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Originally Posted by BnaBreaker
Agreed completely. These sorts of discussions always strike me as absurd, because "southern" is a reference to geography. A southern state doesn't suddenly cease to be southern just because it may not fit perfectly into the box created for it by a non-southerner using arbitrary, rigid, and largely outdated stereotypes. We might as well be discussing whether Staten Island still qualifies as a New York borough because it went for Trump in the recent election. Sometimes I get the impression that some people from the East Coast view their region as some sort of exclusive club that is always looking for new members, and once a place is deemed 'acceptable' by those who think they know better, they start trying to recruit that place into their club, whether that place wants it or not.
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I agree as well. To me, the South is a geographical region of the US. That's what's it was, is, and always will be. That geographical meaning encompasses the different cultures within that region. In that sense, places like Virginia, Florida, Texas, etc are Southern despite not having the "Southern" culture in a complete sense anymore.
Since the South is mainly defined geographically, it can literally develop any way it wants and add to its history, just like all the other regions of the country.