Why is Indiana considered " backwards " ? (Indianapolis, Gary: new home, wedding)

[Highpointer]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

True.
However, the median household income would be higher given the extremely low cost of living if a greater percentage of the population had a college degree. "The more you learn the more you earn" principle generally applies. However, I do know many who are suffering underemployment due to this continuing recession that is not over- even though the official parameters say it is...

You write, "The more you learn the more you earn" principle generally applies. However, there are some people who have earned higher levels of education, but are not earning much money. In contrast, there are many people who have become very successful without earning higher education credentials. What accounts for that?

[601halfdozen0theother]

I'm a Hoosier born and bred (though I haven't lived there for many many decades.)

So, here's my theory on the topic of Indiana being perceived as "backwards". Bear with me!

According to the Dictionary of American Regionalism the word "Hoosier" has, since the 1830s at least, been used as a derogatory word for someone from the country, or a "hick". I first began to understand this when reading Charlie Siringo's 1885 book A Texas Cowboy, which is about his experiences growing up in Texas and becoming a cowboy, moving with the herds 1850s-1880s. In this book he frequently uses the word "hoosier" to refer to a hick or a kind of dumb poor person from the country. He didn't use the word in any way to refer to someone from Indiana, just someone who was kind of a poor backward person from the country.

Most scholarly sources say that there is no clearly understood derivation of the word "Hoosier", but I have a theory based on my work with primary sources in my genealogical work:

I think it comes from the Dutch word for "farm renter" or "crofter", eg, a person who is not a land owner but who farms someone else's land in the country. The Dutch word is "huurder", pronounced kind of like "hoether". And who knows how it was pronounced in the 18th century when the word was first used in America by Dutch settlers in New York? So, my theory is that these Dutch settlers brought over a tradition of calling poor people who don't own their own homes "huurders", and that evolved into using the word to refer to any poor people living on a farm as "hurrders", and that evolved into the spelling "hoosier".

It's kind of natural that an area that was on the western edge of American settlement in the early years of the 19th century would be called by snooty New Yorkers (with a Dutch heritage) a place full of "hicks" or "hoosiers". Eventually, people in Indiana kind of adopted the negative word being used about people in their region, and made it a positive thing.

Anyway, bringing this back to the thread subject, the state has referred to itself as the Hoosier State for more than 150 years. So Indiana essentially calls itself the "hick" or poor and uneducated and backward state, based on the history of the word.

The power of words. If you're going to call yourself backwards for 150+ years, people will start believing it.

[Highpointer]

Originally Posted by 601halfdozen0theother

It's kind of natural that an area that was on the western edge of American settlement in the early years of the 19th century would be called by snooty New Yorkers (with a Dutch heritage) a place full of "hicks" or "hoosiers". Eventually, people in Indiana kind of adopted the negative word being used about people in their region, and made it a positive thing.

Anyway, bringing this back to the thread subject, the state has referred to itself as the Hoosier State for more than 150 years. So Indiana essentially calls itself the "hick" or poor and uneducated and backward state, based on the history of the word.

The power of words. If you're going to call yourself backwards for 150+ years, people will start believing it.

The people of Indiana therefore need to eliminate the word "hoosier" from their vocabulary and adopt a more positive nickname for its state and people. Indiana is a scenic state, although it lacks a natural feature as spectacular as the Grand Canyon (Arizona's nickname) or a mountain as big as Mount Rainier (featured on Washington license plates), and while the state has produced many Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
, it doesn't have a person with the stature of Lincoln, who is incorporated into the nickname of Indiana's neighbor, Illinois (although Lincoln did live for a while in Indiana during his youth).

Indiana's most famous annual event is the Indianapolis 500. According to Wikipedia, "Constructed in 1909, it is the second purpose-built, banked oval racing circuit after Brooklands (a track in England no longer used for racing) and the first to be called a 'speedway'. It has a permanent seating capacity of 257,325 with infield seating raising the grand total capacity to an approximate 400,000. It is the highest-capacity sports venue in the world."

Thus, perhaps Indiana should be called "America's Brickyard" or some other nickname that reflects Indiana's racing heritage.

[IndyDancer]

Originally Posted by Highpointer

Thus, perhaps Indiana should be called "America's Brickyard" or some other nickname that reflects Indiana's racing heritage.

I thought Indiana had already christened itself the "Crossroads of America". Is that nickname not catching on?

