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Because it doesn't fit the typical pattern of a southern state. It is disqualified on the basis of:
a. It fought for the north in the civil war.
b. It is only 3% black.
West Virginia is the only Southern state that is primarily located in the mountains or in the nearby hilly plateaus. Other states have parts of their territory in the mountains such as western North Carolina, northern Georgia or eastern Tennessee. And you would find those areas to be traditionally mostly white like West Virginia.
YES! I have in laws in WV and its very southern...I love the state personally...very rural and country its a great place.
I can easily see why many people who love the mountains, forests and open space and who don't want to live in a city or near one, would love West Virginia.
Unless being a former slave state is a core part of what makes an area southern, yes it is. Same culture as the rest of the Appalachians and same migration patterns, settled by basically the same stock. Southeastern Ohio, southern Indiana and Illinois are even southern to an extent. Of course though the border states and Appalachia aren't culturally the same as the deep south. So West Virginia is southern in a general sense, yes.
In saying that, the panhandle attracted more industrial era European immigrants and is generally a bit more like the Rust Belt.
Last edited by Sancho Romney; 01-13-2012 at 11:08 AM..
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus
Weak response. No southern state is 95% white. The south is DEFINED by its race relations.
What a ridiculous statement. So you're saying any part of the South that doesn't have significant numbers of blacks isn't Southern. Tell Dolly Parton the Great Smokies aren't Southern because they aren't very black.
I associate West Va with a history of strong labor unionism. The South by contrast, was opposed to labor unions. Also, many of the West Va coal miners were Italians - not only in the north-central area, but even in the far south of West Va, like singer Kathy Mattea (this is shown in the movie "Matewan"). In this respect, it's like the North. It's also hard to imagine a southern state electing someone like West Va's late Democratic Senator Robert Byrd.
I agree, West Virginia is politically more liberal than the rest of the modern South. There is no death penalty here and there is not actual ban on gay marriage. The unions are actually still very powerful, and our taxes are very high compared to most southern states, including the 12th highest gas tax. Here in Charleston the city is run by liberals and RINOs - there are ridiculous city gun laws that thankfully the state overturned and a work tax for people who work in the city but commute from the suburbs. Our governor and our Senators are all big fans of Obama and are enthusiastic about Obamacare. Governor Tomblin even raised the Medicaid level in anticipation of obamacare.
However the OLD South would have elected Robert Byrd. He was a Klansman, after all. The new South is electing people like Bobby Jindal, Nikki Haley, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Allen West.
I agree, West Virginia is politically more liberal than the rest of the modern South. There is no death penalty here and there is not actual ban on gay marriage. The unions are actually still very powerful, and our taxes are very high compared to most southern states, including the 12th highest gas tax. Here in Charleston the city is run by liberals and RINOs - there are ridiculous city gun laws that thankfully the state overturned and a work tax for people who work in the city but commute from the suburbs. Our governor and our Senators are all big fans of Obama and are enthusiastic about Obamacare. Governor Tomblin even raised the Medicaid level in anticipation of obamacare.
West Virginia is the most socially conservative state in the Union.
West Virginia was also the only state in which Barack Obama failed to win a single county during the Democratic primary. Obama did so poorly in West Virginia that a felon beat him 10 counties there.
Banjo, West Virginia leans conservative on social issues (though there is no death penalty and no gay marriage ban) I dontI would say that its fiscally liberal. The high taxes and the Obamacare support, and the Medicaid expansion are liberal things. I don't think WV is more socially conservative than Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, or Utah. Obama also lost every single county in Utah and Oklahoma.
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