And so what? Shit changes. I’ve lived in Northern Virginia for nearly 15 years now. I eat grits and I’ve eaten at the Waffle House and at Krispy Kreme, but I did all those things when I lived in Ohio. I don’t feel like I’m in the South, and the people I know and associate with don’t feel like they’re in the South either.
You’re wrong.
You want “official?” Here’s official:
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The United States Census Bureau includes Virginia in it’s “South” region.
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Virginia is south of the Mason-Dixon line.
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Virginia fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War.
How on earth can you say that it’s a “cultural concept?” The U.S. government says it’s in the South, for Christ’s sake!
I made the same 3 points before, but apparently you didn’t bother to read them. Or, you’re so bent on not being associated with the land of dueling banjos that you’re ignoring simple factual evidence.
You can make a case for certain Southern states not being “really the South” because point 3 doesn’t apply. And you can argue it about Texas, because, well, it’s Texas. But Virginia? It’s in the South.
You realize that only one of those is “the North”, right?
Yes, Northern Virginia is in the South. I think there is a Waffle House in Arlington, but I’m not sure how much that has to do with it.
Northern Virginians who do not like to associate with the term ‘Southern’ think that ‘South’ = conservative, racist, backwoods ideals. If you want to hold onto this misconception, don’t visit the Deep South. If you want to keep believing Northern Virginia is ‘the North’, don’t visit New England.
Yes our immigrant population is not traditionally Southern, but if you have a walk around a city in Northern VA, if you listen to the radio, if you look at the architecture, you will see all of these things are Southern. And if you think the attitude in Northern VA is not Southern you have a limited understanding of the South.
eta: I’m sorry if this post sounds a little disjointed, I’m very tired, just felt the need to add my two cents.
Hey, if you believe Sarah Palin, and I hear she’s quite popular in the South, if you live in Northern Virginia you don’t even live in America. Not the “real” one, anyway.
I must say, I’m REALLY enjoying this thread. As a person who has grown up in what is considered “The South” part of VA (Va Beach, yorktown, Williamsburg), I totally understand where the OP is coming from and I ALWAYS hated it.
Virginia is a Southern State. Plain and simple. For the reasons Green Bean mentioned. But when I went to college, almost EVERY person from NoVa had to do this. They had to specify to anyone they met that they were not from “Virginia” but from “No-Va”. It’s a common thing, NoVa special- it’s not a part of the South- the government jurisdiction and history be damned. At least now the State’s voted democratic in the last election so we’ve got that going for us, but it’s always been the same thing- NOVA residents seemed to really hate the association of being associated with “the South” and all that comes with it, as the “South” is a backwards, conservative religious bastion, but NoVa is the breath of fresh air that separates them from the rest of VA. :rolleyes:
So yeah, as soon as I read the OP, I understood where he was coming from just because he made that, but I’m glad to see others are pointing out the sheer ridiculousness of the statement. You’re in a Southern State, it’s not the End of the World. You can still point out you’re from NOVA and people at least here in VA will get it, but it got so old, hearing it constantly from the NoVA people in college whenever they had to introduce themselves…
Ro0sh, I’ve found that Northern Kentucky has some of the same issues…people from there will make a point of saying they are from NORTHERN Kentucky, lest you think they might be a hillbilly or something. What’s weirder, though, are the people I’ve met who insist that if you are from very north in Kentucky, right by the Ohio River, then you can’t say that you are “from Cincinnati,” even though you live 10 minutes from downtown Cincy, and your town is actually a suburb. Apparently, Northern Kentucky is a very touchy issue for some people!
It’s good to know the old values still hold. Sometimes, I dispair…
Oh, for fuck’s sake, I don’t hate the South. I just don’t identify with it.
Get out then, ya damn yankee.
I never considered myself to be in the South. Obviously.
My first impulse is to tell YOU to cite that the opinion of someone who ACTUALLY LIVES THERE has no bearing on the classification of a region, but then I realize that we are in IMHO, not GQ, where cites are not required. Perhaps you didn’t notice?
Oh, I noticed. But, the fact remains that we are here to fight ignorance and the OP clearly needs guidance in this matter.
What the hell did they think Hiroshima and Nagaskai were about? They are the only places that have ever had nuclear bombs dropped on them with the intention of killing a huge number of people. Did they think that the Americans chose those cities for fun?
Or are they just the sort of dipshits who can sail through life without absorbing any of the large amount of information that has been and continues to be provided about two of the most horrible things that have ever happened (irrespective of whether they were justified - that’s not for this thread)?
Actually I think you’ll find LOTR was NOT an allegory for WW2,I think that some one may have mentioned that Tolkien wrote about it in the foreword but I’m not sure…
Or maybe he said something about it in the foreword?
That’s not a jurisdictional definition. It’s merely a region marked for the convenience of data collection.
Which has absolutely no official implication.
That’s no longer official as of approximately a century and a half ago.
Actually, because it is. Everything that is identified with Southernness has to to with cultural perceptions.
And you’re taking this so personally that you’ve lost your sense of perspective.
I’ve heard of revisionist history, but claiming that Virginia didn’t join the Confederacy is a bit much…
Are you being intentionally obtuse? A jurisdiction that stopped existing in 1865 stopped being official as of 1865.
Of course I am. You responded to this:
…with this:
…which sounds like you’re saying Virginia didn’t officially fight for the Confederacy.
Just sayin’.
If I wanted to be really obtuse, I’d point out that the Confederacy never officially existed as a jurisdiction since secession was ruled to be illegal - and thus never happened.
I’m trying to imagine how this thread would go if someone were claiming that a certain part of Vermont wasn’t really New England.