In response to a recent wave of what they perceive as Southern-bashing, Southerners of all stripes are coming together from all corners of the old Confederacy to resist those who would mock them. What started out as a well-meaning--but vastly misinterpreted--comment from a presidential candidate was exacerbated by a spate of news articles, songs, stand-up jokes and films. Additionally, they say they are not going to take it any more.

"Everyone in the rest of America thinks they can just dump on us with

Travel Advisory: The highlighted section of States once referred to as "The Deep South" now prefer to be called "The Angry South"

impunity," says Jackson, Mississippi Resident Louis Maple. "But we will demonstrate that this simply is not the case." Maple is part of SmartSouth, a grass roots effort over the internet to "erode support for harmful stereotypes that distort the common perceptions of our region at-large."

Yes, it seems that the last sacred cow of Americana (or should we say Confedercana?) is now fair game: everywhere you turn, people are setting aside their usual targets of hate and/or derision (Blacks, Jews, Muslims, Latinos, Asians, Poles, Armenians, Koreans, Catholics, Hindis, un-reconstructed Soviets) and taking easy pot shots at Southern Folk. Universally stereotyped as slow-witted, short-sighted, less-than-educated and prone to immoral behavior, the recent attacks on this separate and distinct class of people with a unique history and destiny has earned many in the so-called "media" a whole mess of trouble.

What's different this time, though, is that rather than take the remarks in stride with some small sense of good humor, Southerners from all over the nation are vowing not to take it lying down. Lately, Southerners were content to merely fire off a well-reasoned evenly tempered e-mail or weblog entry disabusing their detractors of their preconceived notions of southern people and culture. But apparently that's just not enough, so Southerners are taking the fight to the big time.

A list has been released of people and institutions that Southerners feel are actively slandering their persons and lifestyle. Not many in the entertainment and media industries are safe, either. The list takes aim not only at writers, but also at many key figures and institutions that "keep the Southern Man down."

A sampling includes:

Jeff Foxworthy
Although he recently renamed his "Redneck Ruckus Comedy Tour" to a more palatable "Blue Collar Comedy Tour," Southerners still abhor his incessant stereotyping of Southerners for personal profit.

"Hee Haw" and "Dukes of Hazzard" Re-runs
"These shows are singled out for their portrayal of rural Southerners as toothless hoot'n'holler moonshine runners. That simply is not the case," claims Robert Murphy of Asheville, NC. Murphy leads a local radio call-in show. "We encourage people of all persuasions to eschew the negative aspects of Southern history and embrace the best."

All Cartoons on Fox
Many episodes of "The Simpsons", "The Family Guy", "Futurama" and "King of the Hill" make extensive use of Southern slurs. An overwhelming write-in campaign was successful in forcing Fox's cancellation of "The Family Guy" and "Futurama." Activists promise the same for the remaining shows.

Hollywood Films
Negative Hollywood films are a constant source of "rampant Southern denigration," says Jim Wilkes, of the Southern Heritage Center, "And we intend to bring this practice to cessation." Films Wilkes cites include Deliverance, Smokey and the Bandit, Missippi Burning, Ode to Billy Joe, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Gods and Generals, and Joe Dirt.

Books by Pat Conroy
"Just try and name one of Conroy's works that does not involve sodomy, racial intolerance, abusive parents, or basketball, " says University of Georgia Literature professor Michael Kines. "Pat Conroy has done more to advance negative Southern Stereotypes than a Jeff Foxworthy or any satire news page could hope to achieve in ten lifetimes. And all for his own personal profit."

The Republican Party
True Southerners despise the way Republican candidates constantly use the Confederate battle flag as a ploy to garner votes in close races. "We're nobody's fools, and we just might decide to vote Democrat en masse if these people keep using us as political pawns," warns Jim Wilkes, "It also does not help that our Republican-dominated states constantly slash funding for education and essential social services, thus perpetuating a cycle of under-education and deprivation that produces citizens ill-equipped to navigate the new economy."