A Cultural Line In The Sand Summary

The article, “A Cultural Line in the Sand” by Thomas Lake, describes the example of a vernacular region as the South. A vernacular region is a place people believe exists as part of their cultural identity. The region of the South has people with “Southern accent(s) and learned Southern ways.” Some also think “we’re losing our Southern.” The term vernacular applies to the South because the people there believe it exists as part of their culture. The people of the South have customs that immerge from their sense of place and pride for their region. The South is not necessarily a defined region, but more of a region that a specific person perceives as the South. This is why the South is an example of a vernacular region. Personally, I
think that the South ends about between “Deland and Orlando, 130 miles south of Jacksonville.” This is because along this line there is a cultural boundary where Southern culture and Northern culture overlap. The reasons include that the majority of the economy below this line is built on tourism, such as in Orlando with theme parks. Another reason that the South ends at this point is that the majority of the residents below this line are not natives of that area, let alone natives of Florida. The final reason for the South ending at this line is shown in the study of Measuring the Southern-ness. The study found that the cities of St. Augustine and Daytona have an average high measure of “Southern-ness” due to their food and southern charm. Just two cities below those two is Palm Bay and in the study, it scored very poorly due to multitudes of nonnative Floridians. This big scoring jump shows why between Orlando and Deland is the best perception of where the south ends. Others may disagree with me on this location because some may include Orlando in their perception of where the South ends. Orlando is seen as “the New South… where people come for economic opportunity.” Some may also disagree with my perception and say that the South ends at Key West. They may argue “the Cubans of South Florida are much like Southerners.” These people and many others may disagree with my opinion of where the South ends because they have a different perception based off various facts. These facts lead to other people’s perceptions because the South is based off a single person’s perception, which is the very definition of the South as a vernacular region.