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Although my daughter came back with a drawl from Odessa. Her college volley coach took the team to church every Sunday, the worst college party she attended involved smoking pot (not heroin or meth or popping pills like many college parties)..most college parties were nothing more than beers and shooting guns in the desert. She raved about how the young local men treated women like princesses and actually wanted to get married and have kids....
Although my daughter came back with a drawl from Odessa. Her college volley coach took the team to church every Sunday, the worst college party she attended involved smoking pot (not heroin or meth or popping pills like many college parties)..most college parties were nothing more than beers and shooting guns in the desert. She raved about how the young local men treated women like princesses and actually wanted to get married and have kids....
It's not only an accent however I don't think that Southern accents are common anywhere that's not actually the South.
Yes, I noticed that maybe half of the folks I met in Odessa had the drawl...I was only there for a few weeks at a time. Oil country and many newcomers there for the high-paying jobs in that industry...
It's a very attractive accent btw I mean in comparison to the Bronx accent I hear in Nevada from the transplants ha ha!!!
San Antonio is more “Texan†than it is “Southern.†I do believe it is part of “the South†but that most folks there couldn’t give a hoot one way or the other.
Quote:
Originally Posted by whereiend
I consider San Antonio to be in "the south" in terms of geography. I don't think that "southern culture" is particularly strong there, however. Texas culture is a cousin to the "southern" for sure but to me it is nonetheless clearly distinct. Is San Antonio culture more like Louisiana or Albuquerque? If I had to pick I'd go with the latter.
I agree with both of these. San Antonio in a way reminds me of New Orleans. New Orleans is without a doubt southern but it has a distinct culture that is not at all commonly found in other parts of the south. San Antonio gets overlooked culturally because it's not as popular or appealing as New Orleans but it's unique in it's own right. With that said New Orleans is definitely more culturally and historically tied to the south than San Antonio is.
So is San Antonio part of the south? I'll put it to you like this, there's fragments of the south in San Antonio culturally but I don't think it's generally southern. If I had to describe San Antonio I'd say It's Texan 1st, Mexican 2nd, Southern last. The first 2 are interchangeable. Southern imo is not.
Now why the South is not a monolithic region there's definitely common cultural connections throughout the south no matter what state or city you're in. San Antonio culturally and historically have always had a strong Spanish/ Mexican presence since it's inception. Even a significant amount of Whites that settled in San Antonio didn't come from the south but were German/ Czech immigrants who migrated to Central TX/Hill country. Now of course there were Whites that came from the south and settled in San Antonio. There were even slaves in San Antonio. But San Antonio was never overwhelmingly southern. Matter fact the most consistently southern aspect of San Antonio culture is the Black population in the city. Most Black San Antonio natives prior to the 70's could probably trace their ancestry back to rural areas along the Brazos River(which was heavily dependent on slavery). I would even suggest Austin is more historically southern than San Antonio is.
Also the difference with San Antonio and other southern cities is it's Mexican culture. San Antonio has a much older Mexican culture than anything you'll find in the south. Houston and DFW both have a big Mexican population but their populations are more assimilated and made more of an impact on the overall culture of those cities at a much later time than San Antonio.
Houston and DFW were pretty much Black and White towns much like other southern cities well into the 70s and early 80s when the Mexican population started exploding. San Antonio, Rio Grand Valley, El Paso were much more established in Mexican culture throughout the 19th century. That's why you see festivals like Fiesta Fiesta and Day of the Dead. As many contributions Mexican Americans have made to Houston and DFW it never feels as deeply ingrained as San Antonio.
Also San Antonio is a military city so they tend to attract people from all over the country not to mention the transplants that move there in general. Then you have the architecture on top of all that and San Antonio has some southern-ish to it. It's the capital of South Texas to me. There are Freedman towns and southern Anglo towns on the outskirts of San Antonio though which imo shows it has some cultural ties to the south just not as strong.
And btw I'm from East Texas so going to San Antonio for the first time felt different to me.
