My colleague and friend Matt Shipman expertly explores what is the geographic location of The South in a new piece over at Bitter Southerner.
Definitions of the South tend to be intensely personal…Your South may not seem much like mine. It may be college football and azaleas, Flannery O’Connor and moonshine. We’re both probably right.
The defining of The South is a topic I have struggled with quantitatively here…a lot. In some cases, like the number of citizens approving the teaching of evolution in the classroom, science standards, dominance of Southern Baptists, childhood obesity, and even alligator attacks, it easy to distinguish The South. However, despite my preconceived notions on what it is to be Southern, like casual drinking, The South is not special.
Clearly, as Matt so well articulates is that The South and to be Southern is multifaceted in part reflecting the amazing cultural diversity that this region actually represents.
As I reflect on Southerness, perhaps the most defining characteristic of a Southerner is the tendencies to claim that a specific region of the South has the best barbecue (by the way it is Memphis for pork and Texas for brisket), the willingness to declare this claim loudly, and argue with anybody who challenges it.