I wanna coin the term Mississippi self-awareness. I've grown up in rural Mississippi, and I credit it for my extremely left leaning political stances. Im surrounded by the awfulness of conservative mindsets. I hear coworkers complaining about fast food workers making too much money, with the knowledge that Mississippi has the highest rate of poverty in the country, and Im seeing why firsthand. The awful state of health, and the constantly espoused home remedies and junk medical advice that their diabetic mama swore by. So much talk about kids not getting hit enough nowadays. The gun worship, the truck worship, the Jesus worship despite not practicing a word of his teachings, yet no one here seems to be aware of the results of all these awful ideas.
No idea personally, but I spent my youth living in Alabama and there's a common saying they had about Mississippi: thank god for Mississippi. If it weren't for them, alabama would've been the most obese state and the least literate for a few years, though I think they've traded places again now.
Since the U.S. state of Mississippi commonly ranks at or near the bottom of such rankings, residents of other states also ranking near the bottom may say, "Thank God for Mississippi", since the presence of that state in 50th place spares them the shame of being ranked last.[2]
Examples include rankings of educational achievement, business opportunities,[3] obesity rates,[4] overall health,[5] the poverty rate,[6] life expectancy, or other[7][8] criteria of the quality of life or government in the 50 states.[9]