushy and rude. It’s just something we have to rise above. I personally find a southern accent to be sexy, but that’s just me.
My dear, the reason that we get ‘ragged’ on so much is because we have such a full, exciting, imaginative and different lifestyle and world in which to live.
The ragging comes from jealous people who have nothing else to do with their time except examine what is wrong with people who are pretty much happy and content with their world.
And true southerners don’t worry about it. We have far too many other things to occupy our time.
Skümmet is right. There are just as many stupid people in Michigan as there are in Alabama. Of course, Michigan does have MORE people than does Alabama – edge to Michigan.
But then I’ve seen both of them drive – Game Tied.
While doing support, I hear a lot of accents. There’s morons everywhere, but when there is something obvious, such as a drawl, to blame it on, it becomes easy to associate a region with morons. That, and there is less high tech in the area (though that is changing) so I’m more likely to be dealing with someone that doesn’t have the same technical upbringing that I did. So, in my mind, southern accents mean I’m going to have to talk clearer and explain things better. Same with certain Canadian accents, or Middle Eastern, or Oriental, or…
So consciously, I don’t think any group is dumber than any other, but subconciously, there are groups that just set my teeth on edge, the south being one of them. At least they’re not french-canadian.
Swiddles (if I may call you that),
I am aware that there are two types of accents. 
I just object to people assuming that a “hick” accent (of which I certainly do not possess) equals stupid. We all know sterotypes are very rarely true.
I avoid Springer at all costs. My stomach rebels at that level of stupidity and crass behavior. Besides, Jerry Springer himself is the only example I know of for keeping
abortion legal.
Are there other reasons? Everyone has a funny sounding accent.
According to my friend up in Canada, she says I’ve got the sexiest voice in the world. My wife agrees, tho she might be a little biased. 
I meant to say I’ve been to a lot of places, and haven’t had MY accent commented on.
And how do the Jewish southerners talk, StingingNettles?