Why do people erroneously consider Virginia and North Carolina to not be in the South?

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by The_General

In the Civil war California was Union though and invaded Arizona and New Mexico.

I specifically said south as in the southern portion of the country vs. the northern portion. I purposely did not say California was in the Confederacy or even come close to comparing it. The legacy of the Confederacy is why there are lingering discussions about southern life vs. northern life and why most everything west of Texas doesn't relate.

[mwalker96]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

I specifically said south as in the southern portion of the country vs. the northern portion. I purposely did not say California was in the Confederacy or even come close to comparing it. The legacy of the Confederacy is why there are lingering discussions about southern life vs. northern life and why most everything west of Texas doesn't relate.

This is so true, one you hit the Mountian States it's just pure western from there.

[mwalker96]

Originally Posted by sevenfiveseven

Good post and I agree. Do you think that after a few more generations the animosity will finally die? I think so. I've notice a lot of positive difference since the 80's & 90's.

On a bad note I have noticed on this board a lot of snarky comments from West Coasters towards the South which is weird. I think outside of someone with a lot of interest in politics that most Southerners are neutral to West Coasters so I don't know where their side of hate is coming from?

Most Southerners don't think about West coasters since it's so isolated from the southeast. I think the reason why West Coasters would make fun of the South is that of the conservative politics and humidity, and the South would hate on the West for being too liberal. I don't think the west wouldn't really care about the South too much unless they met someone from the south since southern culture doesn't really extend further west of Texas while northern culture extended well past the Mississippi after the Mississippi after the civil war since most Northerners were tired of industrial life in the Midwest. Southerners didn't have any means going further west after the battle with Mexico. I know some Southern states might get into some East Coast vs West Coast debates with Californians since much of the South is apart of the Eastern seaboard

[jennifat]

Originally Posted by VA All Day

i'll simplify for you as best i can...you derisively mock another region's speech patterns yet you seem to be completely oblivious as to how utterly dreadful and ridiculous a minnesooooooota accent sounds to the rest of the country. do you understand now?

I really don't think most people have opinions about Upper Midwestern accents one way or another because most Americans simply aren't exposed to them on a routine basis. It's fairly rare you run into someone who has a noticeable accent in Minnesota. And those who do sound nothing like the characters from movies like Drop Dead Gorgeous or Fargo.

But sure, I understand that you're overly sensitive, yes. I see that.

[goforif]

Waahington DC is basically viewed as an extension of the North East powerhouse. Same reason why you would say Australia is a Western country despite being in the East geographically.

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by jennifat

I really don't think most people have opinions about Upper Midwestern accents one way or another because most Americans simply aren't exposed to them on a routine basis. It's fairly rare you run into someone who has a noticeable accent in Minnesota. And those who do sound nothing like the characters from movies like Drop Dead Gorgeous or Fargo.

But sure, I understand that you're overly sensitive, yes. I see that.

I used to be a corporate trainer and I traveled all over the US teaching, spending usually at least three days and sometimes a week in different states, including Minnesota.

I can PROMISE you that every region has "noticeable accents." Including Minnesota. But yes, I do agree with you that most Americans aren't running into many Minnesotan accents on a regular basis, since frankly not much of the US population even lives in Minnesota. Minnesota comprises less than 2 percent of the overall population of the US.

So most Americans probably wouldn't recognize a Minnesotan accent for what it is - they'd just think "That person's not from around here" if they heard someone from Minnesota talking outside Minnesota.

But that's a normal enough state of mind. There are all sorts of Southern accents as well, and someone who isn't from the south might not be able to tell the difference between an accent from South Carolina and an accent from Arkansas.

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by goforif

Waahington DC is basically viewed as an extension of the North East powerhouse. Same reason why you would say Australia is a Western country despite being in the East geographically.

Right on. It's the BoWash corridor, not the BoPhil corridor.