So, just who is a Southerner? You reject the dictionary definition, and also seem to reject self-identification, with your emphasis on the label being applied by another person (your hypothetical journalist).
What is your definition? What makes one inarguably Southern?
The OP lived in the South at one time & wants everybody to know that he is not a Southerner! In his mind, Southerners are all rural white racists who fly the Confederate Battle Flag.
I vote we ignore his definitions & agree that he is not a Southerner. Let him be a proud Missourian! (Or whatever they are called.)
Yeah, one gets the feeling that SlackerInc has a very personal definition of “Southerner” (possibly formulated after one too many viewings of The Beverly Hillbillies), and would like very much to impose that definition on the rest of us.
Those of us who pronounce “pin” and “pen” in the same way.
Ha, I remember that really threw me when one of my schoolteachers in NC did that (and she was African American so there ya go).
Here’s a report of something I have always suspected is prevalent in public schools in the Deep South, especially in smaller towns and rural areas. Would be interested in hearing from Southerners as to whether they dispute this or think it is relatively rare or more common.
I’ve never heard if it. I went to the Little Rock public schools, and my Mother taught there and in Tennessee.
Neither are Deep South though.
It does happen in small towns in the Deep South. Here is the thing though. My home town and school were 100% Christian and it wasn’t like anyone else was actively kept out. There just weren’t any other religious groups around so there was never anyone that complained about general religious messages in public school.
We were taught to respect different religious viewpoints however and would not allow any one group to make a big push for their particular flavor. Southern Baptists were the white majority and they tended to be the loudest while more moderate denominations like the Methodists (most of the teachers and administration including my family) kept a lower religious profile. We also had many true Fundamentalists (Church of Christ, Pentecostals) and a few Catholics. The black families were almost all really religious and their whole lives were centered around their church but the churches were generally segregated and quite different in style. I went to black church services many times for different reasons and never felt unwelcome there at all even though I couldn’t sing like they could.
I am not sure what would have happened if a Jewish or Muslim family showed up and complained about the openly Christian aspects of a public school. A Jewish family could probably be accommodated quite well because the fundamentalists always had a soft spot for the Jewish people. Muslims, not so much and being openly atheist (and especially a complainer) would not go over well at all to this day. I am agnostic myself but I never admit that to anyone back home.
[QUOTE=Voltaire]
Sorry, no. You might live in the southern half of Florida, but you definitely do not live in South Florida.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=wiki]
As with all vernacular regions, South Florida has no official boundaries or status, and is defined differently by different sources.
[/QUOTE]
As far as “South Florida not being considered The South”, many people in different areas of South Florida do in fact identify as southerners based on customs, agriculture, food, and dialects that are usually associated with the label “Southerner”. Again, not sure what you’re on about. You can tell everyone in South Florida than none of them are actual authentic southerners, but you might get some funny looks.
I wasn’t trying to convince you either, Volatire. My grits taste just the same whether you agree with me or not. USF is imprecisely and generically named?
It was certainly true where I grew up (all-white town of approximately 600 people in rural Alabama.) I graduated from high school in 1986 so these incidents took place between 1980-82. These are two that stand out in my mind:
6th grade-My teacher was a very devout Christian (Church of God.) When it came time to teach about the origin of the universe/Big Bang Theory we first read what the science book said. Then she had a student who attended her church read the creation story from Genesis to the class. When we were tested on this the question was “How do men (or scientists, I can’t remember the wording) say that the world was created?”
8th grade- I remember that the home room teacher always began every morning with a Christian devotional before the bell rang for first period.
Many people *everywhere *might identify as Southerners based on customs, agriculture, food and dialects, but that still doesn’t make *everywhere *part of The South. I never said that there weren’t some people who identify as Southerners in South Florida - there are people who identify as Southerners lots of places. But where they’re a distinct minority, they don’t just get to claim and name territory, thankfully.
