Is Oklahoma Southern or Western?

[suthernharleyryder]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

Where in Terlton? In town or outside of town? What possessed your folks to move there?

FWIW,I live a mile south of Terlton now...........

well, we lived in tulsa, and then my daddy got on at dover....and from what i recall, most of the other dads in area also worked at dover, ad hence, he heard about area, liked it, and built there...till dover did some shut down thing for a while and then parents moved us all up north to SD(still unhappy with that...lol, i froze!!!) i lived there last in 85 i think was year, i went back to visit about 14 yrs ago...amazed how it was the same..well kinda...alot was over grown and seemed little deserted, but it was home....lol
i lived over hill behind cemetary...just a bike ride from "town"...lol

[chrismc888]

I believe oklahoma is southern. The census has Oklahoma as a WEST SOUTH CENTRAL state. We have western midwestern and southern influences. I believe we have many more southern influences, at least in Tulsa and on the east side of OK. We aren't in the deep south, that is certain. We weren't a state during the civil war, but many tribes fought for the confederacy (parts of new mexico and arizona were claimed by the CSA, they are most definately not southern, but southwestern. This shouldn't determine whether or not we are "southern"). Many people automatically say we aren't southern because we aren't one of the 11 states. We never said we were part of the deep south, but we ARE southern. If you come to Oklahoma you will see first hand.

[TU 'cane]

Oklahoma belongs nowhere, anywhere, everywhere.

Ever since I was a little kid I always put Oklahoma in the Southwest category, along with Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. But what they teach you in school is that Oklahoma is part of the Great Plains, or in other words the central Midwest. I don't really classify Oklahoma as one of the plains states because our geography is too diverse and I think we are just a little too far south to be a plains state. But what I really think is, is that Oklahoma deserves to be under the "South Central" category. Putting that in with Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana.

When it comes to heritage I think we are more Western. You see a lot of cows and Cowboy decor and influence all over but Texas seems to have it all copyrighted ( lol ) so we don't see as much as we should. But yet our state dish is Chicken Fried Steak, now that is Southern. But at the same time we are really into our BBQ much like the midwest and southeast U.S. So it's really up in the air. I would classify it as a South Central state with Southern and Western influences with a tad Midwest in there.

45% Western, 30% Southern, 25% Midwestern influence.

[Bass&Catfish2008]

Originally Posted by chrismc888

I believe oklahoma is southern. The census has Oklahoma as a WEST SOUTH CENTRAL state. We have western midwestern and southern influences. I believe we have many more southern influences, at least in Tulsa and on the east side of OK. We aren't in the deep south, that is certain. We weren't a state during the civil war, but many tribes fought for the confederacy (parts of new mexico and arizona were claimed by the CSA, they are most definately not southern, but southwestern. This shouldn't determine whether or not we are "southern"). Many people automatically say we aren't southern because we aren't one of the 11 states. We never said we were part of the deep south, but we ARE southern. If you come to Oklahoma you will see first hand.

This is a very good post Chris. Here is a post that I wrote from a previous thread....it seemed like most people tended to agree with me on Oklahoma's inclusion into the South at large, but certainly by no means into the Deep South (AL, MS, SC, GA)

>>>>>
Oklahoma is best characterized as a Southwestern state with a lot of southern flair. It certainly could be called part of the "West South Central" as wikipedia designates: Image:Census Regions and Divisions.PNG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bass&Catfish's Southern Litmus Test for OkieVille

History (that's for all ya'll to decide, before statehood the vast majority of Native Americans fought for the Confederacy; after statehood, many folks from southern states flooded into Indian Territory, many of these southern transplants were a little too lawless and Redneck for their own states I guess so they came and tried to tame the wild land we call Oklahoma today....for instance, all my distant relatives came from North Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi....if GA and MS are not southern then there is no such thing as the South)

Dialect (check, more "twangy" and not the "drawl" of the Deep South, see the multitude of country music stars from Oklahoma from Garth, Vince Gill, and Toby Keith to Reba McEntire, etc...this is pretty much a decent indication of how we talk)

Music (check, as aforementioned predominantly country with an excessively high ratio of famous country musicians given the small population of Oklahoma)

Food (definite check...see our state meal if you don't believe me: "fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, strawberries, chicken fried steak, pecan pie, and black-eyed peas" (http://www.state.ok.us/osfdocs/stinfo.html). I've met many from the Deep South and I can honestly say that I grew up eating much more fried okra and pork BBQ than they did, my wife is from Lawton, Oklahoma and she makes some of the sweetest tea you'll ever taste and fries okra often...and yes, I've spent extensive time in every state in the Deep South with the exception of Alabama....I've gotta visit soon)

Religion (check, the highest number of Southern Baptists per capita of any southern state with the exception of Alabama)

Geography (while Oklahoma is below the Mason-Dixon, this may not be enough to categorize it with the rest of the South, for this reason, geography keeps OK from being 100% southern IMO (i.e. culturally AND geographically).

At the end of the day, Oklahoma is a state largely influenced by Native American and Cowboy Culture, and thus, is properly designated as a Southwestern state with a lot of obvious/distinct southern culture. Maybe we should be called the "Cowboy South" as I've noticed that me and my kin tend to be a lot rowdier than our Brothers/Sisters from the Interior South.
<<<<<

[shocka]

Oklahoma is part of a region that is largely ignored by those doing the branding of regions. It's by no means mid-western, spend some time in Michigan, Minnesota, or Illinois and tell me they have anything in common with Oklahoma. It's not a true southern state, spend some time in Mississippi and tell me that Oklahoma culture is a true reflection of the south, it isn't, it is a watered down version. Oklahoma is not a southwestern state, Arizona, NM, SW Texas, southern Nevada, have very little in common with these places, again parts of Oklahoma are watered down versions of the SW.
Oklahoma stands alone in its culture due to the fact it was never intended to be what it is today, a state. It was set apart for indians to inhabit until "the rivers ceased to run". This lead to Oklahoma not bonding with the southern states and joining the Confederacy or bonding with the midwest/union states and becoming like them. So when states were busy building their identities Oklahoma was not. Oklahoma's culture came from the people who settle Oklahoma well after the surrounding states had their own cliques. The result was Oklahoma having somewhat of an identity crisis.

But if I had to put a finger on it I would just call it the South Central region. (not southern, not western, but a combination of the two.)

[TU 'cane]

Very nice rundown Shocka, I agree with a lot of what you said.

[Malkah-C]

I finally find this thread and i agree with shocka or Oklahoma is just Oklahoma

[Livewire]

I would guess OK is more Southern. Too far central to be western. Definately not south-west, that 'southwest' look stops at NM.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Livewire

I would guess OK is more Southern. Too far central to be western. Definately not south-west, that 'southwest' look stops at NM.

I agree with you except many cosidered Texas and yes, parts of OK as being south-west, why I don't know. Even the media will say this on occassion.

Nita