You Don't Know Dixie

[Mike Cruz]

Ya'll watchin' this? Show about the South. Funny thing is that they seem to be contradicting themselves on what the "South" is. First they include southern Virginia, then all the way up through PA. They include Texas, but say it isn't really the South. Huh? Some celebrity, acutally, it was Trace Atkins...a country singer...says that Kentucky isn't the South. What? I mean, I'm in Maryland. The Mason Dixon line is the northern border of Maryland. Technically, we are the South. Realistically, we are a border state. PA is definitely North. VA is definitely South. Kentucky? How could that be considered the North? Many of ya'll in the South have geographically screwed up virtual cranial maps. Funny, though, when the question was brought up about Texas on the show, my wife uttered, " You know, Texas is just Texas." Funny thing is, I kinda consider Texas to be a border state, too. It is the South, but it is also a border state between the South and the West.

Hey, have fun with this. It isn't meant to rile anyone up. I don't mean disrespect to anyone. Of course, I mention Southerners having a skewed view of what the South is, but many of those in New York and north think of Maryland as a Southern State. While technically, they are right, based on the M/D line, that puts DC in the South. We are a border state...simple.

[Walter Plummer]

I have not seen the show. Are they talking the Confederacy? Kentucky was Yankee. West Virginia became West Virginia because they were part of the industrialized "North". Southern Maryland probably would have been Confederate if they had not been heavily occupied by the North to prevent attacks on D.C. by water. Geographically though I agree with you. The south is everything from Texas to PA. and south of Ohio.

[Bill Huber]

The way I see the program is has really nothing to do with the Civil War, it is just the southern states. Like Florida its way south but its not like one of the southern states that they are talking about.

Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, North and South Carolina are the real southern states I think they are talking about.

[Mike Cruz]

Bill, sorry if I gave the impression that this is a Civil War show...far from it. It is all about what makes the South the South. Moonshine, the people, moonshine, history, moonshine, traditions, moonshine, misconceptions, and did I mention moonshine?

But are Tennessee and Kentucky really not considered the South by Southernerns (those from southern states other than TN and KY, of course). I have a friend that grew up in my area that married a TN lass. Her family calls him nothing buy Yankee.

[Norman Hitt]

"To MY knowledge", Texas was never really considered to be in anything but the Southwest, whereas what was considered the Dominant "South" States were primarily the Plantation States, ie; La, Ms, Al, N. Car, & S. Car.
Ft. Worth, Tx has always touted "Ft. Worth, Where the West begins". Of course, way back, you would sometimes hear and/or read references to the South, and then additionally to The Deep South, meaning the Plantation States.

[John Fabre]

Trace Atkins should watch "How The States Got Their Shapes"

[Mike Cruz]

Great show, too, John.

[Dan Hintz]

"South" is a state of mind and type of personality, not a location... therefore the boundaries can vastly change based upon who's doin' the talkin'.

[Ed Griner]

How about South Jersey?

[Keith Outten]

Basically there is a geographic South and then there is Dixie which is defined as the states that formed the Confederate States of America.
When natural born Southerners say "The South" they mean Dixie.

I watched the show last night and I thought it was entertaining. The contradictions reinforced my personal opinion that a large percentage of Americans don't know anything about the history of their state or their country which is very sad.
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[Perry Holbrook]

When I worked for a company in Baltimore area, they would insist they were southern, because they were below the M/D line. I tried my best to get them to understand that being Southern was not about geography, but about a way of life/attitude/character,etc. When they finally spent some time with me traveling thru the southeast they finally understood.

FWIW, I would say (with a few exceptions) all of NC, SC, AL, MS, GA (not Atlanta), Western VA, rural FL, and parts of KY and WV are what I have found to be The South.

Perry

[Belinda Barfield]

The South encompasses NC, SC, AL, MS, LA, GA (not Atlanta). Florida is just Florida. Texas is Texas. While Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky are technically the south, around here we consider them the mountain states. There is a lot of cultural crossover between the deep south and the mountain states, but there are a lot of cultural differences as well. Truly, being Southern is a state of mind.

[ray hampton]

to answer Belinda , KY & Tennessee are mountainous in the East and swamps in the western part of the two states , if you can talk to the cypress trees I think that they would call western KY part of the south

[Don Buck]

+1 on its really the state of mind more than the geographical location. I've often used the grit factor to determine if I was in the South or not. If grits aren't part of the breakfast (or at least offer or listed on the menu) in a "Southern" non-fast food restaurant then I may not be in Dixie...

To further complicate the issue but to keep it wood related, the National Hardwood Lumber Association classifies "Southern" hardwood production to the eastern regions of VA & NC, most of SC, GA & AL, all of FL, MS, LA, AR, eastern OK & TX and western TN.

One of my favorite local restraurants here in Lexington (The Southern Inn) serves grits with their Sunday brunch and often spiced up as a side dish with the evening meal. As a woodworker whose home shop is less than 75 yards from the grave site of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and about 10 blocks from the final resting spot for General Robert E. Lee, I will classify my shop as having Southern exposure.

[Bryan Morgan]

"South" is a state of mind and type of personality, not a location... therefore the boundaries can vastly change based upon who's doin' the talkin'.

I think thats part of what the show is about... I only watched some of it but I have it TIvod and will watch the rest later.

Heck, I'm in SOUTHERN California and people always call me a redneck southerner type because of my love of NASCAR, guns, and freedom.