Sorry, but as an expatriated North Carolinian, I can’t resist this story. National Journal’s Hotline put together a state-by-state ranking based on SAT scores, obesity levels and poverty rates and, based on these data, South Carolina ranked as the worst state in the union.
Most Americans assume that the Carolinas are one homogeneous region, sort of like the Dakotas. But North and South Carolina are decidedly different places — geographically, socially and historically. Like feuding conjoined twins, the states have had a contentious rivalry going back to 1710, when the British colonial province of Carolina was split asunder.
As to how the sibling rivalry began, any Tarheel will tell you that they started it. Back in the day, South Carolina — with the nation’s busiest port at Charleston and its abundance of navigable rivers to support rice plantations operated on slave labor — was the largest and most prosperous of England’s colonies.
Back then, North Carolina was the poor relation. It had few navigable rivers, and its port at Wilmington was a bit too well protected by a spit of land aptly named Cape Fear, not to mention the fabled “Graveyard of the Atlantic” situated just offshore from the Outer Banks.
With South Carolina below and high-falutin’ Virginia to the north, North Carolinians of this era referred to their state as a “vale of humility between two mountains of conceit.” They also chose a state motto that was self-effacing in the extreme: “Esse quam videri,” which means “To be rather than to seem.” (This was to contrast themselves from their popinjay neighbors, who went about putting on airs.)
Flash forward a few hundred years to the present, and we find that North Carolina is way ahead of its tired old sister in population (N.C.: 8,049,313; S.C.: 4,012,012), education, infrastructure and in just about every economic indicator, starting with the fact that Charlotte is the nation’s second largest banking center. Although its two senators are among the least impressive Republicans in Congress, North Carolina has a Democratic governor, Mike Easley, and the Democrats control both houses of the Legislature.
Should we be surprised that South Carolina is one of the reddest of the Republican enclaves in the country? The GOP requires under-educated people in order to survive, and in places like South Carolina, the Republican Party is thriving. Ditto for Texas and Georgia, where the Republicans are firmly in control.
Here are the stats:
|
Best
CO 40.67 |
Worst
SC 7.33 |
For the record
NC 14.67 |
- Topic: News & Comment
Greetings:
AS a proud North Carolinian, my favorite word in your diatribe was “expatriated;” I only wish that your could insert “permanently” in front of it.
Anyone with an IQ above that of a moron knows that the primary factor in the comparison of SAT’s is the percentage of students who take them. If you compared the top twenty percent of students in SC (or NC) against the same group in other states, you would get an entirely different ranking. A much higher percentage of total students take SAT’s in southern states than they do in other regions.
Being a neanderthal, bare-footed and with only half-a-brain when compared to geniuses such as yourself, I never have been able to understand why NC-SC-GA-TX populations are growing so rapidly and, likewise, why those Democrat meccas of superiority such as Mass, Il and Ct are losing population. Perhaps you could share some of your “infinite wisdom” and explain this to me. Or, better yet, if you could possibly reverse this trend, you could improve the IQ’s and SAT’s of both states involved.
John Kemp
One word for you. And I’ll type it slowly so you can follow along: California.
I am proud to state that I hail from the progressive blue state of Minnesota – Star of the North.
Madison:
I stated that I am a proud North Carolinian, but I did manage to spend several of the happiest years of my life in San Francisco.
Please remember that I am a neanderthal Southerner, and I am not certain as to what you mean by “California.” Please give me a brief explanation. I say “brief” because after unloading the dead deer carcass from my pick-up truck tonight, I have to hurry upstairs and make passionate love to my sister. There are only so many hours in the day!
Thanks.
John Kemp
So its poor and uneducated people that vote red? Then why do all the inner city blacks vote Democrat? Poor people would rather vote Democrat, because of how much money demoncrats throw away to them.
-Proud, red state, America loving Midwestener.
[...] right. GOP Stronghold South Carolina Ranks Dumbest, Fattest and Poorest State __________________ "When you shop, you're really voting for the kind of world you [...]
I have lived in SC all my life, and I vote Republican. I graduated from Furman University, which is one of many colleges and universities in this state. My sister is currently completing her PhD at Clemson Univeristy. We have numerous corporate headquarters based in the Greenville-Spartanburg area, including the North American operations of Michelin and BMW. We have many multi-million dollar homes in this area, and I see a lot of high dollar automobiles with SC tags. Poverty and ignorance is a problem in all 50 states, not just here. It was the Democrats who started passing out welfare checks without requiring anything in return. They reward people for doing nothing, instead of helping them find a way to better themselves. Maybe you should visit SC (more than just our housing projects and trailer parks) before you make such assumptions about us.
Danny – Having lived in North Carolina, we know South Carolina very well.