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That whole corridor from Virginia Beach/Norfolk going up through Richmond and ending at DC has many transplants. The Richmond area probably has the least, though. I can't imagine you'd find many transplants in areas like Petersburg, in particular. Still, Richmond definitely has transplants.
I've met people from Alabama who won't even consider North Carolina to be southern. It's ridiculous, but true.
This IS true. The most common culprits I've met of snobbery ("Deep South Purists") hail from Georgia.
As to the question: Oklahoma is more Southern and more homogeneous throughout the whole state, but extreme southern Virginia is extremely Southern laced in the cultural sense. Only Southeastern Oklahoma, say Antlers to Idabel (which is similar to northern Louisiana) could come close to the Southernness of southern Virginia. To reiterate, Oklahoma, because of significantly less transplantation, is much more homogeneous, a mixture of the cultures of Texas and Arkansas, primarily.
Final Analysis: Oklahoma (and I think somebody else mentioned Arkansas) and Virginia are Southern, just in different ways. Oklahoma is more of a Southern and Western hybrid, SOUTHWest as opposed to SouthWEST (NM, AZ). (The "Midwest" appellation to Oklahoma is the least accurate, by the way. Culturally, Oklahoma is Southwestern, Southern, Western, and South-Central before it is Midwestern, which is Kansas and points north and east.) Virginia, while very Southern leaning in some parts, has alot of eastern influence because of transplantation and its proximity to the Northeast.
Oklahoma nor Virginia are the Deep South. It's not that hard. There are gradations of Southernness, Oklahoma and Virginia qualify for different reasons, but neither is Southern like Georgia, Bammer, or South Carolina.
Last edited by Bass&Catfish2008; 01-03-2016 at 08:27 PM..
Depends on how you define "Southern," whether that's historically, culturally, as a voting bloc, etc.
Virginia is probably the way the South used to be, but Oklahoma is closer to what the South has become. At least if you're referring to politics and lifestyle. Then again, Virgnia might well represent the future of the South as more and more Northerners view it as a desirable place to live. I expect we'll see a growing identity crisis and cultural clash in states like North Carolina and Georgia and even South Carolina and Tennessee. They'll still be Southern, but it'll be a New Southern.
The US South 66% Protestant 14% Catholic
Oklahoma 67% Protestant 11% Catholic
Virginia 61% Protestant 18% Catholic
For the U.S. South, I bet a HUGE chunk of the 14% catholic piece comes from Florida and Texas. Factor out Florida and Texas, and it looks to me like both Virgina and possibly oklahoma are noticeably more catholic than the rest of south.
VA Beach is a big military center so there are people from all over. Richmond has some Northern transplants.
That fits with my experiences. I knew a couple of transplants from the Richmond area in Atlanta, and they appeared very southern. But I have a good friend in Tampa from Virginia beach who didn't come off as southern at all.
For the U.S. South, I bet a HUGE chunk of the 14% catholic piece comes from Florida and Texas. Factor out Florida and Texas, and it looks to me like both Virgina and possibly oklahoma are noticeably more catholic than the rest of south.
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