What is the Deep South ?

[Kringla Heimsins]

I'm curious how Americans from different parts of the country view the Deep South!

[TDAS04]

South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana are the Deep South States.  If it was a state, northern Florida would also count for cultural and political reasons, and because it's geographically attached to the area.  Portions of Arkansas and North Carolina could possibly count, but those are Upper Southern states overall.

[nicholas.slaydon]

Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Alabama and Mississippi form the Deepest of the Deep South, but some other areas can be attached on, including Georgia (outside of Atlanta and the Appalachians), Louisiana (outside of New Orleans and Cajun Country), most of South Carolina, the Florida Panhandle, and perhaps West Tennessee and parts of Arkansas.

[jimrtex]

Pensacola, Tallahassee, and Jacksonville preclude Northern Florida from being Deep South.

[RI]

Pensacola, Tallahassee, and Jacksonville preclude Northern Florida from being Deep South.

Pensacola seems pretty Deep South to me. How is it different from Biloxi or Mobile?

[OneJ]

Ideally, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and South Carolina.

-All 5 of theses states have a Black population that's at least 25% (MS, GA, LA at >30%). The black percentage is growing (except for SC).

-Religion plays a significant role in these states.

-Female Persons make up 51.1%-51.6% of the populations.

-All the states end in "a" (except the Magnolia state).

-History (Slavery, Confederacy vs. Union, hotspots for Civil Rights Era, etc.)

-Accent/Dialect kinda similar.

-High Incarceration rates (SC isn't nearly as high as the other 4 though; LA is highest)

-Weather

-Aren't seriously contested in federal elections.

-High obesity rates (MS at #3)

-Schools get bad rep (LA has worst system according to WalletHub among all 50 states + DC)

Anything else I missed?

[jimrtex]

Pensacola, Tallahassee, and Jacksonville preclude Northern Florida from being Deep South.

Pensacola seems pretty Deep South to me. How is it different from Biloxi or Mobile?

Biloxi and Mobile get included because they are a relatively small part of Mississippi and Alabama, and Pensacola is characterized by the Navy presence.

[Goldwater]

Probably Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Though I wonder if, in a modern context, inland vs. coastal would be a more meaningful divide of the south.

[Cubby]

Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Georgia
South Carolina

Northern Florida: From Pensacola to Gainesville, but I'm not sure if Jacksonville or Ocala get included

St. Augustine & Daytona Beach are not Deep Southern.

On the Gulf Coast, everything north of Citrus County

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, easy peasy

East Texas is similar to places like Northern Louisiana.
Northern Florida also counts, everything north, of say, Ocala.

[(Still) muted by Kalwejt until March 31]

The McCain and Goldwater-voting part of South Carolina in the 2008 primary, the Huckabee and Goldwater-voting part of Louisiana in the 2008 primary, most of Alabama (except some northern counties), most of northern Florida, all of Mississippi but the very northeastern corner, the McCain 2008 primary-voting part of Georgia.

[White Trash]

Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, easy peasy

East Texas is similar to places like Northern Louisiana.
Northern Florida also counts, everything north, of say, Ocala.

Having live in Central Florida, I've say that some of the rural areas in  western Orange and Lake counties are pretty Southern.

[Del Tachi]

Probably Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Though I wonder if, in a modern context, inland vs. coastal would be a more meaningful divide of the south.

Only if you're talking about the national red/blue divide.  There's still plenty of differences in demographics, ancestry, dialect, and culture between Eastern Tennessee and the Mississippi Delta to justify a "Deep South" vs. "Upper South" division.

To answer the question I would define the contemporary "Deep South" as something like the following:

So basically you have the Arkansas Delta, the Louisiana Delta + Baton Rouge/North Shore, all of Mississippi except the extreme northeastern portion (Tupelo), extreme southwestern Tennessee (Memphis), Alabama south of Birmingham/I-20, Georgia (except for Metro Atlanta and North Georgia), Lowland and central South Carolina, heavily Black counties in southeastern North Carolina, and the Florida panhandle.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Probably Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Though I wonder if, in a modern context, inland vs. coastal would be a more meaningful divide of the south.

Only in a political context.  Looking beyond the red/blue divide, there are still plenty of glaring differences between the Deep South (Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia) and the Upper South (Tenn, Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia) in demographics, ancestry, language, and culture.

If we're going to mention just three states, I'm not sure that Georgia should count, given the growth of Atlanta.  Alabama and Mississippi alone stick out above everything else as the most Southern.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Probably Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Though I wonder if, in a modern context, inland vs. coastal would be a more meaningful divide of the south.

Only if you're talking about the national red/blue divide.  There's still plenty of differences in demographics, ancestry, dialect, and culture between Eastern Tennessee and the Mississippi Delta to justify a "Deep South" vs. "Upper South" division.

To answer the question I would define the contemporary "Deep South" as something like the following:

So basically you have the Arkansas Delta, the Louisiana Delta + Baton Rouge/North Shore, all of Mississippi except the extreme northeastern portion (Tupelo), extreme southwestern Tennessee (Memphis), Alabama south of Birmingham/I-20, Georgia (except for Metro Atlanta and North Georgia), Lowland and central South Carolina, heavily Black counties in southeastern North Carolina, and the Florida panhandle.

^I pretty much agree with the definition in this map, and so excluded LA. But other than that I'm pretty much with the consensus here.