I’m not gonna lie. It’s possible that just SMELLING these beans can add ten pounds to my butt. It’s so worth it, though. Sizzling bacon, spicy garlic and dark brown sugar blend to make a delicious dish that people would sell their souls for. Ok, maybe not that far, but almost. Aunt Sandi made these for us and we have never loved her more. We’re really loyal people, especially when you cook for us.
Aunt Sandi’s Best Baked Beans
One pound thick cut bacon
2 large cans Busch’s Baked Beans
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp. dried mustard
1 cup ketchup
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
Preheat oven to 350. Slice the bacon into small strips. I use kitchen scissors. In a giant skillet—the biggest one you have–brown the bacon, onion and garlic together.
This smells heavenly.
Don’t tell anyone, but if I need to tell Lee about an unanticipated purchase, for example, a new Coach bag…purely rhetorical, you understand, I make these beans and tell him while the bacon’s cooking.
Bacon. It’s what’s for dinner.
This is important. Do not drain the fat. It’s delicious and good for you. Also, it’s a known fact that here in the South bacon counts as its own food group and has zero calories. Ok not really.
Add the other ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Next, pour into a baking dish and cook for about an hour.
Sit back and receive the praise from your family. Or at least embrace the quiet while everyone scarfs the beans.
Oh. My. Lanta. They are good.
The idea of Middle-Class Studies becomes even more prominent in the late 1990s. Writers like Lynn Bloom, in her article “Freshman Composition as a Middle-Class Enterprise” began disclosing their middle-class roots in an effort to focus on the “number of major aspects of social class that freshman composition addresses…that will make them good citizens of the academic (and larger) community, and viable candidates for good jobs upon graduation” (655). She discusses how “middle-class standards” sometimes cause discrimination in the classroom. With the beginning of middle-class studies we also begin to see work regarding working-class studies, which becomes more important to the study of the southerner in the classroom. Again, class is important, because the young, rich sorority girl attending Ole Miss encounters different problems from the working-class mother attending the University of Arkansas.
Soon after, Jim Goad’s The Redneck Manifesto: How Hillbillies, Hicks, and White Trash Became America’s Scapegoats came on the scene, demanding respect for his kind, and discussing how Southerners are “Othered”. While tracing the history of poor whites to the beginning of American culture, he insists that all Caucasians not be lumped together into one group, and that poor white southerners should not be punished for the sins of their richer forefathers.
Jim Goad, author The Redneck Manifesto: How Hillbillies, Hicks, and White Trash Became America’s Scapegoats, explains:
The stereotypes [of the South and Southerners] aren’t new, just more persistently cruel of late. The Dumb White Bumpkin has always been a stock figure in the American dramatis personae. But fifty years ago the depictions tended toward the benign and comical, from Li’l Abner to Ma and Pa Kettle” (Goad 16).
Goad’s acknowledgement of negative Southern stereotypes such as Li’l Abner pales in comparison with some of the female counterparts on popular television programs.
Goad notes that since the days of the “Beverly Hillbillies,” the stereotypes have gravitated to more dangerous and fearsome (Goad 5). Goad mentions movies such as Deliverance portray poor whites as social deviants who should be avoided, not just generally but at all times (8). If a student is poor and white, from a working class family (as well as from the South), what are the identifiers that spring to mind? By allowing poor whites to be ridiculed, the separation or alienation within the classroom is inevitable. Goad explains:
Referring to “white trash” name calling “What should I call the nontrashy Caucasians? White Gold? The Valuable People? The true profiteers of white imperialism? These are the same class of folks who create negative media images of white trash, the writers who use “redneck” as an adjective. They disparage white trash much as one insults an embarrassingly drunken relative. And in so doing, they shunt nonwhite resentment away from themselves and toward white trash” (32).
Goad’s idea of estrangement of poor whites from their own race is the most significant sort of alienation. Why should they be accepted within the composition classroom, a place where students are taught to communicate for academia, if they are sometimes rejected from their own racial domicile? He continues, “Even within their own race, people seem to need an “other.” It appears impossible for societies to conceive of an “us” without an antagonistic and constantly threatening “them” (32). Within societies, even in a smaller scope like the university setting, the concept of othering and alienation exists.
