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I don't see how he calls Iowa a blue state while calling Pennsylvania a purple state. Iowa went for George. W Bush in 2004. They can argue that the margin was razor slim, but to call it a "blue" state and Pennsylvania a "purple" state when a Republican has not won the latter since 1988 if off base. Not only that, but Iowa has a Republican Evangelical base that tends to vote for religious maniacs like Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee and Pat Robertson in caucuses.
When it comes to Blacks, though, Chicago Blacks have that Deep South culture and the Philly Blacks have had experienced less segregation so their culture has become intertwined with White Philly culture, especially that of Italians (heck you can argue that some Italians in Philly actually picked up Black culture without a doubt)
You can argue that nearly everyone has "picked up Black culture without a doubt." It's 2016 and we have Taylor Swift making commercials to Drake's "Jumpman." And we've got Beebs hanging out with the Money Team and West Coast rappers like G-Eazy rising to prominence. So yeah, most of us have picked up Black culture. This is nothing new.
But Black culture doesn't equal Southern culture. It seems that some non-Blacks believe the two are one in the same. But Black Southerners (and Black Americans in general) don't see it that way.
I live in Philadelphia and am a frequent visitor to Chicago, with my parents and lots of relatives having grown up in and around Chicagoland. Philadelphia, absolutely, is more Southern in culture, lifestyle and speaking.
Much of this is Philly's location: it's 25 miles north of the Mason-Dixon Line which is the Delaware state line, in Philly's case -- and btw, Wilmington, DE's largest city, is within Philly's metropolitan area and connected by SEPTA commuter rail (and that rail line extends SE further into DE, Newark, to be exact). In other words, a state that's considered a border/Southern state is literally in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
If you really get to know Philly, there's a very genteel, Old South mentality here. Have you heard how Philadelphians speak? It's called a diphthong where people slur vowels together. The pace of Philadelphia is also slow and country-like. It you go into many of the neighborhoods behind/next to a group of row houses, you see picket fences and, in some cases, farm animals and crops. Did you know Philadelphia actually has a working private farm within its borders (in NE Philly). It also has Saul, the nation's only agricultural high school (in the Roxborough neighborhood).
Philly is a great city and 5th largest in the nation at 1.5 million people, but one of its greatest gifts is being 90 miles SE of New York, one of the great cities of the world. I often ride the train up to New York for the day and return to Philly at night. The differences in these 2 cities is stark; you feel the much slower country-like pace as soon as you get off the train back in Philly.
I grew up and still visit/live part-time in Cleveland. Chicago is like Cleveland's big brother city imho, and both are very "Yankee," if you know what I mean -- speech, attitude, etc.
I live in Philadelphia and am a frequent visitor to Chicago, with my parents and lots of relatives having grown up in and around Chicagoland. Philadelphia, absolutely, is more Southern in culture, lifestyle and speaking.
Much of this is Philly's location: it's 25 miles north of the Mason-Dixon Line which is the Delaware state line, in Philly's case -- and btw, Wilmington, DE's largest city, is within Philly's metropolitan area and connected by SEPTA commuter rail (and that rail line extends SE further into DE, Newark, to be exact). In other words, a state that's considered a border/Southern state is literally in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
If you really get to know Philly, there's a very genteel, Old South mentality here. Have you heard how Philadelphians speak? It's called a diphthong where people slur vowels together. The pace of Philadelphia is also slow and country-like. It you go into many of the neighborhoods behind/next to a group of row houses, you see picket fences and, in some cases, farm animals and crops. Did you know Philadelphia actually has a working private farm within its borders (in NE Philly). It also has Saul, the nation's only agricultural high school (in the Roxborough neighborhood).
Philly is a great city and 5th largest in the nation at 1.5 million people, but one of its greatest gifts is being 90 miles SE of New York, one of the great cities of the world. I often ride the train up to New York for the day and return to Philly at night. The differences in these 2 cities is stark; you feel the much slower country-like pace as soon as you get off the train back in Philly.
I grew up and still visit/live part-time in Cleveland. Chicago is like Cleveland's big brother city imho, and both are very "Yankee," if you know what I mean -- speech, attitude, etc.
I remember reading a book that said that Philadelphia had characterics of the North and the South. I wondered what they many, but chalked it up to elements that had faded in the century since it was written. I wonder if a few of these things were what they were talking about.
