A recent study by researchers at Vanderbilt University reports a decline in the number of Americans identifying themselves as Southerners.
Between 1991-2001, the number of people living in the South who consider themselves Southern dropped by 7.4 percent, from about 78 to 70 percent.
Vanderbilt Sociology Prof. Larry Griffin and graduate student Ashley Thompson conducted the study from research gathered at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Griffin and Thompson analyzed 19 polls of 17,600 people living in 13 Southern states.
The decline spanned various ethnic and age groups, races and genders. The only groups to maintain their level of Southern identification were Republicans, political conservatives and the wealthy.
"These sociologically connected groups clearly believe that the South does represent who they are," Griffin said.
Republicans maintained a 74 percent identification rate while political conservatives stayed at 78 percent and the wealthy at 69 percent.
African Americans' identification as Southerners declined less than the average.
"African Americans fought so long to be part of the region and bled so deeply for the South, that they now understand themselves as Southerners, seeing the region as theirs as much as anyone," said Griffin.
Griffin suggests that the decline in Southern identification stems from the south becoming more homogenized with the rest of the nation.
"Southerners think more broadly of an American identity as opposed to a regional identity," said Griffin, who cited September 11 and the situation in Iraq as possible explanations.
Continued urbanization and immigration in the South has also contributed to a decline in the Southern stereotype.
"If we look around we see the rich and poor, brown, black, red and yellow people, people from the country and from cities all over," Griffin said. "We can no longer say what a Southerner is."
As the South's structure and cultural make-up continue to change, the probability exists that further decline in Southern identification will occur, according to researchers, though possibility does exist for the decline to be reversed.
The strongest correlation to Southern identity was how long a person had lived in the South. As newcomers to the South establish residency, they may increasingly think of themselves as Southerners.
Third-year College student Katie Pascarella identifies herself as a Southerner based on her experiences in the area she grew up in.
Residing outside of Harrisonburg, Va., Pascarella cites the demeanor, views and political standing of people in her area as evidence that the Southern identity is not declining.
"The general idea of a Southerner is not declining; people are still proud to identify themselves with the South," Pascarella said. "I know that I will be going home to the same Southern community."
The results of Griffin's and Thompson's study appear in the fall 2003 edition of Southern Cultures, a journal published by the University of North Carolina Press for the Center for the Study of the American South at UNC.
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