The South is a place of contradiction and irony, a place that is considered the “others” by the rest of the country. 

It’s a place inhabited by people who don’t understand the Union and looked down upon by people who just can’t seem to understand them. 

The phrase “Deep South” is in itself a sort of contradiction, finding more resonance in areas like northern Alabama and Tennessee. What characterizes the South hardly walks the line with what characterizes the deeper territories of South Louisiana.

Broad aspects serve the obvious differences within these Southeast areas: weather, geography, immigration patterns and religion. They all vary just enough to have significant consequences on the ways of life. In short, though, the cultures are two different rural lifestyles.  

Cotton is more suitable for the drier areas, with more moderate temperatures and tougher soil, while sugar cane and rice are thirstier crops. These agrarian penchants dictated the demographics to inhabit the lands. 

Immigration patterns and the religions they brought had the greatest effect. Southerners hail from the Protestant areas of Ireland and Scotland, as South Louisianians are French-Catholics. 

A prevalent dissimilarity created by the religious differences lies within a culture we all enjoy — the drinking culture.

But the dissimilarity lies more in the acceptance of drinking rather than the habit. The Deep South is seen as a prominent drinking culture, but its Presbyterian and Baptist faiths tend to be less forgiving. 

The French-Catholic influence in Louisiana has commonly approached spirits with more open bellies, with many people finding themselves confessing Saturday’s sins on Friday afternoon.

The South that we are inclined to envision is that of the plantation hierarchy and what has been deemed by late historian Grady McWhiney, as “cracker” culture. 

Its uniqueness is composed of characteristics — like porch-conversation, drinking, gambling and violence — that are seen romantically by its writers but distastefully by its observers. This culture derives itself from Celtic heritage of the Scottish and Irish farmers, and it’s where the strong, stubborn pride was born.

In contrast, South Louisiana is not dotted with plantations like the Delta or the Black Belt, and the laissez-faire attitude of Louisiana downplays much of the stubborn Southern pride that is the instigator of the South’s violent inclinations. 

Southern pride descends directly from the Civil War and its result. A vinegary emotion still remains with much of the South. However, the Civil War grudge never really resonated with South Louisiana laissez-faire hearts. The stars and bars aren’t so extensive in Cajun country. 

Another take on something small but treasured throughout the Southeast is found in the kitchen. South Louisiana men are the prominent cooks of the household. 

I don’t mean to discredit any ladies; my mother can cook with the best of them. But it’s my brother and I that inherited the trait — not my sisters. 

It is common that the man in a South Louisiana household is the chief cook. Since wild game has been such a traditional ingredient, the way it should be cooked — long and slow — affected much of how and who was going to cook. 

South Louisianians stop eating to do what they must, rather than stop what they must in order to eat. 

People must consider that with the progression of society and technology, opportunities have arisen giving them chances to move about the region spreading more deep southern values and habits throughout the Southeast. Many Southern sentiments have become overarching trends and do find themselves well suited for the contemporary people of Southern Louisiana.

However, South Louisiana sentiments and traditions don’t seem to stray far from the area because they are so strange to the surrounding South – even to North Louisiana, which is widely considered a strong representation of the South. 

As the South can relate to the nation but the nation cannot relate to the South, South Louisiana can relate to the South but the South cannot relate to South Louisiana.

South Louisiana is an entity all in its own.