31 January 2024
Culture Clash:
Jasper's Demographic Junction
Jasper, Georgia, “The First Mountain City” in Pickens County, at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, has all the elements of picturesque, mountain scenery, Southern charm, and a slowly emerging mountain mecca! The attraction to this little town is no mystery as it is uniquely poised as a transition point between the encroaching Atlanta Metropolitan Area, and the still sleepy, but slowly awakening North Georgia Mountains.
Jasper is a beautiful little town on the frontlines of the North Georgia Mountains. Rich in history and conflict, North Georgia still bears the beauty and scars of early American settlement, beginning in the 1600’s (aside from the heritage of the true Natives of the North Georgia region that deserve our recognition). Many of the families here will tell you that their people have always been here and this is their town. Jasper is all they know. Or maybe they’re from one of the nearby areas that share Jasper’s mountain-life ways, mixed with traditional southern culture. However they identify, there’s no question that many people that are “from here” are proud of their town and culture, and they would prefer things remain the way they always were. Which makes the recent explosion in growth a catch-22 for those moving here. People are drawn here because of it’s beauty and history, and all of the things that make this home for those who are “from here”, but the growth threatens to alter the very elements that attract out-of-towners in the first place.
The population in Jasper, and Pickens County as a whole, has skyrocketed in the past 5 years, bringing with it some serious growing pains and culture shock. While most locals enjoy many of the conveniences of their growing town, there are still a number of people that feel their community is becoming unrecognizable. This changing dynamic brings with it a clash of ideas and lifestyles, but more uncomfortably are the misunderstandings in communication and cultural “couth”.
Cultural etiquette varies between countries, regions, states, and even families. With all of the above being present in Jasper, there’s a lot of room for offense and misunderstanding. The truth is, there are easy going people and there are jerks everywhere. Having to deal with rude individuals is not unique to the North, South, East, West, America or abroad. People are simply comfortable with the jerks they understand! But, when we choose to live amongst a diverse group of people, or bring our diversity with us, we’ve got to offer some social graces to one another or we’ll end up in a miserable place. We live in a time of keyboard warriors, where the passive aggressive and introverted are able to say what they would never be able to say in person, and the extroverts and Type A’s are unbridled behind the screen. With no cultural understanding, personal relationship, or benefit of the doubt, social media gives way to a “scorched earth policy” approach to perceived offenses.
As Jasper has grown so dramatically and quickly, there has been little time for people to meet their neighbors, let alone build solid, meaningful relationships with one another. The ability to understand where people are coming from is masked by caution and misconception. Not to mention the filter by which we read text through, inserting tone and emphasis, and sometimes our own mood! We really don’t give each other a fair opportunity to convey one’s true intentions. We begin to assume that most people have ill-will or ill-intent toward everyone else, and this negativity becomes a permanent lens through which we see those around us. I’m not suggesting that we proceed without caution. That’s just general wisdom. But we might at least engage with an open mind, while assuming that we don’t have the whole picture of someone’s life and character from a few words or responses in a text comment. Realistically, there are definitely those who are genuinely rude and antagonizing, but it’s not the majority of people in our community. We tend to let a few loud people disrupt the environment. We also let someone else’s encounter with a person skew our impression of them, whether we’ve had a personal experience or not.
It’s nothing new for people to disagree on the way things should be done, or what the future holds. What is new is our ability to voice our opinions, and see other people’s opinions all day, every day, constantly, about everything. A continual flow of disagreements and opinions is overloading our humanity. While we won’t all agree on whether a new Pulix is a great thing for Jasper, we’re all likely to be customers at one time or another. We may not like the growth happening all around us, but the community has little say about the outcome. Our options are to take our complaints to the people who actually have an effect on the outcomes, or continue to complain and argue with people who can’t make a difference either way. We can get to know one another, or we can avoid each other and assume that everyone else is a terrible person.
In an effort to diffuse some of the tension we’ve been facing, it’s not too much to ask that newcomers get to know the history and culture of their new Jasper home. To show some interest in the families here with deep roots, that know the heart and soul of what has made this town so amazing. As locals are extended some respect for their history and Jasper heritage, they might reciprocate a little interest in what may have brought some of us transplants here, or where we came from. It may sound idealistic to think that we can learn to understand one another and grow together, but Jasper is going to change for all of us, whether we like it or not. What’s done is done, and here we all are! What are we going to do now? If we’re wise, we’ll look at the world around us and decide to be a community of Americans that can fight with and for each other’s survival. Life is hard, and getting harder every day. We have some choices to make as a community, but it starts on an individual basis. Let’s do better!