And again, out of context quotes from a wiki that completely agrees with what I’ve said won’t go very far. Please quote what that same wiki lists as the part of “South Florida” that’s nearest to your town. And no, not this same line you bolded previously:
*“**Some respondents from as far northwest as the southern Tampa Bay area identified their region as being in South Florida rather than South West or Central Florida.”
***…where it’s obvious that they’re talking about some outliers *“as far northwest” *(like you) who for some reason still identify their region unconventionally, rather than the much more appropriate “South West or Central Florida” that much more accurately indicates the region where they really live, which has little in common with actual South Florida.
I guess there’s no point in either of us trying to convince the other, but at least I have consensus and reality on my side. 
As for grits, I’ve lived in South Florida my whole life, and not only have I never *had *grits, I’ve never even *seen *grits. My loss, I’m sure, but I did have fried chicken and waffles for the first time a few weeks ago when I ventured as far north as West Palm! 
And finally, as for USF’s anachronistic name, it was founded in the 1950’s, when southern Florida was mostly undeveloped swampland. Back then, its name probably was cromulent enough, if still a bit of a stretch. You may not have noticed, but Florida has changed *quite *a bit since then… well, at least *South *Florida has! 
I think we’ve discussed this before, and concluded that fried chicken and waffles are not actually a Southern thing. I grew up in the Deep South and never heard of it or encountered it until the 1990s.
My recollection from the previous thread is that we concluded that fried chicken and waffles as a combo started somewhere in the black diaspora outside the South, possibly in California.
This is the first I’ve heard of it.
I never saw grits until I was in grade school, somewhere in Tennessee, I believe.
I graduated high school in 1966; do the math. We lived in an unincorporated ural area (now part of Houston’s urban sprawl) but the school district belonged to a Sundown City. Most of the students were Fundamentalist Protestant and some Not So Fundamentalist. My family & the Mexican kids were among the few Catholics. (Mexican was counted as Sort of White.) In Junior High, we had a Jewish family–which I considered very cool.
We began each day with the Pledge of Allegiance & (in the early years) “My Country 'tis of Thee.” No regular prayers or Bible study. No proselytizing.
We did have a Christmas Pageant–which the Seventh Day Adventists sat out. One year, our music teacher had us sing a verse from “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”–the one that begins “In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea” in support of Civil Rights. I don’t think all the audience caught on.
Occasionally Brother Whatshisname from one of the local congregations would give an “invocation” for a very special event–usually a football game. They said the Our Father wrong & a Hail Mary would have given them palpitations…
Now the district has some blacks, a Hispanic majority & a good sprinkling of Asians.
Not in my experince, no. I was in school in the South from 1979-1992.
Bridget and Labrador, Deep South or just South?
Thanks for providing confirmation. But as an agnostic, doesn’t this take some of the lustre off of your beloved South? I find the very notion of schools operating this way maddening. As you say, if a single atheist comes in and tries to rock the boat, they are going to face a serious shitstorm. That is not at all cool in my book.
My answers, without looking:
No. Floridians, as a rule, are not considered Southerners. And they don’t sound like them, so there’s no way knowing where they are from makes a difference.
Yes. The accent would actually let them know where he’s from, more than likely.
They are Southerners, but it is unlikely that they would be described as such, even with the accent. Racial status will take precedent. If they are described as Southerners, race will also be mentioned.
Nope. see (1) This one’s even worse, since Jewish people in Florida are assumed to be from up north.
Unlikely. Refugee and racial status take precedent. They may or may not actually be Southerners, depending on how long the parents lived in Atlanta, and how well the kid appropriated.
Almost certainly not a Southerner but he would be assumed to be one without full knowledge of his past. Parents would not be so considered.
Having looked, I’m willing to capitulate that the Floridian comment is too broad. I’ve heard all my life that Floridians aren’t really southern, but it’s okay if that only applies to South Floridians. But I still say the accent is important.
I also have no idea if I personally am a Southerner. I live in Northern Arkansas, but have a Southern Missouri accent that I try to neutralize as much as possible. I pronounce “pin” and “pen” differently, but this is because of phonics lessons in school. I would get in trouble for saying things incorrectly.
Best answer in the thread IMO.