There was a story on the news the other night that nearly brought a tear to my eye.

According to researchers at the University of Texas, the Southern accent may one day go the way of the dodo bird, the corded phone and the nickel Coke. That is to say, the wonderful drawl that punctuates the speech of many of the people I admire most in this world may become extinct.

There apparently are two primary reasons why this is happening. First, the researchers say, a large number of Yankees are moving to the South. Of course, you can’t call them Yankees anymore. That is politically incorrect. You have to call them Northern Americans.

The second reason is that apparently some Southerners are actually taking classes that help them get rid of their Southern accents, the thinking being that their drawl is holding them back in their chosen profession.

I completely believe the first reason. You almost never hear a Southern accent in the city of Atlanta anymore. That’s because you almost never meet anyone in the city of Atlanta who is from the South.

They are all from Buffalo and they moved here because, in Buffalo, there is 6 feet of snow on the ground for several months each year. We don’t have that much snow in the South, and I give them credit for wanting to escape that.

But go to my hometown of Blakely, in rural Southwest Georgia, and you’ll find the Southern accent is alive and kicking.

I love the Southern accent. Yes, we say “y’all,” but only in the plural sense, unlike the way Northern Americans use it to mock us. We say “reckon” a lot, too.

We also say “fixin’,” not as in “repairing something” but as in “about to do something.” “I’m fixin’ to go to the Piggly Wiggly. Reckon y’all need anything?”

Southerners, through our twist on the English language, are able to express things better than folks who don’t have Southern accents.

The word “ain’t” is a good example of that. I’m sure my favorite high school English teacher, Mrs. Hall, cringes every time I use the word “ain’t.” She didn’t like that word.

But sometimes, “ain’t” just express the sentiment better than any other word.

For instance, I don’t like mushrooms. I really, really don’t like mushrooms. If you offered me some mushrooms, I could say “I’m sorry. I don’t believe I shall partake in any of those mushrooms today.”

But that wouldn’t convey how much I really, really don’t like mushrooms. What would convey the sentiment is saying, “I ain’t eating them things.”

The only real problem I have with accents is when some actor or actress who isn’t from the South attempts a Southern accent. Most of them just can’t pull it off.

I always thought J.R. Ewing had a great accent. “Now, Sue Ellen, you ladyfolks just run along now so us menfolk can talk bidness.”

On the other hand, Dan Ackroyd had perhaps the worst ever Southern accent in “Driving Miss Daisy.” If Dan Ackroyd sounded Southern, I sound like a New Jersey trucker.

I understand that some Southerners might wish to get rid of their accents because they are teased endlessly about the way they talk. A friend of mine from Boston constantly teases me about the way I say the word “hill.” To her, it always comes out sounding like “heel.”

But she’s one to talk. “Let me pok my cah in the back yahd.”

OK, whatever.

My point is what’s wrong with a little diversity in life. Is it really so bad that we say things a little differently?

Northern Americans say “mudder and fadder.” Southerners say “mahma and deadie.” So what?

Why do we so strive to talk alike, look alike, dress alike and think alike? Wouldn’t that make this wonderful country a bit boring? Long live the Southern accent. You Northern Americans should just learn to love it.

Y’all reckon I’ve made my point?

Mitch Clarke is executive editor of The Times. His column appears Sundays. Read previous columns at gainesvilletimes.com/mitch.