Why do people associate the south with inbreeding?

Question

I know it happens but I have NO inbreeding in my family and I'm sure it doesnt ALL happen in the south...where and why did this originate?

Well I dont think its very funny I am from the south and I know that they may have had to do things to keep what was theirs but I really dont believe that the south (uninted states) is full of imbreds....We are all related some how...right?

Deliverance????
What about GA...No I dont know what you are refering to!

It depends about the sugar....Most of the sugar is in our tea...and a pinch of sugar in most everything!

Answer 1

The idea of inbreeding being characteristic of the Southern United States can be traced to the manner in which predominant plantation families viewed themselves as an American royalty of sorts. In Europe, the "blue bloods" (royal families) believed that it was socially unacceptable to marry anyone who was not also royalty. With this mindset, all of European royalty inevitably ended up related to each other. During World War I, all the royal families of Europe were related to each other in some manner, including the families of countries that were fighting each other.

A secondary consideration is that of the relative isolation of certain communities (this actually fits more with the "Deliverance" argument). Deliverance, a 1972 film starring Burt Reynolds, is about group of friends who go on an adventure rafting trip through Appalacia. They end up fighting for their lives from the elements as well as several attempts by local "in-breds" to harass and kill them. Communities which are isolated from society as a whole ("mountain folk" in Deliverance) increasingly have a smaller gene pool from which to procreate, and in-breeding can result as an effort to continue their bloodline. The society of Easter Island (the island with all the stone heads) is theorized by some anthropologists as having depleted its gene pool through in-breeding because of its total isolation from other societies, leading to its inevitable extinction.

Southerners as in-breds is a stereotype like any other stereotype. It originated due to ignorant people associating a certain quirky and negative characteristic (in-breeding) of a certain people (Southern plantation families, isolated "mountain folk") and applying that said characteristic indefinitely across a populace as a whole (everybody in the South and Appalacia).

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Tiger Ridge Inbreeding

Answer 3

Inbreeding In America

Answer 4

I don't know about England being one of the top places for inbreeding but I know in Southern and even some Mid Atlantic states it's big. And of course in some isolated section of the world, it would be. Personally, it's not something I'm fond of, especially if the couple are really close. I mean it's one thing to mate with a distant cousin (2'nd and beyond) but a whole other world to inbred with a sibling. I understand why there was inbreding in the early civilizations of the world and theoretically speaking Cain, and the other males in the first family would have had to inbred with their sisters. But in modern times, that's not something I approve of and to some extent I don't think Christ would approve of it. I mean there's 6.6 billion people on earth why mate with a sibling or close relative?

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why do people associate the south with inbreeding?
I know it happens but I have NO inbreeding in my family and I'm sure it doesnt ALL happen in the south...where and why did this originate?

Answer 6

Your question of where and why did it originate?

It was being done well before the 1800's. Charles Darwin, who married his first cousin did many studies on the subject. It has been said to be done for religeous purposes but in Europe it was done by royal families to preserve the bloodline.

Answer 7

It's not just the south, it's rural America that gets branded with the stereotype. Sorry I didn't really answer but had to clarify that.

Answer 8

Because in order to keep the plantation in the family, people in the South would often marry their cousins - first cousins. Read "Gone with the Wind?" Kissing cousins comes from that region for a reason. And ever hear of Tiger Ridge, GA?

Answer 9

The South of what? I guess it is the south of the US you are asking about. Well people have thoughts that are, how can I put it, not quite right. Sometimes. You're not inbreds. :-)

Answer 10

Just stereotypes, like how southerns call northerners gutless, among other words that I can't use on yahoo. Or in general public.