Deep South

There are times when I hate the Internet.  Specifically, I am talking about Facebook, X (nee Twitter) and Instagram.  Anyone with a keyboard, no matter their degree of intelligence or lack thereof, can write (type) anything they want, and pass it off as gospel, no matter how ridiculous it seems or untrue it is.

But then again, there are times when a post is made, and it prompts genuine discussion.  Counterpoints are made, discussion is civil, it is good reading.  The discussion may be Biblical, about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the weather, baseball, or who has the best tacos.  Folks can be passionate without being rude.  I like that.  (Did you catch that, Baseball, God and Tacos all in the same sentence.)

The other day, while I was perusing Instagram, I came upon a post by unimaps.world.  It showed a map of the United States.  The question posed to readers like myself was "What is the Deep South?"

Each state was one of four colors.  The states they considered the "Deep South" were colored red.  Other states just considered the "South" were orange, while states they considered "Partly South" were yellow.  Everybody else was green.

According to whosever opinion this was, had the 50 states divided thusly.

Deep South (4) - Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina

South (6) - Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas

Partly South (4) - Kentucky, Oklahoma, Virginia, and West Virginia

Not South (36) - Everybody else

I'm almost 68 years old.  I was born in Louisiana.  I have lived in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Missouri.  I have spent considerable time in Georgia, South Carolina and Texas.  Let's face it, I love college football, I like to fish, tornadoes fascinate me, I go to church regularly, I love cornbread and beans, collards and coconut cream pie.  I think the Southern Living Cookbook belongs in every kitchen, Lewis Grizzard is the funniest writer who ever lived, and you should call your momma every single day if she is still alive.

So in my own humble opinion, I feel I am more than qualified to separate the wheat from the chaff.  In other words, what states should be considered deep south, south, partly south, or Yankees.

I should add, whoever put this list together I will giver kudos to.  For the most part, I think they did a credible job of deciding who's who.  But I have a few changes to make.

First in the "Deep South" category.  I really debated about this because I love South Carolina.  It is my second favorite state (after Alabama), and I literally would move there tomorrow if given the opportunity.  But I don't think of South Carolina as the deep south.  It is simply the south.  So if I were making this map, South Carolina gets moved to another category.

Secondly let's visit the "South".  First, I want to the ability to divide states, and will start by dividing Florida.  Everything north of I-4 will remain in the south.  But south of I-4 is no more southern than Connecticut or Wyoming.  Secondly, I am moving Virginia to the South with the exception of the D.C. metropolitan area.  That area is just, well, no southerner worth his bacon grease would want to live there.  But (with no urging from my brother or sister-in-law), I am welcoming most of Virginia back to the South.

Ok, finally we have the "Partly South," and I have some serious editing to do.  I'm going to redraw lines faster than Mason and Dixon.  I am adding Maryland to the partly south.  I really thought long hard about this, but to be fair, they belong.  Moving west, my home state of Missouri, where I have spent 32 of my nearly 68 years.  Everything south of the Missouri River, which runs across the state from Kansas City to St. Louis, everything south of it will be welcomed into the "Partly South" category.  Southern Missouri is very southern, they grow rice and cotton, are nice to their neighbors and use all their fingers when they wave.  They definitely belong in the partly southern category.  Northern Missouri?  Leave them where they are.

I'm not quite finished yet.  Oklahoma is not the south.  It is the southwest.  Ok, they have tornadoes, I'll give you that, but I can't think of anything southern about them, and why we let OU into the SEC is beyond me.  Finally, we come to the big enchilada, Texas.  Most of Texas is like Oklahoma.  I know some of my Texas relatives will put a contract out on me for saying that, but really, when you think of Texas, do you think it is more like Georgia or more like Oklahoma or New Mexico?  I rest my case.  Sure, I know they were one of the 11 who thought it was a good idea to start their own country, but still.  So here is what I'm going to do.  Like Florida, Missouri and Virginia, I'm going to divide it.  Everything east of I-35 will remain in the "Partly South," while everything west of I-35, yes that includes you Fort Worth will be classified as "Not South."

I should add as of Thursday afternoon, there were over 2,000 comments, some of which were passionate pleas, while some were just downright hostile.  We are all protective of where we live.

So let's review, here is my updated, what is the "Deep South?"

Deep South (3) - Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi

South (7) - Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, North Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia (except DC metro area)

Partly South (5) - East Texas, Kentucky, Maryland, Southern Missouri, and West Virginia

Not South (39) - Everybody else

Feel free to comment about my re-classifications and let me know what you think.

Have a wonderful Thursday evening and be kind to each other