“Let us listen for those who have been silenced. Let us honour those who have been devalued. Let us say, Enough! with abuse, abandonment, diminishing and hiding. Let us not rest until every person is free and equal. Let us be women who Love.” From Sarah Bessey’s Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible’s View of Women.
When the 1970s wound down to a close, feminist scholarship bloomed anew. Women who had previously felt unheard began making a lot of noise. Gloria Anzaldúa’s works Borderlands: The New Mestiza, “Speaking in Tongues” A Letter to Third World Women Writers” and This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color brought the plight of the displaced Chicana to the forefront.
Speaking to her hermanas, Anzaldúa implemented her viewpoint as both a lower-class Chicana and an academic to issue her battle cry against discrimination of those who “live on the border” (165). Anzaldúa’s works, which include academic essays and poetry, encourage women to write in any way they know how, reminding the reader that she need not be a scholar to put her words to paper and that her voice, uneducated or not, is both important and necessary.
This applies to women today as much as it did then. The voices of women and other marginalized people need to find the freedom that writing affords us. Your voice, your message, is important and deserves to be heard, regardless if I agree or not. We must teach our daughters, our nieces, our mothers how to speak their minds and refuse the silence. This is our calling and one of our our highest privileges of service.
Like Anzaldúa’s Mestiza who lives on the border between the United States and Mexico, I believe those of us who comfortably speak with a Southern accent within the university classroom find ourselves alienated and often judged. By referencing Anzaldúa’s work with the Other, Borderlands can be interpreted as a guide to the Southern working-class woman with an accent might experience when she attempts to return to college to learn academic speak and writing.
Anzaldúa’s work as a whole spoke to me on a personal basis, but specifically her goal to “break down dualities that serve to imprison women” (Anzaldúa 5). Speaking more figuratively than literarily, I felt that I was experiencing a kind of duality while I looked for my identity as both academic and reformed hillbilly. Shifting identity is a common theme within Anzaldúa’s work, and the New Mestiza never feels on solid ground, because she “migrates between knowing herself” and not knowing (7). While I love being a student and writing, a part of me feels as if I am being silenced when I must leave behind my native words, my native voice. Anzaldúa quotes Ray Gwyn Smith: “Who is to say that robbing a people of its language is less violent than war?” While academic work does not technically erase all traces of my dialect, the goal is there to do so.
So speak your voice, tell your story. We, your sisters, wait to hear your message. How will we know you if you do not share?
It’s always helpful when you’re publishing a book to get assistance promoting it…and free help from the local news is always appreciated. Since War Eagle Women was mentioned on USA Today a press release was written and sent out and several East Texas news stations have picked it up.
I know it’s been a while since we met–almost a year to the date. I just wanted to let you know I haven’t forgotten the day I boarded that plane in L.A. and flew in the broken seat that refused to recline for 14 hours. Good times! On the positive side, the flight attendants were very accommodating and gave me first class treatment the whole way. Hello little Bailey’s Irish Cream minis!
The most thing I remember was the sheer terror of sitting in the LAX before leaving my family for 3 weeks while I explored another continent. I’m 41 years old and have never left the country before except for a brief Cancun excursion. This felt different, somehow. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that 7,000 miles away from my family and country is pretty far away.Because social media is considered a detrimental influence, all sites are blocked and the internet itself has to be accessed by ethernet and is iffy at best. I felt so cut off from my family and friends those 21 days.
I learned a lot about you, Shanghai. How many of your people cling to the culture of the old ways, and your young people yearn for all things western. I learned that democracy, whether welcome or unwelcome, is being discussed in your college classrooms as Western literature and thought creeps in along with our music and culture. Since the fresh college graduates represent the face of modern China, I’m interested to see how much their taste of Western influence will take them.
I learned that there’s something about sleeping 7,000 miles away from your husband that forces an untapped independence in you. I learned that being lost in a country with people who don’t speak your language causes you to slow down and use your primal logic. I learned that bonds that would normally take months to form grow at a more rapid pace when you’re in China for 3 weeks. In particular, one friend I met while drinking a cup of coffee at the L.A.X. before boarding the first plane to Shanghai extended unexpected kindness and comforting friendship over the days to come when difficulties arose. A bond so forged is too strong to fade over the course of a year. Rather, it becomes strengthened.