If someone didn't say this already, the white Philly accent is more southern then Chicago's, while the black Chicago accent is more southern then Philly's.
I grew up and still visit/live part-time in Cleveland. Chicago is like Cleveland's big brother city imho, and both are very "Yankee," if you know what I mean -- speech, attitude, etc.
I find it odd that there's constant griping/moaning about alleged Northeastern/East Coast superiority, but yet constant comparisons to the East Coast abound on C-D. I have seen plenty of threads with people arguing that Cleveland is a Northeastern city, that Chicago has an "Eastern" vibe, etc., but I can't ever remember any threads where people go out of their way to compare Philly to, say, Detroit. How many times, for example, have we seen U146 go out of his way to tell us that St. Louis and Philadelphia are similar "culturally, linguistically and demographically"? There's currently an open thread comparing St. Louis and Philadelphia (*not* started by a Philly poster).
You can argue whatever you want but I hope you *do* see the implicit Northeastern jock riding in this post ("We have influences from New England!"). On C-D, I suppose it's better to be connected to New England than, you know, an actual place in the Midwest that many of you Midwestern posters typically write off as boring.
If someone didn't say this already, the white Philly accent is more southern then Chicago's, while the black Chicago accent is more southern then Philly's.
I think the difference is that nobody would really peg Chris Matthews or Jim Cramer as being from the South. You might hear Bernie Mac or Steve Harvey (I realize he's from Cleveland) and conclude that they grew up in the Deep South.
And for better or worse (better if you ask me), a lot of Chicago's external perception is shaped by the influence of the Mississippi Delta. When people think of Chicago, they may think of deep dish pizza, but they also think of a more blues-y, "down home" vibe as Mutiny77 put it, and I don't think that can easily written off as just a "Black" thing. I see that as being an integral part of the city's heritage and culture.
I'd say in Philly and Chicago, Southern identity is foreign to most Whites. You don't see Polish guys in Chicago saying y'all just like you don't see Jewish guys in Philly saying "over yonder".
I don't know any Black people born after 1930 who say "over yonder." And I know plenty of Jewish people who say y'all. There's this idea on C-D that "y'all" is not used in NYC but that's simply not true. Of course, nobody is going to use "y'all" as at a formal presentation, but it's not at all uncommon to hear born and raised New Yorkers say it.
I think one big difference between Chicago and Philly is that there was more cultural exchange/influence between Blacks and Whites. At least certain White ethnic groups anyway. Many of the dances that became famous on American bandstand (the Pony, the Twist, the Watusi) began in Black neighborhoods in South Philadelphia. Since Italian kids lived in close proximity to Black kids, they knew the dances, and exported those dances to places via Bandstand.
On the flipside, Blacks moved into or near neighborhoods that were Italian strongholds in the 50s, 60s and 70s. That's my guess as to why the word "Yo" became popular in Black communities in Northeastern cities. It also explains why water ice is by far the most popular summer treat in African American neighborhoods.
I find it odd that there's constant griping/moaning about alleged Northeastern/East Coast superiority, but yet constant comparisons to the East Coast abound on C-D. I have seen plenty of threads with people arguing that Cleveland is a Northeastern city, that Chicago has an "Eastern" vibe, etc., but I can't ever remember any threads where people go out of their way to compare Philly to, say, Detroit. How many times, for example, have we seen U146 go out of his way to tell us that St. Louis and Philadelphia are similar "culturally, linguistically and demographically"? There's currently an open thread comparing St. Louis and Philadelphia (*not* started by a Philly poster).
You can argue whatever you want but I hope you *do* see the implicit Northeastern jock riding in this post ("We have influences from New England!"). On C-D, I suppose it's better to be connected to New England than, you know, an actual place in the Midwest that many of you Midwestern posters typically write off as boring.
Yeah, I noticed that too. It was funny how a few St. Louis posters discussed how similar their city was to Philly and B-More but U149 didn’t pop up to “shatter” the points of comparisons (means he’s in agreement). It was funny how states that border one another has next to nothing in common with each other but a state that’s 4 states away can share kinship with Philly and B-More. He seems flattered when his city gets compared with East Coast cities but gets offended when a city in a coastal state gets compared with East Coast cities.
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