"You have to be what Southerners find abhorrent: blunt and direct."

In the collective ho-hum that is media coverage of news from the South I was surprised to see a piece on Salon about the South’s problems with HIV and AIDS. The South has more residents with HIV and AIDS and is also the only area of the country with a significant increase (9%). The South also accounts for 40% of people living with AIDS and 46% of new cases. The main thrust of the article is that the southern culture of politeness is a guilty party to the AIDS/HIV problem.

Why did the South get this most unwanted distinction? There are a lot of demographic reasons. We have the highest concentration of the group most likely to be infected: African-Americans. We have the highest concentration of another group most likely to be infected: poor people. We also have the highest concentration of the group most likely to stop effective AIDS prevention efforts: Bible Belters. But there’s something more. A context that amplifies these demographic factors: the southern culture of politeness and indirectness.

If southern culture is to blame for the spread of HIV I wonder how long till evolutionary forces bring about a change. At some point do the demographics of the South change to respond to the threat? Will medical necessity alter the indirectness, some might say hypocrisy, of people in the South? At the same time one of America’s most important cultural heritages is Southern authors. They represent a strong and vital force in the great American works of the 20th century. Authors who frequently chose to explore the difficult duality of life in the South. Listening: The Mansion-Microphones-The Glow, Pt. 2