What's a Southern gentleman and where did they go?

Image by Flickr user sherber711 Image by 20091129-south.jpg

Thomas B. Horton has penned a piece for The Moultrie News that explorers the question of just what is a Southern gentleman, and what's happened to them?

The thousand-word piece walks you through the lore of the legendary breed of man and the strikes out to establish the historic origin of the concept.

A taste:

Observers have never mistaken the southern gentleman for a candidate for sainthood, however. Since the gentleman, by nature of having early-on set high expectations for himself, is often among the decision-makers - he is blamed when decisions weigh more heavily upon one faction than another.  

To the charge of favoritism, he can only plead that he has done his best to bring fairness where injustice had been the norm.  

It's a bit long winded for my tastes -- but I suppose that rules me out as candidate for a true Southern gentleman. But if history, lore, and the South are your sort of thing, it's well worth a read.

Read it over here.