Speaking as a Southerner, our friendliness is quite temporary, superficial, and cliquish. Many Southerners are friendly toward 1) visitors, and 2) people in t

Speaking as a Southerner, our friendliness is quite temporary, superficial, and cliquish. Many Southerners are friendly toward 1) visitors, and 2) people in their immediate social circle. When the scope broadens to people of different races, nationalities, or political/sexual orientations, the friendliness quickly fades. Growing up in a small Mississippi city in the 1980s & 90s, I saw a small but steady influx of transplants from other parts of the country who came to work our booming aluminum siding factory. They were all received warmly at first, and seemed bowled over by the attention. But as soon as they demonstrated their alien-ness by attending the wrong church (or being nonreligious), or heaven forbid, commenting on racial or political issues, the welcome mat was pulled back. They'd last a year or two at most, and then transfer somewhere else. And people would gossip about the funny Yankees after they left. "Andy's wife was a real loony-tunes," they'd say. "Told her Sunday school group she didn't believe abortion was wrong. And you know what they said about her husband. [whispering] That he was a pervert!" Sad, really.