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I think you have been watching too many Hollywood Westerns filmed in the deserts of SoCal. The setting is a more accurate depiction of West Texas. Did you forget Texas is big? On the other side of the state, Houston is very green and the coastal areas have (or had) plantations which looks more South(east)ern.
This is very true. Those old western movies about Texas were actually filmed in Arizona and southern California. Yet so popular were they (and I love 'em myself) that it is deeply ingrained in national mindset. I have actually seen movies where the plot takes people across state lines and, once the Sabine River is crossed, the landscape turns instantly from pine forests to desert and cactus! LOL
So far as the larger Southeast/Southwest topic as concerns Texas, I am often accused (with good reason, I admit! LOL) of being obcessed with the subject of Texas' regional affiliation.
Other than East Texas, the state isn't Southeast. BUT...it isn't Southwest either IF by Southwest one means being part of the same historical and cultural region as New Mexico and Arizona (and some or parts of other western states).
Part of the confusion, IMHO, comes from the historical evolution over time of the meaning of "Southwest" There is a great article in a volume called "The Encylopedia of Southern Culture." which covers this phenomenon. Going from memory, originally, it meant the frontier states of the South, and consisted of Alabama, Missisippi, and Tennesee. As time went on, with the Louisiana Purchase, it became Louisiana and Arkansas. Finally, Texas was included when it was opened for settlement.
Sometime after the War Between the States, it sort of solidified into being defined as Texas and, to a lesser extent, Arkansas, and to some degree, Louisiana (and Oklahoma once it became a state). The main point being that at no time was the term used to denote a wholy seperate region from the South itself, but rather, a sort of "twin" to the "Southeast", which together made up The South.
As time went on though, and westward migration continued, for geographical reasons, New Mexico and Arizona began to be called the Southwest and, as the article in Ency. Southern Culture put it "the relationship to the South became increasingly unclear..."
Today, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico are all considered "Southwestern", yet too often no historical and cultural distinction between the former and the latter two is made when applying the label. So it gets confusing. Those in the latter two states tend to reject any sense of "Southwestern brotherhood" with us and, in my experience, likewise.
Most of Texas is better described as "western South". A place where Southern history, religion, culture, folkways, traditions, etc are flavored with Western dress, wide-open spaces, and free-spirited individuality (for the most part, that is. East Texas is where the Deep South of the southeast begins). On the other hand, New Mexico and Arizona are the southern West, with nothing classically Southern about them. Whereas even most of west Texas, while topographically more resembling the desert SW, was settled largely by anglo-Southerners migrating west, and retains strong elements of Southern history and culture.
No. The 2000s IS the decade of the southeast. And so, for that matter, is the 2010s. The jobs, capital, and families are moving to Texas and the south--if you're a relocating company which appeals more to you? Oops-I-crapped-my-pants old Phoenix or a growing, YOUNG, vibrant city like Atlanta or Houston?
Both regions are growing with very different subsets of people. I've said it once and I'll say it again--the face of America is Dallas and Nashville and it will continue to be so for a while go come.....
How do you know so much about Oops-I-crapped-my-pants??
According to a Department of Commerce report I read several months ago, the six states of the Southeast will make up 60% of the country's economic growth over the next two decades.
Even though eastern Texas is different from western Texas, it is not remotely like the southeast. Places like Charleston, Savannah, North Carolina, Florida are not at all like anything in Texas.
Even though eastern Texas is different from western Texas, it is not remotely like the southeast. Places like Charleston, Savannah, North Carolina, Florida are not at all like anything in Texas.
True in a lot of ways, but these locales are not the total of the Southeast. The Southeast is a big place too, and far as that goes, there are differences in all these places and in, say, Mississippi...which is what true East Texas more resembles in history and culture. That is to say, it was not part of the "Colonial South" as was the Carolinas, etc. But the ante-bellum "Cotton Belt" South. The South has never been a monolithic region..either in history, culture OR topography.
As a note in passing, parts of East Texas much more resemble Savanah, Georgia and/or parts of Florida, than does North Carolina. For instance, here are a couple of interesting little links that makes the point! It ain't John Wayne Hollywood Texas, for sure!
Caddo Lake Steamboat Co. (http://www.caddolake.com/steamboat.html - broken link)
No. The 2000s IS the decade of the southeast. And so, for that matter, is the 2010s. The jobs, capital, and families are moving to Texas and the south--if you're a relocating company which appeals more to you? Oops-I-crapped-my-pants old Phoenix or a growing, YOUNG, vibrant city like Atlanta or Houston?
Both regions are growing with very different subsets of people. I've said it once and I'll say it again--the face of America is Dallas and Nashville and it will continue to be so for a while go come.....
No. The face of the US is not, has not, and never will be southern.
No. The face of the US is not, has not, and never will be southern.
Actually, that's not true. In fact, the journalist Max Applebaum of the New York Times wrote a very interesting book, Dixie Rising, that shows how the South is really beginning to have disproportionate influence on the country's economy, culture, politics and society. A very convincing read.
Actually, that's not true. In fact, the journalist Max Applebaum of the New York Times wrote a very interesting book, Dixie Rising, that shows how the South is really beginning to have disproportionate influence on the country's economy, culture, politics and society. A very convincing read.
Just a couple of remarks on the subject...
First of all, and with ALL due respect to the OP and the great topic itself, I would suggest that, perhaps, the question of which might overtake what, Southeast or Southwest , might be re-phrased as to which part of the "SunBelt" might dominate...?
Again, I cannot emphasize enough that my suggestion is NOT intended as "correcting" the original point nor question. Rather that, when it comes to states like Texas, especially, they cannot be easily fit into either SE or SW
So, it might be possible to ask the same question and refer to which part of the southern tier of the country (western, central, or eastern) might dominate...?
The book "Dixie Rising"? I havent read it, but have heard some good things about it. I have mixed feelings on it. On one hand, I am happy that someone outside the region finally saw fit to write a truly objective and even complimentary book about the South. On the other hand? Well, let me preface a bit:
Quote:
No. The face of the US is not, has not, and never will be southern
This can be taken a lot of ways. If it means that the South will never become the US as in the NE taxachussetts or 5th Avenue crowd, or California as in the Haight-Asbury or Berkely group? Then I say, I sure as hell hope not!
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