Why Georgia Broke My Heart

I love Georgia.  I am a damn Yankee by choice.  Since I moved to the state a quarter of a century ago, I have never been tempted to return north.  But a couple of weeks ago, Georgia broke my heart.  Contrary to my expectations, nearly forty percent of its Republican voters cast their ballots for Donald Trump.

Like many northerners, I had assumed Georgians were uncouth barbarians.  Prior to coming south, I too believed they were ignorant rednecks who could barely speak the English language.  Slow of speech, they would also prove slow of mind.

The realization that I was mistaken came quickly.  It was not just that my colleagues at Kennesaw State University were smart, so were the students.  Although most had been born and bred in the South, they were every bit as intelligent as the students I encountered in New York.

But what really got my attention was an incident that occurred at the end of my first term at KSU.  At that point, one of the students approached me to inquire as to why I hated Atlanta.  This left me dumbstruck.  I did not hate Atlanta.  Why would she think so?

When I asked for an explanation, she cited several negative things I mentioned about the city.  This was the moment I first encountered an unsuspected cornerstone of Southern culture.

It was now that I learned southern children are told that if they do not have something nice to say, they should not say anything at all.  Back in New York, the attitude was quite different.  There kids are told if they have something to say, they should spit it out.

Georgians, I discovered, are gracious people.  Some might gossip behind your back, but they too were courteous.  Politeness was strongly valued.  Indeed, it was part of the Southern identity.  These folks were never going to be as rude as northerners.

So how could they have voted for Trump?  He is not just a New Yorker, but one of the rudest New Yorkers I have come across.  Vulgar and profane, he is the epitome of bad manners.  He is, in fact, so boorish that his conduct would never be tolerated on his home turf.

How then could so many Georgians reward his crudity?  Is this what they want their children to emulate?  In my classes at KSU, I tell students that we can disagree without being disagreeable.  Have hundreds of thousands of Georgian parents decided otherwise?

I had also assumed that conservatives believe in traditional values.  They would vigorously protect the standards of behavior that made America great.  How then could they endorse a barrage of childish insults in the name of returning the nation to greatness?  This made no sense.

Evidently many Georgians—and not just Georgians—have been so appalled by the failures of the Obama administration that they are in a moral panic.  They are so distressed that they are prepared to cheer themselves hoarse for a demagogue who uses offensiveness to demonstrate his strength.

But this is not strength!  Nor is it presidential.  Although Trump’s wife Melania counseled him to be presidential, he cannot seem to help himself.  In the heat of the battle, when he feels attacked, he always goes coarsely ballistic.  Will he do the same if he gets to the oval office?

A lot of people have been saying it is too late to stop this foul-mouthed imposter.  Perhaps they are correct.  Georgians had a chance, but they let it slide through their fingers.  Will the rest of the nation remain as oblivious?  Will they too abandon their beliefs in quest of a cheap thrill?

Founders like Benjamin Franklin warned us that we could preserve our democracy only if we remained moral.  They were probably right.  This makes it all the more troubling that so many of our fellow citizens have decided that decency no longer matters.  With so much at stake, will they too betray our heritage?

Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

Kennesaw State University