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I would say that the high desert in Southern California could be grouped in with the Southwestern United States.
Most of the Los Angeles metro is too different and is really a region all its own, but the high desert has some of that Southwestern feel as do some of the desert cities on the eastern fringes of the SoCal megalopolis.
Oklahoma may be influenced by the South (especially around Tulsa and areas closer to Arkansas), but I would never place it in the South. The state also has a fair amount of Midwestern transplants, plus the Native American influence which is more "western" in some ways. I mean, say you're coming from Montgomery, AL or Columbia, SC and you visit Oklahoma City. There's no way Oklahoma City will strike you as remotely southern. Flat/dry terrain with barely any trees (most of the South is heavily wooded), cowboy-ish vibe, no Confederate or antebellum heritage, few African Americans, etc. It's pretty conservative and religious, but so is South Dakota. Even Maryland might be more southern, to be honest.
Oklahoma may be influenced by the South (especially around Tulsa and areas closer to Arkansas), but I would never place it in the South. The state also has a fair amount of Midwestern transplants, plus the Native American influence which is more "western" in some ways. I mean, say you're coming from Montgomery, AL or Columbia, SC and you visit Oklahoma City. There's no way Oklahoma City will strike you as remotely southern. Flat/dry terrain with barely any trees (most of the South is heavily wooded), cowboy-ish vibe, no Confederate or antebellum heritage, few African Americans, etc. It's pretty conservative and religious, but so is South Dakota. Even Maryland might be more southern, to be honest.
Confederate flags are actually quite common in Oklahoma City and many wear it as a badge of honor. Also, the Southern Baptist church dominates the religious landscape. Up in the Dakotas its more Catholic and Lutheran.
Parts of Oklahoma are more "western", notably the Panhandle and the southwestern part of the state. Oklahoma City is more culturally similar to Columbia, SC than it is to Albuquerque.
Most of Oklahoma looks pretty identical to Texas, though, and is extremely similar in culture. Actually, Oklahoma having more of a Native American identity further puts it Southwest.
No, not really. Save for a few tribes, such as the Apache and Plains tribes, much of Oklahoma's tribes come from the eastern half of the US.
Geographically, however, I would say western Oklahoma shares similarities to the Southwest.
Oklahoma may be influenced by the South (especially around Tulsa and areas closer to Arkansas), but I would never place it in the South. The state also has a fair amount of Midwestern transplants, plus the Native American influence which is more "western" in some ways. I mean, say you're coming from Montgomery, AL or Columbia, SC and you visit Oklahoma City. There's no way Oklahoma City will strike you as remotely southern. Flat/dry terrain with barely any trees (most of the South is heavily wooded), cowboy-ish vibe, no Confederate or antebellum heritage, few African Americans, etc. It's pretty conservative and religious, but so is South Dakota. Even Maryland might be more southern, to be honest.
Lol there's trees here. It's not like the South but OKC isn't barren. Also, indeed there's not a ton of African Americans here but they do make up about 15% of OKC.
And I don't know what bawac is talking about, I've seen maybe one or two Confederate flags here in the city, but they're not common. Another one of his over-exaggerations.
Oklahoma is nearly uniformly Southern in the most populated parts of the state. Given its geographical location and its native history, one would think it should be more Southwestern, but it was mostly settled by people from the Old South. As a result, it shares more in common with Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi than even west Texas. The parts that aren't as Southern are also sparsely populated. Also, most of the state is within the humid subtropical climate zone that covers most of the Southeastern United States.
Overall, Oklahoma was more evenly settled among those from the South as well as from the Midwest, within northern/northwestern/western Oklahoma being more Midwestern and southern/southeastern/eastern Oklahoma being more from the South, coinciding with the boundaries of Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory.
'Settlers of Oklahoma Territory, however, tended to come from the Midwest or upper Midwest. Of the settlers in the Land Run of 1889, for example, 50 percent were from Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, or Ohio, and 10 percent were from Texas and another 10 percent from Kentucky or Tennessee, states representative of the Southern or South Midland dialect areas. In all of the land run areas, settlers were typically from the upper or lower Midwest, although individual land runs show variation. The 1892 Cheyenne-Arapaho Opening, for instance, tended to divide into eastern and western halves, with sparsely populated counties such as Roger Mills having a considerably greater percentage of southerners (almost 80 percent) than the more densely populated counties to the east, such as Blaine, which had only 32 percent from the South.'
I would consider Southern California, Nevada, parts of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico to be Southwestern. Texas is Southern, Oklahoma is Midwest, Hawaii would be part of the West and/or Pacific, and Colorado could be both West and Midwest IMHO.
Oklahoma may be influenced by the South (especially around Tulsa and areas closer to Arkansas), but I would never place it in the South. The state also has a fair amount of Midwestern transplants, plus the Native American influence which is more "western" in some ways. I mean, say you're coming from Montgomery, AL or Columbia, SC and you visit Oklahoma City. There's no way Oklahoma City will strike you as remotely southern. Flat/dry terrain with barely any trees (most of the South is heavily wooded), cowboy-ish vibe, no Confederate or antebellum heritage, few African Americans, etc. It's pretty conservative and religious, but so is South Dakota. Even Maryland might be more southern, to be honest.
Oklahoma is Southern culturally , linguistically, and demographically. It has more in common with the South than with any other region. It has little in common with the Southwest and little in common with the Midwest. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about.
Oklahoma is Southern culturally , linguistically, and demographically. It has more in common with the South than with any other region. It has little in common with the Southwest and little in common with the Midwest. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about.
Correct. People who say otherwise have likely not spent much time in Oklahoma. Geographically and historically, it should be less Southern than it is, but it's all about the culture of the people who settled it.
There are small pockets of Oklahoma that are more Southwestern, and Tulsa does have a bit of Midwestern influence, but overall the state is solidly Southern. It actually seems like its becoming more Southern in recent years than it used to be, likely because Oklahoma City and Tulsa have been left out of the Sunbelt boom that is diluting the Southernness in places like Charlotte, Atlanta, Richmond, Nashville, etc, etc.
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