Hybrid Corn

Some months ago a reader wrote me to complain about a column. Although he agreed with many of my opinions, he was not happy about what I said regarding Georgia. I had written that the state had an opportunity to be great, but he insisted that it was already great.

My correspondent wrote that this mistake was probably due to the fact that I was a transplanted Yankee. Had I been a native born Georgian, I would surely have had a better grasp of the state’s glorious history.

This put me in mind of a piece of advice my father-in-law had given me. He is a retired Ohio farmer, hence when my wife and I were having difficulty growing corn, we asked what we were doing wrong. Part of his response was that we must make sure to use hybrid corn seed. It grew much better than non-hybrid varieties.

This, in turn, reminded me of a lesson I learned while still in high school. Back then our biology teacher introduced us to the notion of “hybrid vigor.” According to him, when plants and animals that differ from one another are mated, they frequently produce offspring with greater strength than their parents.

The reason this occurred to me is that it reminded me of Georgia. In recent decades, the state has been growing at an unprecedented rate. Migrants have been attracted to it from all corners of the country—and beyond. Thus, northerners, southerners, westerners, and even foreigners are now rubbing shoulders in a potent mix of abilities and attitudes.

Far from having weakened the state, this has helped turn it into an international powerhouse. But let me confine myself to northerners and southerners. When, some twenty years ago, I arrived from New York, I discovered that my perspective differed from that of many natives. For one thing, I was more direct in my communications.

As I now tell my classes the first day we meet, every good southern child learns that if you do not have something good to say, you should say nothing at all. Meanwhile, I in the north learned that if you have something to say, you should spit it out. This didn’t mean that I hated the object of my words, only that I was being candid.

By the same token, when I return to Georgia from a trip out of state, I am always pleasantly surprised. There is a graciousness to Georgia that is on display even on its highways. Although many natives complain about the driving habits of their fellow citizens, these are so much better than those in the North, or even south Florida, that the comparison is startling.

This graciousness has even been of help in elevating the quality of teaching at Kennesaw State University. Many of the professors we have hired from elsewhere subsequently told me that they decided to come, in part, because of the warm welcome they received at the school and from the community.

So what does this add up to? The bottom line is that Georgia a better place for having blended the virtues of people from different locals, including some that are very far away. All of us benefit from interacting with others who are different from ourselves. Indeed, most of us are strengthened because of it.

In the end, this has allowed Georgia, and will continue to allow it, to become a national leader. Once the South was a sleepy backwater, but today it is a source of endless innovations. Not the old centers of power, but we here in the capital of the New South are liable to deliver a large proportion of the improvements that keep our country in the forefront of economic and social progress.

I think of this as a march toward further greatness. While I understand that many good things happened in Georgia before I arrived, I expect even better things to occur in the future. I know I am doing better than I did before I came, and I like to think that many native southerners have been enhanced by my humble contributions.

I love Georgia! And want nothing but the best for it. Moving down here was one of the best things I ever did. Some natives may bridle at considering me a Georgian, but that’s how I now think of myself. I may be a Georgian of a different stripe, but that does not keep me from appreciating the opportunities and achievements of those who are nowadays my fellow Georgians.

So I say, let us all move together toward greater heights.

Melvyn L. Fein. Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

Kennesaw State University