Are we in the Midwest or the South?

I’m genuinely curious, readers: do you regard Southeast Missouri as part of the Midwest or the South?

I’m from Illinois, and my first introductions to Southern life were family visits to the Carolinas and college in Tennessee. When I moved to Southeast Missouri I was struck by several Southern traits y’all have, but there’s no consensus on whether we are south enough to be South.

I have several criteria for whether a region is Southern. Firstly, the climate — yep, it’s hot. And humid. The breeze lately functions on the same principal as an air fryer, but at least this means I’m cooking evenly.

Speaking of, food’s another clue. Namely, are there strong opinions on barbecue and is all tea assumed to be sweet? This is fifty-fifty, because barbecue is definitely its own food group down here, but no waiters have looked askance at me for requesting unsweetened tea (looking at you, Tennessee). There’s also a great regional devotion to fried catfish, but that’s more country than Southern.

Speaking of which: everyone loves country music here. Is that another point for the South?

Of course, the most obvious question is the Civil War. Missouri wasn’t Confederate. It was a border state: a slave state that didn’t secede from the Union. It supplied more troops to the North than the South, but Bloomfield was a Confederate stronghold at the beginning of the war and changed hands several times.

Taking the whole state into account gives mixed results, but the Southeast region at least feels like it could make a bid for South-hood. Geographically, we’re only a hop, skip and a jump above Arkansas, and level with Tennessee and Kentucky. Surely all their South-ness doesn’t abruptly cut off at the border.

Clay soil? Check. Mockingbirds? Yep. Venomous spiders and snakes? Everywhere. But hey, those lovely magnolia trees make up for it. And what are they called again? Oh, yeah — Southern magnolias.

Finally, that quintessential test of Southern-ness: the word “y’all.” Y’all pass that test.

So are we Southern? I’d say it’s close enough for government work. What do you think?

Samantha Tucker is a staff writer at the Daily American Republic. She can be reached at stucker.dar@gmail.com.