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by IndyDancer

I thought Indiana had already christened itself the "Crossroads of America". Is that nickname not catching on?

I don't hear the term used often by locals. Personally, I think it is kind of dumb. "Welcome to Indiana, that area of land between you and where you're actually going."

[Serious Conversation]

The "crossroads" thing probably comes from how Indianapolis is a great shipping and logistics location. It's easy for traffic from the south to go north, and vice versa. Traffic from the east can go west very easily.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Indiana has never been one of the "worst" states in any category. Nearly every category, Indiana ranks middle of the pack, usually comes in 24th place to 33rd place. About average. If Indiana was a student, it would have about a "C" average and everybody would be proud.

If Indiana was a celebrity, it would be Rodney Dangerfield. It gets no respect.

Mod cut.

I always thought Indiana was known as the Crossroads of America because so many interstates go thru Indiana and junction with another interstate. I don't know about today, but, I do believe there was a time when Indianapolis had more interstates than any other city in the country.

[MyOpicVoid]

Originally Posted by 601halfdozen0theother

I'm a Hoosier born and bred (though I haven't lived there for many many decades.)

So, here's my theory on the topic of Indiana being perceived as "backwards". Bear with me!

According to the Dictionary of American Regionalism the word "Hoosier" has, since the 1830s at least, been used as a derogatory word for someone from the country, or a "hick". I first began to understand this when reading Charlie Siringo's 1885 book A Texas Cowboy, which is about his experiences growing up in Texas and becoming a cowboy, moving with the herds 1850s-1880s. In this book he frequently uses the word "hoosier" to refer to a hick or a kind of dumb poor person from the country. He didn't use the word in any way to refer to someone from Indiana, just someone who was kind of a poor backward person from the country.

Most scholarly sources say that there is no clearly understood derivation of the word "Hoosier", but I have a theory based on my work with primary sources in my genealogical work:

I think it comes from the Dutch word for "farm renter" or "crofter", eg, a person who is not a land owner but who farms someone else's land in the country. The Dutch word is "huurder", pronounced kind of like "hoether". And who knows how it was pronounced in the 18th century when the word was first used in America by Dutch settlers in New York? So, my theory is that these Dutch settlers brought over a tradition of calling poor people who don't own their own homes "huurders", and that evolved into using the word to refer to any poor people living on a farm as "hurrders", and that evolved into the spelling "hoosier".

It's kind of natural that an area that was on the western edge of American settlement in the early years of the 19th century would be called by snooty New Yorkers (with a Dutch heritage) a place full of "hicks" or "hoosiers". Eventually, people in Indiana kind of adopted the negative word being used about people in their region, and made it a positive thing.

Anyway, bringing this back to the thread subject, the state has referred to itself as the Hoosier State for more than 150 years. So Indiana essentially calls itself the "hick" or poor and uneducated and backward state, based on the history of the word.

The power of words. If you're going to call yourself backwards for 150+ years, people will start believing it.

Nice old thread. Born and raised in Fort Wayne. Left in 1993. Couldn't wait any longer.

Now what I understood Hoosier to be was due to families that lived close to the Wabash river - whenever somebody was traversing the river the locals would yell "Hoosthar" - river travelers called them Hoosiers.

[noahp45]

Originally Posted by SacalaitWhisperer

There are idiots in every state.

This




Go look at Simi valley California, there are a lot of KKK people there.

[dodeca]

Hoosier born, raised, schooled:

Indiana is a rural state compared to its neighbors (IL, MI, OH); KY is thus the butt of many IN jokes;

Indiana has no historical top 10 cities (Chi, Det, Cle, StL)

Indiana's has one large city (Ind), and many small cities (different compared to surrounding states)

Indiana is historically Republican and conservative compared to surroundings states, and not progressive or liberal

Examples of Indiana's racism are well known -- KKK in the 1920s, one of the last lynchings in Marion in 1930, George Wallace's popular campaign in Indiana in 1968 and 1972; Unigov as a way to strip African-Americans of voting power (1970), radical state underinvestment in Gary, current education laws favoring charters, RFRA...there are plenty of contemporary examples of Indiana's conservatism/traditionalism/racism to sustain that POV;

Lots of media portraying Indiana as a backwoods, small town, naive, simple repositor; Many popular writers and musicians hearken to small town values (Paul Dresser, Tarkington, Mellencamp, Sandy Patty), lots of nostalgia for the past, and many who do leave and become successful use Indiana as a foil for cosmopolitan values