I learned that when East meets West, there’s no right or wrong answer. There’s no right or wrong way to do things. Only differences that, when appreciated, increase my understanding of the world and how it’s run, and the people who comprise it.
It was so nice to meet you Shanghai, and happy anniversary to you.
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I came into the living room to find Mancub sprawled out in front of the TV, taking up the chair, the ottoman, and part of the living room floor with his ginormous 16 wide-sized feet. He was watching…get this…reruns of Roseanne! I could not believe it. As he chuckled at Roseanne’s antics, my heart welled with pride and somehow, I felt, we’d never been closer. Note to the reader: this picture does not accurately reflect Nate’s gigantic size.
As an 80s kid, I watched tons of television.
I watched The Brady Bunch, Family Ties, Magnum P.I., I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, The Flintstones, Gilligan’s Island, Fantasy Island, Dallas, Knight Rider, Little House on the Prairie, Scooby Doo and Batman (the original, not-so-cool Batman with Adam West).
When my grandma babysat me in her tiny retirement community apartment that smelled like cigarette butts and potted plants, she loved to watch The Price is Right, followed by All My Children and General Hospital.
Honestly, I don’t know how she could stand watching T.V. with my 8-year-old self. I would often run around her apartment like a crazed lunatic, pretending Bob Barker had chosen ME out of the crowd to win a new washer and dryer set and a lifetime supply of Rice-A-Roni. She never did tell me to quiet down or stop being nutso. I think her little stash of Kentucky bourbon had something to do with it. By the time As The World Turns was on, she was prettttty relaxed and open to suggestions.
At home, I have to say that my favorite TV family was the Connors of Roseanne, BEFORE they won the lottery. This is such an important distinction. After they won the money and Dan cheated on Roseanne, I couldn’t watch it anymore.
Do you remember Roseanne? If you are over 30 you could not miss her.
She pretty much blew away any kind of preconceptions of motherhood and wifedom with her self-proclaimed title, “Domestic Goddess.” She was loudmouthed, irreverent, but most of all, honest.
My mom and dad both loved the show, and life would freaking STOP when Roseanne was on.
Other than my dad’s short obsession with Star Trek, I can’t think of any other show that held my family captive. Each week, we sat, suspended in time with baited breath, just waiting to see what kind of stunt Roseanne was gonna pull this time.
Was she going to “tell off” her boss at Wellman Plastics? Was Jackie going to take her young hottie boss (a raven-haired 20ish George Clooney) up on the date he asked her on last week? I couldn’t wait to find out.
For thirty minutes every Tuesday, time stood still. Dishes sat in the sink and laundry waited in the dryer. Roseanne was on!
And here, in my living room, the tradition continues. My DNA is in that boy–and here is proof.
Who is your all-time favorite TV family? Prove it by voting here.
I’ll be the first to admit it: when my husband was offered a job in Texas, he drove me here kicking and screaming. I cried for days…and it wasn’t just the fact that I was coming down with strep throat. No, I’m not THAT moody, usually. I just couldn’t fathom why we had to leave my beloved Arkansas. Most of my extended family is there, and it’s always been my home.
But move we did, and we’ve been here for several years now. Though I do still miss Arkansas dearly (after all, it’s in my blood), I’ve come to love Texas, and I’m always trying to get my extended family to move here. There are at least 6 reasons I give them.
1. People are very friendly here (with the exception of morning traffic on Loop 323). It’s true of much of the South, but the displays of kindness I have seen since we moved here never cease to blow my mind. The first day we attended church here, we were invited to a couple’s home for small group. It just seems second nature to many Texans to see a need…and fill it. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why when most people move to Texas, they don’t want to leave.
2. Tyler is about 90 minutes east of Dallas and 90 miles west of Shreveport (which seems to be quite the gambling destination…because the Tylerites rarely speak of Shreveport, but when they do they just call it, “The Boats”). A day trip with bedtime in your own house is always a possibility, and the drive to Austin isn’t bad either. Because we’re so close to Dallas, we’ve attended some pretty cool concerts (like Lady Gaga).
3. The winters (except for the weirdness that happened this season) are usually very mild. Rarely do windows need defrosting, and usually hoodies are adequate.This is perfect weather for me–I don’t need the extra fluff heavy coats deliver.
