Where does "The South"(tm) begin in the U.S.?

[Caliga]

Ironic given that most fought for the Union.

Alot of people here don't seem to realize this, actually.  I see a fair number of Confederate bumper stickers on cars (ok, let's be honest: trucks with oversized tires) in my home county, and Quantrill and his Confederate raiders actually burned the county courthouse in our county.  In fact, he was ambushed and killed here even.

[Valmy]

Ironic given that most fought for the Union.

You doubt the accuracy of a film that portrays Don Haskins as a good looking skinny guy?

[Caliga]

I presume the reason you didn't see it was because you hate black people.

I love the blacks.

[jimmy olsen]

Ironic given that most fought for the Union.

Alot of people here don't seem to realize this, actually.  I see a fair number of Confederate bumper stickers on cars (ok, let's be honest: trucks with oversized tires) in my home county, and Quantrill and his Confederate raiders actually burned the county courthouse in our county.  In fact, he was ambushed and killed here even.

40% of the white population did fight for the Confederacy and their descendants are still there. I'm going to take a guess and say a fair number doesn't equate to 40%.

[garbon]

Well, I can say from experience that people in Boston are definitely more racist than people here. 

What does that have to do with anything?

[katmai]

South begins at the Michigan/Ohio border.  That's all "down south" to us.  Then there's "really down south" and of course "deep south."

Pfft.

Everyone in Yukon knows that the "south" starts at 60 degrees latitude.

Beeb is a southerner to me.

[derspiess]

Well, I can say from experience that people in Boston are definitely more racist than people here. 

I saw Glory Road.  Kentuckians are racist Confederate flag wavers.

  That movie didn't go over too well with Kentuckians in my office.

[dps]

another factor that defines the South:

I like that map, particularly because it bolsters my contention that West Virginia isn't part of the south, but I still prefer the grits test.

[Ed Anger]

5 quatloos that Tim posts that fucking Soda map.

[stjaba]

Re: Florida

Most people say the South stops around Gainesville or Ocala(ie just Northern Florida), which is a good approximation, but not entirely accurate. The northern part of the state is southern, but the South extends into the southern interior of the state. The coasts and cities and suburbs are obviously excluded, but there's rural Southern parts of the state pretty far south.

[MadImmortalMan]

What's the deal with Esmeralda County in Nevada? There's only like 900 people in the whole place. Must be some sort of Baptist summer camp in the desert there...

[dps]

What's the deal with Esmeralda County in Nevada? There's only like 900 people in the whole place. Must be some sort of Baptist summer camp in the desert there...

The one that caught my eye was the one county in Nebraska that's over 50% Baptist.  In a county of under 1000 people, one family can make a huge difference in the demographs.  Of course, that county in Nebraska could also be under 1000, but it's less likely than one in the desert.

[Razgovory]

Missouri (Ozarks, bootheel),

Heh.  Actually it's the northern part of the state that is more like the south.  In fact it's called "Little Dixie".  The Ozarks were a Union stronghold here (people were to poor to own slaves).  Areas with lots of Germans (like where I live) went Union. 

General Lyon is my hero.  If he hadn't died so early he'd have led the US to victory in 63.

[Lettow77]

The core of the South is Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina. Tennessee, North Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, Texas and Virginia are also Southern. Kentucky, Oklahoma, Missouri constitute the fringes of Southern civilisation, where one might reasonably find a Southern holdout.

Notes: East TN, Ozarks are mountain folk without loyalties to the South. An indiginous problem.
southern florida, northern virginia are saturated with yankees without loyalties to the south. A foreign problem.
Texas tends to consider itself Texan, rather than Southern. This attitude of independence is part of their Southern identity.

Increasingly, Georgia and North Carolina are receiving an influx of damnyankees, a problem that plagues the entire South to a lesser degree. It is hoped this will not expand- We lost Missouri to this two centuries ago, and we have lost considerable parts of Florida and Virginia in this century gone by. The South's cultural borders are shrinking.

[jimmy olsen]

Can you truly comprehend that quote in your signature? I doubt it.