Which states do you consider The South? (home, best)

[Spade]

We're just going to have to agree to disagree, mpope. most Texans would tell you that San Antonio is not really a southern city .but moreso southwestern or Texan along with Austin. You may have country cousins in San Antonio. Hell I got country cousins in chicago but they are simply midwest. Also, St.Louis is a green city and sits on a gulf coast river, does that make them southern. And no, I've been to El Paso and San Antonio. The feel of both cities are not much different but SA just has a larger white and black population base.

The churchs in the Hampton Roads and Richmond and Roaknoke are the same as the south. The dialect is different but the dialect in Florida is different than the dialect in Texas. When you visited virginia, were you in the northern part of the state...that kind of clouds your judgement on whether va is south or not if so. to t his Texan, virginia is a southern state regardless.

Excuse my typing. this keyboard is done.

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by Spade

We're just going to have to agree to disagree, mpope. most Texans would tell you that San Antonio is not really a southern city.

Well I've always agreed to disagree, but I wouldn't say that most Texans feel that way. I could find you a good deal of people who know the difference between southwestern and Mexican. And I could find you some Mexicans who can tell you the difference between the Hispanics of SA and the Hispanics of El Paso, New Mexico, or Arizona.

You may have country cousins in San Antonio. Hell I got country cousins in chicago but they are simply midwest.

I meant southern country. Born and raised in northeastside San Antonio, Texas.

As for everything else, well, you have the right to believe what you want, as do I. And I usually don't like to discuss things like this when I know someone's going to disagree with me, but I've always challenged other people's opinions when it just doesn't make sense to me. Virginia will never be southern to me, or anyone I know. And yes I was in the southern half of the state. It just doesn't make the cut for this southern chic.

But like I said, the only states there can be no dispute about are Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, NC, and SC.

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by mpope409

But like I said, the only states there can be no dispute about are Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, NC, and SC.

What about Tennessee?

[anonymous]

Originally Posted by lammius

but as a VA native I LOL at the thought of anyone considering VA anything other than a Southern state.

I hate to tell you, but you'd be LOL-ing pretty hard if you talked to people from the deep south. Most people from Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, etc. would tell you that Virginia isn't part of the south anymore. And before you go into a diatribe about Virginia's role in the Civil War (as most Virginians do) - I really don't care about the debate, I'm just telling you what's considered a common opinion.

[caution]

Being born in the deep south, my first answer would be "anywhere you can probably go barefoot outside most months of the year." Of course that's not realistic and it eliminates a good chunk of what most consider southern.

I've also found that the "good things" from the south can be found anywhere people consider themselves "country" or rural. The big cities in the south seem about as friendly as the ones in the north these days.

Southern is a state of mind.

[anonymous]

Originally Posted by Spade

I guess everything is relative. I have to correct people on their misconceptions about Texas everytime. Many don't consider Texas a southern state and many do. I love the old quote that I see on various message boards. "Texas isn't southern or western. Texas is Texas."

In reference to the quote, that's definitely the truth. East Texas seems very similar to the 'deep south', to me, but my friends and acquaintances from TX are very adamant that Texas is not southern. So, I take their word for it.

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by ColdCanadian

What about Tennessee?

And Tennessee, my mistake.

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by anonymous

In reference to the quote, that's definitely the truth. East Texas seems very similar to the 'deep south', to me, but my friends and acquaintances from TX are very adamant that Texas is not southern. So, I take their word for it.

Texas is always a hard one because half of it seems to sit in the south, and the other half sits in the west. It's so big that a lot of people consider it its own area. Still, there's no mistaking that from central and south central Texas on east, it's mostly southern and Mexican. The state is also a destination for other countries and countless nationalities, so when you weld all that together, the state forms its own culture and identity. The same way New York and California do.

So the way New York helped introduce more Americanized versions of Italian or Chinese food, West Texas is no longer mostly southwestern cuisine and the rest of Texas is no longer just southern cuisine. The state now has Tex-Mex, which you will find even in the parts of the state where there is not many Mexicans.

[Mississippienne]

As for adamantly Southern, as in no one could possibly deny the state's Southerness, the choices would be Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas.

I would count in Kentucky, parts of Texas and parts of Arkansas, and the Florida panhandle. I've lived all over the North and the South, I lived for two years in MD, and it didn't "feel" Southern until I crossed the state line into NC. WV came close, but didn't feel quite Southern either, although it's not a lot like VA or MD.

[TerrySRA]

Upper South
Delaware
Maryland
West Virginia
Virginia
Kentucky
North Carolina
Tennesee
Arkansas


Deep South
South Carolina
Georgia
Louisiana
Mississippi
Alabama
Florida

If I could include parts of states, then I'd put the southern half of Missouri, southeast Texas, and Cape May county NJ as well.