Diversity in South and North Georgia

Mahwish introduced our topic this week as: Do you think diversity has benefited or worsened Southern living, and which aspects do you think have been affected the most?

As I've mentioned earlier, I spent my early life in India. However, for the past nine years, I've been here in the state of Georgia. Within Georgia, I had the chance to experience two different cultures that of Southern Georgia and that of Urban Georgia. I just moved to Valdosta, GA in 2001. There, the town lacked diversity in comparison to my later residence in Lawrenceville, GA in Gwinnett County starting from 2004. Valdosta was not "diversified". It is a small city/town near the border of Georgia and Florida. According to the census, the population is basically split between 50% African American and 50% white. Hence, this town has not been affected by diversity much. Through my personal experiences, I can share how my Indian culture was pretty new to my friends and peers in Valdosta. My family never thought about wearing Indian clothes out in "public"; however, in Gwinnett, we never even think twice about wearing them. It's completely normal to do so in Gwinnett. Because of this, I believe that the typical Southern living in South Georgia is still present and has not been affected by immigration. However, the Southern culture in Gwinnett has almost disappeared. If you walk down any major street in the county, you are bound to find multiple ethnic cultures. However, you would struggle to find a typical southern family/neighborhood. Gwinnett County is a result of an great extent of assimilation to the point where the majority(Whites) culture has become the minority culture in the county. Though the numbers still show, the white population as the majority, the culture in the county is reflected more by Hispanics and Asians.

So, "diversification" in Gwinnett has deteroited Southern culture but the lack of "diversification" has left Valdosta, GA its Southern Culture.