OT: Are You A Yankee Or a Dixie Speaking Person ??

[Guest guest]

Well, I reckon there's no question that I was born and raised in the heart

of North Carolina, huh?

Y'all come back now...ya hear???

 

So are you still there?? And where is that? I am in N. SC.... halfway between

Myrtle Beach and Columbia.

 

Neysa

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hey Nancy, Shelley .. other good folks ..

 

> 53% (Dixie). Barely into the Dixie category.

> Knew I was more southern by heart.

> Nancy

 

I firmly believe that most Americans who can trace their ancestry in

America for a couple or three generations are Suthran at heart to some

degree .. not so nor would it be normal for those who came in the last

generation. Most Americans can be Texican at heart when we read and

understand the history of the state .. and we consider Mexicans to be a

part of our heritage. We can share the feelings of being Suthran from

movies like Gone With The Wind and other old classics .. its all about

having a traditional lifestyle .. and this is something that is only

found in pockets in the North because the North is the Great Melting

Pot. Boston and Philadelphia and some of the other Northern cities can

boast of an old traditional lifestyle .. but most of that area is too

fluid and its not rare for folks to not know even the name of the folks

who live next door .. much less the language or the culture.

 

~Shelley~ wrote:

> 58% (Dixie). Barely into the Dixie category.

 

In early American history being Suthran was associated with being from

the Southeast USA .. then historically, being Suthran became associated

with the Confederacy .. which is unfortunate cause it leaves a bad taste

in the mouths of those who don't have a good grasp of American history.

There were states in the West that joined the Confederacy .. so its

not a geographic thing.

 

Today .. methinks .. being Suthran is a state of mind .. not a dialect

and not a geographic location. And .. traditionally, though they are

conservative by nature, about half or so of the Suthran folks consider

themselves as being Democrats. There's a reason behind this that goes

beyond political platforms .. it too has to do with tradition and what

Republicans and Democrats once stood for .. roles have been reversed in

modern times.

 

Western states have individual, unique histories which drive the culture

but generally speaking, they are the descendants of conservative rural

folks who went West seeking a better lifestyle .. and descendants of

many Suthran soldiers who had nothing left to return to after the war.

 

> I was born and raised in MO, moved to OK for 4 years, back to MO for a

> couple of years and off to FL since 1984, with a short move to TN (for 6

> years, left the last person that I had a wedding with, there) and back

> to FL. I think I'm confused.

 

I think you shouldn't be confused .. its not necessary to be from the

Deep South .. though it is grand .. ;-) to be a Suthraner and OK and TN

are certainly Suthran by lifestyle .. MO was Suthran in lifestyle even

though they were split politically during the war .. its not about the

Blue or the Grey .. though there is no doubt about what one was if they

wore the Gray. FL .. well .. like California .. Florida is another

country in many respects. ;-P

 

Texans were tough folks .. and descendants of the original Texicans

generally come with the bark on. Every square yard of land in Texas has

soaked up a lot of blood .. and following the war the Texicans were

treated like trash by the winners .. folks were dying of malnutrition

because all they had were long-horns with no way to get them to market.

The history of the movement West owes much to the enterprising Texicans

who began the trail drives .. and created markets .. which created need

for railroads. There are no Yankee Texicans.

 

> Perhaps that 6 years in Eastern TN (home of the polk [brown paper

> shopping bag] and toboggan [stocking hat]) accounts for that 8% Dixie.

> Six years in TN don't make ya fully suthrin, I reckon.

 

If you liked that 6 years in TN it sorta makes you Suthran .. leastways

it does in my eyes. Tennessee towns began as small settlements/trading

posts associated with Long Hunters .. which was an illegal venture as

Fat German Farmer King George had forbidden settlement on that side of

the mountains. Then they moved into the Bloody Ground of Kentucky and

for a long while TN-KY was the same area .. a province of Virginia ..

and for sure Suthran at heart.

 

East TN is Suthran by tradition .. folks who live a rural lifestyle or

are farmers or ranchers or mountain folks .. that's what Suthran is

really all about in modern times. Its about knowing your cousins and

your neighbors and your sheriff cause he's a home boy .. and living in

an area where those around you have lived for many generations and other

things associated with small town or rural type living as compared to

the hustle and bustle of the big city where the closest one gets to a

wild critter is seeing a rat or a pigeon. ;-P

 

Take Friendsville, Maryland .. in the Appalachians in that little NW

finger betwixt PA and WV .. almost touching both states. They are

definitely Suthran folks .. go into the only bar in town and see what is

playing on the jukebox. Lots of WV folks come over to Friendsville for

the white water and its comical to hear them joke with the locals from

Friendsville. Feller from Friendsville said Friendsville was in

Maryland because it was too far south to be in Pennsylvania and too

Redneck to be accepted by West Virginia. ;-)

 

> And in FL you're so far South that your North. Did I say I think I'm

> confused?

 

Nothing confusing about that. Florida is the haven for Yankees who are

tired of the cold weather. Suthran folks already have a home down South

so they don't gotta move to Florida. ;-P

 

But Nawthen Florida is a different matter .. around Chipley and that

area we find a traditional Suthran lifestyle .. I spent a good deal of

time there when I was stationed at Fort Benning a few centuries ago.

 

Was a time when lots of Suthran folk went North to work in the factories

but that became less of a requirement after the South industrialized so

today we don't find much movement to the North .. its the other way.

 

As for me .. when I retire-retire .. or maybe even before then, I plan

to live a rural lifestyle. Driving a half hour to the city is my kind

of living. Butch

 

> 2004...More, More, More!

> ~~~Shelley~~~

> There is M~O~R~E for me in 2004!

> Manifestation~Order~Restoration~Expectation