4. We have the best Tex-Mex anywhere, hands down. I have yet to find a Mexican restaurant that rivals our restaurants here in town, and you always get all the fresh tortillas, chips and salsa, and mouth-watering sopapillias at your table for free with your meal. Geez, I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. Note to self: this could quite be one of the reasons I have so much fluff. Anyway, when my Arkansas peeps come into town, they always want to get a bite, and I always use the excuse to get one myself.
5. There are 3 hospitals in town and numerous clinics…so if you are a nurse or medical professional there’s always tons of work opportunities. The reason we moved here to begin with was because Lee graduated from the UofA with a BS in Chemical Engineering.
So, there you go.
If you decide to come visit, let me know! I’m always in the mood for some cheese enchiladas. Seriously.
My family and I were watching Jim Gaffigan last night. He is really hysterical. Seriously, if you haven’t heard of him I BEG YOU to look him up on Netflix or YouTube. You won’t be sorry.
One of his funniest bits is when he dissects Southern culture. He explains with great amazement the unashamed Southern diet. (Hey, at least we’re honest about it). He says that the reason why Southerners move so slow is, “I’ve figured it out. It’s the biscuits and gravy. Everyone in the South moves around like they’ve just had two helpings.”
At least he’s not mean; it’s all in good fun. And you have to give the guy props for his self-depreciating humor (especially about his own flourescent whiteness).
As you know, I’m from Arkansas, and though I love living in Texas, I left some of my favorite people back there. All this talk about the South reminds me a LOT about the endless Arkansas jokes I’ve endured over the years. People think they are SO funny. Yeah, you’re hilarious and no I haven’t really heard that joke six million times.
At least Jim doesn’t try to talk about places he’s never visited. That is the epitome of ignorance in my book.
Sure, there is a lot of beautiful country in Arkansas. But there’s more to it than meets the eye. CNN listed Rogers, Arkansas as the number 10 “Best Places to Live in 2010”. Here’s an excerpt from their article:
“If you’re inclined to dismiss a small city in Arkansas as a backwater, you’re making a big mistake. Rogers is right next door to Bentonville, where Wal-Mart is headquartered.”
NW Arkansas also hosts the following big-money businesses: J.B. Hunt, Tyson Foods, Coca-Cola, Proctor & Gamble, Motorola, Nestle, General Mills, Dell, PepsiCo, either as a primary business or a vendor of Wal-Mart. That’s some big money.
Also, the University of Arkansas trains some of the best engineers, nurses, and writers in the world. I know a few of them. There is also talk of Fayetteville bidding to host the Olympics:
Here are some of the stupid (real life) questions I’ve been asked about my life in Arkansas.
1. Q. Did you marry your cousin?
A. No, I don’t really check out my immediate family for dating material. That’s Victorian England you’re thinking of.
2. Q. Did you have indoor plumbing growing up?
A. Yes, and thanks for your concern. I was wondering if you currently have indoor plumbing because your body odor begs to differ.
3. Q. Is there anything to do in Arkansas? I mean, besides checking out your cousins? I mean, isn’t it pretty backwoods?
A. Actually, Northwest Arkansas is quite a lot more metropolitan than most people realize. Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, and Fayetteville have pretty much grown together and support a population somewhere close to half a million people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
4. Q. Ever see “Deliverance?” Wasn’t that filmed in Arkansas?
A. Yes, I have seen it. Wasn’t that much to write home about, so I didn’t. Did you get your facts from the internets?
5. Q. Did you live in a trailer?
A. No, but I don’t judge people who do, and I’ve lived in some real craphole apartments. I think you were my neighbor once.
This isn’t really a question so I won’t label it as such. My favorite line from Jim: “The South won’t rise again because they don’t have the energy.”
This is where I beg to differ. If Arkansas is any indication of the laziness of the South, everybody better get ready. In my view, it’s really the Sleeping Giant of the nation. Don’t mistake the slow talking for slow thinking or Southern hospitality for ignorance.After we have some more biscuits and gravy, we’re really gonna kick your butts.
Now, have a glass of sweet tea. Y’all want lemon with that?
If you haven’t visited Arkansas, I highly recommend it. Here’s some links to get you started.
Tina Bausinger 
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