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i was listening to the news this am - and they had a local reporter in gainesville, tx talking about the awful flooding. her comment, "i've only seen devastation like this in the south after a hurricane". i guess she doesn't consider that part of Texas the south. i just found it interesting given this thread.
Well, I supppose it COULD depend on the inflections in her voice as to meaning! That is, she may been saying that, other than in Gainsville, the only other place she had seen that type damage was in the South after a hurricane. As you indicated, that would seem to imply she was excluding that area from the South.
OR, it could have been meant as the only OTHER place in the South she had seen such devasation was after a hurricane!
In other words: 1. "I've only seen such devastation as this, in the South after a hurricane." 2. I've only seen such devastation as this in the South, after a hurricane."
Did you all see the thread I started about the different cities who have the "Northernmost southern city or southernmost Northern city" thing? I guess where the South is depends on perspective.
Alabama,Louisana,Atlanta,northern Florida,Mississippi,Tennesse,and the majority of Texas.
Wow. So South Carolina, North Carolina, and the rest of Georgia are not the South? I think people are getting a bit carried away. I can see how some might think that Kentucky and Virginia are not southern states. But to completely ignore North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia is just incorrect.
I think the only way Kentucky is south of Virginia is when you look at the north tips of each state. Now, The northern tip of Virginny is about parellell to Cincinati, OH. However, if you look at Kentucky there's parts of that state that do curve up to the Cincinati line. Its hard to conjecture with the naked eye, though.
The real part of Kentucky that is South of Virginia (as I have said) is that little tiny part near Paduckah that merges onto Tennessee.
That being said, however, most all of Virginia and Kentucky match each other.
If you want to get technical about it, there are some parts of southern Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois that are lower latitude than the northermost town in Virginia, Cross Junction. The northernmost point of VA extends slightly north of the northernmost point in KY. Again, I think other factors should be considered other than latitude when determining what is southern and what isn't. I believe that in Kentucky you're immersed in "southern culture" much more rapidly than you are in Virginia. Many people, as far down as Virginia Beach, have absolutely no southern accent; at the sane latitude in KY, you would be hard-pressed to find any natives without extremely strong accents.
Wow. So South Carolina, North Carolina, and the rest of Georgia are not the South? I think people are getting a bit carried away. I can see how some might think that Kentucky and Virginia are not southern states. But to completely ignore North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia is just incorrect.
Also forgot Arkansas. How ARkansas is not the South I have no clue. That's about as Southern as you can get.
From TX, but lived in VA for 4 years. Virginia is Southern. They celebrate Robert E. Lee Day, fly the confederate flag, and have civil war reenactments. They serve sweet tea. Their accents are clearly southern. Sorry TX chick, you are wrong about VA. They may be geographically mid-atlantic. But culturally, very southern. Less so compared to GA, MS, SC, and NC, but def. southern.
Here's my proposal--these count as the South:
-Tennessee (more than 20 minutes south of Kentucky)
-North Carolina (in towns and rural areas with fewer than 75,000 people)
-Florida (north of I-10 then the Gulf Coast west of Panama City)
-Arkansas (south of I-30/I-40 east of Little Rock)
-South Carolina
-Georgia
-Alabama
-Mississippi
-Louisiana
Do not count:
-Texas: it's so great, it's its own region and country. It's like eight states in one with ten different cultures and types of topography.
-Virginia: It is now a mid-Atlantic state.
-West Virginia: hillbilly and country doesn't mean southern. And, they say "pop." More industrial in history, like the northeast and upper midwest.
-Kentucky: They say "pop," don't know what grits and sweet tea are, and it doesn't have a great deal of that Southern hospitality. Ever been to Louisville, Lexington, and Owensboro?
-Arkansas: western Arkansas is more like Oklahoma and east Texas.
-Florida: south of I-10, it's now New York South
I would have to disagree with Arkansas only being a southern state "south of I-30/I-40 east of Little Rock", all of Arkansas is southern. The only problem is in Northwest Arkansas has too many "yankee" transplants. Personaly I liked NWA how it was before it back a booming metropolitan area.
I would have to disagree with Arkansas only being a southern state "south of I-30/I-40 east of Little Rock", all of Arkansas is southern. The only problem is in Northwest Arkansas has too many "yankee" transplants. Personaly I liked NWA how it was before it back a booming metropolitan area.
I agree that Northwest Arkansas is different from the rest of the state, but that's a very tiny corner of the state. But cmon....Arkansas is a true Southern state. I will be damned if any of it is Northern or something other than Southern. There is nothing not Southern about Arkansas. Plain and simple.
Here's my proposal--these count as the South:
-Tennessee (more than 20 minutes south of Kentucky)
-North Carolina (in towns and rural areas with fewer than 75,000 people)
-Florida (north of I-10 then the Gulf Coast west of Panama City)
-Arkansas (south of I-30/I-40 east of Little Rock)
-South Carolina
-Georgia
-Alabama
-Mississippi
-Louisiana
Do not count:
-Texas: it's so great, it's its own region and country. It's like eight states in one with ten different cultures and types of topography.
-Virginia: It is now a mid-Atlantic state.
-West Virginia: hillbilly and country doesn't mean southern. And, they say "pop." More industrial in history, like the northeast and upper midwest.
-Kentucky: They say "pop," don't know what grits and sweet tea are, and it doesn't have a great deal of that Southern hospitality. Ever been to Louisville, Lexington, and Owensboro?
-Arkansas: western Arkansas is more like Oklahoma and east Texas.
-Florida: south of I-10, it's now New York South
I haven't really explored Arkansas much, although I personally count them as Southern (as stated in an earlier post, my personal definition of the South is the 11 Old Confederate states plus Kentucky).
But anyway, while texmexandproud makes some interesting observations and good points, there are a couple of things I would disagree and quibble with.
First of all -- and these two items have connections -- if one excludes western Arkansas because it "is more like East Texas" then the argument fails as, even if one excludes large parts of Texas from the South (more on that in a minute), East Texas is definitely Southern. In fact, travelling east, is pretty much where the true Deep South begins. It would be a point IN FAVOR of west Arkansas' being Southern! .
But actually, the two don't bear that much resemblence to each other. Western Arkansas is upper South, while East Texas is thick pine forest, spanish moss and, historically, Old South plantation country.
So far as Texas as a whole goes, as opined in an earlier post, IMHO, it is essentially a Southern state. I agree with texmexandproud that it is also a region unto itself..."A Whole Nother' Country" as the tourist slogan goes. And as a fourth generation Texan of Deep South ancestry, I am very proud of that fact.
But all in all, historically and culturally, Texas belongs to the South.
*grinning a bit in jest* Of course, perhaps with that typical Lone Star State braggadocio we are famous for, maybe it should be said that WE claim the rest of the South as part of OUR older and extended family?
Seriously though, something very relevevent to that old question concerning Texas' relationship to the rest of the South is that sociological surveys have verified that residents, when given a choice, overwhelmingly chose "South" over any other regional affiliation as to where they live, and identify themselves as Southerners.
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