I’ve always held the belief that South Florida or much of peninsular Florida isn’t really Southern, but I wonder if that’s just because I hold on to a strong assumption of what the South is.
I’m starting to think that the South is much more nuanced than I and others have taken it to be.
If the understanding of the South is just rednecks, “y’all” the drawl, Dixie, Dukes of Hazzard, Confederacy, racism, etc, then yeah, South Florida isn’t really Southern.
But if the understanding of the South is that it is a place that had multiple cultural influences in the past and even today, than yes, Florida holds a special place in the puzzle of what the South is.
There are rednecks and “traditional” Southern culture in Florida, hence the historical term “ Florida Cracker”. But there are also African Americans, Cubans, Northeasterns, Jews, blonde beach people, Haitians, Jamaicans and other Anglo-Caribbeans, and a whole host of people that have shaped the way Florida is today.
Even when Florida was mainly “Southern”, it was one of the smaller Southern states in population and much of South Florida was empty aside from the small town of Key West. That may contribute to why people don’t consider it to be a part of the South. Personally, it’s up for interpretation.
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Working towards making American cities walkable again!
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