Why do Texans deny their southern heritage? (Houston, Lubbock: credit, buy)

[Ådvenio_Nobis]

Thanks to those who've posted great historical information in this thread. I almost didn't bother to click on it... then said 'what the heck.' So I'm here.

Anyway, I'm an analytical type by nature, so won't waste a whole lot of time here, except to add that any argument over who is and who isn't 'Southern' is one that will never be resolved, and I'm not sure why anyone would really feel the need to resolve it... any more than one would feel compelled to determine whether a New Yorker or a Key West resident are more representative of 'Easterners.'

Have fun folks!

[Bobilee]

Hey, TexasReb. I saw your figures on Union service. It's possible the percentage for Virginia is too high, due to the overestimation of Union volunteers who signed on in West Virginia units but were actually from Ohio/PA. The 2nd WV Cavalry, for instance, is 900 Ohioans & 100 WVirginians. Current estimates for WV (not including VA) is 22-25,000 each for both Confederate and Union, which makes WV the most Confederate of the border states.

[CamaroGuy]

Originally Posted by orbius

Texas is somewhat unique. The Germans who settled in Central Texas generally supported the Union or Texas' neutrality in the Civil War. Some 2000 Texans fought for the Union in the Civil War and many more thousands were sympathetic to the Union.

Also a lot of the State frankly does not feel at all Southern it feels South Western. Its a mixed place.

That's because the Germans were so staunchly opposed to slavery. No wonder Abe Lincoln called them the most freedom loving people in the world!

[Dacia1]

Well, Ya know what they say....You can take the girl out of Texas,
but not the Texas out of the girl....Yee Ha......
I am proud to be from Texas at the same time I transplanted myself
in Hawaii, New Mexico and now I am In Ohio. Everyone talks different.
That's what makes this world so fun......I get teased all of the time. I used
to try and hide my accent. Then after about 20 years or so, I just talk
like I do. Sometimes some words sound my southern than others. I also
talk a little Spanish, Hawaiian and baby talk. It's fun to hear different
accents, I think. Hey sometimes I call Ohio, Hawaiio....
Aloha!

[awecelot]

in re. "all of you clearly have accents."

I find this quite fascinating. I've lived in Texas for virtually my entire life, born and raised in Corpus Christi, as were my parents. A friend of mine, who is from New Hampshire, describes my accent as "three people rolled into one." I asked what those three people were, and the response was, "most of all, I can hear a bit of a Scottish pronunciation to a lot of words. Then, there's also a bit of a Spanish accent, and when you talk slowly, you sort of sound like a 'Texan' accent is supposed to sound like."

I tend to have a bit of a rapidity to my speech, so much so that my friend from New Hampshire says that I sound "like someone from Connecticut, but different." After my move from Corpus Christi to Dallas a year ago, my speech has slowed down a bit...it's interesting: people in Dallas tend to talk a bit slower than those from Corpus Christi, and I'm starting to pick up that slower rate of speech.

[solytaire]

Originally Posted by awecelot

people in Dallas tend to talk a bit slower than those from Corpus Christi, and I'm starting to pick up that slower rate of speech.

I agree...and I also have noticed that many people I've met from Central Texas talk very quickly and snippy (if I can use that word ad hoc)...and the few I've met from Central Texas (Waco, Austin, etc.) dont seem to have a discernible accent...of course that could just be because Im so used to hearing more pronounced accents.

[shellya46]

Let me start of by saying I was born and raised in SC. I have lived in TX for the past 6 yrs, and I am currently living in California. For someone to "generalize" an entire states population and the way they think or talk is absolutely narrow minded. I for one always thought of SC as being very southern, b/c it is. TX is also a "southern" state, no one is denying that. I don't think you will meet a Texan that considers themselves "west coast," b/c we are not. We like to think of ourselves as the THIRD COAST! There is nothing wrong with being southern, I love being southern. And being here in California, people seem to LOVE my accent.

[texasdreamin]

Originally Posted by Spade

Seems that I am repeating myself many times now. Texas is essentially Southern. If you must put Texas in a region, it's southern. But Texas is simply TEXAS. We are not as southern as Mississippi, Alabama, or Georgia. And we are not as Western as Arizona, New Mexico, or California. Texas has traits from the others including the plains states of Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. To the south, that influence is Mexico. Too many different varied regions to pinpoint Texas. IMO, that "southern" heritage is slowly being assimilated. Sort of like what Virginia is going through now.

I also agree that Texas is Southern. If you look at the map, Texas and Florida are the two most Southern states in the Country. I'm confused as to why NC, SC are cosidered the "deep Douth". They don't look like they are in the deep south, at all. They aren't as south as MS, LA, AL or GA, which ARE considered the deep south. That being said, the lower part of Texas is wayyyy deeper south than ANY of those states. I think I would agree, however, that El Paso is the beginning of the Southwest.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by texasdreamin

I also agree that Texas is Southern. If you look at the map, Texas and Florida are the two most Southern states in the Country. I'm confused as to why NC, SC are cosidered the "deep Douth". They don't look like they are in the deep south, at all. They aren't as south as MS, LA, AL or GA, which ARE considered the deep south. That being said, the lower part of Texas is wayyyy deeper south than ANY of those states. I think I would agree, however, that El Paso is the beginning of the Southwest.

You're talking geographically rather than culturally.

One has nothing to do with the other.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

You're talking geographically rather than culturally.

One has nothing to do with the other.

Exactly.

It's not so much about denying our southern heritage as taking issue with those who deny our TEXAN heritage by insisting that we're part of the South.