Why do people erroneously consider Virginia and North Carolina to not be in the South? (transplants, university)
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Yes, you read that right. I always hear quite a bunch of people, particularly on CD, lambasting Virginia and NC as states that are no longer southern because of select areas with high transplants, most noticeably the northern extremity (both literally and metaphorically) of Virginia that is NoVa, and the Research Triangle area of North Carolina.
Yet I NEVER hear people question, for example, Georgia's southernness, even though I wouldn't be surprised if Atlanta had not only more transplants total than one of the aforementioned areas, but also a higher percentage of transplants. This is not me picking on Georgia, it's me trying to understand the strange logic behind some of these beliefs. These are the same people who will claim Georgia is 100% a Deep South state but then call Virginia and NC Northern states... and I must admit, it annoys me quite a bit. As if a whole entire state can lose its southernness because of a few areas with higher numbers of transplants. Go to SW Virginia or Eastern NC and you'll find out that you're still in the South, an unquestionably Southern part of an unquestionably Southern state that is.
Tennessee and SC and both states that are seeing more growth of transplants, yet I don't think I'd ever hear anyone question their southernness, even when they do get to where VA/NC/GA are now. Is it the geographical location of VA and NC as being closer to the North than their more southerly counterparts? Is it the fact that NC has "North" in its name? I wouldn't be surprised if there were grown and college-educated adults out there who think NC is legitimately in the Northeast or something. The ignorance is bewildering. Lawd have mercy!
Bottom line is, Virginia and North Carolina have always been, and will always be, Southern states. No amount of transplants will change that. It certainly hasn't for Georgia, and it won't for Tennessee, South Carolina, or any other other Southern state that will experience large growth in the future.
Last edited by TarHeelTerritory; 07-21-2018 at 08:30 AM..
Reason: typo
I never heard anyone say that Virginia isn't part of the south, until talking with a friend from Texas who insisted VA is in the northeast. I couldn't believe someone would say such a silly thing.
I never heard anyone say that Virginia isn't part of the south, until talking with a friend from Texas who insisted VA is in the northeast. I couldn't believe someone would say such a silly thing.
Thank you. I don't know if it's worth the time trying to correct these people or not! Some of the Deep South purists seem to be the most convinced that anything "further north" than their states are Northern states...
My mother, a Richmonder, has a theory about Virginia. She says that while unquestionably Southern, Virginia’s cityfolk never embraced a “folksy country” identity in the same way as other city southerners (New Orleans being the other major exception) did, in decades past. Since Southern and “country” are synonymous to so many, VA seems less Southen.
I've never heard anyone claim North Carolina is not in the South.
Now Virginia? I've heard that, but mainly because a significant portion of the state is heavily tied to DC now, which is very cosmopolitan and culturally not very southern these days.
(^^not saying I agree with it, but that's my understanding behind it)
I think the density statistics tell the story. Take a gander at these density maps of Virginia
We think of northern Virginia because of the counties around DC...considerably more northern.
and North Carolina
North Carolina has Charlotte balanced by Wake and Durham counties with Raliegh and the research triangle university area. Charlotte has some northern attributes and I think of the research triangle area as having even more of the same -- but in general, I consider North Carolina more southern than Virginia.
The most common modern experience and perceptions are driven by the density.
In Tennessee, you might think of Nashville and Memphis and then the eastern mountains...There is a different perception at work in Tennessee. Nashville and Memphis do not shout "northern" and the eastern mountain counties are perceived as Appalachia. Appalachia doesn't contribute as much to the perception of Virginia and North Carolina.
Why is this so important to people? There seems to be an obsession about defining “The South” amongst some southerners.
Interesting. As a southerner, I see a lot of obsession with defining the South (often in negative terms) from people from other parts of the country.
For the record, of course NC and VA are southern states. I can't imagine why anyone would think differently but whatever. Some people also think the world is flat, and that man has never landed on the moon.
Why is this so important to people? There seems to be an obsession about defining “The South” amongst some southerners.
Oklahoma is southern, too!
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