Today

The late historian C. Vann Woodward once labeled the New South "the Second Reconstruction." As the millennium approached, he noted that Yankees were coming South, rural life was diminishing, and urbanization was ongoing. "Let's call it the 'Bulldozer Revolution,'" he said, adding that, nonetheless, "I don't think it has demolished the South."

This fast-growing region remains one of the most changing and versatile in the country, and yet it still evokes stereotypes, caricatures, and images, some of them still there to be seen: corrupt potbellied sheriffs, crooked Southern judges, country politicians, demure belles, and hell-raisin' preachers. Parts of the backward South are notorious for its "redneck juries," insanely awarding millions upon millions of dollars' worth of damages in civil cases if the defendants are perceived as coming from Yankeeland. But it would be wrong to confuse the South with its caricatures or to fail to understand how rapidly the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia are changing. Believe it or not, all Southerners do not eat grits, listen to country music, vote with the religious right, or have a crazy aunt or a football-playing brother with three first names.

The New South is meeting resistance, however. In some respects, the battles of the South no longer center on the age-old conflicts between blacks and whites. As if establishing a last stand in the Old South, the hard-right wing of the Republican Party and the religious right are engaging in a cultural war. Rather bizarrely, homosexuality is often the issue today that provokes the most moral outrage, with some Southern preachers ranting against it as a "sin against God," whereas more progressive elements in the South (sometimes from the pulpit, but more often from the business world) preach tolerance and understanding, with respect for individual rights regardless of sexual preference.

A dramatic case highlighting this occurred in September 2000 when the Atlanta Gas Light Company, one of the biggest utilities in the South, announced that it would be offering domestic partner benefits as an option for its employees, including same-sex couples. The company said that it was inaugurating this change in its policy in order to attract the brightest and best employees in the future. Georgia Equality Project, the statewide gay political group, immediately hailed the move as a major breakthrough.

GEP is continuing to target other major companies in the state to offer the same benefits, and some of these companies are responding. But in other cases, the proposal is met with a "wall of silence." For the GEP, it's an uphill fight.

On the other hand, the New South has prevailed in other areas. Witness the removal of the Confederate flag from the dome of the South Carolina State Capitol. It had been flying since 1962, when it was raised in honor of the 100-year anniversary of the Civil War; in the ensuing years, repeated calls to remove it were rejected. This time, it was a fight to the finish: Election-year presidential hopefuls and media pundits from all over the globe weighed in, and 50,000 protesters marched in Columbia on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. In the glare of the national spotlight, the opposition agreed to a compromise. On July 1, 2000, the flag went down, only to have a shiny replica -- said to be more "accurate" than the one that had flown for 38 years -- hoisted on a 30-foot pole in front of the Capitol.

Cultural conflicts seem to be inevitable, given the rate of growth and the population shift. The South can boast the fastest-expanding economy in the industrialized world. Each day, the ever-changing population, attracted to the tri-state region by industry and technology, grows larger, wealthier, and better educated. Today, instead of magnolia-lined plantations or outhouse-dotted backwoods, you see a soccer-mom subculture in the southern suburbs of Atlanta and Charlotte, complete with minivans, malls, glass office towers, well-manicured subdivisions, and traffic jams. You'd think that you were in a suburb of Cleveland. Some tourist areas, such as Hilton Head, are flourishing and are filled with Northern transplants.

By contrast, income and population in "Black Belt" counties are shrinking. Ironically, the South also contains some of America's poorest regions, the home of millions who are mired in ignorance and poverty. The Tobacco Road image lingers in remote counties where young people often grow up but don't stick around. Problems are on the horizon, as automation and global trade promise to wipe out many of the remaining rural textile jobs. Welfare reform will eliminate the money needed to keep some small towns alive.

But there is reason for optimism and hope here, too. From elegant ballets to symphonies set in the refurbished concert halls of days gone by, Southern tradition is being redefined. Yes, a slow-paced way of life still holds in many small towns, but the cities of the New South are on the move. People have flocked to the cities from all areas of the world -- Northerners seeking a milder climate; rural Southerners bored with small-town life, African Americans overcoming years of segregation, Asian immigrants seeking a new life in America, and gays and lesbians, who finally can taste liberation in a region where they were once shunned or to which they once fled to escape the prevailing prejudices. People from all these diverse cultures can be seen sipping espresso in coffee shops, reading the Wall Street Journal on street corners, and turning once-lethargic areas into fast-paced international business complexes.

But time simply can't take away from the true Southerner his small pleasures: fresh-picked butterbeans in the summer, crisp iced sweet tea in the afternoon, a Saturday-morning golf game, sunset cocktails on the porch, church on Sunday, and a generally prevailing politeness and civility. Scarlett O'Hara would be proud that Atlanta has grown into one of the strongest industrial capitals in the world. As the home of some of the best-known companies in the nation (including Coca-Cola, BellSouth, and Delta), the city has become a transportation hub and has been highly praised for its capability to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.

From Savannah to Charlotte, Southern cities are sprucing up and replacing eyesores with colorful floral gardens and newly designed roadways. Visitors no longer have to restrict themselves to a strictly Southern cuisine, as world-class food markets and restaurants spring up all across the tri-state area. The land of hospitality has opened its arms even wider.