07
Nov
2025
Hookworm infections caused cognitive impairment that led to stereotypes of Southerners being slow and stupid.
So for a long time, a giant percentage of people that lived in the South had hookworm. And hookworm is a parasite that you get in your feet from walking around barefoot. Okay. And hookworm affects your cognitive function in a massive way. It makes you slow and stupid. And so this myth of the southern person being slow and lazy and stupid was all because they were infected with hookworm.