Historic buildings in Boston. The Deep South is different. [Xn Iraki]
Deep South refers mostly to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina in the United States (US). Florida, despite being so south, is not in the Deep South.
The term is more cultural than geographical. It is often synonymous with the Bible Belt. But in terms of the number of churches, Kenya beats Deep South hands down!
The Deep South was a fascinating place to be, but only after leaving it. It was my home for six years. Even as a Kenyan, I found the place conservative. But it was understandable; the legacy of slavery and unjust laws was still evident in residences, schools and cultures.
One classmate came to school in the Deep South rather than attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; it was too white, I heard. Her argument was she would be nurtured in a Historically Black University (HBCU).
The African-Americans claimed I did not understand their lives. I told them we too went through colonialism. But that was not enough to reach a point of convergence, that we both had suffered injustice.
Many felt we were introducing unfair competition, taking over their jobs, and I heard one time their women. Remember recent xenophobia in South Africa?
I found a curious resentment to academic excellence. I was once accused of “acting" white for getting good grades or writing a longer term paper! That thinking is slowly creeping into Kenya’s higher education.