Is Tampa the South to you? (pine, cities, demographics)
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Tampa, Miami, Orlando, and Jacksonville are all Southern. What people fail to realize, is the Southerners in these areas, aren't any more rooted in those cities than Northern transplants are. Anyone who knows the history of Florida, knows many of the Southerners in those cities are transplants. Many of the Blacks in Miami, Orlando, Tampa, have roots in Georgia, SC, NC
etc. Many Southern Whites didn't start moving to Florida til' long after the Civil War. Southern Whites started moving to Florida around the same time Northerners were being led to Florida via Henry Flagler's railroad. Julia Tuttle(A Cleveland native) founded Miami. Florida South of the panhandle has very minimal antebellum history, outside of it's Spanish history. Before the Civil War, there was no "there" down there. Post WWII saw another influx of Northerners and Southerners. Tampa was a port city for Cuban migrants, and had many Italian immigrants(similar to New Orleans). Tampa since the beginning, was a very Spanish/Italian influenced city. The VERY 1st Blacks to arrive in Miami, weren't even American-Black slaves, they were Black Bahamians. Since the cities beginning, Miami had been attracting Black West Indians, and Northerners. Tampa, Orlando, and Miami's histories are unlike any other cities in the South.
What people cannot seem to get a grasp on is that Miami and Tampa/Jacksonville are are polar opposites. People don't understand the term southern, they assume just because it is located in the south geographically that it's southern. Miami is not southern culturally if anything Miami is closer to New York culturally then it is to Alabama or Georgia. Wheras Tampa or Jacksonville you can feel the southern roots, the culture is southern (slower/conservative/traditional) in Miami the culture is foreign it feels like you are in latin America with a twist of East Coast (fast paced/cosmopolitan/foreign). Miami and Orlando are international meccas and although located in the south geographically they couldn't be any further from the southern culture. Tampa and Jacksonville both have southern culture maybe not on the scale of Georgia or Alabama but it's still their none the less and is much slower and laid back conservative then Miami/Orlando. Just like how San Diego is to Los Angeles , that's how Tampa is to Miami.
In reality, living in Tampa is like living in the South, but without the friendliness, politeness and hospitality because you still have to deal with high crime, under-performing schools, reckless drivers, conservative rhetoric, high humidity, a low-wage economy and all the associated drug and social issues (i.e., poverty, apathy, hopelessness, underemployment, transience, etc.), and so forth.
LOL - Another thing to consider about Tampa, it's not your stereotypical Southern Bible-Belt City filled with Baptist Churches on every street corner like Birmingham, Charlotte, Nashville or Dallas. Of the top US metro areas, Tampa placed 59th in its percentage of sunday bible worshipers, which was below Portland OR, Austin, and even West Palm Beach.
In Tampa Bay, only 34.7 percent of residents identified as regular churchgoers. To put that into perspective, Cleveland was at 35.7%. Cafeteria Catholics from the upper midwest and NE still outnumber followers of every other religion in the TB area.
What people cannot seem to get a grasp on is that Miami and Tampa/Jacksonville are are polar opposites. People don't understand the term southern, they assume just because it is located in the south geographically that it's southern. Miami is not southern culturally if anything Miami is closer to New York culturally then it is to Alabama or Georgia. Wheras Tampa or Jacksonville you can feel the southern roots, the culture is southern (slower/conservative/traditional) in Miami the culture is foreign it feels like you are in latin America with a twist of East Coast (fast paced/cosmopolitan/foreign). Miami and Orlando are international meccas and although located in the south geographically they couldn't be any further from the southern culture. Tampa and Jacksonville both have southern culture maybe not on the scale of Georgia or Alabama but it's still their none the less and is much slower and laid back conservative then Miami/Orlando. Just like how San Diego is to Los Angeles , that's how Tampa is to Miami.
What? Miami is nowhere near closer in culture to New York than it is to Atlanta. Specifically the Black population of Miami has far more in common either either the islands or Atlanta and New Orleans than it does with New York. Nor is Miami's pace that much faster than the other major Southern Giants. And how I'm the world is Orlando an international mecca? Because of tourists? What is Southern culture? Are we assuming that the South is monolithic?
What people cannot seem to get a grasp on is that Miami and Tampa/Jacksonville are are polar opposites. People don't understand the term southern, they assume just because it is located in the south geographically that it's southern. Miami is not southern culturally if anything Miami is closer to New York culturally then it is to Alabama or Georgia. Wheras Tampa or Jacksonville you can feel the southern roots, the culture is southern (slower/conservative/traditional) in Miami the culture is foreign it feels like you are in latin America with a twist of East Coast (fast paced/cosmopolitan/foreign). Miami and Orlando are international meccas and although located in the south geographically they couldn't be any further from the southern culture. Tampa and Jacksonville both have southern culture maybe not on the scale of Georgia or Alabama but it's still their none the less and is much slower and laid back conservative then Miami/Orlando. Just like how San Diego is to Los Angeles , that's how Tampa is to Miami.
^ This is accurate! As somebody who has lived in the Miami area for 35 years the 'Southern" culture was restricted to areas like Homestead & Davie up in Broward were the redneck "Good Ole Boy" culture was evident. The black Southern thing was culturally different to me as well even though most of the black population at the beginning was basically Bahamians & othe Islandres. Miami even has a Goombay festival to celebrate their culture. Miami & Miami Beach were built by Northerners for the most part. The invasion into SE Florida by white Southerners occurred after the end of WW 2.
^ This is accurate! As somebody who has lived in the Miami area for 35 years the 'Southern" culture was restricted to areas like Homestead & Davie up in Broward were the redneck "Good Ole Boy" culture was evident. The black Southern thing was culturally different to me as well even though most of the black population at the beginning was basically Bahamians & othe Islandres. Miami even has a Goombay festival to celebrate their culture. Miami & Miami Beach were built by Northerners for the most part. The invasion into SE Florida by white Southerners occurred after the end of WW 2.
I don't know why people can't grasp this. People act like Miami at one point was plantations and cotton fields. There was no South Florida before the Civil War. The White Southerners one would find in Davie or Homestead, are also transplants, or descended transplants with no roots down there. The few that do have roots are called Crackers. Goombay and Jookanoo, are just as old and established as any African American celebrations are in South Florida. Many Black Bahamians may have taken on Black American/Southern characteristics, but they still retain their culture.
I don't know why people can't grasp this. People act like Miami at one point was plantations and cotton fields.
Yeah, the South is not ONLY defined by plantations & cotton fields brother. Cotton would not grow in the pine barrens of Southeast Georgia, this was hog farming country. Cotton also would not grow in the mountain areas of Ga, NC or SC but these areas are just as Southern as the cotton lands. Miami, no this was not a big cotton region but it was still part of the South and always will be. They use to have a Confederate Monument in front of the courthouse down there, I'm sure it has been removed like most others across the South. Again, if you are not a generational Floridan then don't try to explain our history, you are sure to get it wrong.
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