What’s hilarious is that these accusations generally come from people in “blue states” – and it’s the blue states (13 original colonies and California?) where you get to marry your first cousin!

But I think it has a lot to do with being viewed as agrarian, slower, and a little more insular (“woodsy”) than “city folk.”

Probably because in those states when you get divorced it isn’t always certain if you are still brother and sister.
And you failed to mention Kentucky, Virginia, W. Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee.

@Ben_Dover only two of those states allow first-cousin marriages, I’d like to point out ;-)

@iamthemob But you chuckled a little!

I think it is meant as a pejorative statement.

My problem with the south is that you guys are poor and you suck money away from the states that are blue. And you continue voting Republican even thought that is against your best economic interest. It makes you look stupid.

http://www.fuckthesouth.com/

The same is said of Winchester, NH (a.k.a. “Incest-‘er”) and much of Eastern WA state, both of which have a high concentration of mud-bogging, country-listening, Republican-voting NASCAR fans, so I think it’s a general slam against rednecks.

@johnpowell Looking at various studies about average IQs and the quality of education down there, I think it statistically justifiable to say that the South is stupid. It’s a pity since there are some nice people down there and some of them actually do have a brain, but when you average things out, the South really isn’t all that bright overall.
At least WA state has Seattle and Winchester NH has the rest of NH to bring the averages up, but The South has… ummm… errrr….

I didn’t ask anyone to criticize the south. I don’t see what IQ has to do with inbreeding.

Actually. You did ask us to criticize the south. Your premise has to be met with criticism.

Well, I honestly don’t care to hear your economic or political views. Thanks.

Not following this question anymore – I don’t want anyone to get offended.

Its a pejorative against the south largely. It was started up based on stereotypes that have some basis in reality (isolated incidents a long time ago for the most part) where many southerners were forced to marry cousins and in some extreme cases married even siblings. The reasoning being that there weren’t many people in the area, so the gene pool had little to pick from so to say. Over time the term becomes “inbred” because the idea is your ancestors were all related and bred with others in their family.

In ACTUAL inbreeding, your IQ, as well as a lot of other physical and mental capacities, can suffer. But there’s little ACTUAL inbreeding being done in those states, its just a pejorative.

Actually. You did ask us to criticize the south. Your premise has to be met with criticism.

Actually, she didn’t. She asked where this negative stereotype came from, which means that she would like to discuss opinions held without establishing whether or not there is merit to them. So…there’s no necessity for criticism.

You are one of the five people with 30,000 lurve? Since we’re now criticizing anyway, I would think you’d have interest in trying to help build the community rather than dismiss it. ;-)

I grew up in Alabama, and I do not know anyone who has been inbreeding. It really does make me mad when I hear Alabama jokes. Low and behold there is always a inbred joke, and it is told somewhere between the hillbilly and no teeth jokes. I am not inbred, and I have all my teeth. So why pick on the south so much?

@Nikki8780 The South has so many things about it that make it not only a tempting target, but a really easy one as well. While the inbreeding thing is hyperbole, the academic underachievement and religious fervor are not. And when something goes from incredulous to ludicrous, the jokes almost write themselves.
Of course, the truth is that the reason we laugh at the South is so that y’all don’t make us cry. I mean, poverty really is sad, and there is quite a bit of it down there.