I agree with both of these. San Antonio in a way reminds me of New Orleans. New Orleans is without a doubt southern but it has a distinct culture that is not at all commonly found in other parts of the south. San Antonio gets overlooked culturally because it's not as popular or appealing as New Orleans but it's unique in it's own right. With that said New Orleans is definitely more culturally and historically tied to the south than San Antonio is.
So is San Antonio part of the south? I'll put it to you like this, there's fragments of the south in San Antonio culturally but I don't think it's generally southern. If I had to describe San Antonio I'd say It's Texan 1st, Mexican 2nd, Southern last. The first 2 are interchangeable. Southern imo is not.
Now why the South is not a monolithic region there's definitely common cultural connections throughout the south no matter what state or city you're in. San Antonio culturally and historically have always had a strong Spanish/ Mexican presence since it's inception. Even a significant amount of Whites that settled in San Antonio didn't come from the south but were German/ Czech immigrants who migrated to Central TX/Hill country. Now of course there were Whites that came from the south and settled in San Antonio. There were even slaves in San Antonio. But San Antonio was never overwhelmingly southern. Matter fact the most consistently southern aspect of San Antonio culture is the Black population in the city. Most Black San Antonio natives prior to the 70's could probably trace their ancestry back to rural areas along the Brazos River(which was heavily dependent on slavery). I would even suggest Austin is more historically southern than San Antonio is.
Also the difference with San Antonio and other southern cities is it's Mexican culture. San Antonio has a much older Mexican culture than anything you'll find in the south. Houston and DFW both have a big Mexican population but their populations are more assimilated and made more of an impact on the overall culture of those cities at a much later time than San Antonio.
Houston and DFW were pretty much Black and White towns much like other southern cities well into the 70s and early 80s when the Mexican population started exploding. San Antonio, Rio Grand Valley, El Paso were much more established in Mexican culture throughout the 19th century. That's why you see festivals like Fiesta Fiesta and Day of the Dead. As many contributions Mexican Americans have made to Houston and DFW it never feels as deeply ingrained as San Antonio.
Also San Antonio is a military city so they tend to attract people from all over the country not to mention the transplants that move there in general. Then you have the architecture on top of all that and San Antonio has some southern-ish to it. It's the capital of South Texas to me. There are Freedman towns and southern Anglo towns on the outskirts of San Antonio though which imo shows it has some cultural ties to the south just not as strong.
And btw I'm from East Texas so going to San Antonio for the first time felt different to me.
What does the Mexican culture being "older" matter?
Although my daughter came back with a drawl from Odessa. Her college volley coach took the team to church every Sunday, the worst college party she attended involved smoking pot (not heroin or meth or popping pills like many college parties)..most college parties were nothing more than beers and shooting guns in the desert. She raved about how the young local men treated women like princesses and actually wanted to get married and have kids....
What does the Mexican culture being "older" matter?
The fact that San Antonio has been a Tejano/Northern Mexican town for many generations as opposed to just a majority white and black town like Dallas or Houston is certainly significant on the culture of the city. The Tejano and Mexican culture is simply more ingrained. There is no escaping it regardless of if you live on the southside or Alamo Heights or Stone Oak or even out near Boerne. If you are white and your family has been in SA for many generations you are likely part Tejano yourself. In Dallas or Houston if you don't live in one of the communities with lots of hispanic immigrants you probably don't feel much of a presence. There might be a small element to those cities that is Tejano or Mexican but it is much larger in San Antonio and even larger as you get further south.
I think Dallas and Houston are more culturally southern, or were, historically. Maybe transplants and immigrants have changed that. I do agree that the Tejano and German cultures that have existed in San Antonio make it less southern. But it's still southern. Oklahoma has lots of Indians and Midwesterners,who are also likely German, but still has a southern feeling. New Orleans has the whole Cajun thing going on, as well as lots of immigrants historically that were French, Irish, and Italian, and they are still southern. Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA also have lots of Irish descendants but nobody says they aren't southern. Are they less southern than they would be otherwise because of these Irish immigrants? Sure. Still southern though.
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I mean in comparison to the Bronx accent I hear in Nevada from the transplants ha ha!!!
