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Date Posted: 15:49:27 07/23/07 Mon
Author: Randy
Author Host/IP: cpe-66-25-204-230.sw.res.rr.com / 66.25.204.230
Subject: Re: Texas is not part of teh south!!!
In reply to: O'Bruadair 's message, "Re: Texas is not part of teh south!!!" on 20:34:39 07/22/07 Sun

>Interesting debate.
>
>What really makes it interesting to me though is the
>fact that an obviously intelligent native Texan would
>go to such lengths to try and deny that Texas is
>“Southern”. I know there are plenty of folks in the
>South (all parts of it) that will deny being
>“Southern” personally. I saw a poll recently that said
>only about 7 out of 10 residents of the eleven
>South-eastern states call themselves “Southern” (but
>then that means that only 3 out of ten don’t. Don’t
>it? Given the influx of folks from north of the Ohio
>and south of the Rio Grande in recent years should
>that be surprising?) I know too that Lyndon Johnson
>called himself a “westerner” (but he was just another
>craven politician trying to get elected wasn’t he?)

The poll you may be referring to is the Southern Focus poll in which respondents were asked two questions. The first was whether or not they considered themselves to live in the South, and the other was whether they personally considered themselves to be Southerners. In EVERY Southern and "border" state, there was a measurable gap between the affirmative responses to the two questions.

Averaged out over 14 years of polling data, of those states where a majority said they lived in the South (which had the effect of excluding many of the border states), the most noteable were those which had most of the type immigration you mention. Flordia was the most extreme example with 90% saying they lived in the South, but only 51% considering themselves to be Southerners. Virigina was also high with 82% and 60%. (Texas was 86% and 68%). But even in states like Mississippi and Alabama, a chasm existed. In the former it was 97/90 and in the latter, 98/88.

Even if this aggragate poll wasn't the one you were referring to, the results would seem similar though!

Interesting you mention LBJ. I was reading something on him a while back which stated that when he was actually running for president, he instructed his staff and campaign managers to emphasize the "western" aspects of Texas, and took to calling himself a westerner (except when in the South, of course! LOL).

As you suggested though, this was pretty well political expediency as in his later memoirs he seemed under no illusions about what he was and what Texas is. He wrote, "I did not believe any more than I ever had that the nation would unite under a Southern president...that the eastern seaboard press would not permit it...And Texas is part of the South -- in the sense it shares a common heritage and outlook that differs from the Northeast, Middle West, and Far West."


>Nevertheless denying that an entire Southern state is
>“Southern” is something entirely different. I really
>don’t give a good gosh darn what any individual calls
>himself/herself, be it Southerner, Westerner, Eskimo
>or Martian but why should it be so important to anyone
>that Texas not be considered Southern? Why should it
>matter? What is wrong with being Southern?

Personally, I'm purty darn proud of it! :-)

Thanks for your thoughts and observations. I enjoyed reading them!

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