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NC ain't nothing like VA MD or whatever the hell. I am from NC and ain't never known it to be like these states , maybe southern VA and just the portion that borders it. Younger generations who don't claim whatever are prolly children of transplants. I have been to VA and MD and there is nothing similar besides the gas prices at times
i live in midwest, and it was all german 30 yrs ago, and now it looks like the east coast in my little midwestern town. All languages are spoken, and there are so many more poor people who do not work.
While I recognize and respect southern identity, I am a native North Carolinian who does not identify as a southerner. It is just not who I am. Others are free to adopt that identity. I just don't see why some people get upset about how others identify culturally. We are a diverse and tolerant state.
While I recognize and respect southern identity, I am a native North Carolinian who does not identify as a southerner. It is just not who I am. Others are free to adopt that identity. I just don't see why some people get upset about how others identify culturally. We are a diverse and tolerant state.
So what is so un-southern about you? It's fine if you think that southern is just not who you are, but you can't really change where you're from. You're southern whether you like it or not...but that doesn't have to mean anything in particular.
I think the problem is that so many people identify southern with country, uneducated, rural, and other somewhat demeaning descriptions. It's quite common to be intelligent, well-traveled, and have a semi-neutral accent and still be southern.
I respect and love the good people of southeast North Carolina, but I think that that area is the most isolated and distinct portion of the state today. It has a relatively small portion of the state's population and is largely declining in population. Moreover, it seems to be forgotten by much of the rest of the state. I think most people in Raleigh-Chapel Hill-Durham go to DC and NYC much more than they trek down to rural southeast North Carolina. It is a very distinct and isolated part of the state. As the urban footprint and population of the big Piedmont cities and Asheville has grown, rural southeast NC has particularly decreased in the state's consciousness.
I was in the DC metro for a week....After coming back to Charlotte, there is no DOUBT, Charlotte and NC will stay culturally southern. It was a WORLD of a difference in the pace of life. Sorry folks and I love the culture now. That's why I live here.
Pace of life doesn't make something Southern or not. Vermont is one of the slowest, most bucolic places in the nation. North Dakota is not exactly buzzing with hip street life ya know.
Pace of life doesn't make something Southern or not. Vermont is one of the slowest, most bucolic places in the nation. North Dakota is not exactly buzzing with hip street life ya know.
Exactly...that's an antiquated notion and one that too many people still envision as southern. They don't often realize that 2013 southern is very different from 1900 southern.
I respect and love the good people of southeast North Carolina, but I think that that area is the most isolated and distinct portion of the state today. It has a relatively small portion of the state's population and is largely declining in population. Moreover, it seems to be forgotten by much of the rest of the state. I think most people in Raleigh-Chapel Hill-Durham go to DC and NYC much more than they trek down to rural southeast North Carolina. It is a very distinct and isolated part of the state. As the urban footprint and population of the big Piedmont cities and Asheville has grown, rural southeast NC has particularly decreased in the state's consciousness.
What do you do define as SE NC? Objectively SE NC would start at Carteret, maybe Craven County extending south, past Wilmington to the border. That portion of the state has not seen any decline. In fact, the threads on the coastal forum are filled with people researching moving to SE NC along the coast. Also, even the rural areas aren't as stereotypical southern as other parts of NC due to the influence of military and retirees through out the SE region. Especially in comparison to the extremes of Western NC and other parts of Eastern NC.
If you wanted apply your statement to other areas of NC like Kinston, Rocky Mount, Wilson, and the black hole that is NE NC I could get behind you, but think you're way off base with SE NC. If anything it has risen in consciousness transforming small towns like Hampstead and Morehead City over the last decade or two.
Edit: your own post ont he southern accent thread backs up what I'm saying. Note that SE NC is part of the state, along with the Piedmont crescent, where the accent is considered diluted. This is b/c of the strong growth and influence of the aforementioned military and retirees,
I grew up in Southwest Virginia around the Tennessee border and I have A LOT of family in North Carolina from all over...Triangle to Asheville. I see tons and tons of similarity between VA and NC. Both states are considered "New South" today by most standards. In the urban areas they feel less southern...in the rural areas they feel more southern. The areas of the new south are going to continue to be divided heavily between urban and rural. Southern culture thrives in rural areas and both VA and NC are becomming more urban. Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro are all growing like a weed. Same with the NOVA area, Richmond, Tidewater area of VA/NC, Roanoke, and Lynchburg...they are all growing very quickly and attracting transplants from all over the place which is diluting the southern culture but again this "dilution" is just in the urban areas.
Point blank...North Carolina...Virginia...Tennessee...South Carolina...Georgia...Florida...Alabama...Mississip pi...Louisiana...Arkansas...Texas...will always retain their southern culture regardless of who moves to the area because they are ALL part of the South. They have all made strong contributions to southern culture and southern history in their own way...a few yankee transplants WILL NOT change that.
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